Bog burst

[harrier]

I was up in Keighley two weeks ago and went for a run over the moors at the top of Morton. I was reminded of the time when I was a student. I worked digging trenches for the electricity board to enable cables to be laid. One job was on the outshirts of Morton. During a lunch break, I got talking to an old man who lived in one of the cottages where we were digging nearto the moors who told me a story about how his grandfather(?) was killed when the bog burst above Morton and swept down the valley knocking over everything in its path. I have found information about a similar event at Crow Moor but nothing in the Morton area. Can any one help? If the old man was in his eighties, the event must have been about 1850ish?

[anorak]

I'm pretty sure there's something about that in the history of East Morton booklet that was published a few years ago.....it's in the loft so will explore up there in the next day or so.

[anorak]

Found it...EAST MORTON - A THOUSAND YEARS OF HISTORY published by Morton Village Society in 1990, reprinted 1996.

The 'Great Flood' occurred on 12th July 1900. Sunnydale reservoir overflowed following a heavy, three hour downpour, from which the escape weir could not cope. Upper Mill was the first to suffer, with Upper Mill Row suffering much damage (there's a photo showing this in the booklet). There was no loss of life here though. Botany Mill was hit next. Freedom Mill, lower down, had its reservoir wrecked, and part of the mill yeard was carried away. The dam at Dimples Mill then burst, damaging property to the far side of the beck, and Hebble Bridge was washed away. The flood continued down to the canal, which did not itself burst its banks.

The report in the booklet does not report any loss of life though, which suggests this could have been a different event to the 'bog burst'. (Sunnydale also burst its banks, with no loss of life, in 1849)

Ironically, I was running over Stanbury Bog last week.