Lower Peak Forest Canal

Throstle Bank, Kettle Dock
and Stone Pit

Throstle Bank and Kettle Dock were situated on the offside of the canal between Newton Hall and Throstle Bank Bridges, Flowery Field, Hyde. Throstle Bank consisted of two rows of terraced houses set at an obtuse angle to each other. Later, Dukinfield Road was constructed between them.

Referring to the tithe map, the land to the north is referred to as 'coal pit banks, waste land, pasture and garden'. This suggests that prior to the date of this map (1841) that waste material from a coal pit was disposed of in this area, the site of the pit not being shown on the map. The land to the south is referred to as 'Kettle Dock and Stone Pit Field'. This information supplies the name of both the dock and pit as well as indicating that the pit was located somewhere in the field lying to the south of Throstle Bank. The siting of Kettle Dock suggests that it was used as a loading stage where boats could be filled with coal from Stone Pit.

At the time of this map the landowner was Edward Hyde Clarke and the occupier was Thomas Ashton Senior. Edward Hyde Clarke resided at Hyde Hall, a short distance to the south, while Thomas Ashton Senior (1775/6 - 1845) was the founder of the textile industry in Hyde, based at Flowery Field.

The life span of Stone Pit is unknown but it may have been comparatively short. It is a matter of conjecture that its opening coincided with that of the Lower Peak Forest Canal, which was open by May 1798 and that it probably closed sometime in the 1830s.

By c.1875, a building had been erected over the site of Kettle Dock fronted by a wharf, so the dock was filled in to enable this to be constructed. To the south, Flowery Field Wharf and Throstle Bank Mill (cotton) had been built on Kettle Dock and Stone Pit Field and it is very likely that some mill buildings were extant on this field prior to 1841 even though they are not shown on the map. Both the wharf and mill belonged to Ashton Brothers & Company, the brothers being Samuel and Thomas, the sons of the founder, Thomas Ashton Senior.

Nowadays, the name of the mill survives in Throstle Bank Street and Throstle Bank Works. It is likely that the mill got its name from the use of the throstle spinning frame, which was an early type of ring spinning frame introduced in c.1810 and known to have been in use by 1813. The frame was so called because of the noise it made, which was said to resemble the singing of a throstle (thrush). These frames were used for the continuous drawing, twisting and winding of cotton, or wool, simultaneously onto banks of up to 300 or 400 bobbins.