Micklefield

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Micklefield is a village east of Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It neighbours Garforth, Aberford and Brotherton and is close to the A1 Motorway. It is in the Leeds metropolitan area.

The village is typical of Yorkshire's former coal mining communities with its mix of local authority and private houses. The village has undergone a rapid expansion in recent years with former commercial premises being demolished to make way for new private housing. The police house, fire station, community centre, primary school and local miner's welfare club have all closed leaving the village with one public house, the Blands Arms, and two local convenience stores, in addition to a stretch of land known locally as the Mickie rec" (recreation ground) which contains a football pitch, cricket pitch and two bowling greens.The "Rec" was owned and operated by the Coal Board before the closure of the local pit in 1984.

It does retain its railway station, located approximately midway between Leeds to the west and York/Selby to the east.

Through the 1970s and 1980s Micklefield earned itself a sometimes poor reputation locally. As a result of the sizeable local authority housing estate (council houses) and policies then employed by Leeds City Council, that tended to locate families and relatives living in pool housing in close proximity to one another rather than dispersed across the metropolitan district.

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[edit] Old and New Micklefield

Micklefield is a village of two halves. One road - the Great North Road or "the old A1" - links the two with a distinctive S bend surrounded fields giving a fair indication of when moving from one half to the other.

The southern part is known as "The Old Village". It contains the railway station, landfill site, industrial park and allotments. Housing consists mainly of late 19th century/early 20th century terraced cottages built for miners, some larger pre-war semi-detached houses, and the Garden Village housing estate. In recent years, new flats have been built next to Pit Lane. The old fire station is used as a community centre. Nearby is a sandwich bar, and a small independent shop.

The northerly part of the village (Old Micklefield) has fewer visible ties to the village's industrial past, and contains most of the village amenities, including the church, school, pub, farm shop, general stores (formerly the post office) and surgery. The Churchville housing estate consists of semi-detached houses, retirement bungalows and terraces, but is bordered by large detached houses, character properties and modern town houses.

Old Micklefield, is also known colloquially by residents of New Micklefield as 'South Aberford' (or, to use its more grandiose title, "The People's Independent Republic of South Aberford"). This is a sly reference to the observation that unfavourable comparisons are frequently made between Aberford, a village two miles north of Micklefield which is said to have more character, a better postcode, higher property prices and less industrial baggage, than New Micklefield. It is worth noting that only outsiders would refer to the parts of the village as Old and New Micklefield.

The Hook Moor Wind Farm proposals have also polarised village opinion along north/south lines, with some Old Micklefield residents accusing New Micklefielders who support the plans, of schadenfreude. To which, the standard reply is, if the plans were situated in New Micklefield, nobody would be against the proposals at all.

[edit] Mining history

The village served the Peckfield Colliery, which served the “superpit” field of Selby, North Yorkshire; and was mined for high volatile bituminous coal in the Westphalian Coal Measures. In its first half century, two seams of coal were worked, the Beeston seam at 170-180 yards depth and a lower Blackbed seam, 210-220 yards deep.

Up to the 1980s the pit was also served by a 2' 6" gauge rail link which transported coal from Ledston Luck Mine to the south, from where the coal could be shipped via the mainline rail.

The pit came into operation in the 1870s and was the location of an enormous explosion on 30 April 1896, in which 65 of the 300 workers (men and boys) died. Twenty died from the explosion, the rest from afterdamp. Only two of the 25 pit ponies survived the disaster.

Ninety children were rendered fatherless in the disaster, and a plaque in the village school is dedicated to their loss.

[edit] Hook Moor Wind Farm

Proposals brought by Banks Renewables Ltd, to build a wind farm on Hook Moor, to the east (and slightly north) of the village but separated from it by the A1(M) motorway section, have provoked strong emotions and divisions within the community.

Opponents to the scheme are represented by the Hook Moor Wind Farm Action Group, while no body exists to lobby in favour of the plan. HMWFAG and the local parish council will reserve rights not to print favourable reports about the wind farm, even though some villagers have sent letters of support. Although no poll has taken place to gauge the views of the village as a whole, the HMWFAG still claims to represent a significant majority and has robustly campaigned through the local media and its own website. The local parish council are keen to fund the HMWFAG for its campaign, however far more reserved for those who wish to support the proposals.

A public exhibition held by Banks in July 2007 resulted in 49 comments, 31 expressing negative viewpoints.

Numerous arguments against the wind farm have been aired publicly, for example:

1. TV interference caused by the turbines will ruin reception. The basis for this objection is unclear since Micklefield lies between the transmitter (Emley Moor) and Hook Moor. Banks have asserted that any impact will be rectified at their expense.

2. Flicker caused by shadows will cause a distraction, although how this might arise is unclear, as shadows caused by sunlight would extend away from the village, not toward it.

3. "Noise". One leaflet produced by HMWFAG compared the potential noise of a wind farm, to the disruptive noise caused by living near a railway and less than 50m from the A1. As the York-Leeds railway runs through New Micklefield this was perceived by some residents of New Micklefield, to be a crass remark.

[edit] External links