The Hayfield Sheep Washes


A typical 'Sheep Wash' consisted of a 'Fold' (enclosure) and in this case a dam across the river to increase the depth for total immersion The one below was located at Carr Meadow below Tom Heys Farm.
The river runs down from the moor via Hollingworth Clough.
This was a place of pilgrimage in the long summers of our childhood in the days before TV.
The pool became the Carr Meadow Lido for a few months in the summer to generations of Hayfield folk
On the first sunny day off we would go provisioned with treacle or dripping buttes and a bottle of pop, for the picnic on the prickly moorland grass, after an afternoon of building dams and sinking battleships.


Photo courtesy Pam Gee


Booth Farm Sheep Wash

Booth Bridge can be seen in the background this 'Sheep Wash' was rather more elaborate with a 'pond' to separate the contents from the river which runs on the left of the wash


Photo courtesy Keith Wood

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