From early times there have been various taverns and inns at Gauxholme these taverns and inns would have undoubtedly brewed their beers on the premises. With the coming of the beer house act in 1830,which allowed anyone to brew and sell beers from their own premises, it became more astute to have a common brewer in the area supplying the local inns and beerhouses with ales and porters.
The first recording of a common brewer at Gauxholme appears to be a John Bulcock beginning brewing around 1870.
John was born on 15th April 1831, at Higham near Padiham in Lancashire the son of James & Ann Bulcock nee Roberts,who were married on the 15th November 1827. John married Eliza Ibbotson on 19th January 1857. He is recorded as being brewer at Firth's Brewery Dulesgate, trading as John Bulcock & Co, in the West Riding Directory of 1871. In Whites 1877 directory, Firth's Brewery is recorded as trading as Bulcock and Holden, his business partner being a William Holden. It appears this partnership was short lived. Shortly after this John Bulcock is known to have leased the by now, derelict,fire-damaged Gauxholme Cotton mill which he set to work rebuilding and altering creating a brewery, stables and a dwelling house for himself and his family, naming the brewery and house Rock Springs.
Whites directory of 1881 records William Holden brewer at Firth's Brewery Dulesgate and John Bulcock now trading at Rock Springs Brewery Gauxholme. In the 1881 census he appears to have a well established business employing 6 men at the Rock Springs Brewery.
Rate Books of the 1880's, show Rock Springs being owned and occupied by John Bulcock, and being of a rateable value of £80 15s 0d.
Kelly's Directory of 1893, records John Bulcock brewer, Brewery Gauxholme.
A 1905 directory, Robinsons Halifax and District, records John Bullock brewer at Rock Springs Brewery, and his personal residence as Rock Springs House.
Rock Springs Brewery is recorded in Kellys 1908 directory as still being in the hands of John Bulcock, although this is most likely due to the time taken to collate the information and publish, as John Bulcock died in 1907 aged 76. By this time his son James was running the brewery. James Bulcock had married Emily Hubbard on 3rd October 1904, the widow of William Hubbard of the Rope and Anchor at Roomfield.William died of influenza aged just 29, on the 31st march 1895, leaving Emily with two young children, Gertrude & William. Gertrude died aged only 2years.
Young William Hubbard, was brought up as a Bulcock, and became quite notorious in his own right.
At age 9 he jumped from the malt store at the brewery holding on to an umbrella expecting to fly, breaking his collar bone in the process. 10 years later he made legal history when, being seen travelling through Todmorden at speed on a regular basis, police tried to stop him. As they were only on bicycles they could not keep up and decided to stop him by waving him down in plain clothes. When the incident went to court his stepfather James Bulcock, hired legal council resulting in William being acquitted, on the basis that the constables were guilty of holding up a person on the King's Highway, a crime punishable by death. This resulted in the laws regarding police apprehension of road users being changed. Following this, William reverted to the surname of Hubbard, and went on to serve his country in the 1st World War, serving in various services, Territorial Forces, Royal Navy as a Petty Officer on the President, Royal Navy Armoured Cars, RNAS, RFC, RAF and achieving numerous medals for his gallantry. The Todmorden gazzette records:-
"A bold and determined fighter in the air and against troops on the ground. On 26th. August 1918 he engaged 3 enemy 2-seaters and shot one down out of control. Owing to his pressure pump being shot away in the combat he reached our lines with great difficulty, landing 150 yards west of our front line. Undisturbed by the fact that the machine was under direct observation and subject to heavy fire, he removed all his instruments and pegged the machine down before leaving. In all, up to this time, he has accounted for 5 enemy machines." Later, he was awarded the bar to the D.F.C. and the Croix de Guerre "for numerous successes against the Hun machines, and also for good squadron work."
It is not known exactly when the Rock Springs Brewery was taken over by James Grimshaw Ltd, Keirby Brewery Burnley, but it must have been shortly before 1914,as when James Grimshaw Ltd, were aquired by Masseys Brewery of Burnley in 1914, Rock Springs Brewery being then recorded as part of Grimshaw's property portfolio. The changing hands of the Rock Springs Brewery and it's closure date are unclear, but would be most likely shortly after 1914. As a note,Masseys Brewery continued in business until the early 1960s when they were amalgamated with the giant Bass Charrington Brewers.
It would be around 90 years before brewing returned to Gauxholme, when in 2005 Trevor and Katherine Cook, formerly of the Crown Inn at Bacup (where the Cook family had been proprietors for over 30 years) opened their compact 4 barrel plant capable of brewing around 2000 pints of beer per week. The brewery is situated at the junction of the Bacup Doad formerly Dulesgate, and the Rochdale road, by the infamous Gauxholme Arches, and coincidentally directly opposite Rock Springs, now a residential property, the former Rock Springs Brewery.
Katherine, an artist had in 2000 set up a gallery to display her work at Waterside, Todmorden, close to the point where near 90 years earlier, William Bulcock had been stopped by the police. The gallery then became a place where you could not only view and buy painted art, but also taste the art of craft brewing at its best, buying the various brews to take home. The brewery suffered substantial damage in early 2006, when a lorry shed its load of plate steel resulting in a period of closure and rebuild. In 2009 due to a change in the licence it became possible for Trevor and Katherine to begin the sale of the brews for both on and off sales, extending the gallery and creating a bar and seating area. Since then things have gone from strength to strength (including the ales). There are various themed evenings including a knitting and nattering evening, and music evenings where local artists perform in an informal atmosphere.
Trevor and Katherine have certainly revived a long lost tradition of brewer & taverner, long may it continue.
Rachel D T Lockwood-Allen
Jayne S Lockwood-Allen
© Ale-Inn-Research 2009