Diggle, Yorkshire

Diggle
Yorkshire West Riding
Diggle from Harrop Edge
Location
Grid reference:	SE017083
Location:	53°34’5"N, 1°59’42"W
Data
Post town:	Oldham
Postcode:	OL3
Dialling code:	01457
Local Government
Council:	Oldham
Parliamentary constituency:	Oldham East and Saddleworth

Diggle is a village within the civil parish of Saddleworth in the West Riding of Yorkshire. The village is situated on the moorlands of the Pennine hills. It is located at the western end of the Standedge Canal Tunnel, Britain's longest, deepest and highest canal tunnel. The Diggle Hotel can be found close to the end of the tunnel.

In the heart of the village there is the Diggle Chippy housed in a listed building, the Hanging Gate pub, a newsagent, and a post office/off-licence. The post office acts as a general store. The brass band club called the Diggle Band Club hosts band contests and concerts. There is a bowling club.

The Anglican church in the village is Kiln Green Church. The Methodist church, called Wrigley Mill, closed 2011. The local primary school caters for 200 children aged 4 to 11.

The Saddleworth Whit Friday Band Contest included Diggle since 2009 as one of the contests. The Diggle Blues Festival is an annual event that takes place in June. Started in 2010, nine bands use three venues and perform over a three-day weekend that allows people the opportunity to see every performance without charge.

Diggle is home to Diggle F.C., an FA registered amateur football club which plays its home games at Churchill Playing Fields, Uppermill. It competes in the Huddersfield and District Association Football League. There is a village brass band.

History

The name "Diggle" comes from the Saxon word degle meaning "valley". Like many of the Saddleworth villages, it traces its history back to a collection of hamlets. Diggle forms part of Lord's Mere, a quarter in the Saddleworth chapelry of the ancient parish of Rochdale.

Transport

A railway line that connects Manchester to Huddersfield and Leeds runs through Diggle. There used to be a local railway station in the village, which opened in 1849, but it was one of many to go in the Beeching era, closing in 1963. The nearest stations to Diggle are in Greenfield to the south and Marsden at the other end of the Standedge tunnel.

The bus service that serves Diggle is the 184, which provides an hourly Monday–Saturday daytime service from the Old Station Turning in Diggle to Manchester via Dobcross, Uppermill and Oldham. There is an additional hourly Monday–Saturday daytime and two-hourly Sunday daytime service between Huddersfield and Manchester, which runs along the A62 Huddersfield Road in Diggle.

References

("Wikimedia Commons" has material about Diggle, Yorkshire)