Carriage race: Richard Kershaw vs Hanson Ormerod



In the late summer of 1882, Richard Kershaw and Hanson Ormerod made a wager to race their carriages along a route from Lightcliffe to Hartshead Moor and back to Brighouse and Hipperholme.

There were to be timed stops of the top of 2 steep hills. Each carriage was to be driven by its owner's coachman.

Kershaw won the toss and started first at 10:00 am leaving the gates of Crow Nest, followed closely by Ormerod's carriage. The carriages went down to Bailiff Bridge, up Birkby Lane – where they stopped for 10 minutes whilst the horses were rubbed down. Then they went down Hartshead Moor Top, past the Armytage Arms, down Clifton Common, up to Lane Head – where they rested for 5 minutes. They then went past Slead Syke to the Hipperholme crossroads, turning right into Wakefield Road and back to the gates of Crow Nest.

The 2 carriages arrived with exactly the same distance between them as there had been when they started – a dead heat!

The wager was donated to charity



© Malcolm Bull 2021
Revised 12:30 / 14th May 2021 / 2727

Page Ref: K9_1

search tips advanced search
site search by freefind