Local councillors and volunteers complete milestone restoration project

A local councillor has completed a project to locate and restore a series of classic milestones across Saddleworth with help from local volunteers.

The classic milestones are cast iron on a stone base. The council had taken action to improve the condition of just over half of the milestones.  

Councillor Sam Al-Hamdani, together with a few volunteers, took action to restore the rest to their original look.  

Sam said: “This all started for me when speaking to Paul Sykes, the former Mayor of Austerlands, who had worked with a couple of other volunteers to restore the milestone opposite the Three Crowns in Scouthead.  

“He passed on the advice from the council’s highways team on the correct paints to use and how to carry out the restoration.  

“My colleague Alicia Marland then got a list of all the milestones in the borough from the council, although the descriptions of the locations weren’t brilliant, and one of the milestones were missing off the list altogether.” 

The councillor then tracked down all the milestones, providing the council with a complete and up to date list of all the locations, and the condition of all stones. 

“Some of the milestones were already in good condition, even ones right up on top of the moors. But nearly half needed various degrees of work, from touching up the white paint and lettering to a much more comprehensive restoration. 

“I’ve just been back to touch up the white paint on the one that Paul restored in Scouthead, which was originally restored five years ago, and to repaint the first one I did, on Delph Road. 

“I learned a lot and improved my technique over the couple of years that I have been doing it, so the first one I did needed redoing. The ones I have done since should definitely last longer.” 

Many of the stones include the reference to the original “meres” that they were in – the traditional Saddleworth districts of Lordsmere, Quickmere, Friarmere and Shawmere, while others refer to “Wakefield and Austerlands”. While there were 24 milestones listed originally, one was lost after it was destroyed in a car accident. 

Sam added: “There are two more, both in Slackcote – one on Oldham Road and one on Delph Road – where the bottom part of the milestone has been destroyed, leaving just the top semi-circle. 

“There is another one which I have not been able to restore, just above Delph. I presume it was originally next to the road when it was first laid, but now it’s actually a few metres back in a farmer’s field.  

“I’ve asked the environment team at the council to see if it’s possible to work with the owner – as well as physically possible – to move the stone back to the roadside, so that it can be restored and people can see a little more of our local heritage.” 

The councillor is also looking to see if any local walkers would be happy to create some heritage walks which take in the milestones in the traditional meres.  

He said: “I can provide a list of all the locations, and if people are happy to come up with a route, I’d be happy to design a route map with some of the historical information about the area.” 

Anyone interested in created route walks should contact Sam Al-Hamdani at sam@samalhamdani.org.uk. A paper on the history of the milestones is available from the Saddleworth Historical Society.