Watermill Rally

1978

The year Keith Moon left us and Ricky Hatton, Rio Ferdinand and Frank Lampard were born

According to the commemorative badges of this rally, there were five consecutive meetings in total, organised by Pudsey MCC, during the month of October.

Unless I am mistaken, the first was in 1977 and the last in 1981.

The first two meetings were almost certainly held at Foster Beck Water Mill, a former watermill on Low Wath Road, just outside Pateley Bridge, a town on the River Nidd in North Yorkshire.

A Brief History of Foster Beck Water Mill

Its construction dates back to 1864. Originally, it was used to transform hemp into twine; before being later used to make linen.

Built of sandstone and covered with a slate roof, it is 12 bays wide, the ninth bay containing a coach arch.

But its most remarkable feature is of course its 30 horsepower waterwheel, 35 feet high and 5 feet wide, which was installed in 1904.

Later in the last century, the mill was converted to run on diesel.

The mill finally ceased operations in 1966. Since then, over time, the building has been converted into an inn, a pub (which closed in 2003), and more recently into rental apartments.

A photo taken at this rally

No photos taken at the Watermill rally have been published on this website to date. Fortunately for many of us who enjoy seeing photographic evidence of rallies from the past, a rallyist by the name of Philip Wilkinson took one, shared here below.

A shot, he claims was taken at the 1978 Watermill rally, showing a group of rallyists enjoying the Saturday night atmosphere at the Watermill Inn.

Watermill rally 1978 (photo by Philip Wilkinson) - Do you agree with me that the level of the remaining contents of the glasses calls for refilling without further delay...

Peregrinations of this rally

As the late Ted Trett points out in his report on the previous page on this Watermill rally, it appears that the third meeting of 1979 moved to Tong, about 4 miles south-east of Bradford city centre.

Whether these rallies, after being held near Bradford in 1979, returned to the original venue at Pateley Bridge, or were held at other locations, is something only rallyists who attended the last two meetings in 1980 and 1981 can tell us.

If any reader can shed any light on this, they are welcome to share their knowledge with us via a comment on this page.