The Lasson-Little web pages.

From: Bradford MBC report - Dowley Gap and Hirst Wood
The mixture of stone built buildings around Scourer Bridge stand in a small clearing, with the northern bank of the canal heavily wooded. There were once three wharves at Scourer Bridge, with the largest ones on the southern side stretching as far as Dowley Gap Locks to the east and a similar distance west. It appears that there was limited warehousing associated with the wharves, with 1 and 3 Dobb Kiln Lane the only possible former warehouses. The goods loaded and unloaded at these wharfs related to agriculture. Until the second half of the 19th century, the only structures near Scourer Bridge were limekilns on the site of 1 Dobb Kiln Lane. It is probable that urban manure and sewage was shipped to this area and (on different boats) produce taken to the markets of nearby towns such as Bingley, Shipley and Bradford. All that remains of the wharves is a stretch of broad copingstones and mooring posts which are now the waterbus stop. At this point the sandy gravel towpath is broad and the grassed verges clean and well kept.

To the east of the original packhorse bridge over the canal (number 206) the canal area is briefly flanked by dense woodland before opening up at Dowley Gap Locks. To the south is a sewage works which is fairly visible over its boundary wall, while to the north is a rugged pastoral field which provides an important immediate setting for the locks and retains traditional boundary walls and old monolithic gateposts.

Past another old packhorse bridge (207), is a group of vernacular style buildings associated with the former Dowley Gap Mill. The mill itself is an excellent example of how modern interventions can enhance a historic building.

The gravel towpath turns to concrete as the canal is carried over the River Aire by the unsympathetically modernised Seven Arches aqueduct, one of the most substantial pieces of engineering along this early stretch of the canal. From here the canal is enclosed by the attractive landscape of Hirst Wood.