Geological Sites | Leeds
| Bradford | Calderdale
| Kirklees | Wakefield
 STATUS: RIGS site
OTHER DESIGNATIONS:
COUNTY: West Yorkshire
DISTRICT: Kirklees
OS GRID REF: SE 107 113
OS 1:50,000 Landranger 110 Sheffield and Huddersfield
OS 1:25,000 Explorer 288 Bradford and Huddersfield
BGS 1:50,000 SHEET 86 Glossop
FIRST DESIGNATED by West Yorkshire RIGS Group in 1996
DATE OF MOST RECENT SURVEY October 2007 by West Yorkshire Geology Trust
SCIENTIFIC INFORMATION produced by Ian Chisholm
SITE DESCRIPTION:
The site is a waterfall in a small valley shaded by trees. The face of
the waterfall is a massive sandstone exposure of the Upper Carboniferous
Huddersfield White Rock with cross bedding. The sandstone has been
faulted against shales, which include a marine band in which fossils
have been found in the past.
The fault plane runs in a small gully between the face of the waterfall
and the shales, which have been dragged upwards as the rocks moved and
are dipping steeply. The fault plane is filled with soft clay called
gouge, which is easily eroded. The waterfall has been formed because
the stream erodes the shales faster than it erodes the much more resistant
sandstone.
About 5m of the Huddersfield White Rock is exposed at Folly Dolly Falls
but it is largely covered by moss and other vegetation. The exposures
in the disused railway cutting to the west of the falls show cross bedding
and soft sediment deformation.
 HISTORICAL ASSOCIATIONS:
This site was a spectacular waterfall, as shown in a 1922 photo from
the Kirklees Photo Archive, and was visited by the general public who
used the halt on the Meltham railway line.
The railway served the Meltham Brick and Fireclay Company works, which
closed in 1985. As the Falls were also used for recreation during Victorian
times and probably up to the 1930s there is an interesting social history
to be discovered.
The name has been changed over the years and the falls were referred
to as Dolly Folly Falls in Kendall and Wroot 1924 (see reference below)
on p 905.
EDUCATIONAL VALUE:
Small groups of adults or students will see one of the few well-exposed
faults in West Yorkshire. It has many of the characteristics of fault
exposures, such as gouge in a fault gully, mineralisation and drag
folding.
AESTHETIC CHARACTERISTICS:
The little valley is largely shaded by trees which have grown up since
the 1920s. Although the falls are not as spectacular as they would
have been in earlier times, because water has been diverted from the
stream into Blackmoorfoot Reservoir, the site is still delightful and
the geology is interesting.
ACCESS AND SAFETY:
There is safe access along the disused railway line from Morrison’s
car park in the centre of Meltham (there is a charge unless you are a
customer). Walk for about 1km along the concreted path, through cuttings
in the Huddersfield White Rock.
There is also access from Meltham Mills Road with parking near by along
Bent Ley Road. Walk north past the lodge house, along track marked on
the map. At the disused railway, climb the embankment on a small path
and turn left along disused line.
The falls are not visible from the line, but there is a small path just to
the east of the bridge. The access path to the stream is steep and slippery
and it is necessary to walk in the stream to see the exposure properly. The
site is not accessible to wheel chairs.
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