The Yorkshire Coiners: The True Story of the Cragg Vale Gang

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The rugged location, primitive transport links, sparse law enforcement, and the state of the genuine coinage all created the right climate for the Coiners to flourish. The local farmhouses were surrounded by open fields or moorland, making the chances of anyone arriving unexpectedly slim and giving the Coiners ample opportunity to tidy away the evidence of their unlawful activities should anybody come to visit. Shane Meadows hotly anticipated drama about an 18th-century Calder Valley gang premieres on BBC Two on Wednesday. Isaac and Broadbent travelled to York and were able to confer with Hartley and Jagger whilst they exercised in the gaol’s yard. A revised statement attempting to clear Hartley and Jagger was submitted to a York attorney, but it didn’t have the desired effect – no bail was offered. Broadbent attempted to retract the statement he gave to magistrate Leedes, but this too was unsuccessful, as Leedes believed the original statement to be true. Hartley seems to have been an enigmatic individual. With him as ringleader, the activity spread to other families at nearby Hill Top Farm and Keelham Farm, forming the beginnings of a gang of dozens of individuals; the Cragg Vale Coiners. Hartley became known as ‘King David’ Hartley and local publicans helped the gang by placing the counterfeit coins into circulation. Steve's family history was controversial growing up, and he remembers how his great-grandad rarely spoke of Hartley's escapades. "The older generations were ashamed of it," he said.

It seems that there are two sides to the coin when remembering David Hartley: revered or reviled. But there's also something intrinsically human in why his story continues to be told, according to Billingsley. Like their natural successors and fellow West Riding rebels the Luddites, these skilled textile workers were alarmed at the accelerating erosion of their livelihoods. While the Luddites broke into the new factories and smashed the machines that were destroying their livelihood, the Coiners took a more enterprising but equally illegal path.Richardson, Hollie; Davies, Hannah J.; Verdier, Hannah; Virtue, Graeme (31 May 2023). "TV tonight: Shane Meadows's first period drama is about the Cragg Vale Coiners". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Archived from the original on 31 May 2023 . Retrieved 31 May 2023. Now the story of one of the North's original OCGs is being told in a new drama directed by This Is England creator Shane Meadows. The Gallows Pole, a prequel to Benjamin Myers' fictionalised novel of the same name, stars long-time Meadows collaborators Michael Socha and Thomas Turgoose. Shane Meadows, writer and director, on his vision: I really wanted to delve into the history of this story and the circumstances that lead to an entire West Yorkshire community risking their lives to put food in their children’s bellies.

In January 1774 Matthew Normanton was re-arrested, this time charged on suspicion of coining. In May, Robert Thomas confessed that he had present at Dighton’s murder, had shared the money robbed from his corpse but had not fired his pistol. In July Thomas was found guilty of highway robbery and sentenced to death – he was executed by hanging in York on 6 th August and his body hung from a gibbet at Beacon Hill in Halifax. The story of David Hartley and the Coiners is the subject of a researched novel entitled The Gallows Pole by author Ben Myers, published in 2017. It received a Roger Deakin award for writing concerned with "natural history, landscape and environment" and won the Walter Scott Prize 2018. [4] The novel has been translated into several languages. Director Shane Meadows adapted the novel as a BBC television drama, co-produced by Element Pictures and A24, [5] first broadcast on BBC Two on 31 May 2023. [6] The popularity of the series led to a large surge in visitors to the nearby large village of Mytholmroyd, and the smaller Heptonstall where most of the Shane Meadows series was filmed. [7] Coins scattered on the grave of 'King' David Hartley, leader of the Cragg Vale Coiners (Image: Andy Stenning/Daily Mirror) In 2017 the story was fictionalised by Benjamin Myers in the Walter Scott Prize winning historic novel The Gallows Pole and has more recently been developed into a dramatisation for television by renowned british director Shane Meadows for the BBC. The multi-episode television series is expected to air in 2023. David Hartley is said to have learned his clipping trade as an apprentice iron-worker in Birmingham in the early 1760s. Birmingham, like London, was well known for coining.

Michael Socha and Sophie McShera

An excerpt of the Cragg Vale Coiners' Walk by Yorkshire map maker Christopher Goddard, of Hebden Bridge (Image: Christopher Goddard) In March 1775 Matthew Normanton failed to appear before the court and was found guilty of coining in his absence and sentenced to death. Days later, as Constables turned up at his home to arrest him, Normanton fled along the valley, but was found shortly after hiding in bushes. He was executed by hanging in York on 15 th April and his body hung in its chains at Beacon Hill in Halifax, alongside that of Thomas, as a warning to others.