Newly resurfaced path near 3 rise locks and Damart Mill

The well-loved path near Three Rise Locks and Damart Mill has been given a new lease of life, thanks to a brilliant community partnership – and it comes with a rich piece of Bingley history attached.

The footpath known as Treacle Cock Alley – running along Hill Side Road down to the canal near Three Rise Locks – has been freshly resurfaced and is looking better than ever.
The project was completed in March 2026, with the path resurfaced in tarmac with timber edgings. But as local Councillor Susan Fricker explains, good things take time:

“This project began in August 2024 when Damart UK first contacted me about it. These things take time! Inspections, surveys, estimates, budgeting, prioritising, etc etc etc! But it’s done now." – Councillor Susan Fricker, 12th March 2026

The upgrade was the result of a genuine community partnership. Councillor Fricker had previously outlined the collaboration behind it:

“A fundamental part of the Bingley Creates development work has been strong partnerships – working together for Bingley. Damart UK have been incredibly supportive… Bradford Council – a vital part of this community partnership – is about to begin work on this Footpath Upgrade." – Councillor Susan Fricker, 25th February 2026

A big thank you to Damart UK, Bradford Council, and Councillor Susan Fricker for making this happen.

Councillor Susan Fricker kept the community informed throughout this project, and you can find two of her short videos below.

This modest but well-trodden path has a surprisingly deep history, stretching back to medieval times. We’re grateful to Sheila Donaldson of Bingley and District Local History Society for researching and sharing the following fascinating account.

From the 12th Century, Drax Priory owned Bingley Parish Church and land at Priestthorpe, where they maintained a vicarage. A footpath developed from the western edge of the Parish Church graveyard up towards the vicarage — and this is believed to be the origin of the route we walk today.

When the Leeds-Liverpool Canal was built in 1773, the existing right of way had to be maintained. A swing bridge was constructed at the top of the Three Rise Locks to preserve access across the water. At that time, the north-east side of the valley was largely woodland and scrub, with very few houses.

When the railway opened in 1847, a covered walkway — a tunnel — was created to ensure the footpath was retained. The route ran from the churchyard, through this tunnel, then via a dog-leg through allotments (complete with a turnstile and a stile), emerging onto the towpath just below the Three Rise Locks, and continuing across the swing bridge and fields beyond.

From the 1860s, the Bingley Improvement Commissioners began clearing the valley side. Houses and mills followed, including Bowling Green Mill in 1871 — now home to Damart — along with Hill Side Road and a footpath at its north-western end leading down to the canal.

The tunnel — and sometimes the footpath leading to it — became known to generations of Bingley residents as Treacle Cock Alley. The name doesn’t appear on Ordnance Survey maps, but crops up in local guides, including the Discover Bingley leaflet from the 1990s, which describes the route from the church to the canal as the “pathway known as Treacle Cock Alley."

The origin of the name is delightfully unclear. Theories include a reference to a “trickling water cock" — perhaps related to the railway, or to the water that ran down the tunnel walls after heavy rain. Another theory suggests the tunnel was used to transport molasses from the canal to local pubs, the White Horse and Brown Cow, for their brewing. The tunnel itself was always gloomy, lit by electric lights that were frequently broken — but it was an important and well-used link between the Main Road and the north-west side of the valley.

When the Bingley Relief Road was cut through the valley and opened in 2004, the old tunnel was lost. It was replaced by a new footbridge. The name Treacle Cock Alley was subsequently transferred to the two surviving paths — the footpath from the Main Road to the now-closed tunnel entrance, and the path from Hill Side Road to the canal — as shown on the 2005 OS map. The entrance to the original tunnel is still visible from the Main Road, though its exit now lies somewhere beneath the Relief Road.

As Sheila notes, this has caused some confusion among locals who remember the original tunnel and couldn’t quite understand how it had been “recreated" — in fact, it was simply the name that had been carried forward, not the tunnel itself.

(Note: Commercial Street in Bingley — now beneath the lower Main Street car park — was known in the 19th Century as Treacle Alley and was also accessed via a tunnel or archway. This is a separate place and should not be confused with Treacle Cock Alley.)