Most of the local population were involved in the weaving trade and the region produced high quality, hardwearing Worsted cloth. After a boom during the Seven Years War (1756-1763) the woollen industry in the West Riding of Yorkshire fell into decline during the post war recession, due to a reduced demand for the Worsted which had been used largely for military uniforms. While the story of the Coiners is unwholesome the 8.5km walk isn't. The route along public roads and footpaths takes the walker from the attractive village of Mytholmroyd up and around scenic Cragg Vale. Clipping was a treasonous offence punishable by death and by 1769, rumours began circulating in parliament about a group committing fraud in Yorkshire. A public official, William Dighton, was put on to the gang of coiners, which now numbered about 80 people. But while the three-part drama, which debuted this week on BBC2, is inspired and informed by what happened in Calder Valley in the mid-18th century, it is a fictionalised account. Here we take a look at the true story of the Cragg Vale Coiners. The usual method of counterfeiting used by other Coiners around the country was to produce fake coins using a cheap base metal, which was then plated or treated to give it the appearance of a gold coin. The Cragg Vale Coiners were distinct from this usual method as they collected gold fragments and forged new coins using real gold.

At times The Gallows Pole is more modern social commentary than period drama. Watching 18th-century weavers struggling with their own cost of living crisis strikes a chord in the economically unstable 2020s. For any viewer struggling in today's cost of living crisis, it will feel like history repeating itself.Christopher, originally from Sheffield, says: "When I moved to Hebden Bridge I started to think about the moors and the Ordnance Survey (OS) maps didn't really show you what was there in the past... 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. 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. Opinion is divided when remembering the Coiners. Some believe they were simply products of their time, hard men for hard times. Others believe they were nothing more than criminals.

These coins were made from valuable metals, more or less worth their weight in silver and gold. The Coiners, led by Hartley, clipped edges from these coins, shillings and moidores usually bought from local traders who would get a cut of the profits, and melted the clippings with metal scraps to forge counterfeit coins. Portuguese moidores were commonly forged because they were the most valuable, worth around 27 shillings a piece, roughly a week's wages.

Hartley returned to his home, Bell House at Cragg Vale, in the 1760s, using his ironworking as a cover to clip or file the edges from gold coins, producing counterfeit coins from the shavings and returning the clipped coins into circulation. Shortly after midnight on November 10 th 1769 close to his home in Halifax, Dighton was approached by two men, Matthew Normanton and Robert Thomas. Dighton was shot in the head, his valuables stolen and his dead body was left showing signs of having been stamped on. The chances of discovery were made even more remote by the fact that during the 18th century, England had no public officials corresponding to the modern day Police. Constables were unpaid and played only a minor role in law enforcement. Halifax, seven miles away, had only two Constables and two Deputy Constables and the nearest Magistrate was fourteen miles away in Bradford. An excerpt of the Cragg Vale Coiners' Walk by Yorkshire map maker Christopher Goddard, of Hebden Bridge (Image: Christopher Goddard) The title sequence begins with images of the apocalypse. It's apt; the coming Industrial Revolution must have felt like the end of days for 18th-century textile workers who were losing their livelihoods to machines.