Frank Shepherd from Rochdale or Halifax?

The Pennine range (called the "Backbone of England") runs north from the Peak District in Derbyshire almost to Scotland. It is a very important watershed and for much of the way is the boundary between Lancashire and Yorkshire.

Before the building of the Motorway the road from Rochdale to Halifax was one of the main crossing points and an important east-west route. (The canal and railway take the valley route through Todmorden). The road crosses Blackstone Edge and it is very exposed and often blocked by snow in winter.

Before the road it was a pack-horse route carrying wool and cloth between the two counties - and before that the Romans had built a road straight over the top. You can still see it. Great stone slabs with a groove down the middle caused by the brakes on their carts.

So there always has been movement across the border here. Thus it is not impossible that Frank Shepherd was a Yorkshireman from Northowram, Halifax.

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