On Saturday 1st June, staff at Keighley Local Studies Library launched another in their series of Keighley Heritage Town Trails, this time: Pubs and Breweries’ History Trail of Keighley using the Keighley Local Studies’ Archives, price £2.50, limited publication only.

The trail consists of a walk around our town to look at 10 of the oldest pubs and how their histories, as with many old buildings, also help to tell the unfolding story of this unique place and of some of their associated characters, some of whom would contribute directly to Keighley’s development and achievements. In Keighley’s case there is the publican who founded Keighley’s Free grammar school in 1713 and so helped to launch the careers of some very high achievers from the subsequent Keighley Boys’ Grammar School, including two historians who changed the course of history writing: Sir Herbert Butterfield (who highlighted a Whig interpretation of history) and Lord Asa Briggs (champion of urban and social history, higher education, the Open University and code breaker at Bletchley Park).

Staff were helped in the writing and production of the trail by our local specialist in pub history, Eddie Kelly. He gave generously of his time and in-depth research of Keighley’s history over many years. The Library already holds a couple of Eddie’s studies in the library that are very popular with researchers, and he also produced his own history for the occasion: Some Lost Pubs of Keighley, From Church Green to the Pinfold that was published for sale for £7.50, limited publication only, all proceeds to the Library service.

A large display accompanied the launch including records from Keighley Local Studies’ substantial archive such as photographs, business archives and local estate agent’s Weatherhead collection of sale plans. Town plans and trade directories were also on exhibited and a source that proved very useful: Keighley Year Books and Almanacks because in their descriptions of local societies, they include how many met and even held competitions in hotels and pubs, like the Gooseberry Growers’ Association that held their annual meetings and prize giving at the Wellington Inn in Hanover in the 1870s. As always, news cuttings were an important addition as well as local histories of pubs, hotels and inns, business guides and books on how to trace your publican ancestry. Some of the buildings that were researched have fine historic architectural features and consequently are listed by English Heritage, these descriptions were also made available such as for one of the oldest, Taylor’s on the Green, formerly more locally known as The Lord Rodney.

Attendees were also fortunate to see a large sample from a very fine collection of beer mats by no other than ex Keighley Reference Librarian and local historian, Dr Ian Dewhirst MBE that attracted a lot of attention and brought back many memories of changing fads and fashions in drinking in Yorkshire pubs over the last 50 years or so.

The turn-out was satisfyingly about right for an unusually dry, warm and sunny Saturday and copies of both trails were sold and some since. The basic display is up for another week or so but due to the limited publication of both, it has been decided to publish some sections of the Keighley Local Studies’ trail online each week on this blog. We hope that you will enjoy them.

Keighley Local Studies Team