Bradford History Lunchtime Lectures Bradford Local Studies Library
These talks are given by members of FoBALS (Friends of Bradford Archives & Local Studies) with Bradford Local Studies Library and West Yorkshire Archives Bradford.
Doors open at 2 pm for a 2:15 pm start. Free entry to all events. Booking essential.
Roman Archaeology in Yorkshire – an illustrated talk by Derek Barker Thursday 30th October 2025 2:15 pm
This is a free event, but booking is essential
For more information or to book a place please telephone or email Bradford Local Studies Library, Telephone 01274 433688, Email local.studies@bradford.gov.uk. Bradford Local Studies Library, Margaret McMillan Tower, Princes Way, BD1 1NN.
The Men of Worth Project have been busy creating a Remembrance Trail in Oakworth and the launch event will be at Oakworth Community Hall on the 30th of October. About 100 A3 boards will be installed by volunteers on lampposts around Oakworth on 28th October 2025 and they will be on display until the end of November.
The boards will be positioned near to the former homes of each man. People who read their brief stories on the boards can visit The Men of Worth Project website and/or use their phones to scan a QR Code on each board to go to the website to read their whole stories. We hope it will give people a sense of where these brave soldiers lived, before going off to war, never to return.
Andy Wade, project director states:
“One hundred A3 boards will be seen on lamp posts around Oakworth from the end of October until the end of November. People who read their brief stories on the boards can use their phones to scan the QR Code on each board to go to the Men of Worth Project website where they can read their whole stories. We hope it will give people a sense of where these brave soldiers lived their lives before going off to war, never to return.”
Keighley Mayor, Councilor Chris Herd, responeded: “Keighley Town Council is proud to support the Oakworth Remembrance Trail, ensuring the bravery and sacrifice of our local service people are remembered where they lived. This project, in partnership with Men of Worth and the Army Cadets, honours their legacy and brings our community together in respect and remembrance.”
For More information on the Men of Worth Project please see the website Men Of Worth
‘Meeting the Meat Demand’ with Karl-Heinz Wüstner.
Over the summer, the History Society was presented with the opportunity for a talk by Karl-Heinz Wüstner on German immigration to West Yorkshire. With all of our regular slots already filled (and the budget pretty much used up), our solution was to book Keighley Local Studies Library for an extra talk on the afternoon of Wednesday 1st October. The talk, entitled ‘Meeting the Meat Demand’ will start at 2.30pm and will finish around 4.30pm (time for the talk plus discussion at the end). There is a charge of £2 per person (fee applies to members and visitors).
Karl-Heinz Wüstner is a retired high school teacher from Ilshofen, Germany. As a local historian he has studied labour migration and conducted research on trade and craftsmanship in the Hohenlohe region of Germany for many years. He is a committee member of the Historical Society for Württemberg-Franconia and chairman of a local museum that exhibits painted furniture. He writes books and articles, and has given talks at numerous conferences and seminars.
Karl-Heinz Wüstner: “The continuing industrialisation of Yorkshire in the 19th century created many additional jobs in wool mills and factories. Industrial centres grew rapidly and the large number of newly arrived workers needed to be fed. German immigrants in particular took advantage of these circumstances. As butchers, they not only offered meat, but also produced a variety of tasty sausages, meatloaf, rissoles and many other products that could be eaten either cold or warm after brief heating. With the introduction of takeaways, also offering hot meals, they broke new ground in food supply and thus established new eating habits.
“Quite a number of such pork butchers settled in the up-and-coming town of Keighley. A whole series of butcher’s shops with more than thirty female and young employees dominated the streetscape. Names such as Andrassy, Pfeiffer, Hofmann and Schneider may still be remembered by some today.
“I will try to explain why the butchers and their families left their homeland and how they were able to succeed as immigrants. I will explore the important role they played in the development of the towns and cities, as well as their personal fates.”
Article and Photos by Tim Neal, Keighley & District Local History Society.
For the last two years, Keighley Local Studies has put on a series of lectures on family and local history by Jude Rhodes, professional genealogist, local historian and accomplished speaker. Jude has covered topics as diverse as back-to-back housing, nursing history and one place studies and a history of mental health and asylums. Each talk has been fully illustrated with a power point presentation and library staff have put out displays of related original documents, gathered from the wonderful Keighley Local Studies’ archive that covers the Keighley district.
By popular demand, Jude is back with us starting in September on a topic close to our hearts, please come along, refreshments are provided. Details on the attached poster.
Keighley Local Studies has a full programme of talks and events for Autumn/Winter, and details of these will be available on this site, on social media and in the library shortly, please look out for them.
As many of you will know, Keighley Library is 120 years old this year. It was the first library in England to be financed by the Scottish American billionaire and educational philanthropist, Andrew Carnegie and is an architectural gem of the town. It opened its doors on 20 August 1904 and to celebrate this milestone, a programme of events has already been launched for the year ahead 2024-2025 with regular updates on this site.
It is with great pleasure that we would now like to invite you to a day of celebration on Saturday 30th November when we will look at the development of the library, its founders and influencers. As you can see from a packed programme, there is something for all the family and we look forward to seeing you there.
Bradford and District Local Studies 