Keighley’s Ian Dewhirst

October 17, 2016October 18, 2016Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

Keighley’s Ian Dewhirst …

A Pennine legend in his own lifetime – man on a train.

For a scholar who never wanted to become a teacher, Ian Dewhirst MBE has proved to be one of the most memorable on the subject of local history. Informative, enthusiastic and entertaining, his talks are renowned and what’s more his scholarship and wit stay in the memory with a lingering delight – and so we are taught.

However, Ian Dewhirst, native of Keighley and pupil of Keighley Boys’ Grammar School, did not know what he wanted to become when he eventually graduated from the University of Manchester in 1958, with Honours in English. He was instead, directed towards librarianship by the National Service he undertook shortly following his graduation. Having already worked part-time for a mere 6 weeks in Keighley Public Library, the Army decided to make him a sergeant-instructor in the Royal Army Educational Corps and put him in charge of an army library at Deepcut on the Surrey/Hampshire border. He was Garrison Librarian no less, serving military personnel and families as well as civilians. Ian must have enjoyed the work, because he joined the library service in Keighley when he left the Army in 1960.

… and you see, here is where the other part of the legend begins, for Bradford Library Services’ staff and Yorkshire customers alike, that of Ian Dewhirst, the helpful, enthusiastic and enviably knowledgeable Reference Librarian who, in 2016, still bestrides Keighley Librarianship like a colossus. I can’t count the number of times I have been eagerly asked if Ian Dewhirst, the Librarian, is available and uncomfortably witnessed the looks of disappointment when I told them he was not and, I have to admit, that when new to both Keighley town and library, I did weary of yet another common comment, “Ian Dewhirst would have known…”, when I didn’t know, followed by that look of bewildered frustration when I also commented that Ian had long been retired. This was then followed by drooping shoulders, heavy sighs and knowing nods, from myself included. Where was this giant, this legend? I soon met the man and many times since have made a beeline for him myself to ask for advice, pointers or just plain “Help!” Always he has been patient, generous spirited, knowledgeable and yes, encouraging. If the Beatles had known of this guru, they would have written a different album, and maybe sported some book based fashions as well.

Ian puts his local history knowledge down to his ultimate employment as Reference Librarian in Keighley Library which had a growing local history collection, but also the fact that it dovetailed with his own love and enthusiasm for that subject. The one benefited the other. In the last 50 years, he has also made between 80-200 appearances a year all over the country, speaking about Keighley and Yorkshire history and literature, always with learned references to the wider national historical context and his wit and humour have even outclassed the likes of Jeremy Beadle when at the height of national popularity. Locally, he is affectionately known as Mr Keighley and has even seen his name on the side of a Northern Rail 158 diesel travelling the Airedale line and throughout the North for 4 years. Ian has written books, journal and newspaper articles and continues to write for the Keighley News with his informative Down Memory Lane slot and regularly appears on radio. For some time, he also appeared on ITV’s The Dales Diary, covering topics from Yorkshire history.

Ian has seen many changes in the library service over the years. He says that he worked during a “Golden Age” of librarianship when education was more essentially and enthusiastically library centred and book stock based and he has witnessed important developments brought about by the publication of controversial works such as Lady Chatterley, but the biggest change that still shocks him is that of the Internet and the proliferation of those machines in libraries. He still counts himself fortunate in that during his career, he was able to continue working, as he puts it, as basically, “…an Edwardian Reference Librarian“, but, probably because Ian continues not to be on Facebook and because we can’t get him by email, we continue to benefit from the comforting and inspiring presence in the flesh of this Keighley Library champion and for now, hurray for that! Happy 80^th year, Ian, and long may you continue to be a shining light on the actual pages of local history, Keighley’s in particular.

Gina Birdsall, Keighley Library

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Ian Dewhirst in 1967

TREASURE OF THE WEEK. No. 2 – A RAMBLE ON RUMBOLD’S MOOR

September 30, 2016February 13, 2018Bradford Libraries 2 Comments

In the basement of Bradford’s Local Studies Library are collections of nineteenth century pamphlets (and some of earlier date). Ranging from sermons and programmes of royal visits, to reports, articles, obituaries and regulations, they are a treasure-trove of local history. What follows is an account of one of these treasures. To consult any of these items please ask the staff. Card catalogues of these collections are located in the Local Studies Library.

JND 245/4 + 5 (Please quote this number if requesting these booklets)

C.F. and W.F. A Ramble on Rumbald’s Moor among the dwellings, cairns & circles of the Ancient Britons in the spring of 1868. Part II Counterhill & Castleberg.
20 pages. (Wakefield: W.T.Lamb, Printer and Publisher.)

C.F. and W.F. A Ramble on Rumbald’s Moor among the rocks, idols & altars of the Ancient Druids in the spring of 1869. Part III. 26 pages. (Wakefield: H.Kelly, Printer and Publisher.)

What delightful titles have these two pamphlets! Sadly the first of these three ‘parts’ is missing, though since only one hundred copies were printed this is no surprise. This, their age, and the fragile nature of the paper they were printed on, must make any remaining copies pretty scarce.

Our first pamphlet opens: “Who, after rambling among British dwellings, cairns and circles on that part of Rumbold’s Moor which extends from Burley Wood Head to Ilkley, could hear reports of Roman Camps on Counterhill and Castleberg, and not wish to visit them?” As indicated by the titles, these slim volumes give an account of early relics of past peoples, though an account of Addingham fills much of the first volume. A newspaper cutting inserted into the second volume here makes the point that the authors “drew attention to the sculptured rocks … recently discovered on Ilkley Moor.”

And who were C.F. and W.F.? A newspaper cutting inserted into the second volume here gives the authors as Charles Forest and William Grainge.

Charles Forest

Some of the early historians, or ‘antiquarians’ as they were often called, have a bad reputation for making unsubstantiated assertions and promoting theories in the face of contradicting evidence, but not C.F. and W.F., according to the newspaper account, an obituary of Forest. It makes the point that he was careful in his research, and the text of these pamphlets bears this out, for the authors were often critical of other antiquarians.

There are a number of line drawings. These pamphlets are an early account of these remarkable relics on the moors. Though do take care if using them, else these scarce ‘relics’ will crumble to dust, unlike the relics they describe!

Stackmole

Map of the Week: Allerton Stone Extraction

September 23, 2016September 23, 2016Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

The minerals exploited within Bradford were ironstone, coal, fireclay and sandstone. At one time there was also a small lime industry, in Bingley and elsewhere, based on the excavation of glacial limestone deposits brought by the ice from the Dales. After the Shipley to Skipton section of the Leeds-Liverpool canal was opened in 1774 there was a more direct means of access to the Skipton limestone quarries. Ice movements would presumably have left substantial quantities of hard stone on the surface. This would need to be removed before ploughing in any case, but in regions where drystone walls were the traditional field boundaries there must have been a ready use for such material. Elsewhere resistant outcrops of rock protruded through the top soil from which potential wall stone could be removed with a hammer or crow bar. On some common land, or waste, local people may have had the right to remove such surface stone deposits. In Northcliffe Wood in Shipley there are a number of undated shallow excavations by means of which a band of sandstone called Stanningley Rock was accessed.

In many parts of Yorkshire it would have been possible to rob a Roman fort or the ruin of a dissolved monastery to obtain building stone, but not here. In Bradford ‘delvers’ could obtain a good quality, honey coloured, sandstone. Quarrying is thought to have begun in this area in the seventeenth century and continued until the twentieth. The need for stone was perhaps greatest in the period 1860-1900 although the walls of many stone buildings in that era would have had an inner skin made from locally produced brick, which was cheaper. Stone winning processes are illustrated in these two plans of Allerton from the LSL’s reserve map collection.

The first plan is of Allerton Grange Quarry. The dated workings are from 1875-76. Towards the bottom of the plan you can see an extraction track. On the full map the track leads to Grange Lane. This name has been crossed out and ‘Dog Lane’ substituted in pencil. Dog Lane it remained until the post-war housing development of the area. The quarry seems to be marked as Upper Grange in the second OS map of the area (surveyed 1891). In 1905 a cricket pavilion was sitting on the site but by the 1930s it was fields again.

The second plan shows an area south of Allerton village & Allerton Road, east of Hill Top Lane and north of Dog Lane. An extensive area of stone exploitation is indicated which not present on the first or second OS maps, but is present on the 1908 map. This plan was drawn by J Hindle, a well-known Bradford surveyor in partnership at various times with Charles Gott and Thomas Dixon. It is undated but is probably from the last decade of the nineteenth century. The important feature is that this is a stone mine, not a quarry. You may just be able to make out four ‘old shafts’ and a single ‘present shaft’. The pink areas represent stone already won or ‘got’, and evidently the land-owner has imposed a strict boundary to the exploitation. Good stone was not infrequently mined. Recently I was shown round some old mining sites in Shropshire where limestone was obtained in this way.

What rock was exploited in Allerton? The local geological guides record Elland Flags being mined there. This is a sandstone stratum consisted of several bands of varying thickness and quality which were located under the Better Bed coal seam, itself extensively mined in south Bradford. The maps include no evidence of ownership although nearby Allerton Grange Farm was on Atkinson-Jowett land. Contemporary trade directories list many stone merchants situated in Allerton any of whom could have been involved with these sites.

Derek Barker, Local Studies Library Volunteer

Keighley’s Neglected Poet: a talk by Ian Dewhirst MBE

September 23, 2016September 23, 2016Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

To celebrate National Poetry Day on October 6th, well-known author and historian Ian Dewhirst MBE will be giving a talk ‘Gordon Bottomley, Keighley’s neglected poet and playwright’ in Keighley Local Studies library.

Born in Keighley in 1874, Gordon Bottomley was an important figure in the poetry movement before and during the First World War and one of the most influential literary figures to have been born in Keighley.

Over the years, Mr Dewhirst has made a special study of Gordon Bottomley, for whom he has a great deal of admiration, and we are fortunate that this renowned raconteur has agreed to share his knowledge in this unique talk to be held at Keighley Library.

The talk starts at 11.00am. Admission is free and all are welcome.

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Gordon Bottomley (1874-1948)
Keighley’s poet, writer, playwright, art collector

Gordon Bottomley is one of the most important literary figures to have been born in Keighley. Despite the limitations he faced in society due to illness, his cultural reach extended into the national arts scene including drama, poetry and fine art. As well as honorary degrees, Bottomley was a Fellow and Benson medallist of the Royal Society of Literature and Vice-president of the British Drama League. In 1994, a blue plaque, similar to those for famous London landmarks, was put up to mark the site of his birth in Keighley.

Born in 1874, the only child of Alfred Bottomley, a Keighley accountant and his wife Maria, a Scot, he was initially educated by his mother. He then attended the Keighley Trade and Grammar School, part of the Mechanics’ Institute building which later became Keighley Boys’ Grammar School. Gordon Bottomley credits the school as a major influence on his literary development and Keighley Library holds the records of the school which reveal to some extent the kind of education and facilities available.

At the age of 16, he became a junior clerk at the Craven Bank in Keighley. In 1891 he was transferred to the Bradford branch but ill health (haemorrhaging of the lungs) left him an invalid for long periods of time. When he was 18 years old, the family moved to Cartmel area on the Cumbria-Lancashire border. Bottomley stayed in the area for the rest of his life, moving to The Sheiling, in Silverdale near Carnforth in 1914 with his wife Emily. Here they entertained friends such as Paul Nash, the artist, and Edward Thomas, the poet, and his correspondence with both these influential men has since been published.

Gordon Bottomley began writing poetry in earnest in the 1890s and became a leading figure in the Georgian Poetry movement before, and during, WW1. He had seven collections of poetry published and his works appeared in anthologies of the time.
He was also a playwright, mainly of one-act verse plays and he also championed the experimental theatre of the 1930s. He loved art, and became a dedicated collector. Greatly influenced by William Morris and the Pre-Raphaelites, he acquired a nationally important collection which also included the work of influential contemporary artists such as Paul Nash, Stanley Spencer, William Nicholson and Bradford’s own Sir William Rothenstein. In 1949, he left over 600 paintings, drawings and prints to the Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery in Carlisle. Details of his collection are available in archive BK60.

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Keighley Local Studies Library Resources

Gordon Bottomley’s works are out of print now but Keighley Library has an important collection of his publications, photographs and published and original correspondence housed in the Library’s Yorkshire Authors’ Collection and in the archive.

The library also holds news cuttings and biographical articles, including some written by local historian and former Keighley Reference Librarian, Ian Dewhirst MBE.

A leaflet has also been produced outlining Gordon Bottomley’s life, works and original archive resources stored in Keighley Local Studies Library.

100 years since The Somme remembered at Eccleshill Library

September 20, 2016Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

Bradford Libraries World War One Blog

The next in the series of free events will take place in Eccleshill library.

Richard Coomber from the www.shipleyww1.org organisation will be at the library on Saturday 24^th September between 11.00am and 3.00pm with a database of local men who served in the First World War. Anyone who has photos or stories of family involved in WW1 is encouraged to bring them along on the day.

The event will launch a display in Eccleshill library commemorating the local men who were killed, missing or wounded in the Somme.

The display will run from 24^th September – 8^th October. It will include coverage of the First World War from the Shipley Times and Express from 1914-18. The research has been collated by www.shipleyww1.org.uk

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