New Town Heritage Trail for Keighley

June 12, 2024Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

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

History of Pubs and Breweries of Keighley

May 31, 2024Bradford Libraries 1 Comment

Keighley Local Studies Library
Saturday 1st June
2.30pm -4.30pm

Well-known Local historian Eddie Kelly will discuss some of Keighley’s lost pubs, and there will be an opportunity for visitors to examine Archives including maps, plans and photos, of old hostelries in the town.

The study of Keighley’s pubs, some of Keighley’s oldest buildings, in turn reveals the progress and development of the town’s history and growth.

For example, how a pub landlord set a train of developments that directly led to the education of two of England’s greatest historians, both locally born and educated, Lord Asa Briggs and Sir Herbert Butterfield
Find out which pub the Brontes stayed in, and which was the scene of a Christmas murder.

This is a free event. No need to book.

For more information, please telephone or email Keighley Local Studies Library, Telephone 01535 618215, Email keighleylocalstudies@bradford.gov.uk
Keighley Local Studies Library, 1st floor, Keighley Library, North Street, Keighley, BD21 3SX.

Bradford History Lunchtime Lectures: Stained Glass – An Illustrated Talk by Derek Barker

May 21, 2024Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

Thursday 23^rd May

Doors open at 1pm for a 1.15pm start. Free entry to all events. Booking 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.

Stained and painted glass has embellished places of worship since Anglo-Saxon times, but huge numbers of medieval glass windows were destroyed at the Reformation and during the English Civil War. The vigorous Victorian industry revived the practices and designs of medieval glass making to create a magnificent heritage of sacred and secular glass, with William Morris & Co. being only one of a group of gifted glass artists. Locally important glass can be seen at the Cathedral and many local parish churches such as Ilkley, Skipton and Haworth. Bradford Museums & Galleries deserve great praise for their curation and display of glass at Bolling Hall and Cliffe Castle, Keighley.

Men of Worth Project granted Heritage Lottery Funding

May 7, 2024May 7, 2024Bradford Libraries 1 Comment

Earlier this year ‘The Men of Worth Project’ was awarded a grant by the ‘National Lottery’s Heritage Fund’ for a wonderful project. The funding is to add more names to the Borough of Keighley Roll of Honour.

The Roll commemorates those that served and gave their lives in the First World War.

A fitting tribute, as this year Keighley will celebrate the centenary of the original book and of our wonderful Borough of Keighley War Memorial, which was unveiled in Keighley’s Town Hall Square on 7th December 1924, in a ceremony that was attended by several thousand people.

For the past 23 years, Keighley’s Men of Worth Project has researched local people who served the country in wartime. Over the years, Andy Wade and Ian Walkden and the project’s volunteers have worked hard, dedicating many hours to making sure that the stories of those who served are not forgotten.

The group share their expertise in many ways: from helping families research relatives, creating displays, attending commemorations and contributing many articles to the Keighley News. They are also regulars at the local shows and galas in and around Keighley and attend the Haworth 1940s weekend. The group have also been instrumental in saving local war memorials from destruction.

You can find out more about their work on their website at www.menofworth.org.uk and they now also have a whole area dedicated to researching local women who served during wartime.

In 2021 the project received the ‘Queen’s Award’ for voluntary service, an honour that marked the group’s dedication to research and many years helping people from all over the world.

The library has fully supported the lottery funding bid and has worked with the Men of Worth Project over many years, the group have hosted many exhibitions in the library and attended our local and family history open days each year.

Keighley library has had the honour of holding the beautiful original Roll of Honour since it was handed to the library in December 1924. In 1998, Bradford Council facilitated the creation of a Supplementary Volume, after a successful campaign by the relative of Private Henry MacDonald, so that his name could be added to the Roll. MacDonald was shot at Dawn in 1916 for cowardice but was later pardoned in 2006 along with over 300 other British and commonwealth soldiers who had also suffered a similar fate.

The Supplementary Volume was created with room to add many more names and after many years of research the Men of Worth have gathered a list of over 100 names of potential candidates to be added. Lottery funding has enabled an independent panel of local people to decide on each candidate and their merit for adding to the Roll. So that now 100 years on these forgotten names, names that did not get added for a variety of reasons, will finally be added to the Keighley Roll of Honour.

The project will culminate with an event this Autumn to mark this important centenary and an unveiling of the updated roll, with copies of the roll of honour to be sent to local schools and groups.

Over the next few months, we will be featuring some of the Men of Worth’s blog posts on the project as well as some of the biographies of the people who will be added to the roll of honour.

Angela Speight, Keighley Local Studies & Archives Assistant

Lunchtime Lectures – ‘Book Treasures in Local Studies’

April 23, 2024Bradford Libraries Leave a comment

These talks are given by members of FoBALS (Friends of Bradford Archives & Local Studies) with Bradford Local Studies Library and West Yorkshire Archives Bradford.

‘Book Treasures in Local Studies’ – an illustrated talk by Bob Duckett
Thursday 25th April
Doors open at 1pm for a 1.15pm start. Free entry to all events. Booking essential.

The Bradford ‘Free’ Library was established in 1872 and from the start efforts were made to collect books and other items of local interest and the collections have developed over many years. Come along and hear Bob speak about some of the ‘Treasures’ from these collections. There will be the opportunity to view some of these items on display.

Bob Duckett is widely known as Bradford’s Reference Librarian before retirement. Since retirement Bob has been a volunteer in a number of libraries including Bradford Local Studies Library.

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.