BRIGHOUSE & DISTRICT Heritage Newseum Issue 22 Autumn 2023 Edited and Published by Chris Helme
To celebrate the Millennium many organisations large and small created a once in a lifetime Millennium calendar. Many schools also created their own versions as a fund-raising effort and amongst local schools it included Lightcliffe C of E Primary School. The school calendars all seem to follow a similar design with a different class for each of the months of the year. This being our September issue here is the Lightcliffe CE (VA) Primary School (as it was then called) class representing that month. Unfortunately, it does not give any names of the children. It is likely they will now be about 30 years old. With some of them no doubt still living in the local area we would be interested to hear from any of them to ascertain who they posed with for this photograph on that special day. All the pages were sponsored by local businesses and September was kindly supported by Andrew Thornton Ophthalmic Opticians (now trading as Thornton Optometry & Co) at Hipperholme. The page was also supported by B.J.Fearnley, Photography, a very familiar and respected name in Calderdale. © Christopher D. Helme (2023), Tower House, Holme Mews, Wakefield Road, Lightcliffe, Halifax, West Yorkshire HX3 8TY. This publication is copyright and apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of study, research, criticism, review or as otherwise permitted under the Copyright Act, no part including text and/or photographs and/or other images may be reproduced by any process without written permission. All enquiries and payments should be directed to the author and publisher. Frontispiece: This is the Bailiff Bridge Brighouse Gala float in the late 1990s in Bradford Road with the theme about flooding in Bailiff Bridge. Looking at the dates on the float they have certainly done their homework. The earliest flood I have seen references to is the one in 1753, when the bridge across the beck was washed away. The big question then was who was to pay for a replacement should it be the local people? On one side it was Hipperholme-cum-Brighouse residents and on the other it was the residents of Hartshead-cum- Clifton. Or possibly payment by the trustees of the Turnpike Road (now Wakefield Road the A649) which on its route travelled through Hipperholme and then through Bailiff Bridge, as it had done since 1741. The road from Odsal through Bailiff Bridge and on to Brighouse was not constructed as a Turnpike Road until 1823. The final decision was that the trustees would pay and recoup the money through the toll charges they would collect.
1 BRIGHOUSE & DISTRICT HERITAGE NEWSEUM Remember to look at our website where you can also contact the editor and you are able to purchase various local books, including some that are no longer in print, through the online shop, where PayPal is available: www.chrishelme-brighouse.org.uk Issue 22 Autumn 2023 Chris Helme Welcome to the Autumn edition of the Newseum. In this issue we have another varied and eclectic mix of stories and photographs. Can you remember the days before store cards? Back to the Co-op Divi days when it was a must to tell the Co-op cashier your Co-op number. As a child it was etched into our memory – 14910, forget it at your peril. We continue with our guide to getting started into local history research, in this issue books are the subject. Looking at eBay over the last few weeks has highlighted a few local history gems and we share the background story to some of the more interesting items. We are also looking at some of the families which made a difference to Brighouse and the surrounding area; this is in respect to the land sales they had in the 18th and 19th centuries. Homes at St Martin’s View were built in between the late 1960s and early 70s, but what was there before them? A trip to Southowram looks at the Methodist Church which was sold and redeveloped as apartments. To close this issue the distinctive furniture business of Websters on Commercial Street comes under the spotlight. It is a Brighouse business which started in 1865. If you have a story to tell or a photograph you would like to share with other readers, please contact me on 07854-755756 or by email: [email protected] We have lots more for you to enjoy. 1 Notes from the Editor. 2 The Band of Hope. 4 Store cards not required. 5. Memories of Lower Briggate. 6 The Glory days at St Chad’s - 1955. 7 Where have all the characters gone? 8 Special days at St Joseph’s School. 9 Getting started in local history - part 2. 10 End of an era at Bailiff Bridge. 11 The annual outing. 12 Granny Hall and Pond Quarries. 13 Beside the seaside 1950s. 14 Brighouse a West Riding mill town. 15 New homes for old on Waterloo Road. 16 Mole and Mr Toad come to visit. 17 Notes from the council chamber 1916 /17. 18 Another eBay gem. 19 Memories from the Co-op are very collectable. 20 Families that left their mark on the town pt 1 21 Looking back at St Martin’s View. 22 Southowram Wesleyan Methodists. 23 Websters the oldest retail business in town. PLEASE NOTE — The magazine is now available for sale at the Rastrick Paper Shop on Church Street, Rastrick. We are grateful for the support the shop is giving to the magazine.
2 Looking back to the late 19th and early 20th century Brighouse was over run with pubs and beerhouses, a subject I have covered on many occasions. Once a law had been passed that almost anybody could open a beerhouse both the town centre and the outer districts were awash with ale in more than 100 beerhouses/pubs which existed during that time. With little or no control over the beerhouses and the only quality control being whether a customer called for a drink more than once, it leaves little to the imagination how many cases of drunkenness the courts must have dealt with. With the courts dealing with the consequences of drink on the one hand and the temperance movement attacking the drink trade from another, it seemed nothing could stem some people’s insatiable appetite for what many others called the demon drink. Judging by the current media reports on this same subject we now seemed to have come around full circle. Brighouse joined the temperance movement (this began in 1826) by opening a branch in 1863. Persuasion was the way the Brighouse members tried to get their message over. There were regular debates on the subject and one in particular hit the headlines in 1894, when J.S.Jowett of the Brighouse News debated at Clifton that '…Universal teetotalism under the present commercial system improves man's social condition…' - the opposing view being put forward by J. Pickersgill on behalf of the ILP (Independent Labour Party). They argued that if men stopped drinking it would make little difference to their social condition. Mind you the ILP was not advocating everybody should take to the bottle. When they moved into their new premises in Bradford Road they made sure that there was no beer on sale and it was suggested that when the Rastrick branch of the ILP were about to open their new premises no beer should be on sale there either. The Band of Hope was first proposed by the Rev Jabez Tunnicliff, a Baptist minister in Leeds. The proposal was owing to a death in June 1847 of a young man whose life had been cut short by alcohol. Whilst working in Leeds, Tunnicliff had become an advocate for total abstinence from alcohol. In the autumn of 1847, with the help of other temperance workers, including Anne Jane Carlile, the Band of Hope was founded. Its objective was to educate children of the importance and principles of sobriety and teetotalism. In 1855, a national organisation was formed amidst an explosion of Band of Hope work. Meetings were held in churches throughout the UK and included Christian teaching. It was not only the temperance movement that was trying to get the message across. Attached to many of the nonconformist churches were Bands of Hope, which met regularly to encourage children to sign the pledge. This is the New Road Sunday School Band of Hope Queen Margaret Scotcher, c1956. Margaret, now Mrs Margaret North, is living in Lincolnshire and well remembers that day. The photo was taken in the garden of Arthur Reeve JP, who had been the M a y o r o f Brighouse 1933-35. The Temperance movement comes to Brighouse A Band of Hope membership card dated November 15, 1908, in the name of Alice Marsden. She was born in Lightcliffe April 7, 1901, and was the daughter of John William and Lydia Marsden. She was baptised at the Ebenezer Chapel, Bailiff Bridge, on June 2, 1901.
3 The temperance movement held an annual gathering on Shrove Tuesday in the Town Hall and an even larger gathering on Whit-Monday on Harry Castle Hill when well over 1,000 supporters attended. Park Chapel formed its Band of Hope Society in 1870, which attracted some members of St Paul's Church to join Park in 1881. The group was very active right up until the First World War, then like many other groups and societies in the town membership began to fall away. This branch finally ceased to meet in 1928, much to the regret of the church members. New Road Side Sunday School was not far behind Park in starting their Band of Hope in 1872 with 217 members. Within 12 months this number had risen to over 300 but within a few months they had to close it down. In 1882 it was decided to have another go and immediately it went from strength to strength. In later years it was a regular sight to see them with a float in the Brighouse Gala and it sponsored countless children who went to the Yorkshire Band of Hope Children's Annual Camp. All the Band of Hope branches would have a stall at the church’s annual bazaars and other fund-raising efforts. The Rastrick Church Grand Bazaar was held on 7,8,and 9 November, 1895, in the town centre at Brighouse Town Hall. We have no details what this event raised but even with this Band of Hope stall worked by its 14 stall holders the whole event should have done well. As the years went by it was apparent to many that the temperance movement’s efforts were largely falling on deaf ears. Membership gradually fell with meetings generally lacking support. Memorable moments from our history Some readers may have tucked away in the dark corners of a drawer or cupboard one of the old Brighouse Echo Almanacks. These are small publications that give details of a year’s major events along with people, businesses and general local history. Just when these actually started and when they finished no one seems to know but the ones I have date from the late 1890s to the early 1920s. They all make fascinating reading. Glancing through the almanack published in 1900, there is a month by month chronological catalogue of memorable events in and around the town. It also covers many events before 1900 as well. For example the date of the first Telegraph Office opening in Brighouse on February 1,1859 at the railway station. On January 27,1900, Brighouse Lieutenant R.E.Sugden along with Sergeant Hemingway of Elland and nine other Brighouse volunteers set sail from Liverpool docks for the Cape, South Africa, to take part in the Second Boer War (1899 - 1902). On February 10, 1863, Brighouse was made a polling district. A steeplechase took place in Bailiff Bridge involving the Yeomanry Cavalry on February 27, 1844. One of the things that all these almanacks highlight are the number of fires, particularly those at large mills. Some of them include Grove Mills on January 4, 1880, Leopold Works on March 24, 1886 and Wilkin Royd Mill September 12, 1887. By far the worst fire during the 1890s was at Sugden’s Flour Mill on August 14, 1895, when damage costs were estimated to be more than £20,000. With only the volunteer fire fighters until the Borough Council formed their own Fire Brigade there was very little the volunteers could do apart from trying to stop the fire jumping across to another mill. If you have one of these almanacks whilst it will not be that valuable monetary wise, but for interest and research aspects they are priceless and rarely come up for sale.
4 Store cards not required Whilst most old soldiers would have never forgotten their war time service number. The kids of the 50s and 60s, the number we had to remember was the Co-op dividend number. 'Don't forget the cash number,' my mother would always say and off I would go saying to myself 14910; you dare not forget it, or else. Back in those days when it was always referred to as the Co-op divi, the divi money which was paid out once maybe twice a year often paid for those extras that normally many families would not be able to afford. In some cases it paid for a day out in the summer, perhaps the only holiday many would have. Whilst to others it was the time of the year when a few debts could be paid off or a few new clothes bought for the children. Shopping in those days didn't involve a regular trek to a Supermarket but more of a dash to the local branch of the Co-op. That was often a daily or every other day thing. You didn't have enough money in those days to go and buy a trolley load. From its founding in 1856 the Brighouse Co-op rapidly expanded throughout the outer districts. Now a days these outer district branches have all faded into the history books. Gradually the branches and every district in the Brighouse area had one and were either sold off as either unprofitable or a means of expanding the more central stores or expanding into other areas such as petrol filling stations or garages. As shoppers became better off they found it more convenient to visit the supermarket in town or to what is often called the out-of-town sheds sometimes in the middle of nowhere. This is where you get thousands of people all moving in one direction, on some days it is so hot you can hardly breath. With so many people the cafe staff cannot clean tables fast enough and of course if you just wanted to sit down for a breather it had to be on the floor because there were few other seats in the place. One thought that flashed through my mind was what if there was a fire, could we all get out of the fire exits fast enough. There must be a limit to the number of people that these places can take at once. Not a place I wish to visit too often but if you manage to pick the right time and the right day it will probably be better but check where the exits are. The corner shop was gradually seen off by the in-town supermarket. Naturally, the corner shop owner saw his livelihood threatened when these began to appear. It would now seem that many in town supermarkets are suffering the same fate by being threatened by the out of town shed. A number of the old Co-op branches have been converted for other uses; anything from carpet warehouses, privately owned shops and even for a religious use. Over the doorway at many of the old Co-op branches is the familiar sight of the beehive - 'As busy as a bee,' an appropriate logo for a business that did so much for so many, particularly at the time when so many had so little. Hove Edge Co-op branch number nine in 1899. This was opened on April 25, 1881, at the corner of Halifax Road and Half House Lane. It is now used by an accountancy business company Norwood Green Co-op branch which opened on January 16, 1888. Once it was closed it was a small convenience store but that too was sold off and is n ow a private house.
5 Memories of Lower Briggate Lower Briggate has changed since these photographs were taken but when were they taken? Come on you motor car enthusiasts one of you will be able to identify the vehicles in the second photograph and work out the dates for us. On the right - hand side is the Black Swan, or Mucky Duck as it w a s o f t e n referred to by the regulars. If you look carefully you can still see that it has three storeys (lower photograph). It would be not long after this photograph was taken that Roy Townson, the Owler Ings builder, was contacted to take off the top floor and lower the roof. Probably some readers can remember when many of our local organisations held their annual Christmas dinner there. Can anyone remember the Brighouse Cage Bird and Fanciers Society having their annual get together at what was once a popular venue for local groups. Things have changed even more across the road. Can anyone remember 72, Briggate, better known as ‘The Bow Window’? A place that was originally opened in 1865 by a lady known as ‘Sausage Sarah’ and a place that is etched into the annuals of our town centre’s history. Sarah quickly established the business and went on to gain a reputation par-excellence for her home cooked peas and sausage. This was without doubt Brighouse’s first Take-Away. It went on to be owned by the Stake family and remained with them until it closed more than 40 years ago. The top photograph is taken from the corner of Daisy Street looking diagonally across Briggate – all the property on the left was to be swept away to create the present-day car park. Part of the property that was demolished was on the site of Daisy Croft cottages, which in the 1890s was the centre of a major police investigation when a small child discovered skeletal remains in his grandmother’s attic. Happily, it all turned out for the best in the end and was more of a joke than anything more sinister. Apparently almost a century earlier a local doctor had lived at the house and part of it was used as his surgery. Some of the elderly people of the time could remember stories being told about him how he would scare his then elderly patients with the skeleton being laid out under a cover in his examination room. The shock of seeing the bones must have almost given a few of the older patients almost heart attacks. Just who the lady is standing on the corner of Daisy Street and Briggate remains a bit of a mystery, Briggate looking up towards the Anchor Bridge. This is dated post 1907 as the assembly rooms are visible and celebrated their centenary in 2007. Another view of Briggate - note the change on the bottom left corner. Also it is interesting to see that the Black Swan (now Millers Bar) is still one floor higher than it is today and its canal side garden area was once the Co-op canal coal yard.
6 Glory days at St Chad’s but she is looking directly across the road at something. Some 60 years ago, on the side of the road where she is looking stood some old cottages. In the early 1960s they were swept away and replaced by Sugden’s new grain silos. Outside the building above the Black Swan is a flat back wagon which is waiting to be loaded from the side of the large building. On the other side of the building was the canal and goods would be unloaded directly from barges into this warehouse. Once the goods had been unloaded they would then be stored until a delivery was required and then loaded on to wagons and delivered to customers throughout the Borough. Just when that property was demolished I cannot say but now it is a nice, gardened area. It is likely that the car on the left is parked outside the Assembly Rooms, premises which celebrated its centenary in 2006. Then it is over Anchor Bridge and into the town centre. Here we have just a small piece of Brighouse that has changed almost beyond recognition in the last 60 years. Many people drive and walk daily passed these properties and may not have noticed some of these changes. There are three cars in the photograph, did any of them belong to you or your family and can anyone identify the lady stood on the corner? With another football season having just started no doubt there will be plenty of highs and lows to come. But 68 years ago, there was high drama being played out in the Ashlar Cup final of 1955. St Chad’s Junior School took on Lightcliffe in the prestigious schools football competition of the time. As with most school football finals in those days the drama was played out on the Waterloo playing fields. This was a playing field that had witnessed competitive matches of high drama dating back to the nineteenth century when the old Brighouse Rangers fought many a battle on those same fields. As the full -time whistle was sounding Tony Walker had scored the only goal giving St Chad’s the honour of being cup winners for that year. This photograph shows the St Chad’s team not at the Waterloo ground on the cup final day but the week after when they played Longroyd School. The team includes, back row from the left : Geoffrey Collins; David Read; Leonard Stoker; Peter Higson; Adrian Tankard; Richard Webb and reserve team member Robin Sugden. Front Row: John Helliwell; Alwyn Wright, Philip Webb; David Barraclough and the goal scorer Tony Walker. It’s a few years since these lads ran the full length of a football pitch, although I do hear that some of them in their later years had got more used to striding out, be it a little more sedately, down the fairways. But whatever they have done I am sure they will never have forgotten that Spring day 68 years ago when they were top of their Premier League. What ever b ec ame of Tidswell’s, another business that was also down in Briggate? The Assembly Rooms in 1943, with the ‘Bow Window’ just showing on the left and the Anchor Inn (now called the Bridge Inn) on the right.
7 Where have all the characters gone? Most police officers can remember the days when mothers would threaten their children with: 'If you don't behave I'll get the policeman to take you away...' I cringe at the very thought of it, and I know I used to tell a few parents off for using me as the bogeyman. I was told if you get lost always look for the policeman, he will help you. Now, which child will do that if they have been told by their parents that if you don't behave the same policeman will take you away and lock you up. If you were not one of those parents perhaps an earlier generation of parents used someone else as the bogeyman. I remember standing in Hipperholme with a few friends during the 1950s and seeing a man, a tramp like figure, walking slowly up Kirk Lane. 'Come on quick its Bull Pratt, he'll get you and eat you...' As a youngster I had heard mention of this person called Bull Pratt before but had never seen him. Once seen and you were left in no doubt he was a scary character. But just who was Bull Pratt ? Did he actually exist or was he just another person used by parents as the bogeyman? A little bit of research highlighted that he did actually exist, but just who was he. His real name was James Pratt but he was better known as Bull Pratt. He would often be seen walking towards Hipperholme from the direction of Stump Cross and Lower Brear. He would not be wearing any shoes or socks, and as soon as he was spotted the cry would go up, 'Look out, here comes Bull Pratt'. Within seconds every young lad in listening distance of those words would run and hide. He would openly brag that it would take two of the finest from Halifax Borough Police to take him down. It is documented that on one occasion he held a young lad by the legs over the parapet of North Bridge threatening to drop him down to his death in the railway goods yard below if the police came any nearer. James (Bull) Pratt was born in Skipton c1850 and was certainly a character. Yes, he would frighten children and their mothers. On more than one occasion he would snatch a child from the arms of its mother, driving her to near hysteria. To have a child snatched by this bearded, bare footed, tramp like character in the middle of a town centre, the mothers’ screams would be heard by every policeman within earshot and they would hasten to get to the source of the din On one occasion when he did it and the mother screamed, whilst not apologising he quickly handed the child back, complete with a bag of sweets. A witness to this event said that in his opinion Bull was not aware that he was causing distress and that in his strange way he wanted to be nice to people. During the summer months he would often be found on Beacon Hill asleep under the shade of a tree from the summer sun. James (Bull) Pratt died on the 17 March 1918, aged 68 in Menston Hospital. This was opened in 1888 as the West Riding Pauper Lunatic Asylum and was later called High Royds Hospital, it closed in 2003. He was interred in an unmarked grave at Stoney Royd Cemetery in Halifax. Having done this research it is clear that the figure we saw walking slowly up Kirk Lane was not the real Bull Pratt, but a name given to anyone that looked unkempt and acted a little bit strange, then used by parents as the childrens bogyman. But there were others including Bradford George, there must have been something about appearance as well. Particularly if you weren't that well turned out ‘Well ya look like Bradford George.’ Then there was Ovenden Grunt, Little George, Tabby Oggy and Billy Fish, these were all well known in Halifax. We had them in the Brighouse area as well: ‘Ab Nutter’ was probably the biggest character of them all and some readers may have read about him before. He came to Brighouse in 1862 and worked at the Atlas cotton mill.
8 In the evenings and Saturday afternoons he went around the town centre streets, cricket, rugby, and football matches selling what became his trade mark, sausages, ‘...Legs of mutton without bones..’ was his familiar cry as he went round the touchline and boundary. Then there was ‘Scrambling Jack.’ He was from Rastrick. His real name was John Bottomley, and he was apprenticed to painter and decorator Marshall Turner. He was never destined to be the best painter or decorator, and it was said that he thought the job was boring. He had dreams like everyone else about what he would like to do and for him that was a steeplejack. Well, that dream did come true, and it was said there were no mill chimneys in Brighouse he could not climb. One of the most memorable climbs he had was at Jonathan Stott’s which sat alongside the canal. Once at the top and for the benefit of the gathered crowds that always turned out to watch him he stood on his head at the top. His later death was through a self inflicted gun shot. ’Funeral Sam.’ now there is a name to conjure with. He would turn up at funerals of people he did not know just because he liked funerals. He would even take time off work just to turn up at them. Records don’t show whether he was invited to the ’ham tea’ at these funerals. ‘Unfinished Jack’ was a hawker of muffins and cakes and lived at Bridge End. He had flat feet which the story goes was caused by falling off a mill chimney and landing on his feet. He always maintained that if he was to ever build a chimney it would be built horizontal lying on the ground and once it was completed it would then be reared up. The books of Ralph Wade (Rowan) have helped to keep these almost forgotten characters in the Brighouse psyche. But where and who are the characters of today? To be recognised as a character you have to be different and perhaps society does not like that anymore. Looking back to our own school days can you remember those annual school trips that all schools had. A chance to get away from school on what might have been a seven-day trip to Switzerland, as they did at the old Brighouse Girls Grammar School in the 1950s. Or a day out to Chester Zoo from Lightcliffe C of E Primary School and that was on a train from Lightcliffe Railway Station. Other activities nearer home that got you away from the day-to-day lessons included a trip to the Savoy Cinema (which closed for films on July 4, 1959, and is now the Brighouse Civic Hall). The children at St Joseph’s Catholic School went to see an educational film on Antarctic Exploration at the Savoy. Looking back to the early post Second World War days and the early 1950s, the children at St Joseph’s also went to Waring Green Community Centre to watch a puppet show and visited road safety exhibitions. Here is a 1952 class photograph from St Joseph’s when many of these children would have been at both events at the Savoy and Waring Green. On the back row ,from the left: C. Stansfield, M. Kelley, I. Moroney, M. Killduff, J. Foran, Unknown, D. Houlahan and Unknown. Middle row R. Moffat, P. Griffin, ? Marsh, C.Allison, P. King, G.Dunne, Unknown and P.McKelvey. Front row ? Braithwaite, C. Collins, P. Costello, K. Johnson, P. Gorman, P. Crawshaw and J. Prest. If any of these children are still around in Brighouse now they are likely to be about to or have celebrated their Octogintennial 80th birthday. On September 4, 1961, St Joseph’s opened their much-needed new school at Finkil Street, Hove Edge. Ab Nutter the legs of mutton man. Happy days - St Joseph’s Catholic School
9 Getting started in local history - part 2 In the last issue I outlined some of the things to do if you wanted to get involved researching your own local history. Here are some more to help with your new hobby. Books, that is a good way to start, not just the new local history books such as my own but try to get the older ones that went out of print many years ago. For example, on Amazon (7.08.2023) is a book written by Sydney Arthur Leleux titled Brookes' Industrial Railways which was published in 1972. It is for sale at the very modest price of £12 plus postage. It is only 50 years old but from its limited print run all those years ago it is rare soft backed book to find. My first local history book was Reginald Mitchell’s Brighouse: Portrait of a Town - £2 at a Flea Market. These days that book and his follow up book Birth and Death of a Borough when in good condition can command much higher prices than the £3.75 when new. I will be putting a list of books on my website with the kind of prices they sell for - www.chrishelme-brighouse.org.uk Then there are those chance find books. One I bought for £5, having been reduced from £7.50 is Sections of Strata of the Coal Measures of Yorkshire. This was published in 1927 and gives the details of almost all the coal mines in Yorkshire up to that time and importantly all the ones in the Brighouse area, Another gem of a find in a second book shop is The Monumental and other Inscriptions in Halifax Parish Church, published in 1909. I quickly realised not to look for local history books of this area here, they will often be very expensive. Another good buy was a Brighouse book I bought in Whitby for £3, who wants Brighouse books in Whitby, obviously no one hence it was very cheap. Charity shops are often a good place for local history books but not your local shops. Charity shops now appreciate that they too can sell things on eBay such as books. A call I received from a charity shop in Leicester highlights that. The shop manager contacted me and described a book that had come into the shop w i t h B r i g h o u s e connections. It was a leather-bound book of all the Bridge End Congregational Church ’Monthly Messenger’ church magazines from 1927 through to 1939, which covered the time when the Rev Albert Banton was the minister. Why it should turn up in Leicester the manager had no idea. But we discussed a price we were both happy with, including the postage and packaging and the book has come back to Brighouse. Books that are extremely rare are those old committee meeting Minute Books of local organisations that closed down many years ago. These do tend to turn up in the strangest of locations. A box that was destined for the tip many years ago, the owner as an after-thought gave it to me, had in a dark corner a small note book. It was the first minute book of the newly formed Brighouse Mechanic’s Institute (1846). Whilst it was falling apart I quickly got it bound and now it is perfect. Keep an eye open for those local history gems that are gathering dust in the dark corner of book shop sale boxes. You never know what you might find.
10 The Stray War Memorial End of an era at Bailiff Bridge The Hipperholme Urban District Council wanted to ensure that local people would remember all service personnel who died during the 1st World War. The memorial in The Stray at Lightcliffe was officially unveiled on September 9, 1923. This image shows the memorial before the official unveiling took place. The Union Jack flag can still be seen. Other memorials in and around Brighouse had already been officially dedicated and this was one of the last. I will be reporting more about that day 100 years ago in the next issue. . A new book about The Stray and the Memorial has been researched in depth by local writer and local historian Bob Horne, who kindly wrote the Lightcliffe Cricket Club story in our last issue. The book will detail the history of the site before the memorial was even considered through to September 9 , 1 92 3, wh e n it was unveiled. The memorial commemorates the 110 villagers who lost their lives in the First World War. The book has 160 pages and over 120 illustrations, the book is priced at £15 and is available from Harrison Lord (Brighouse), The Book Corner (The Piece Hall, Halifax), Hipperholme News, Lightcliffe Tea Rooms and Hipperholme Post Office. Postage and packaging £2.80 (UK only) for overseas please enquire through the Lightcliffe and District Local History Society https://www.lightcliffehistory.org.uk/ If you asked the people of Bailiff Bridge ‘When did the old Post office close down’, I am sure you would receive a number of different answers. Perhaps just a few years, some might say, but what does that mean? Others might say six may be seven years ago, then you might get the odd one that takes a guesstimate at it being 10 years. The Bailiff Bridge Post office at 1, New Street closed on April 8, 2014. The postmaster to close the door for the last time was Jaswinder Singh Shergill. Jaswinder, or Jas as many of his customers called him, arrived at the post office in 2001 after being made redundant as an electrical engineer. Out of work he decided to strike out into the world of the self-employed. Having always been in work he was determined with his strong work ethic that he wanted to be sure to find the right business for him. For the next 13 years he was the helpful friendly face of the Post Office and during that time got to know his regulars very well During his time at Bailiff Bridge, he was ill and was grateful for all the good will and best wishes for a speedy recovery he received from so many of his customers. As his time at the Post Office came to an end I did ask him what he intended to do. He replied after a few moments thought that he was hopefully taking up the game of bowls and maybe even golf. The post office had been on the New Street site for more than 100 years and following its closure it w a s i n c o r p o r a t e d i n t h e C o s t C u t t e r convenience store on Co-operative Buildings..
11 March 25, 1840, the Union Workhouse, Halifax was opened. This meant that all the Township’s Workhouses closed down, which included the one at Hipperholme– cum-Brighouse which was at Bottom Hall, Till Carr, Lightcliffe. October 18-19, 1919, Jubilee celebrations were held at the Crowtrees United Methodist Church in Crowtrees Lane, Rastrick. October 6, 1919, The Medical Officer of Hipperholme Urban District Council Dr. J. Aspinall Marsden, retired from civilian practice to take up a military position in the South of England. He was born in 1861 in Surrey and studied at Guy’s Hospital. He came to Hipperholme / Lightcliffe where he held various positions and was a founder member of the Lightcliffe Lodge of Freemasons. He died on January 19, 1932, in Surrey. Events The annual outing January 27, 1900, Yeomanry, which included Sergeant Hemingway of Elland and Richard Sugden of Brighouse, sail from Liverpool to the Cape, South Africa. May 1, 1892, an outbreak of smallpox was diagnosed in Clifton. July 5, 1876, the last sermon was preached at the old Chapel in Bethel Street before It was demolished. Following a public inquiry in 1959 about the land at Highmoor Lane, which had been the home of Clifton cricket, tennis, and bowling clubs, the inquiry came down on the side to build housing. These were built on Highmoor Lane from 1965 to 1967; Kiln Fold 1968 to 1969; and on Ashgrove, Clifton Common; 1969 to 1971. November 11, 1883 , a disastrous storm was so bad that it blew down Bailiff Bridge railway station. Events Whatever age you are there is always something a bit special about an annual summer trip. Or as they used to call it at Sunday school ‘The Annual Summer Treat.’ Here we have three groups who are all going on their annual treat. If you can recognise anyone please let us know. St Andrew's School children boarding a bus having just arrived at Liverpool Station for their annual school trip - 1960. 5th Rastrick Brownies on a trip to Howarth on Monday - July 3, 1995. Brighouse Mother’s Union annual trip, Wednesday September 4, 1957. Happy smiling faces and not one is without a hat. They are stood at the top of Spring Street about to get on a Davison’s coach to Southport.
12 Granny Hall and Pond Quarries The Granny Hall and Pond quarries were owned by Farrar’s Ltd (1906) and originally covered an area of about 30 acres. They were first started in 1874 but it was not until 1886 when they had been developed to such an extent that it was deemed advisable to change the fledgling company into a limited business to establish it on a wider base and give a better hand on the day-to-day management developing the site. The company delivered stone throughout the UK and to a number of locations overseas and they employed a workforce of 150. The quarries made blocks, kerbs, edging flags, coping stones, and landings, all supplied either self-faced, tooled, or polished. The company’s polishing mills were down Mill Lane, close to the town centre. In 1891 their stone was tested by David Kirkaldy and Sons (testing and experimenting works) with a result that the highest crushing stress in Yorkshire was achieved for Hard York Stone. The scores of men working in the deepest parts of the quarries (120ft deep - 36.5 metres) were all using the latest in quarrying tools and machinery, cutting and splitting the stone ready for bringing to the surface using very powerful steam cranes. The banks (surface working areas) were regularly packed with hewn slabs and blocks of all sizes. This meant the roads leading out of the quarries were packed with heavy laden drays a nd wag g o ns conveying the stone to both the railway station and to the canal wharves at the canal basin. These wharves were often referred to as inland ports. The Pond Quarry ceased working in c1942. Nearby is the site of Broomfield Quarry which is now filled in and is a greenfield area. This quarry was opened c1900 and closed in c1933. From available records it seems Farrar’s who owned the quarries started their business in 1830 in Bradford and Southowram, w h e r e t h e i r registered company office was. The two quarries have been identified as sites for possible re-development for housing. Whether that will happen only time will tell. Pond quarry, Granny Hall Road, with Springfield Grove in the distance. It has been estimated it needs approximately 100,000 cubic metres of material to be delivered to the site in order to level it out ready for development. Pond quarry and the former Broomfield quarry. With Broomfield quarry having closed c1933 it would be an expensive proposition to make it ready to build on. Pond quarry could take years to just fill before any building could take place.
13 Beside the seaside in the 1950s Now, were you in Blackpool during the mid -1950s? Many readers will I am sure remember those days – the days when the ‘Echo’ would announce which east or west coast holiday resort their roving reporter would be visiting the following week. This photo which dates back to c1954 was taken on the steps leading up to the ‘Flying Chair’ ride at the Blackpool Pleasure Beach. An amusement park which was opened in 1896. I t h a d b e e n announced in the ‘Echo’ the week before that their reporter and in this case a very youthful Jimmy Britton, would be at the ride for 3.30pm. If any Brighouse folk were holidaying in Blackpool he would be pleased to see them at the ride for a report about their h o l i d a y a n d t h e opportunity of taking a holiday snap for the following week ’s newspaper. This photograph was kindly loaned by Barry and Christine Marshall of Bailiff Bridge almost 20 years ago. Back in the 1950s Barry’s future wife Christine Brindle lived in Bailiff Bridge and he lived in Rastrick. This group of holiday makers including Barry and Christine are posing at the side of the ‘Flying Chair’ where the Echo reporter caught them all on camera. Other than the fact the group were on holiday in Blackpool at the same time they had nothing in common with each other except meeting at the ‘Flying Chair’ at the appointed time. Perhaps members of your family were one of those in Blackpool at the same time as Barry and Christine (they are the couple in the foreground standing next to the two small children) on holiday in 1954. If they were please let us know and look out for any old Box Brownie photos you would like to share with the readers. More local gems from eBay It is truly amazing some of the gems of local history that regularly turn up on eBay, the internet auction website. I have been buying and selling things there for many years. Here are just some items I have seen recently. The first is a swimming lifesaving medal which was presented to Wilson Sumner in 1928 by the Brighouse Education Committee. This photo of the medal was actually sent to me by the seller, not asking if I was interested in buying it but could I help with any information about the recipient Wilson Sumner. My research so far says that he was born in Brighouse in 1915 and was the son of Harry Sumner who was 23 when Wilson was born, his mother Polly nee Settle. Wilson was one of five children: Jack 1913-1987; Eric 1918-1974; Reggie 1919-1993; and Audrey 1926-No date. Wilson would have been 13 when he won the medal. He was comparatively young man when he died in 1960. If you know anything about Wilson and his family please contact the editor by email: [email protected] or by telephone 07854-755756. You can buy now a 7.5” white plate for £5 plus postage. It has the name Hove Edg e Conservative Club embossed on the rim. This club was opened on December 4, 1909, by Hugh Travis Clay. In later years it became the Hove Edge Bowling Club and Social Club.
14 Brighouse a West Riding mill town The first Industrial Revolution is generally accepted as being from 1760 to 1830. This was the transitional period from making things by hand to making them with machines and was a real boom time for Brighouse. To coincide with this period the canal opened in 1760 and the canal basin not long after. One of the mill owners was John Wilson Armitage, who had Brooksmouth Mills, Clifton Road, Brighouse, which was a silk spinning mill. He was born in Wakefield, on May 5, 1839, and came to Brighouse at the age of four and a half when his father secured a job as a m a l t s t e r a t Sugden’s. He worked there for 31 years, all his working life. Young John was em p lo yed in various mills as a half-timer (the first half of the day at work and the afternoon was a half-day at school). On leaving school he worked at Victoria Mills (near to the present-day Sainsbury’s Supermarket). In 1863 he took a position working for Joseph Noble as a silk spinner. He did so well that he left the Brighouse mill to work at Noble’s mill in Dalton, Huddersfield as a manager. He worked at the Huddersfield mill for seven years and then returned to Brighouse in a similar role. In 1882 he went into partnership with John Baldwin, trading under the name of Baldwin, Armitage and Co silk spinners. This partnership lasted 10 years. He then went into business on his own account with his sons at Brooksmouth Mill, Clifton Bridge. After five years the business had grown to such an extent it was moved to larger premises at Spring Bank Mills, Owler Ings and then traded under the name of J.W.Armitage and Sons. In 1863 he married Ellen Gledhill (1841 - 1971) of Halifax. They had two sons Handel (1863 - 1876) and Herbert (1869 - ?) who at the time of his death was employed by his father at Brooksmouth Silk Mill. It was whilst weighing out some bobbins that he suffered a heart attack and died; at the time of his death he was not married. In 1872 John remarried, his second wife Ann Aspinall (1872 - ?) from Halifax. They had six children Ernest, William, Henry Wilson, Aspinall, John Edward (1881 - 1883 died at 18 months old) and John. John Wilson Armitage died in Wakefield in 1912. J.W.Armitage moved to Spring Bank Mills which was in Owler Ings during the late 1890s. In this early 1970s photo it is the three-storey Spring Bank Mill edging onto the canal opposite the Golden Hind fish shop. The mill was later demolished. Here is Spring Bank Mill on Monday August 22, 1977, in the process of being demolished.
15 New homes for old on Waterloo Road Readers can be forgiven for not knowing the location of this street scene. It dates back 53 years and is the junction at Waterloo Road and Lightcliffe Road. Was the road actually named after the Battle of Waterloo (18th of June 1815) – I can’t really say but a lot of the original property in this area would have dated back to the midnineteenth century and whilst having no real evidence to support this, I would suggest that it probably was named after the famous battle. The road itself was probably not constructed until the mid-nineteenth century, based on the age of the houses, one of the earliest being the old Lane Head Post Office, which was originally built in 1854. It is 50 years since the old property on that corner was demolished as part of a new re - development plan. Whilst most of all the streets in this small compact area have all been modernised they were built more than a century ago. It is still an area where other changes have taken place, and these are not necessarily structural changes. For example, can you remember the days when Brighouse Rangers used to play on the Waterloo fields? It is difficult to imagine the hundreds of people who would have converged on this junction to make their way to the match week in week out. I would be surprised to think there would ever have been a bigger crowd than in the 1890s when Rangers took on the mighty touring Maoris team from New Zealand. This was a m at c h t h a t t h e Rangers lost but it would have been a spectacle that would have been talked about for the rest of the season and no doubt well into the next as well. Rangers had many good times but sadly probably had more than their fair share of bad times as well. Even so, after the club had closed down and was then reformed and launched again in 1928 the good times returned. So much so that they managed to build some new changing rooms. I am sure that many of the former students from St Martin’s School will remember those old changing rooms from their days at school when the Waterloo fields were used for school sports days, athletic club practice and as a changing room for school football practice although the matches were played up at Lane Head on the recreation ground. Just around the corner from this junction is the Crown public house which was opened in 1875 and can anyone remember the little shop almost on the opposite corner to this junction? Back in the days when you could buy all your favourite sweets including Spangles, Texan bar, refreshers and for your favourite girl a packet of Love Hearts. Here is the junction of Lightcliffe Road and Waterloo Road in 1970 when the new development of council bungalows would be built on the site. The same corner in 2007 with the 11 bungalows built to replace the century old terraced properties. Photo courtesy of ©Humphrey
16 This was supposing you had enough money to buy something other than what was on the Penny Tray. How many of you can remember the Caramac bar or the Bar Six and all those small sweets that were laced in a kind of tangy sugary coating? I thought these old-fashioned sweets had long since disappeared but if you have the benefit of the internet take a look at www.aquarterof.co.uk you will find that you can still buy many of them from this Amersham based company. The fields on Waterloo Road were owned by the Brookes Company at Hove Edge and had been for a number of years and were the centre of a valuation wrangle. In 1935 there was a disagreement about the land which involved the council’s representatives stating that it was agricultural land but as far as Brookes’ were concerned it was building land and would therefore demand a much higher sale price. In a letter dated March 1936 it highlighted that Rangers had serious financial problems again. The previous winter had been so severe that many of their fixtures had to be called off. In their cup round match held at Headingley that year they had four players sent off. When finances became critical, which included owing 15 months’ rent, they wrote to say they would terminate their tenancy at the ground from October 31, 1936. Even though they were served with a notice to quit some two years earlier. With the letter terminating their tenancy was a cheque paying off all their existing debts. Brighouse Rangers once again had faded into a memory. Brookes contested the land was worth in excess of £10,000 and if it had been situated in Leeds or Bradford it could well have been worth over £45,000. Eventually the arguments came to a close when Brookes' informed the Council they would accept £4,800, which seems a long way short of the figures they were asking for originally. Following further exchanges of letters, a final agreement was reached on May 25, 1936, with the whole of the Waterloo land including the allotment site being sold to the Borough Council for £4,000. The allotments are still there of course but the old Waterloo fields are now the home to St Andrews C of E (Aided) Junior School. Another small corner of local history which has long been forgotten. I think we can all remember the days back at school when there would be a visiting speaker to give a presentation. This would either include a film or be just a talk. We certainly had them at our school and, like many of you, I can still remember the good ones and soon forgot the not so good ones. On a visit to Field Lane School in 2006 when it was the 50th anniversary I was invited to give a presentation about the school’s history and aspects of Brighouse town centre. I needed to get this large group on my side quickly. ‘Who likes pop music’ was my first question, which brought an instant response. ‘Can anyone guess who the number one pop star was in the 1950s’ and to my amazement at least two children shouted out ‘Elvis Presley’? My first slide was Elvis. I was hoping that by the time I had finished the presentation of local history about their school and Brighouse town centre I had at least fallen into that category of a speaker they did remember. Looking at the smiles on these children I am sure they will remember the day that Mole and Mr Toad from Kenneth Grahame’s ‘Wind in the Willows’ came to school. It was on February 13, 1997, at St Joseph’s School, Hove Edge when the Harlequin Children’s Theatre Productions came to visit. Taking the part of Mole was Amanda Sutcliffe and Mr Toad was played by Robert Morton. The children who look a little bit nervous being so close to these two characters include on the back row: Katie Sleigh, Liam Walsh, Emma McGee, and Kate McBride. Front row Joseph Conway, James Wickham, Shane Roberts and Daniel Hall. These children will now be in their 30s; I wonder if they do still remember that day? Mole and Mr Toad come to visit!
17 Flashes Flashes Notes from the Council Chamber 1916/17 On October 22, 1917, the Water and Baths Committee held their meeting at the Town Hall. A letter had been received from the President of the Brighouse Swimming Club. It stated that if the Swimming Club was to continue during the winter months the water temperature would be required to be at 78 degrees Fahrenheit (25.5c) instead of the current 72/74 degrees. It was resolved that the matter be discussed with the Baths Sub-committee. On June 27, 1917, a meeting of the full council was held in the Town Hall. One of the matters raised was in connection with Lieutenant – Colonel James ForbesRobertson, DSO, MC. Hearty congratulations were made on his promotion and on the honours conferred upon him by His Majesty for distinguished services in the field and to express to the pride of the Borough in claiming him, not only as a native of Brighouse, but also as the gallant representative of one of its oldest families. PS - He was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions on the 11/12 April 1918, near Vieux-Berquin, France. He was born in 1884 at Slead Hall, Halifax Road and died in 1955, aged 71. He was interred at Bouncer’s Lane Cemetery, Cheltenham. Throughout 1917 numerous meetings were held to discuss the question of mixed swimming at the Swimming Baths. Mixed swimming meant male and female participants and family swimming. At the General Purposes Committee meeting held on May 21, 1917, the Acting Town Clerk informed the meeting that the Water and Baths Committee had considered the question of cost for the necessary alterations for temporary mixed and family bathing. The cost amounted to between £10 and £12. The General Purposes Committee decided not to proceed with it at the present time. So, no mixed bathing yet. Although the Suffragette movement appeared to have little impact on Brighouse, the crowds turned out on October 29, 1905, whe n Chr ist ab e l Pankhurst came to town. T h is wa s o n th e occasion of the 11th anniversary of the Labour Party. She was fresh from prison after being involved in a recent brawl at Sir Edward Gray’s Liberal Demonstration in Manchester during which she was said to have assaulted the Police. The notorious Miss Pankhurst and Miss Annie Kenney attracted large crowds. On December 23, 1871, the following advertisement was displayed in the town: Monster currant loaf, weighing 220lbs (99 kg) and containing 100 silver coins to be cut up this day at H.J.Turner’s shop in Bethel Street. In 1875 once again Mr H.J.Turner of Bethel Street announced at the request of a large number of people he has again made his monster currant loaf only this time it weighs in at 600lbs (272 kg) and containing 330 silver coins which was £4.10s. It was still only 6d lb. Situations Vacant : In January 1896 the Borough Council had a vacancy for a Gas Meter Inspector, pay 21/- per week. February 1896 - a good g e n e r a l s e r v a n t required, 3 in family, £14 per annum. March 1914 – good spinners required ,11/- per week. A Rawlinson & Son, Brooksmouth Mill, Clifton Bridge. May 1910 - Make your own hair tonic, a formula was given, which was highly recommended for its hair–restoring qualities and for stimulating the roots. It includes Bay Rum, Lavana de Composee and Methol Crystals.
18 Another postcard gem This photo is taken from a postcard that recently appeared on eBay, the internet auction website. It is in reasonable condition for its age and other than that there is nothing else to say about it. But the local interest comes in to play when you turn it over and read the message from the sender. ...Dear Bill ...I am coming to stay at Filey. Our address is 5, The Beach, The Parade. I thought you would like this photo of your dog and of you. Signed: R.H.Ormerod It was sent to H. Williams, Prospect House, St John’s Avenue, Bridlington. It went through the postal system and is dated August 11, 1911. My attention was drawn to the name Ormerod as this is a name that was heavily involved in the silk and cotton spinning industry for generations. R.H.Ormerd the postcard signatory, is Reginald Hanson Ormerod who was interred at Brighouse Cemetery in 1918, aged 19. But what happened to this young man who went from being one of these happy go lucky children and in a matter of just a few years he had died. He was born in 1898 and according to the 1901 census he was living at ‘Heath Mount’, 126, Huddersfield Road, Brighouse and in 1911 he was living at ‘Ashgrove’ on Elland Road, Elland. During the 1st World War he joined the Royal Navy and in 1918 he was Midshipman Reginald Hanson Ormerod RN. He was the only son of George Frederick and Lilian Elizabeth Ormerod who had five children (Lilian Ursula b: 1897; Judith Evelyn Muriel b: 1900; Helen Margaret b: 1903; and Miriam Ruth b: 1908). On February 2., 1918, he was taken on board HMHS (Hospital ship) Soudan having been involved in an accident and was suffering with serious injuries to his back which he sustained on HMS St Vincent whilst at Scarpa Flow, Orkney. He died on February 9, 1918, from the injuries. His body was returned to Brighouse and he was interred at Brighouse Cemetery in the family grave with his mother and father. He is listed on the Brighouse Parish Church war memorial. Going back to our featured photograph of the children. This is date stamped 1911 which would have meant he would have been just about 12 years old. Where the photograph was taken remains a mystery unless you can identify where it is. Just which one is Reginald on the photograph as yet I do not know. HMS St Vincent - Launched September 1908 and was decommissioned in March 1921 and sold for scrap in December 1921. This photograph shows the ship at the Coronation Review, Spithead, June 24, 1911. This route to the gala was never easy Gala day 1971 back in the days when the procession went via Oakhill Road to Wellholme Park — this is a tricky one…!
19 Memories from the Co-op are very collectable The Brighouse Co-op bought their first horses in 1874 and within two years they had a team of 15. The society used them for coal deliveries and delivering supplies to the expanding number of branches throughout the Borough. The team of horses gradually grew to 24 horses and inevitably big stables had to be found. Sadly, those days came to an end in 1954 when the last two horses, Bob, a 17-year dark bay gelding and Daisy, a mere nine years old, were retired. But what happened to them once they were retired? Bob was sold for 43 guineas and sent off to a Huddersfield horse slaughters and Daisy was sold for 63 guineas and went to work at a Cleckheaton coal merchants. The days when Daisy used to deliver to Waring Green Co-op came to an end when the road setts were replaced with tarmac and she was out of a job. This was the end of an era, who were the last men to drive the horse and carts from one branch to another? I don’t know but with Bob and Daisy going they too the men would have been out of a job. That was unless they were prepared to change with the times as well, a way of life had come to an end. Still in the 1950s, Leonard Jakeways was the Brighouse Co-op’s manager and buyer for the society’s fish and fruit departments. He is on the front left on this 1954 photograph, along with Winnie Kernall, Edgar Robertshaw, Ernest Craven, Lewis Aspinall, unknown, Leila Broderick and unknown. The photograph was taken after they had won a window dressing competition. The plaque being proudly shown off has the all too familiar Co-op Beehive logo on the top. It reads ‘…Co-operation, the hope of the world, fellowship is life and lack of fellowship is death and the deeds we do upon the earth it is for fellowship’s sake that ye do them…’. In this issue I have written about the benefits of searching out those local history books that are no longer in print. Here is the front cover of the 1899 publication ‘Brig h ou se an d its Co-operative Society’. This is certainly a book worth buying. It was written by Jonathan Caldwell who was also the editor of the Brighouse Echo from 1887 to 1908. This hard-backed book was published with different coloured outer covers. This cover is actually dark red. I have seen this book on sale for as cheap as £5 and then I have seen it for more than £50. There is one for sale one eBay now (9.08.23) for £19.99, whilst it is intact it is in only reasonable condition. Nationally all things relating to Cooperative Society local history are very collectable. Co-op horses were also used for the annual Demonstration Parades, what we now call gala floats. This is c1907.
20 Early families who left their mark on the town - Pt 1 As you read the history of Brighouse of two, three or even four hundred years ago there are certain families which stand out, the local worthies. Families which can be traced back generations and have in different ways made their mark on the town. At various times in the history of Brighouse land sales by some of these noted families have taken place and if they had not happened Brighouse would be a far different place than it is today. 1709: Brighouse Park (where Wetherspoon’s is today): also, that year, Mary Bedford’s sale of land at Thornhill Briggs. She gave Brighouse its first Charity School and £200 towards its running costs. Unfortunately, it would seem that although the school did open the money appeared to have been kept by a relative. In 1809 the Ledgard family sold off land in Waring Green and other parts of the district. The Ledgards are linked to the Gill and Brighouse families. Mrs Susan Gill (nee Brighouse) was a descendant of Henry Brighouse, who built Bonegate Hall, in Bonegate Road. There is a gated entrance to this property which displays the initials HB 1635. Susan Gill was the mother of Mrs Ann Ledgard who inherited the Bonegate Hall estate. Henry Brighouse was the third son of John and Grace Brighouse. Grace survived John by three years. In Henry’s will of 1681 various names are mentioned including the Gibson family who had long standing connections with Slead Hall. Also mentioned is Joseph Rayner, his name and land now adays has a familiar sound about it, Rayner Road. The Firth family is another with Slead Hall connections Daniel, another member of the Gill family from Hipperholme, never married and his brother Henry having no sons the greater proportion of the estate was left to his sister Ann. She had married Edward Ledgard of Mirfield in 1733 and was living at Bonegate Hall. The Ledgard family lived in Mirfield for 200 years and owned extensive areas of land. Edward was born in Mirfield and married Susannah, the daughter of William Armitage of Woodhouse, Rastrick. There will be more about the Ledgard family in the next issue. Other early sales included the Gledhill family who sold off land in 1811, which is now Briggate. The most important land sale was in 1816 when Sir George Armytage sold approximately 100 acres of land which is now parts of the town centre. In 1852, a further sale by the Armytages took place. This sold off the remaining land not sold in 1816, including the Black Swan. Joseph Cartledge bought the Thornhill Briggs estate from George Newstead. He was the nephew of Mary Bedford, who we previously mentioned, and who absconded with the money Mary had set aside for her charity school. It was in 1792 that Joseph Cartledge bought the estates from George Newstead and he sold them in two sales in 1826 and 1832. Joseph Cartledge built Thornhill Briggs Mill c1797, but it was destroyed by fire in 1830 and there was another huge fire at the new mill in 1888. In 1909 a new mill was built on the site of the old mill ’s reservoir and named St Pegs Mill. Here is the date stone on the Bradford Road side of the property with the inter-twinning letters W.B.S.Ltd 1909, which is Wood Brothers & Son Ltd 1909. In the next issue we will be looking at the Ledgard family with some rare family images. We will also detail the Holland family and the Backburn sale of 1870. Bedford’s school which following its closure became the Sun Dial Inn. This was demolished and during the 1970s was the site of a floral clock. Now whilst the clock has gone it is still a maintained garden area.
21 Looking back at St Martin’s View These photographs were taken on New Street, which is now St Martin’s View, which links Waring Green to Lane Head. Once these ‘Low Deckers' (single storey houses which formed a terraced row) as they were called in those days had been demolished and the present properties were built to replace them during the 1960s and 70s. These local children would have lived in this street, and the nearby New Street Place. It certainly appears there has been some kind of entertainment activity going on or has already taken place. Looking closely at the photograph there is someone dressed in fancy costume standing behind the children as Charlie Chaplin. What was this event, could it have had something to do with the Coronation of 1953. On even closer examination of this photograph behind the Charlie Chaplin character is a box and a man standing to the right-hand side of it. But what is that sat on the box? There is a length of cord held in the hand of the man on the right and around the neck of whatever is sat on the box. It does look with the photograph enhanced to be a barrel organ with a performing monkey, which were still about in the 1950s. A century ago, there was a rather strange house numbering situation in New Street. On one side of the road, the Prince Albert (originally a beer house) side, there were 13 properties, starting at 1 and 3, which were private houses, and the beer house was at 5. The numbers then jumped to 57 and finished at 75. Other than the Prince Albert, which has always been known as ‘The Pop In’ there were no other businesses on that side of the road. The opposite side of the road started at number 2, then 4, 6 and 8, it then jumps to 12 and goes through with a few gaps to number 54. What has happened to the missing numbers? I wonder how many, if any, of the children in the photograph are still around in the Brighouse area and what memories they hold from all of those years ago. Back in the days of outside ‘lavs,’ frozen pipes, with a Tilley lamp to try and prevent the pipes from freezing and then bursting. Another job for the younger members of the family was riddling the fire on a morning, throwing out the burnt ash, making a few paper firelighters from the previous evening’s local papers. The real test came, placing the shovel on the front of the fire and then placing a sheet of paper in front of the fire guard to help the fire draw and hopefully in no time at all you had a roaring open fire. It didn’t always work like that though with the newspaper catching fire at least a couple of times during the beginning of the week. Now who says bring back the old days? New Street looking towards the Prince Albert which started life as a beer house. These houses were referred to as ‘Low Deckers’ being a single storey row of terraced houses. Local children in New Street during the 1950s, it appears to be an event, possibly part of the Coronation celebrations of 1953. With New Street swept aside here is its replacement St Martin’s View which was built between 1967 and 1975.
22 One of the first Methodist preachers to come to Southowram, which was then just an isolated hill-top community was William Drake from Elland. The service was held in the home of a John Gelder which was followed by another meeting with the Halifax minister the Rev J. Goodwin. He formed a class at the home of a Betty Wood, who kept a school in the village. It was recorded that in 1786 there was not a Methodist in the village but by 1806 the first Methodist chapel was built followed by the school in 1825. For 20 years the Methodists met in each other’s houses or in farm out-buildings, including a barn at Sunnybank. In 1806 land was bought at Ing Yates (a field name) from Joshua Waddington (Yeoman - a man holding and cultivating a small, landed estate). This land was surrounded by fields on all sides with no access route to it. A road was constructed from South Road (Cain Lane) and a footpath opened to Southowram Town (Towngate). The Chapel was built at a cost of £1,040 and it was 61 years before that debt was finally paid off, with the help of Pew Rents, which in the first year raised £58.5s.3d which helped to reduce and pay off the debt. The first Trust was formed on October 18, 1806, during the reign of King George III. The trustees were all Southowram men apart from one who was from Skircoat in Halifax Records don’t show the date or exact day of the opening ceremony or who preached the first sermon. The church established 10 classes very quickly which were held at both the church and members, houses. Southowram Wesleyan Methodists Membership at that point was 197. For such a small village this was a considerable number, bearing in mind the size of the community at that time. For 84 years the original Chapel was used in the 1807 building. But in 1888 it was decided that a much larger building was needed which would provide space for a vestibule entrance and four vestries. In 1890/91 this work was completed, together with enlargement and renovation of the organ at a cost of £1,300. The organ was originally installed in April 1876 by the friends of the church at a cost of £90. The organ was a memorial to Job Freeman, who was a local preacher for more than 40 years, chapel keeper for 32 years, a chapel steward 20 years and also the secretary to the Trust and class leader for many years. The graveyard was extended twice, in 1859 and in 1884. The certificate of public worship is dated 1854 and the registration for marriages is dated 1891. The short story is taken from a small publication that the Rev Roy Yates wrote c1982 for the 175th anniversary of the founding of the Southowram Wesley Methodist Chapel. He raised the question at the end of the story, What is the future of Methodism in Southowram for the next 25 years to take us to the 200th anniversary and then beyond into the 21st century. Little did the Rev Roy Yates know or any of the congregation know then that the Chapel would reach the 21st century but in 2005 through dwindling congregations it was closed and sold off for private housing development. (From an original story c1982 by the Rev Roy Yates) The re-developed property is now sub-divided into a number of apartments. This is the memorial stone which celebrated the church being enlarged in 1890 and is on the Chapel Lane gable end.
23 Websters an independent family business of distinction The year 1865 was important in many ways; the Whig political party changed its name to the Liberal Party; on July 5, the speed limit first introduced in 1861 by the Locomotive Act was reduced by 2mph when driving in town and 4mph in the country by the Locomotive Act of 1865; internationally the American Civil War came to an end; and the 16th President of the United States of America, Abraham Lincoln was assassinated. But what was happening nearer home in and around Brighouse in 1865? St Paul’s Wesleyan Church (now the car park in Lawson Road) opened on April 15, it had cost £650 to build. Over at 9, Park Street, William Lofthouse Webster had his Pawnbrokers shop, which was not far from his home at 10, Spring Street near to Owler Ings Road. It was William’s son Ernest Edwin that t o ok o ve r t h e business from his father when he retired and at the time was living at 37, Rayner Road, Brighouse. As the business grew Ernest opened another business at 45, Bethel Street. Following extensive re-numbering over the years the shop is now occupied by Ryecorn Health Food. The old Pawnbrokers gold balls from the Bethel Street shop are now in W e b s t e r s s h o p o n Commercial Street as a reminder of how the original business started . It was at this shop on March 25, 1913, a burglary took place. It was a case of the old smash and grab type of burglary. The intruders smashed the front window and grabbed jewellery from a glass cabinet and then made good their escape. In 1920 Ernest was elected to the Brighouse Borough Council which was the beginning of more than 20 years in public life. In 1933 he was appointed an Alderman for the North Ward. In 1942 he retired from the council and he died on January 21, 1962. Ernest’s son Harry had joined the family business as soon as he left school. He extended the business to include a new concern at 9, Park Street, which sold uniforms. He eventually closed this business and transferred it to the Bethel Street shop. He sold off 9, Park Street and ceased trading as a Pawnbroker at Bethel Street. To have a more prominent position in the town he acquired 84, Commercial Street (next door to Czerwik Fine Wines and Cheeses) where he began trading under the name of Websters, selling carpets and textiles. It was in 1946 when Harry’s daughter, Eileen Webster, began working at the Midland Bank in Huddersfield. It was there that she met her future husband, Charles Stuart Blackburn, from Slaithwaite, in Huddersfield. It was there that his father Leonard Blackburn had a long-established gentleman’s outfitters under the name of O. Blackburn’s, menswear which had ben trading since 1880 at 6/7, Carr Lane in the town centre. Sadly, after 137 years of trading this shop closed in 2017. In 1950 Stuart (as he was known to family and friends), and Eileen were married and bought a house at Fixby. It was now that Eileen decided to leave the Midland Bank and work with her father Harry at the flooring business at 84, Commercial Street. The old Pawnbrokers gold balls are now at the Commercial Street shop and act as a permanent reminder of how the business all started. The three Pawnbroker balls Park Street with the Post Office (opened in 1899) and it was in this street where William Lofthouse Webster’s new business was situated in 1865.
24 In 1952 Stuart also decided to leave the bank and started working with Harry and Eileen at the Commercial Street shop. Throughout his years working for the bank Stuart had always admired the furniture store shop windows, which had enhanced his passion for fine furniture. In 1956 Stuart bought 94, Commercial Street, five doors down from number 84. It had previously been a haberdashery shop. It was here that he started selling furniture and beds under the Websters name and it was this shop that was to eventually trade under the name of Websters Distinctive Furniture, as it does today. When Harry Webster retired he sold the flooring and textile side of the business to Ian Lister who retained the name Websters Interiors. The building was passed to Stuart and Eileen. Since then, Websters Interiors has moved from 84, Commercial Street and become a specialist interior design business relocating to Harewood in Leeds. Over a period of time Stuart, known as Mr Blackburn to his customers old and new, continued to build the business, both in reputation and shop floor space. The business expanded into 92, Commercial Street, when the owner retired and closed her sewing shop. This operation is a real family business in every sense, Stuart’s second son, Mark, joined the business full time at 16, after he left school in 1972 and his eldest son, Charles, joined the business in 1975 after leaving the Royal Navy. Stuart’s daughter Emma joined the business in 1985 after leaving school; his second daughter, Jill, joined the business in 1989 after leaving the Halifax Bank. In 2019 Oliver Blackburn, Stuart’s grandson, joined the business. There have been many changes in Brighouse town centre through the 158 years Websters has been trading. None more so that the late 1960s to mid-1970s when many parts of the town centre were re-developed. On the above photograph taken during the early 1960s, looking out from Websters shop window all the property on the right-hand side of the road was demolished and swept aside. This photograph shows the same property having been demolished. An even bigger change was to take place on this site with the building of the Wellington Arcade. Stepping out of the back door of Websters they would have seen the demolition of many small streets - row after row of terraced houses. Oxford Street, Upper Oxford Street, most of Heaton Street, Back Bonegate and Well Street. Once cleared they became part of the new bypass and in more recent times the bus station. Websters has seen it all, with the town centre changes and of course the change in peoples’ tastes in furniture styles. A name known to many in Brighouse and long may it continue. Here is the junction of Briggate with Commercial Street during the late 1950s. Note the sunblind which is extended to prevent sunlight affecting the window furniture display at Websters shop at the junction with Church Lane.
Brighouse at Work - From a small hamlet and a bridge, the town of Brighouse in Calderdale grew rapidly with the building of the Calder and Hebble Navigation in the late eighteenth century. This led to the development of the town’s successful textile industries. This is a book where almost a few lines will tell the reader something about the industrial heritage of Brighouse and its surrounding communities. The book is £14.99 + £3 postage packaging, for overseas orders please contact the author. PayPal is available as are cheques. Brighouse Through Time - 96 pages of both black and white and coloured images of aspects with views of Brighouse and its surrounding communities. Fascinating scenes displayed in a of 'then and now' format. £12.99 + £3. All in a Day’s Work — During the 1950s, Chris Helme was often asked by relatives: 'What do you want to be when you grow up?' A policeman was always his answer. A child of the Fifties, he was brought up to respect the local police who seemed to know everyone. All in a Day's Work: 30 Years as Brighouse Bobby is his journey to achieving that ambition culminating with being awarded the British Empire Medal for services to his community in 1990. A local bobby had to deal with everything that happened on his 'patch'. This book takes the reader through a catalogue of sad, humorous, and almost unbelievable incidents in the life of a local policeman. £12.00 + £3 p/p. This is now also available as an audiobook at Calderdale Library Service and other audiobook sources on the internet. Sunny Vale Pleasure Gardens, near Brighouse, opened as a garden in 1880 but with the inclusion of amusements in 1883 it became a hugely popular venue for Sunday strollers, local Sunday School groups and day trippers from around the north of England for the next seventy-five years. This collection of more than 180 images, complemented by detailed captions and reminiscences of the Gardens throughout their long history, will delight all who remember visiting as a child and provide a fascinating insight into this vanished, but not-forgotten, institution. £12.00 + £3 p/p. All these books can be purchased through www.chrishelme-brighouse.org.uk from the on-line shop or by contacting Chris Helme email: [email protected] — or by telephone 07854-755756 and Harrison Lords, Bradford Road Brighouse. If you wish to advertise your book on the website or in this magazine please contact the publisher. A new book has been commission and will be finished in November 2023 and then available in early Spring 2024. Back page outer cover: An Edwardian lady, possibly out for a Sunday summer stroll, stands on the bridge which overlooks the Ford on Thornhill Beck Lane. No flooding today but on many occasions it has been impassable through the all too regular deep flooding. Please note at 7.30pm, Wednesday, December 6, 2023, I will be the guest speaker at the Lightcliffe & District Local History Society, at Lightcliffe C of E Primary School, Wakefield Road. It is a powerpoint presentation titled: ‘A Pot Pourri of the way we were’.