A new album of Keighley photographs taken by Roy Dean Willoughby in the 1980s means we now have over 12,000 images for anyone to view on our Flickr site. The photographs were donated by Roy’s grandson Billy Stride.

Take a browse and explore the History Society’s albums. As well as photographs there are postcards, newspaper cuttings, documents, adverts and more.

Welcome back to Keighley’s Picture House cinema which reopens this Friday (30th October) after over seven months of closure due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Picture House Cinema opened in 1913. It originally had an iron and glass porch the front of the cinema. The venue hosted live shows and pop concerts as well as film showings. In 1954, it was bought by the Essoldo chain of cinemas and became the Keighley Essoldo. In the 1970s the cinema was restructured and what was the original cinema balcony became a second smaller screen room, as it remains today. In the 1980s the building was acquired by Bradford Metropolitan Council and it reverted to The Picture House. The cinema closed in 1991 and reopened in 1996 run by the Northern Morris Cinemas.

See the cinema’s website or Facebook page for details on some of the classic movies being shown from this Friday. Images from the History Society’s archive on Flickr.

Welcome back! Cliffe Castle Museum in Keighley reopened to the public this week. The museum will be open on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays from 11am to 3pm. Please be aware there are various social distancing measures in place to ensure public and staff safety. Details are available on the museum’s website (https://www.bradfordmuseums.org/venues/cliffe-castle-museum)

A collection of multiple view postcards of Keighley from the last 120 years, accompanied by the Cliffe Castle Gavotte.

The Keighley and Worth Valley railway line reopened as a passenger-carrying line on the 29th June 1968. The Mayor of Keighley, Alderman James Henry (‘Harry’) Waterworth cut the ribbon at a ceremony to mark the occasion. Bob Cryer, chairman of the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway Preservation Society (and later MP for Keighley) and the Mayoress, Mrs Harriet Anne Waterworth, were also in attendance. The line had originally been built between 1864 and 1866, financed by local mill owners, and opened in 1867. By the 1960s the line was managed by British Railways and the decision was made to close the line to passengers in December 1961 and to close the line fully in June 1962. A preservation society was formed and after many years of struggle the line was reopened and remains open to this day.

Devonshire Street Congregational Church opened for worship on 25th June 1856. It had capacity for over 1,000 worshippers and cost just short of £4,000 to build. It was frequented by some of the most influential families in Keighley. Apparently coachmen would sit on the back row of the church in order to slip out during the last hymn and bring the carriages around to the front door. In May 1948, an architect reported an outward bulge in the north wall caused by a fracture in an arch. Extensive repair work was undertaken and the church reopened in 1949. Dry-rot then set in, in the roof beams and the wooden friezes. Despite celebrating its centenary in 1956, the building was subsequently declared unsafe and was demolished in 1964. The site is now occupied by the New Devonshire House office building. This Reliable Series postcard from around 1905 and the photograph taken in 2018 are courtesy of Tim Neal.

There are now over 300 postcards of Keighley and the surrounding area in this album on the History Society’s Flickr site. Click below to browse.