KEIGHLEY & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

This month’s History Society meeting (on Wednesday 10th June 2026) features a talk from National Trust volunteer (and History Society member) Chris Kates on the history of East Riddlesden Hall.

Chris says: “I have been a volunteer at East Riddlesden Hall for two years now. I have two volunteer roles – I’m a house experience volunteer, which means that I stand in the rooms and answer questions from visitors. This means I have to know a lot about the history of the Hall, the people who lived there and the items on display. The other role is as a conservation care volunteer – I have been specially trained to care for the collection of items in the Hall. It’s obviously essential that the National Trust looks after all the items in the collection properly so that at the very least they don’t deteriorate but are preserved for future generations. The role of East Riddlesden Hall has changed massively over the centuries, from the substantial gentleman farmer’s family home that it was originally, to the museum and centre for multicultural celebrations that it’s become today. My talk will be a brief history of the Hall, so far as we know it, from the earliest times until the present. I’ll also take people on a virtual guided tour through the rooms of the Hall, picking up on some of the points of interest.”

The meeting will be held upstairs in the Civic Centre on North Street in Keighley. Doors open at 7.15pm and the meeting will finish around 8.45pm. Entry is free to History Society members or £3.50 for anyone else who fancies coming along. Members can also join the meeting via Zoom (details will be sent out by email a few days in advance).

A massive thank you to Ann Dinsdale, Principal Curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, who came down to the Civic Centre last night (Wednesday 13th May 2026) to talk at the History Society’s monthly meeting. Ann talked about what happened to the possessions and artefacts belonging to the Brontë family following their deaths, how a museum dedicated to the family was founded in Haworth and how it went about bringing objects back to the parsonage, about the various TV and film adaptations (which primarily seem to focus on ‘Wuthering Heights’ and ‘Jane Eyre’!), and about some expansion plans for the museum.

Thank you as well to all the society members and visitors who came along in person and to the additional members who joined via Zoom.

June’s History Society meeting is on Wednesday 10th June and will include a talk from Chris Kates (NT volunteer and History Society member) on the history of East Riddlesden Hall.

Great coverage in the Keighley News for this week’s History Society meeting (13th May 2026). The meeting will be held in the Civic Centre on North Street, doors open 7.15pm. The meeting will include a talk from principal curator at the Bronte Parsonage Museum, Ann Dinsdale.

Anyone is welcome to attend. Entry is £3.50 (cash) on the door – or History Society members get in for free or can join the meeting via Zoom.

May’s History Society meeting (on Wednesday 13th May 2026) includes a talk from Ann Dinsdale, Principal Curator at the Brontë Parsonage Museum, entitled ‘Behind the Scenes at the Brontë Parsonage Museum’.

A museum dedicated to the lives and works of the Brontë family was set up within the Haworth Parsonage in 1928. It was established and continues to be administered by the Brontë Society, which was itself founded in 1893. Within two years the Society had created a small museum in a room above the Yorkshire Penny Bank on Main Street in Haworth. Now the museum in the Parsonage is just a few years off its centenary, the collection continues to grow, and there are major plans for further developments.

Ann says: “My talk looks at the fascinating story of how the collection at the Brontë Parsonage Museum came together, and how it continues to grow as exciting new discoveries come to light. I’ll explore the development of the Museum, the work that goes on behind the scenes, and some of the film and TV adaptations of the Brontës’ lives and works, which have played an important role in the Museum’s history. I’ll also talk about some of the exciting plans we have for the parsonage and our presence in Haworth.”

The meeting will be held upstairs in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on North Street on Wednesday 13th May. There is a lift at the front of the building and one inside for anyone who needs it. Doors open at 7.15pm, and the meeting starts at around 7.20pm, finishing around 8.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (or free for history society members). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.

Anyone interested in joining the History Society can do so at this meeting. Membership for the year costs £15 per person or £20 for a couple. As well as getting you free access to all the monthly meetings, membership also gets you the society’s quarterly newsletter plus the chance to attend members-only events.

A huge thank you to committee member Steve Bown, who gave a diverse and fascinating presentation on some of the people who are buried and/or commemorated in and around St. John’s Church in Ingrow. The meeting was held within the church itself, and we were generously hosted by the Reverend Tracey Raistrick, to whom enormous thanks must also be given.

And a big thank you to everyone who came along – there were almost sixty of us in the church (some familiar and some new faces), and a further eight society members joined via Zoom. Thank you for your support, we hope you enjoyed it.

May’s meeting (Wednesday 13th May 20206) is back in the usual setting of the Civic Centre on North Street, and will include a talk from Ann Dinsdale on how the Bronte Parsonage in Haworth operates.

We encountered some issues with sending the usual monthly email out yesterday. The email gave details about this week’s meeting at St. John’s Church and contained the details for joining the Zoom meeting if people want to do that.

Please check your Junk email box if you have not had the email – it will appear to have come from Anne-Marie as usual, or possibly from the Keighley & District Local History Society email.

If you haven’t had the email, all the details about the meeting can be found in the posts below, but if you want the Zoom meeting details please send an email to Anne-Marie, Steve or Tim.

Great coverage in this week’s Keighley News for our upcoming meeting to be held at Ingrow St. John’s Church on the evening of Wednesday 8th April. Committee member Steve Bown will be talking about some of the people buried in the churchyard.

All are welcome. There is no charge for this meeting (for members or non-members) but there will be an opportunity to make a donation to the church.

Doors open at 7.15pm and the meeting will start just before 7.30pm, finishing around 8.30pm. History Society members can join in via Zoom if they wish (details will be sent out a few days in advance).

The History Society will be having a stall at this event in the Town Hall Square this Wednesday (1st April 2026). Please pop down and say hello – and join the History Society if you want! (£15 – cash only please)

[Find us in the Civic Centre if the weather isn’t amenable.]