May’s History Society Meeting

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.

Last Night’s Talk at St. John’s Church

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.

Message for History Society members

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.

Next week’s meeting in the news

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).

April’s History Society Meeting

The April meeting of the Keighley and District Local History Society’s is next Wednesday evening (8th April 2026). In a change from the usual venue, we will be meeting at St. John’s Church in Ingrow. History Society committee member Steve Bown will be giving his talk ‘Buried at St. John’s’.

Steve says: “The first person to be buried at St. John’s was a Frederick Simpson of Papermill Bridge, who was buried in April 1843, just over a month after the church first opened its doors. Since then the churchyard has become the final resting place for mill owners and town mayors, doctors and soldiers, farmhands and factory workers. There are some tragic cases of suicides and poisonings, and a sobering number of infants buried in the grounds. I will be telling some of their stories – and if the weather is good we might go out and look at some of the gravestones and memorials.”

The meeting will be held in the church on South Street on Wednesday 8th March. Doors will open at 7.15pm, and the meeting starts at around 7.20pm, finishing around 8.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. There is no charge to attend this meeting but there will be a collection in aid of the church. History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.

It is recommended that people coming along to the meeting wear warm clothes and sensible shoes. There are footpaths around most of the churchyard but some gravestones are set back from the paths.

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.

May Queens at Guard House

We have just created an album on our Flickr site of photographs and newspaper cuttings relating to the May Queens and festivals of Our Lady of Victories Roman Catholic Church in Guard House, in the 1940s and 1950s. The photographs were donated by Eileen Whitley.

Have a look by clicking below and if you have any further information please get in touch.

KHS_P_845_01

Society Visit to Ingrow

Nineteen members of the History Society had a terrific visit to Rail Story at Ingrow Station yesterday (Wednesday 12th March 2026). We’d like to say a massive thank you to Matt from Rail Story, Pete from the Bahamas Locomotive Society, and Alan and Bob from the Vintage Carriages Trust who acted as our guides to the site.

Look out for more exclusive members-only visits later in the year.

Flying High in March’s Meeting

A massive thank you to Olivia Johnston, Photo Archive Assistant at Bradford District Museums and Galleries, who addressed the History Society’s monthly meeting on Wednesday 11th March 2026. The subject of her talk was “C. H. Wood: Photographer & Pioneer”. She shared photographic examples from the archive of over 300,000 images and detailed Wood’s life that included motorcycle test driving, developing infra-red photography that captured incredible detail, taking aerial photographs over incredibly impressive distances, and inventing vital equipment to help train RAF pilots during the Second World War. The C. H. Wood Photography Archive can be found at photos.bradfordmuseums.org

And a big thank you to everyone who came along. The meeting took place in the Main Hall of Keighley Civic Centre and there were 54 visitors in the hall with a further twelve people joining via Zoom. Photographs taken by Tim Neal.

April’s History Society meeting will be on Wednesday 8th April and this time we will be meeting in St. John’s Church in Ingrow. Committee member Steve Bown will be giving a talk on some of the famous and some of the less-well-known people buried in the churchyard.

History Society at Haworth

The History Society is having a stall at the Village Showcase, being held in Haworth Village Hall (on Butt Lane) on Saturday 21st March 2026. The event is an opportunity to let locals know what groups and clubs operate in the area. It will run from 2pm to 4.30pm. It is free to attend, with an opportunity to buy refreshments.

The History Society will be showcasing what the society gets up to and sharing some of the Haworth-related stories. You can also join the History Society on the day. Membership costs £15 for the rest of 2026. Please pay in cash as sadly we don’t have a way of taking electronic payments.