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 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.
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.
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.]
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.
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.
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.
This month’s History Society meeting is taking place next Wednesday (11th March 2026) in the Civic Centre. Olivia Johnston, Photo Archive Assistant at Bradford District Museums and Galleries, will be giving her talk ‘C. H. Wood: Photographer & Pioneer’.
Charles Harold Wood started his photography career in 1922 and he went on to become one of the best known photographers in the region. His client list read like a Who’s Who of Bradford industry as he was employed by most of the big textile, engineering and manufacturing firms. Using his interest in flying he also specialised in aerial photography, producing crystal clear views of the North of England. He set up the firm C.H. Wood (Bradford) Ltd. which was carried on by his sons when Charles retired in the 1970s.
The C. H. Wood photographic archive is available to browse online as part of The Photograph Archive of Bradford District Museums & Galleries.
The meeting will be held upstairs in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on North Street on Wednesday 11th March. 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.
