This is a quotation from Hird Bros. & Co. Ltd. (builders, joiners and contractors) of King Street and Otley Street, Keighley, dated 27th August 1959. It was for William Normington who lived at 118 Wheathead Lane who wanted some kitchen work done.
We know Hird Bros. & Co. Ltd. operated in the 1950s and 1960s because we have these two adverts from (top) a 1953 coronation newsletter from Keighley Parish Church and (bottom) a 1961 Keighley Amateurs’ programme.
The quotation paperwork includes the logos for the National Federation of Building Trades Employers, and the National Scheme for Disabled Men. The inclusion of the logo for the National Scheme for Disabled Men indicated the firm had undertaken to employ an approved percentage of disabled ex-servicemen, following the end of the First World War. In September 1919, King George V issued a proclamation charging employers to engage disabled sailors and soldiers, and ordering the names of employers who do so to be inscribed on the King’s National Roll. It was expected that one place in twenty in any establishment should be reserved for a disabled man, and that employers fulfilling the condition would be permitted to use a special-design, with the words “National Scheme for Disabled Men”, on their business notepaper. It was thus easy for the public to distinguish the patriotic from the unpatriotic employer.
The main picture shows Wheathead Lane taken from number 118 by John Normington in the 1950s.
The quotation and photograph is part of the John Normington Collection, donated to Keighley and District Local History Society by John’s daughter Liz Hornby in 2021.
