This postcard was posted to Workington in Cumbria on 16th September 1941 (although to be fair the postmark is a little hard to read – it could be 18th September and it might 1940-something else).
But it’s still interesting on several levels – the postcard was produced by Lilywhite Ltd., based in Brighouse, who produced dozens of postcards of Keighley between the 1920s and 1960s. They occasionally get a few details wrong – and in this case it’s the street name (the photographer is standing pretty much where North Street and Skipton Road meet, but the view is definitely along North Street).
The sender of the postcard writes: “Having a nice time and lovely weather. Keighley is still the same – no change from last time at all.” And that’s pretty much true of this view 80 years on. St. Anne’s Primary School still dominates the right hand side of the road, and the dome of the Temperance Hall (now Wetherspoon’s) can still be seen in the distance. The clocktower of the Mechanics’ Institute on the left is long gone, but you can’t tell because of the ‘Get in lane’ road sign. The main additions are the various bits of signage, the road markings and the volume of traffic.
Postcard from the personal collection of Tim Neal, modern photograph taken by Tim in 2022.
