History – KEIGHLEY & DISTRICT LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY

A Mill in Sutton…

A selection of images from the promotional booklet for T. & M. Bairstow, Worsted Spinners & Manufacturers of Sutton Mills in Crosshills. The 36-page brochure was designed, photographed and printed by Percy Lund, Humphries & Co. Ltd. of Bradford and London in June 1920.

The firm was founded in 1838 by Thomas and Matthew Bairstow, whose family owned the land upon which Sutton Mills were built. In 1920, the mills contained around 450 looms and 20,000 spinning and twisting spindles, employing around 700 people. The entire process of manufacturing, with the exception of dyeing and finishing, was carried out at the mill, using wool brought in from Australia and New Zealand. In addition to the mills, the firm also provided a hostel for up to fifty female mill employees, and an institute that included reading room, billiard room and swimming bath.

According to the entry on the Yorkshire Industrial Heritage website, the firm ceased trading around 1970 with a nursing home and housing now standing on the site of the mill (only one of the original mill buildings remains).

The brochure is part of the Joy Rundle Collection, donated by Julie Eaman and Mark Rundle in 2023. Researched and collated by Tim Neal. The full brochure can be viewed below:

Fleece Mills Co. Ltd.

The Fleece Mills Co. Ltd. managed the mills, shops and houses in the wedge of land between Cavendish Street and East Parade (pretty much the area where the Cavendish Retail Park is now). Sixty years ago this booklet was produced talking about the Sugden family who had owned the land and about the parent company Charles Hanson & Co. View the booklet in its entirety by clicking on the image below.

One Man’s D-Day

Read of the D-Day experience of a man who chose to settle in Keighley after World War II and became one of our local leading actors.

One Man’s D-Day

October Guest-Speaker

This month’s History Society guest speaker talk on Zoom will be “North Street and beyond as seen through the lens of Wilfred Moore”, a presentation by local historian Eddie Kelly. Some of you will know that Wilfred Moore was the father of Captain Sir Tom Moore as well as being a keen photographer around Keighley. The talk features many rarely-seen images of the town.

The talk is happening on Wednesday 13th October. ‘Doors open’ at 7pm. It is a History Society members-only talk but if you want to join the Society please click here. History Society members should receive their email from Anne-Marie with details on how to join the meeting in the next few days.

A view of North Street, Keighley. Detail from a Lilywhite Ltd. postcard.

September 1981

The latest album of photographs from our recently acquired Keighley News Archive has been published on Flickr. It is nearly 400 photographs taken for the Keighley News forty years ago in September 1981.

The negatives were scanned by Tim Neal on behalf of the History Society. Tim has also been into the Local Studies Library in Keighley to research old copies of the Keighley News to find out more about some of the pictures.

More albums will be released over the next few months.

Keighley Show 1981

This coming weekend would’ve been the Keighley and District Agricultural Show, but the coronavirus pandemic meant the decision was made not to go ahead this year.

However, to mark the occasion we have just uploaded our latest album of photographs from our Keighley News archive. It’s over 100 photographs from the Keighley Show forty years ago in September 1981.

Old News Becomes New News

The History Society’s discovery of several thousand black-and-white negatives that were taken by the Keighley News has made headlines in this week’s Keighley News! Copies of the paper can be bought in all good newsagents.

The photographs were taken in the early 1980s and cover, amongst other things, sporting events, golden wedding anniversaries, political events, shows and galas, theatrical productions and charity events. A real slice-of-life for early 80s Keighley.

The pictures are being made available to view on the History Society’s Flickr page. It takes a while to scan and label the images, so we are releasing new albums every few weeks. The first few albums can be seen here.

An article about the History Society’s discovery of some 1980s press negatives, from the Keighley News of 19th August 2021.

History Tour of the Town

The History Society held its first face-to-face event since March last year this afternoon, when several members gathered for a guided history tour around the town centre. The tour was led by Tim with welcome input from Joyce and Graham. Thanks to Steve for taking the photographs. We hope everyone who came along enjoyed it, and if there is interest we will look at rerunning it in the future.

History Society tour of the town centre on Church Street, August 2021.

History Society tour of the town centre on Bridge Street, August 2021.

History Society tour of the town centre in Town Hall Square, August 2021. Photograph: Steve Bown.

Keighley News Archive

The History Society has acquired 1,000s of black and white negatives of photographs taken by the Keighley News in the early 1980s. They cover all sorts of topics such as local sporting fixtures, weddings, shows and galas, theatre productions, politics and charity events. The History Society will spend the next few months scanning the negatives and releasing them on Flickr on a month-by-month basis.

The negatives came in small envelopes with some basic labelling and a date, but the History Society is hoping people will get in touch and tell us more about the stories behind the pictures.

The first proper album is available to browse now and has photographs from forty years ago – taken in August 1981.

Back to the Eighties

The History Society has recently procured a lot of ex-Keighley News negatives (and we mean a LOT!) from the early 1980s. This photograph of Ingrow St John’s Junior Cricket Team was taken forty years ago on 2nd August 1981. It will take us quite a while to scan and label all the negatives but keep an eye on our Flickr page for more.