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 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.
Are you intrigued by detective work, or have you ever wondered where a crime writer gets their plots, then get along to Keighley Library on Saturday 7th March 1.30 – 3.00 pm to celebrate International Women’s Day 2026 and delve into the world of Crime.
Journalist and author Sharon Wright (and friend of the History Society) will be interviewing former Detective Superintendent Vanessa Smith on her groundbreaking career as a police officer with West Yorkshire Police.
Vanessa worked for vice, robbery and drugs squads before becoming the first female West Yorkshire Police murder squad detective. Now after a long and decorated career, Vanessa advises authors and production companies on crime procedurals and appeared as the law-enforcement expert on ‘Killer in My Village’ on Sky TV.
Sharon wrote the bestselling biography of ‘Maria Branwell: Mother of the Brontës’, and ‘The Lost History of the Lady Aeronauts’, and has spoken to the History Society on both topics. She is co-author with Ann Dinsdale of ‘Let Me In: The Brontës in Bricks and Mortar’. Sharon writes for magazines and newspapers including The Guardian, The Times and Woman & Home and has appeared on BBC Radio 4 Woman’s Hour and Today programme. In 2024 Sharon won a correction to the spelling of the Brontë name on the memorial in Westminster Abbey.
The afternoon will conclude with Vanessa taking the audience on an eye-opening journey as they investigate a murder scenario together. There will also be plenty of opportunities to ask questions and enjoy an insider’s guide to solving crime at Keighley Library.
History Society committee member Tim Neal took a visit to NT East Riddlesden Hall earlier this week (and the weather was appropriately “wuthering”) to see the property’s newest exhibition ‘Lights, Camera, Bronte: East Riddlesden Hall on Screen’.
It’s well worth a visit! It’s a combination of documenting how the Hall’s exteriors and interiors have been used in three seperate film and TV versions of Emily Bronte’s ‘Wuthering Heights’, with imaginative recreations of how Emily described the novel’s various settings.
The exhibition is spread around the house and is free to visit as part of paid-entry to the Hall and grounds. It’s open until at least the middle of May 2026.
It’s also worth noting that a small but comprehensive display has just opened at the Bronte Parsonage Museum that gives some background on many (all?) of the screen adaptations of ‘Wuthering Heights’ – some well known, some definitely not.
