A small exhibition on Keighley-born historian Asa Briggs (1921-2016) is available to view in Keighley Local Studies Library for the next few months. He was educated at Keighley Boys’ Grammar School then at Cambridge. His main areas of interest were the social and cultural histories of the past two hundred years, resulting in books ranging from the Victorians to a comprehensive history of the BBC. He also wrote about his time working at Bletchley Park during the Second World War.
Asa Briggs exhibition at Keighley Local Studies Library, July 2025. Photographed by Tim Neal.
A short leaflet on Asa Briggs is available at the library, and in August a new biography is to be published by Harper Collins. The author is Adam Sisman and he visited Keighley Local Studies Library last year to research his subject’s links with the town.
There are several local history events and opportunities to keep an eye out for in July 2025…
Wednesday 9th July – this months History Society meeting in Keighley Civic Centre at 7.15pm. Featuring a talk by John Hindle from the Tungrians (a reenactment group who recreate Roman life in Britannia in the Second Century).
Friday 11th July – Community Curator Heather Millard will be giving her talk on the Butterfield Women of Cliffe Castle, at the Bradford Mechanics’ Institute at 10.30 am. Book a free place via Eventbrite (https://www.eventbrite.com/…/butterfield-ladies-of…)
Thursday 17th July – this will be the next Thursday Talk organised by the Bronte Society, held in the Old School Rooms in Haworth. More information is available on the Bronte Parsonage Museum website, but tickets are free to residents from postcodes BD20, BD21 and BD22.
And all through July the ‘Ice Age Art Now’ is running at Cliffe Castle Museum, admission is free. The museum is open Tuesdays to Sundays (i.e. is closed on Mondays).
We’d like to say a massive thank you to Ann Dinsdale and the team at the Bronte Parsonage Museum for making us feel so welcome during our exclusive visit last Friday (20th June 2025). Nineteen members of the society went on the visit, and we were given free rein to explore the museum (with the incredibly knowledgeable and friendly staff on hand to answer all sorts of questions), look around the temporary exhibition ‘From Haworth to Eternity’, and we got to see some rare, moving, exciting and recently acquired items in the collection that don’t often see the light of day, brought out by Ann in the museum’s collections library. All that and a glass of bubbly too!
The History Society’s next meeting will be held in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on Wednesday 11th June. The guest speaker will be Heather Millard, Community Curator for Bradford District Museums and Galleries. Her talk is entitled “The Stained Glass of Cliffe Castle”. It will cover the glass original to the house, the ones that are missing, those brought into the museum collections, and the ones that have been restored.
Heather says: “When you visit Cliffe Castle, one of the key features that you can’t miss is the Stained Glass on display. Spanning several centuries, the glass on display tells many stories – from the spectacular Butterfield Window, seen on the Grand Staircase – the pared back early 20th Glass by Hugh Arthur Kennedy, or the Pre-Raphaelite glass by Morris and Co featuring pieces by Rossetti, Burne-Jones, Morris and more. My talk delves in the stories behind the windows and explores some of the fascinating histories behind what you now see.”
The History Society’s monthly meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month. Our meetings are held upstairs in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on North Street. There is a lift at the front of the building and one inside for anyone who needs it. Doors will open at 7.15pm, and the meeting starts at around 7.20pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (or free if you are a history society member). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.
New members are always welcome to come along. You can join the society at any of our meetings. Membership costs £15 for the calendar year or £20 for a couple living at the same address. As well as the monthly guest speakers there are also members-only events such as a forthcoming behind-the-scenes visit to the Bronte Parsonage Museum. Details of the society’s meetings and events can be picked up at any of their meetings or from the Local Studies Library desk.
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:
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.
Be like Princess Anne, and check out the stereoscopic (3D) images of Keighley from over 120 years ago as part of the members-only session at Keighley Local Studies Library next Saturday (31st May 2025 10am-1pm). [We don’t actually know if HRH is looking at pictures of Keighley – but you could be if you come along!] £2 per person. Please let Tim know if you are thinking of coming.
Great article in this week’s Keighley News, promoting our next meeting which will include a talk by art historian Colin Neville on artist and sculptor George Demaine. The meeting is on Wednesday 14th May, at 7.15pm in Keighley Civic Centre. All welcome (free to History Society members and £3.50 for non-members, pay on the door).
The next History Society meeting is Wednesday 14th May 2025, starting at 7.15pm, upstairs in the Civic Centre on North Street, Keighley. The guest speaker will be Colin Neville, curator of the Not Just Hockney website about artists from the local area. His talk is entitled “The Courage of His Convictions” and focusses on artist and sculptor George Demaine (1892-1966), who grew up living on Malsis Crescent in Keighley. He studied at Keighley College of Art and then at the Royal College of Art in London. He was a committed Wesleyan Methodist and when he was called up to serve in the First World War he objected and claimed exemption on the grounds of his religious beliefs.
Colin says: “George Demaine, and thousands of conscientious objectors like him, demonstrated a different type of courage to the men and women who served during the Great War, that is the courage of their long-held religious or political convictions not to take the life of another and particularly in a war. It was a courage to stand by these principles in the face of often savage public reaction, military bullying, and harsh periods of imprisonment with hard labour.”
George was imprisoned for three years with hard labour for his refusal to serve in the armed forces or undertake any war related work. The talk illustrates George’s life and work: from art student locally, to his imprisonment, and how he forged a career for himself in the post-war years.
There will also be the opportunity to buy copies of Colin’s different publications on local artists. These usually cost between £5 and £10. Please bring cash if intending to buy.
The History Society’s monthly meetings are on the second Wednesday of each month. Our meetings are held upstairs in the main hall of Keighley Civic Centre on North Street. There is a lift at the front of the building and one inside for anyone who needs it. Doors will open at 7.15pm, and the meeting starts at around 7.20pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (or free if you are a history society member). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.
Some of you may have seen the tribute to the late Elsie Scott in this week’s Keighley News. Elsie, who was born Elsie Greenwell, was renowned in the town for her skills as a dancer, performer, choreographer and dance teacher. We have just published the programme for the 1968 Amateurs production of ‘West Side Story’ on our Flickr site.
Elsie acted as choreographer on this show and was singled out in the opening paragraph of the Keighley News’ review, remarking on how she coped with the remarkably limited space on stage in the Ritz cinema. Reviewer Allan Robinson wrote: “To my mind, choreographer Elsie Scott was the ‘star’ of Keighley Amateurs’ opening presentation on Wednesday night for the marvellous job she did in such cramped conditions.”
