Tag: Speakers Meeting

Keighley and District Local History Society’s next meeting will be on Wednesday 8th May 2024, upstairs in Keighley Library. The guest speaker will be writer and historian Alison Harrop, giving her talk “Lady Mortimer and Edward II: From Skipton to Berkeley Castles”.

Alison writes under the pen-name Alice Mitchell, and her novel “The Mortimer Affair: Joan De Joinville’s Story” was published by YouCaxton Publications in 2020. Alison was born in Keighley and grew up in East Morton, becoming head girl of Bingley Grammar School before training to be a doctor. She worked for more than 20 years as a medical doctor in the Wirral and in North Wales, and moved back to Keighley following the death of her husband in 2019.

Her novel tells the story of Joan de Joinville, wife of the infamous Roger Mortimer, who was imprisoned in Hampshire and then at Skipton Castle, because of her husband’s rebellion against King Edward II in the 14th century. Mortimer was alleged to have ordered the murder of Edward at Berkeley Castle in 1327, but the novel gives Joan a voice and tells an alternative story through her eyes. Joan suffered a great deal of hardship and humiliation but ended-up surviving both men by many years. Alison’s talk addresses the question did Edward II really die in Berkeley Castle?

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (free if you are a history society member). The meetings are upstairs in the local studies library of Keighley Library on North Street. Doors open at 7pm, the meeting starts at around 7.20pm and Alison’s presentation will begin at 7.30pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Please use the side entrance to the library on Albert Street if you are arriving after 7pm.

Anyone is welcome to come along and if people wish to join the society they can pay in cash on the night (membership for the rest of 2024 costs £15 or £20 for a couple living at the same address). History Society members also have the option of joining the meeting via Zoom.

This month’s History Society meeting will be on Wednesday 10th April 2024. It will be held upstairs in Keighley Library. The guest speaker is Dave Hardcastle of the West Yorkshire-based Mobile Police Museum and the subject is “120 Years of UK Policing”.

Dave is a retired West Yorkshire Police constable with 20 years of service, who offers a light-hearted, unique and engaging presentation of the police service over the last 120 years or more. He presents in period police uniform, accompanied by a collection of genuine police equipment including uniforms, hats, helmets, period truncheons, handcuffs, and even 1980s radios that are in working order for the audience to try. These exhibits date from 1880, covering the early Victorian period, both world wars, and up to the 21st century. The audience can touch and handle these vintage items for a more immersive experience.

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (free if you are a history society member). The meetings are upstairs in the local studies library of Keighley Library on North Street. Doors open at 7pm, the meeting starts at around 7.20pm and Dave’s presentation will begin at 7.30pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Please use the side entrance to the library on Albert Street if you are arriving after 7pm.

If you wish to join the society you can pay in cash on the night (membership for the rest of 2024 costs £15 or £20 for a couple living at the same address). Members can take part in the meeting via Zoom (although this one will be best experienced in person if you can!) – details will be sent out by Anne-Marie this weekend.

A massive thank you to author Martin Greenwood who came up from Warwick to deliver his talk on local artist and entertainer Percy Monkman last night. As well as being shown many beautiful examples of Percy’s watercolour paintings and sketches, we learned how he was a good friend to J. B. Priestley, mainly through his work with Bradford Playhouse as well as living close to each other and playing on the same football team as young boys (!), and how Percy served as an entertainer to the troops during both world wars. All this while holding down a job as a bank clerk in the same branch for forty years!

Martin’s book on Percy is available from thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk – highly recommended! There is also a copy available to read in the Keighley Local Studies Library.

March is already upon us, and this month’s History Society meeting (on 13th March) features author Martin Greenwood talking about the life and work of his grandfather, the acclaimed local artist Percy Monkman. Percy Monkman’s life can be summed up in one phrase: “A job in banking, a life in the arts”. By day Percy Monkman worked in the same Bradford bank for 40 years, indeed the same office, ending up as chief cashier. Everything else about Percy was totally unconventional. By night, at weekends, on holidays he transformed himself into an entertainer, actor, artist and cartoonist whose work was regularly acclaimed by the public and held in great respect by colleagues.

He came from a humble working-class family in the Toller Lane area of Bradford and left school when he was fourteen. He joined the Bradford Civic Theatre in the 1930s and the Bradford Arts Club in the 1920s. Subjects for his paintings included the moors above Haworth, the Dales and the Pennines, Bolton Abbey, Bingley Fair, Forster Square, the canal at Shipley and Otley Chevin.

Martin has written an affectionate and comprehensive biography of Percy, available from the website Great British Bookshop (www.thegreatbritishbookshop.co.uk), £18.50 (softback), £22.50 (hardback). A small number of copies of the book will be available to buy on the night (cash only please).

Anyone is welcome to attend the meeting. Entry costs £3.50 (free if you are a history society member). The meetings are upstairs in the local studies library of Keighley Library on North Street. Doors open at 7pm, the meeting starts at around 7.20pm and Martin’s talk will begin at 7.30pm. We finish around 8.30pm. Please use the side entrance to the library on Albert Street if you are arriving after 7pm. Anyone is welcome to come along and if people wish to join the society they can pay in cash on the night (membership for the rest of 2024 costs £15 or £20 for a couple living at the same address).

The history society is 20 years old in 2024. It organises monthly meetings which are free to attend if you are a member (alternatively you can join via Zoom if you are a member). It has its own website and Facebook page, and it runs a Flickr site with over 20,000 images on that anyone is welcome to look at. It produces four newsletters a year which are sent to members via email, and it tries to organise at least one special visit a year.