Wednesday 26th September at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

The Life & Times in Pictures
of Alice Longstaff, 1907-1992

Frank Woolrych, Issy Shannon & Nick Wilding

Alice Longstaff spent 70 years of her life at 25 West End, Hebden Bridge; she photographed many local people from the cradle, through their school days to their wedding days and beyond.

In this, the centenary year of her birth Frank, Issy and Nick take an affectionate look back over her life and times. 

Wednesday 10th October at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

A Peep Inside Shibden Hall
A look at its history from 1420 to the present day

Tony Sharp

Tony will give us a personal insight into Shibden Hall, the home of the Lister family for over 300 years, together with anecdotes from his 26 years of working there.

The name Shibden means 'valley of the sheep' and the timber-framed house was probably built by a member of the Otes family, who farmed sheep here in the 15th century. 

Wednesday 24th October at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Life in the 1950s

Ian Dewhirst MBE

Whatever the topic this ever popular historian from Keighley is sure to entertain us, tonight we have a look at what life was like in the 1950s.  

A retired Reference Librarian, Ian is still writing a weekly feature for the local newspaper but also finds time to do about 80 talks a year. He has written a great many magazine articles and several books - including "Yorkshire Through the Years", "The Story of a Nobody" and "A History of Keighley". He has also appeared on television; received an honorary Doctor of Letters from the University of Bradford, and the MBE for "services to local history".

Local History AGM

The AGM is followed by a talk by Diana Monahan

G & S (not the musical ones). From a rubbish pile in Croft House to a Local History Archive - a serendipity of discoveries into the Gibson & Sutcliffe archive.

Diana moved to Hebden Bridge in 1990 and was interested in finding out about her old house - just look what has happened since - she is in danger of finding out about the history of the world - well at least Hebden Bridge and District and she never liked history at school!  Music and boating still get a look in.

Two years ago the Local History Society, of which Diana is the Secretary and Assistant Librarian, applied for a small Calderdale Council Rural Development Grant to help us archive materials rescued from Croft House, Hebden Bridge. This lecture is about the project which officially finishes this month.  

Wednesday 14th November at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Rediscovering our Footpath Network

Andrew Bibby

Recent government legislation means that old public highways and paths may be lost for ever from official rights-of-way maps.  Andrew Bibby (chair of the recently formed Walkers’ Action group) will discuss how the footpath network in our area has developed over the centuries, and what should be done locally to contribute to the ‘discovering lost ways’ initiative.

"The fascinating footpaths and steps in Eaves Wood, although used for generations by local people, are not yet officially designated as rights of way.” 

Andrew has also been active in the developing Hebden Bridge and Mytholmroyd as Walkers’ are Welcome towns.  He is also a trustee of the Ramblers’ Association. Tonight he will tell the story behind our footpaths and bridleways, how the existing rights of way network came to be established, and past controversies over public access (eg Castle Carr legal case in 19th C).  Looking forward, since the Countryside & Rights of Way Act has established a 2026 deadline for recording ‘lost’ public highways and paths on the rights of way map, what should we do locally to identify and record these ‘lost ways’?

Wednesday 21st November at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

General Society AGM

The Annual General Meeting
of the General Society

Followed by a short talk on the artist A F Tait - Arthur Fitzwilliam Tait was born near Liverpool and produced many detailed architectural prints of the railway, later going on to become a member of the American Hudson River School.

Wednesday 28th November at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Carols & Capers;
a look at local Yuletide traditions

Bob Schofield

In good time for Christmas, this lecture will cover the development of the festive season’s customs, especially those local to the West Riding.  Many customs relate to the period leading up to the festival, so the journey will commence some weeks before and will conclude on Twelfth Night.  On the way, there’ll be ventures into Carol Singing, Sword Dancing and Bell Ringing, with some opportunities for the audience to offer their own memories.

Dr Schofield is an engineer and geographer.  Folk customs, music and dance have been an interest for him for over forty years, particularly the traditions of Yorkshire and Lancashire.  He was a founder member of the revived Kirkburton Rapier Dancers in 1974 and is still their Captain.  His interests also include Bell Ringing in Oxenhope and West Gallery church music with the Larks of Dean Quire in Rossendale.  He is currently researching the life of Thomas Parker, a Baptist composer who lived in Oxenhope in the early 1800’s, and the carol singing tradition around Oakenshaw, south of Bradford.

Wednesday 12th December at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

The History of the House of Thornber

Ann Kilbey

Ann tells the story of the phenomenal rise of this local business from a few broody hens in orange boxes to a pioneering world leader in poultry development.

Ann Kilbey came to live and farm in the Colden Valley in 1968; she started working for Calderdale’s Tourism Section in 1975, and it was through this work that her interest in the history of the area was triggered. She now lives in Cragg Vale and is a Churchwarden at St Johns Church, an active committee member of the Local History Society and a Trustee of Pennine Heritage Limited.

Talk will be followed by a pie and pea supper £2.00 (vegetarians catered for)

Wednesday 9th January at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Bat & Ball
Cricket In Hebden Bridge & District c.1850-2000

Peter Davis

Peter’s talk will focus on the social history of cricket in the Hebden Bridge area, with reference to all the local clubs (current and defunct) and key 'community' themes such as links to churches, mills and public houses, and the contribution of women.

Peter Davies is a lectuer in History at the University of Huddersfield and in 2004 received a grant of £43,400 from the Heritage Lottery Fund to explore the history and heritage of cricket in Calderdale and Kirklees. The project has been running 3 years and is now ongoing and permanent - with many public outcomes already (including exhibitions, schools packs, heritage trails, website). He is also a Lancastrian and a keen Lancashire CCC fan! Well I suppose someone has to be.

Wednesday 23rd January at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Medicine & Magic
Traditional doctoring and remedies in and around the Pennines

Peter Watson, BA (Hons)

'Alternative' remedies, magical healing and folk medicine from the 10th to early 20th century. The talk will look at 'medicine' in a non-scientific age, including magical processes, charms, contemporary protective remedies, Anglo-Saxon herbalism and magical combinations, and 20th century 'magic'.             

Magical charms for healing and protection, both used in Lancashire/Yorkshire for hundreds of years.

Peter, based in Bacup, is a freelance researcher into lore and tradition in Pennine and other parts of Lancashire. He is a frequent speaker at local history and other societies, been on Radio Lancashire and has also written for the Dalesman, Cumbria, Northern Earth, Yorkshire Magazine and other periodicals.

Wednesday 13th February at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street
                      
Members Evening

Part One of the Members' Evening will feature short papers (5-15 minutes) on members' own work; members engaged in research are invited to let the Society know if they would like to take this opportunity to let others know about their area of interest.

Part Two will be a 'History in the Making' session. The Society will look back over the last 5 years and discuss what events or developments in that time may be considered historic for the area. Please let us know in advance, if possible, what you would nominate as History in the Making, so we can establish a schedule; bring along any photographs or other material or details about that event(s).

Wednesday 27th February at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

Billy Pit, Widow Dixon, Andrew Stuttard
and the Stoneshey Gate connection.

Justine Wyatt & Elaine Beach        

The Stoneshey Gate papers list hundreds of names of handloom weavers employed by George Sutcliffe and other members of the Sutcliffe family, and include the names of places where the weavers lived and worked. This illustrated talk begins to explore the connections between these people and places. 

Justine Wyatt works for Hebden Bridge Alternative Technology Centre and was Leader for the recently completed Power in the Landscape project. She is also an active committee member of the Local History Society. Elaine Beach is a retired teacher.

Wednesday 12th March at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

"Lazy & No Ambition"

Ian Bailey

In 1941-43, the Ministry of Agriculture undertook a survey of wartime farming, and this talk looks at how the upper Calder valley farmers fared in the report - generally a lot more positively than our title suggests!

Ian is an enthusiastic local historian, a Midgley resident, founder of the Midgley History Group, and co-author with David Cant, Alan Petford and Nigel Smith, of the recently published ‘Pennine Perspectives, Aspects of the History of Midgley’.

Wednesday 26th March at 7.30pm
Hebden Bridge Methodist Hall, Market Street

William Holt – The All or Nothing Man

Cath Emberson

William Holt (1897-1977) – writer, artist, traveller and broadcaster – is mainly remembered as a 'colourful local character'. Cath makes a personal exploration of his adventurous life and achievements, through the focus of his autobiographical writings and novels. There is particular emphasis on the 1920-30s mill-town environment of the Calder Valley, which, Cath suggests, Billy Holt portrayed so successfully from an insider's viewpoint.

A Todmordian; born & bred. Cath Emberson, has for the past 8 years held the position of town clerk. She has spoken to a number of groups in Todmorden about William Holt and published a short biography on the subject for the Antiquarian Society's Millennium book, Todmorden Cameos. Cath is also interested in the lives and works of the Bronte family and over the last few years, jointly with husband Ian, have explored many local links resulting in journal articles and the publication of the Rev. George Sowden's recollections of the Brontes.

 Friday 11th April 7.30pm     Mytholmroyd Historical Society

Joint meeting at Scout Road Methodist Chapel,
speakers to be announced

Events archive

Summer 2007 programme

Winter 2006-7 programme