Bamforth & Co. Fine Art Publishers
This is the former wharehouse and studio best known for its "cheeky" seaside postcard production. However, the company began life on a more serious note. It was established in 1870 by James Bamforth, painter and studio photographer. Thirteen years later the company began producing lantern slides which in the following decade were used to accompany songs and stories performed in music halls and variety shows. In 1902 postcards were produced from the negatives of the lantern slides and these became extremely popular. The company even dabbled in producing comedy films with some success. Local people appeared in them. During World War I the company produced a range of sentimental cards designed for those separated by the war effort. But of course Bamforth's is most famous for the saucy seaside postcards sent home by thousands of holiday makers to Britain's seaside resorts in
the mid 20th century. Free from the worry of war, with a little more available money in their pockets, and cheap rail travel, day trips and holidays in Britain were at their most popular ever. Bamforth's flourished, producing as many as 16 million postcards in one bumper year. Alas, production ceased in the 1990s!
The Druids Hall
This building was built in 1846 for the Ancient Order of Druids Friendly Society at a cost of over £2000. The Druids offered financial help and security to the poorest people and gathered in strength with over 600 members by the middle of the 19th Century. Later the building was used for many other purposes including a drill hall, hotel and Masonic Hall.
Holmfirth Picturedrome
The cinema was built around 1912 and opened on Easter Monday, 1st March 1913 as the Holme Valley Theatre. It had 1,040 seats, large in comparison to the size of the town and was used for music hall and variety acts as well as for film shows. Oddly, electricity for lighting was produced by a generator kept in an outhouse, and the projection room was also outside the main building. Silent movies were shown to begin with, but in 1930 the first sound movie was shown, proving immensely popular from then onwards until television became widely available to the British public. With dwindling audiences, the cinema closed in 1967, but re-opened after conversion into a bingo hall, continuing until the early 1990s. In 1997 it was re-opened, after renovation, as Holmfirth Picturedrome. It once again became an entertainment venue and is capable of showing films. The original Picturedrome Cinema was up Dunford Road in the building now occupied by an Italian restaurant (see Ribbleden Mill below).
Monument to the victims of the 1852 Flood
On 5th February 1852, at the height of the winter rains, the Bilberry Reservoir near Holme Village burst its banks. The floodwater swept down the valley into Holmfirth. As a result 81 people lost their lives and severe damage was inflicted on many of the buildings. Victoria Bridge in the town centre was demolished, shops and prominent buildings flooded. The graveyard surrounding the Wesleyan chapel suffered flooding and there were reports of coffins being washed up and floating out, including, ironically, that of local businessman John Harpin who had been one of the main promoters of the dam. Also, the bodies of 7 victims of the flood were sent to Holmebridge church for burial, but the proposed graves we re so full of water that the bodies had to be kept in the church until it subsided. It was surmised in the newspapers of the time that defects in the constructi on of the reservoir were responsible. The flood became national news and attracted the benevolent sympathy of all classes, from the Queen down. An emergency fund was started nationally to help those who had lost everything, and £70,000 w as raised, the equivalent of £4 million today! An inquest held o ver 5 days concluded that the commissioners, engineer and overlooker of the dam were to blame for defects in its construction and the fact that they had known it was in a dangerous state for years, but had done nothing about it. A stone in Holmfirth town centre marks the height of the flood waters, and a further marker on a column known as "Th'owd Genn" in Towngate marks the height of the flood but also records the Peace of Amiens of 1802. This was a break in hostilities with France during the Napoleonic Wars. The people of Holmfirth hoped the woollen trade with France, on which many of their livelihoods depended, might resume at this point, but in fact peace was shortlived.
Holmfirth Monumental Almshouses
Five almshouses built in 1856 as a memorial to the great Holmfirth flood of 1852, by public subsription. The Ladies Bazaar Committee helped raise some of the funds. Actually, the flood disaster fund was so large that even after all the compensation claims were met and some of the money repaid to subscribers, there was still enough left to pay for the building work. The almshouses were dedicated "to the poor of all the surrounding townships for ever".
Plaque
This plaque commemorates the charitable work of Holmfirth resident Barry Lee, who was voted Yorkshire and Humberside's street cleaner of the year in 1992. The competition was organised by the Tidy Britain Group and sponsored by Tetley's Brewery and the title came with a prize of £500 for Mr. Lee plus £250 to give to an environmental project of his choice. Mr Lee chose to donate this to the Holme Valley Riverside Project. Besides cleaning Holmfirth's streets, Mr. Lee has helped raise money for a number of charities over the years, including the Air Cadets, Down's Syndrome Association and Holme Valley Torchlight Procession.
Harold Wagstaff (1891 – 1939)
The gable end of “The Shoulder of Mutton” public house opposite the Pump Hole on Dunford Road, Holmfirth bears a plaque to Harold Wagstaff who played rugby as a lad for the “Pump Hole Rangers” and went on to international fame. Harold was born in Underbank on 19th
May 1891, the son of Andrew and Hannah Wagstaff, and played as a youth for Underbank Rangers, but he signed up for Fartown (later Huddersfield) Rugby Football Club in 1906, playing his first professional game at the age of 15 years and 175 days, making him arguably the youngest person ever to play rugby league professionally. Aged 17 years and 141 days, he became the youngest player ever for Yorkshire and a few months later made his debut for England against the 1908 Australian touring side. He still is England’s youngest international player. By 1912, at the age of 19, Wagstaff was captain of Huddersfield, and in 1914 was made captain of the Great Britain side which toured Australia and New Zealand and captained the famous “Rorke’s Drift” match of 4th July 1914. Against all adversity, Great Britain won this 3rd and final test against Australia, largely due to Harold’s leadership.
Wagstaff was a forward and became known as ‘The Prince of Centres’, combining superb football skills with tactical awareness and inspirational leadership. The Huddersfield team he captained became known as ‘The Team of All The Talents’ and won victory in the Rugby
League Challenge Cup, the Championship Trophy, the Yorkshire Cup and the Yorkshire
League in 1915. They were one of only three teams ever to win all four cups.
World War I then intervened and Harold joined the army in September 1916, serving partly in Egypt and playing sometimes for the Army Services Team, along with some of his former Huddersfield teammates.
After the war, Wagstaff again captained the Great Britain side touring Australia in 1920. Back home, he chaired the newly formed Rugby League Players’ Union. Altogether, he was awarded 12 Great Britain and 9 England caps and scored over 200 first class tries. He played his last Test match in 1922 and retired in 1925.
Sadly, Harold was a victim of a flu epidemic in 1939, dying in a Huddersfield nursing home at the age of 48. He was inducted into the Rugby League Hall of Fame in 1988, and was one of only five greatest exponents of the game featured on a set of British stamps, issued to commemorate the centenary of Rugby League in 1995.
Milner's Ironfoundry
Outside my house is a manhole cover with the name Milner, Holmfirth. Around Holmfirth there are other drain covers of varying sizes and shapes made by Milner's (see photos). Looking back at the Trade Directories I found that John E Milner is listed at an ironfoundry at 19, Station Street, Holmfirth in Kelly's Directory of West Yorkshire in 1939. Going back through the Trade Directories and looking at the Census records reveals that John Edward Milner came from a family of joiners, in 1901 they were living at 15, St Anne's Square in the centre of Holmfirth. His father Richard is listed as a joiner as far back as 1897. In 1912 Kelly's shows that circumstances are looking up for the Milners' - J. E. Milner is listed as a house furnisher at 19 and 20 Station Road. On the 1911 Census he is married to Margaret and they have five children.
Th'owd Towser
This is said to be one of the oldest buildings in Holmfirth, dating from around 1597, although it has been rebuilt at a later date on the same foundations. It served as the old church lock up and is located on Daisy Lane, just behind Holy Trinity church, on land known as God's Acre. Before it was built vagrants were whipped and sent to another parish, whilst the unemployed poor were haphazardly helped out by the church. In 1597, however, overseers of the poor and Justices of the Peace were appointed, and the J.P.s were required to provide Houses of
Correction in which to detain vagrants and other offenders. Hence th'owd towser was built, and although primitive by today's standards, was a great improvement at the time on whipping and confinement in a "dark hole". Vagrants and criminals were held here before transfer to court, or to the County Gaol in Wakefield. A cell on the upper floor of the building still exists, with an iron ring in the floor to which prisoners were chained.
One of the notorious prisoners held here was the Rev. Edmund Robinson, assistant to the vicar. In 1685, parishioners became supicious that he seemed to have too much money to spend on his meagre stipend. A search of his house was carried out and coin clipping equipment discovered. Robinson was arrested and imprisoned in the towser before his trial at York Assizes. There he was found guilty and subsequently hanged for his crime.
After the towser ceased to be used as a prison, the building was put to good use at various times as a mortuary, an ambulance and a fire station. Today it is still in use ocassionally for meetings and exhibitions.
The Pump Hole
This old water pump and trough at the bottom of Dunford Road was erected by public subscription in 1850 to provide water to nearby buildings which did not have a water supply. It was still in use during the 1920s.
Mettrick's
Mettrick's butchers have been in business in Holmfirth since at least 1912 when the proprieter is listed in the trade directory as Mettrick Turner, 67 Huddersfield Road. By 1928 the business was advertising itself in the Holmfirth Almanack as follows
"England's Best Pork Pies and Sausages made fresh every hour of the day.
All kinds of cooked table delicacies always on slice - boiled ham, pressed
cheek and tongue, pressed beef and ox tongue etc. etc.
The trade supplied with loins, legs, home fed hams and bacon, pork pies,
sausages, polony etc.
Try Mettrick's where you get the best quality and service.
Mettrick Bros., Holmfirth, Yorkshire
We can do with an unlimited supply of the best quality pigs, which must be guaranteed fed free from fish meal."
By 1936 the company had expanded, with shops in High Street, Huddersfield, Lockwood Road, Rashcliffe and Blacker Road, Birkby.
Quarmby's
The Quarmby family have been in business over the years in Holmfirth in several different capacities. In 1870 George and Jonathan Quarmby were running a painting and decorating business, having premises in Upper Bridge and Victoria Square by 1901, when they were described as "house decorators". By 1928 the business had moved to Rotcher where a shop know as "The Wallpaper House" selling wallpaper, paints, varnishes and brushes was run by J. Quarmby and Son.
In 1928 also, Walter Quarmby was running a men's wear shop in Victoria Square, claiming to be "the Best Value in the Trade!" .
Best known of all is probably Quarmby's butchers, proprietor Joe Quarmby in 1901 and Arthur Quarmby in 1912 in Victoria Square. By 1936 Arthur was operating from Victoria market. His advert in the Holmfirth Almanack reads
"If you require the best English meat at a reasonable price - try Arthur Quarmby".
Ribbleden Mill
Ribbleden Mill and dyeworks on Dunford Road was a scribbling or woollen mill built in 1808 of local sandstone by Joshua Moorhouse, a clothier and John Dickinson, a butcher. Together with Joshua's son, Matthew, each had a one third share in the mill, the land around it, and its barns and stables. In 1828 the mill was described as having 3 cottages, a waterwheel, a reservoir and a dam. Shares in the mill changed hands many times over the years and many local people, including children, were employed there. Work hours were 6am to 8pm with only a few days holiday allowed each year, all of them unpaid. Horncastle, Buckley &Co. who owned part of the mill in 1840 were brought to court at the White Hart Inn, Holmfirth, to answer charges brought by the factory inspector. When he inspected the mill on 7th May he found 2 under age children secreted beneath one of the engine feeders covered with wool. There were 4 other breeches of the regulations too, but the judge, a mill owner himself, decided to be lenient, applying a fine of only £1 per charge plus costs. Naturally the inspector, Mr Bates, was disgusted by this. That same year a fire broke out at the mill, followed only a few months later by one at the Swanbank Mill only a few hundred yards upstream. In September 1853 a mill girl called Wagstaff, aged around 16, had her clothing caught up in the machinery. She suffered bruising to her head and legs, narrowly escaping with her life. The mill was up for auction in April 1856, described as a 3 storey fulling and scribbling mill with a new 4 storey spinning mill with dam, goit, yard and outbuildings, water wheel, steam engine and boiler. The following month the owner, Mr J. Butterworth, treated his workers to celebrate peace at the end of the Crimean War. Then in August 1864 a girl called Battye tried to drown herself in the mill dam, but a Mr Hellawell jumped in and saved her. The distressed girl was brought to court where the magistrate reprimanded her before dismissing her! John Thorpe Taylor had moved his business from Dover Mill to Ribbleden by early 1867 and must have extended the mill, hence the 1868 date stone on the mill wall. He also sold off some excess machinery. Accidents continued to happen to the mill workers. In 1873, for instance, both John Crossley, a piece dyer, and young Walter Bray had to have fingers amputated as a result of separate incidents. Various industrial disputes and strikes occurred and in June 1878 the mill was at a standstill due to a workforce lockout. In January 1880 about 100 employees enjoyed a treat by their employer, Mr Taylor, in the new lecture hall in Holmfirth including speeches, toasts, games and dancing to music provided by Wooldale Brass Band. This was repeated in 1885. In November 1896 the local district council gave notice to the company, Messrs. J.T. Taylor, to remedy the dripping of water from the mill's roof onto the footpath below. Then on 27th January 1898 Joseph Wimpenny, weaver and father of 8, fell into a small pool of water only 3 or 4 inches deep by the side of the river near the dyehouse and was drowned. He had been in "a jovial mood" that evening and may well have been drinking after work. Joseph Moxon, the engine tender at the mill, discovered the body the following morning. Marks, probably made by Wimpenny's clogs, on a nearby wall led the jury at his inquest to conclude that he had probably fallen down the wall and stunned himself. The mill was again up for let in 1901 and for auction in 1915. Brierley and Chester took over the dye house in 1903 but their ownership was short-lived resulting in Brierley's bankruptcy. Lawton and Co. were running the mill by 1905, but by 1915 all the mill buildings were vacant. Wagstaff and Turner ran a building yard in one of the outer parts and Bailey, Mettrick and Wakefield had a joiner's shop in another. In 1916 James Lumb bought the mill improving it with a new boiler and engine house. By May 1917 Brierley and Wall, a woollen spinning company using part of the mill, were warned by the council for emissions of black smoke causing pollution and annoyance to residents and pupils of the National School next door, but the nuisance continued until at least 1920. In July 1930 the mill was up for sale or let once again, said at that time to be a good 5 storey mill with engine and boiler house, sprinklered throughout. John Davis & Co. were running the dye works at that time, later changing their name to Davis Dyers Ltd. Steam coming from their building was said to be causing a danger to traffic in 1955. The company was still there and employing around 60 people in 2010. Eric Hadfield Ltd were in the mill premises themselves in 1956 and actively advertising for textile workers.
Back in September 1920 Brierley and Wall had bought the original Picturedrome Cinema opposite the mill whilst it was still operating as a movie theatre. This was the first ever cinema in Holmfirth, opening on 9th September 1912 after conversion from a roller skating rink. Brierley and Wall closed the building as a cinema a few months after purchasing it and moved their business from the mill to that building instead.
Martha Stocks
Martha was born on 2nd December 1823 in this house, then known as Shaley House, adjoining Holmfirth Library. Her father, James Stocks, was a doctor and her mother, Ann, a member of the Shaw family of Hinchliffe Mill. The couple had married at Almondbury in December 1812. James died in 1832 aged only 51 and the family then left Holmfirth to live in Leeds. Martha was lucky enough to be invited there to a tea party at which she met Alexander Speck, the youngest son of Maximilian, First Baron Speck von Sternburg of Lutzschena near Leipzig in Saxony. Alexander had been born in Leipzig in 1821. His father was in the business of supplying good quality wool to the factories of West Yorkshire. His son, too, was interested in the trade and arrived in Leeds in 1844 to promote the further import into the country of raw wool from Saxony which, before around 1850 when Australia became the major supplier, was an important source of this vital material. It seems it was not that unusual for German merchants to be working in the textile industry here at that time.
Alexander set up office in Trinity Street, Leeds. Martha lived in Kirkgate, Leeds. At the tea party their lives crossed and they fell in love. Alexander proposed and was accepted, but his father was initially non too pleased on hearing the news. Nevertheless the young couple went ahead and married at Leeds parish church on November 10th 1849. Their first four children, all boys, were born in Leeds and Alexander adopted British citizenship in 1852. The in December 1856 came news of his father's death. By now Alexander was his sole surviving heir. He would succeed to the Baronetcy and his wife, Martha would become a Baroness! Quite a startling development for a modest girl from Holmfirth!
Alexander now found himself responsible for his father's substantial business empire in Germany and took the decision to close down his own business in Leeds and take his family to Saxony to live in the ancestral home, Lutzschena Castle. This came complete with a full retinue of servants whom Martha was expected to supervise, not knowing the language. Meanwhile Alexander took on the heavy burden of responsibility for the family business. Martha went on to give birth to a further eight children there. The Baronetcy still exists and the current Baron is descended from Joseph, her ninth child, and so, of course, from Martha herself. It seems her children all spoke English within the family and a succession of English governesses were employed to teach them.
Martha returned to England on a visit in 1858, possibly in connection with the deaths of three of her siblings and she took a fourth, her brother James, a doctor who had suffered a debilitating stroke, back with her to be cared for in Lutzschena where he died in 1864. She seems to have kept in touch with her Shaw relatives at least and they visited her in Germany. Alexander turned the family business away from wool production and more towards beer and brewing. He demolished the old castle and rebuilt a much larger one for his growing family.
Martha died in Lutzschena on 21st May 1878 as recorded on the Stocks family gravestone in what is now Holmeside Park, formerly Holmfirth parish church's graveyard. She had become well regarded and admired in the area and the church bells tolled for her for eight days afterwards. Her husband described her as "one of the noblest women who ever lived". He married and was widowed for a second time afterwards and died himself in April 1911, aged 90. His fourth son, James, born in Leeds succeeded him.
Holmfirth (Holy Trinity) Parish Church
Here's an oddity! Holy Trinity not only has clock faces of differing colours, they also show slightly differing times! See image carousel.