Spen Valley Through the Years
by Maurice Popplewell
1903 to 1905

1903

King Edward was 62, and Arthur J. Balfour was Conservative Prime Minister. Income tax was 1s 3d and considered high. It was to fall to 11d in 1904.

Henry Ford founded his Motor Car Company: the speed limit here was raised to 20mph. Before this, John Hoyle of Brighouse, a motor engineer, was caught exceeding the speed limit of 12mph at the Stump Cross. A constable using a stop-watch, said he was doing all of 16¾mph. The Mayor said the bench intended "to stop that sort of thing!"

St. Saviour's. Their Sunday School was opened on February 3rd, in Jeremy Lane, Heckmondwike. In 1889 they put up a corrugated iron church on Claremont, which they had bought from St. Luke's at Cleckheaton for £200. By 1896 they had replaced it with an attractive stone church, with some excellent stained glass windows. They looked all set for a solid future, but there is now no sign of the church. Early in 1902 we find Mr T. Gotobed of Jermyn House, complaining in the "Herald" that candles had been lit in the church when not required for giving light: he said that this was illegal in the Church of England!!

First trams: Horse and steam trams had been running between Batley and Dewsbury from 1874 and 1880 respectively, but we had nothing here over the hill. Two schemes had been looked at around 1883, one being animal and the other on a cable-car principle, but the gradients put them in abeyance. By the time we had electricity, progress was made and 1903 saw all our tram routes in operation, i.e.
Feb 18 - 1st tram Heckmondwike to Dewsbury (closed 31 Oct 1934)
Apr 24 - extended to Cleckheaton and Moorend
Jul 29 - Heckmondwike to Hightown
Oct 13 - Heckmondwike to Birkenshaw via Six-Lane Ends.
A Major Druitt, on behalf of the Board of Trade, inspected the trams and tracks; he had a complaint from Mr T.F. Firth who argued that the road was too narrow by stables. It was agreed that between Wood Street and Hill Street, a speed limit of 4 mph would be made. But Thomas Freeman Firth was a generous man, and on July 21st we find him giving the land for the making of New North Road, also a cheque for £500 towards the cost of curbing and channelling it.

Alarming accident. In June, after a Cleckheaton wedding, a landau had been booked to give some of the lady guests a trip round the district. Coming down Hunsworth Lane the horses took fright, bolted and fell, breaking both shafts, and toppling some of the ladies out. But none of them were any the worse, and they travelled home by tram.

Jacksons stores, Market Place, Heckmondwike, offered complete furniture for a cottage for £7 19s 6d, comprising table, 4 Windsor chairs, armchair, rocking chair, fender, tidy, hearthrug, clock and 4 oil paintings. Also brass bedstead, wire mattress, bed, bolster and 4 pillows, dressing table, wash stand, 2 cane chairs, swing glass, toilet seat and rug.

New Cemeteries. Liversedge opened a new one, costing £12,000, with an entrance lodge and a handsome mortuary chapel. Cleckheaton Cemetery in Whitcliffe Road was almost full, and a new one, costing £7,000 was opened at Whitechapel Road.

Life on Dartmoor. At the Central Sunday School, Cleckheaton, a large audience heard a notorious convict, Sleng Webster, a native of Gomersal, who had spent 18 years in prison, give a talk on "life on Dartmoor". "Long Sleng," as his mates called him, appeared in convict dress and in chains, and told of his friendship with the murderer Charles Peace. But Sleng was now an ardent Methodist!

Leisure. A new cricket pavilion was opened at Cleckheaton on July 3rd by club president Fred Law. At St. George's Hall in Bradford, Sousa and his band of 52 players was paying a return visit...stalls 4s, gallery 1s. A dancing bear was seen at Moorend. And if you wanted to treat yourself, an unredeemed pledge, an 18ct gold ring, with 4 diamonds and 3 opals was offered for 28s 6d (cost £2 15s).

But 1903 had its strange bits of news. On May 28th, at Dewsbury Police Court, three men from Soothill were prosecuted for not having their children vaccinated, and were given a month to get it done. And at Cleckheaton, a cow, which had strayed from the George Hotel yard, walked into the Co-operative Society's drapery department!

1904

As promised, income tax dropped from 1s 3d to 11d in the pound. Motor car registrations started. Rolls and Royce began to build motor cars. The first official motor race was held in 1904, with average speeds of 15mph.

The Norfolk Car. To be in the swim of things, Mr Abel Blackburn, a card clothing maker of Cleckheaton, built eight 2 cylinder, 10hp petrol cars which were sold through a Sheffield company under the trade name "Norfolk." He was a clever man who had previously built a steam car. He also built a "one off" job which he called the "Northern," and I understand it was still running as late as 1939. If it is still operational, perhaps someone would let me know.

Golden Wedding. On February 15, members of the Upper Independent Chapel at Heckmondwike, presented to Mr and Mrs T.F. Firth a clock and side ornaments, suitably inscribed, on the occasion of their Golden Wedding Anniversary and their 50 years' membership of the chapel.

Ambulance Box. On August 12, the St. John Ambulance Association put up an ambulance box at Moorend, Cleckheaton. It was stocked with first-aid equipment, bandages, splints, a stretcher and various medicaments. Dr. Sutherland had run 33 first-aid classes, attended by 200 men and 310 ladies.

Mill Fatality. In January, a 13 year old girl, Edith Jackson, employed as a bobbin doffer at Roberttown Cotton Mill, was caught up in the belting and whirled around the shafting. These accidents were sadly not uncommon in those days, and the necessary delay in switching off the machinery always ended tragically, with severe mutilation, as in this sad case.

School Board. On March 28, the members of Heckmondwike School Board held their final meeting. The School Boards had done sterling work in our community. Local religious leaders and local worthies like W.E. Clarke, R. Bruce, J.J. Stead and J.O. Bowling had founded the Grammar School, (then called the Higher Grade School) which was opened in 1896. There was fund-raising activity, scholarships awarded, and exhibitions of work. The 1902 Education Act made the WRCC the authority for secondary education, and a Board of Governors was set up.

Smallpox. November saw an alarming outbreak of smallpox in our valley and beyond. There were so many cases to deal with that tents had to be put in Earlsheaton to accommodate them. It would have been a bit "nippy" for poorly folks in a tent in November!!

Wages and Prices. At Scandinavia Mills, Richard Reece, aged 13, started at 5s per week, and Squire Firth, a lad of 16, at 13s. The company had reason to be proud of these employees in due time, for they were both to serve for 50 years, and Mr Firth was to be honoured with the M.B.E. Wm. Sugden & Sons, shirt makers of Water Lane Mills, Cleckheaton, advertised for young girls as learners, to work half time, starting at 2s a week. On alternate mornings or afternoons they had to attend school. Sugdens, at this time, were advertising their wares with the claim "our shirts at 2s 6d are a bargain." At the Lion Stores, oranges, large and sweet, were 50 for 1s and fresh eggs 24 for a shilling. The George Hotel had whiskey at 9s a half-gallon and gin at 7s 6d.

Wesleyan Chapel, Millbridge. Many readers will surely remember the chapel with a spire, which stood at the junction of Halifax Road and Huddersfield Road, opposite the Globe Hotel, (although the pub itself has now gone). It was described at the time as "the prettiest chapel in the district!" It was opened on October 19 1904, to replace a chapel on the site which was built in 1874, through the generosity of the Cooke family. But it is so many years since it was pulled down, I wonder why? It always looked so white and new! Fortunately I have a photograph of it.

Leisure. In 1904, if you wanted a day out, you could go to Woodkirk Pleasure Garden, Dewsbury and have tea in the Continental Pavilion or Hope Bank Pleasure Gardens, Honley, for the swings and donkeys or Sunny Vale Gardens, Hipperholme, for the Regatta & Water Carnival, or you could really treat yourself and have 12 days in Norway on the Midnight Sun, all in for £12 12s!

Heckmondwike Christmas Market Demonstration. In 1883, the first illuminations used either gas or oil, but here in 1904, electricity was available, and the Council really went to town. "Lights," they said, "on a scale never before attempted." There were balloon ascents in the afternoon, cinematograph shows, the Mirfield Military Band, and the Heckmondwike Concertina Band, fresh from another prize-winning performance at Belle Vue.

1905

King Edward VII is now 64. His cardinal passions are women and food; his dinners were never less than twelve courses. We owe the Norfolk jacket to him, and the grey felt hat, and he had his trousers creased at the sides. A Liberal Prime Minister, Campbell-Bannermann replaced Balfour, Conservative. The AA and TT organisations were started, also the British Red Cross Society.

War Veteran: A veteran of the South African War of 1851/2, (the Basuto War), died at Cleckheaton at 74. He was Samuel Barstow of Nutter Street, and he had served with the 6th Warwicks. He came to the town in 1859 and worked 16 years as night watchman at St. Peg Mills. He was at the mill when the "ten o'clock gun" was fired.

Mr Fred Oade, who had his livery stables in Greenside, met with an accident when harnessing a horse to one of his cabs. The animal swerved and pinned him to the wall, causing a broken wrist and many bruises. The limb was set by Dr. Sykes.

T.P. Whittaker MP. Our Liberal MP moved the Second Reading in the House of the Trades Unions and Trades Disputes Bill, consisting of three short clauses...
1. The first legalises peaceful picketing.
2. The second amends the law of conspiracy.
3. The third protects trade unions from actions brought to recover damages sustained by the action of a member or members.

Factory Report. A report by the Chief Inspector of Factories was published in 1905. Some of the findings were disturbing, and there is little doubt that similar complaints could be made at our local mills. A girl earning 10s a week was fined 6d for laughing in the dinner hour, while another girl, earning 8s was fined 1s for being less than 10 minutes late for work. The late Miss L., of South Parade told me that at Sugdens, Cleckheaton, in 1905, when she was 13, she earned 12s in a good week on full time. She got 1s 11d for making a dozen shirts, and 1½d for putting the buttons on a dozen of them. She had to buy her own needles, 2 for 1½d, and her own scissors.

Slates at School. There was a move to stop the use of slates in school, for it was thought they helped to spread diphtheria. They also resulted in slovenly work and damaged the eyesight. And posture-wise, they were no help, for the kids used them standing up!!

Halifax Building Society's annual income, announced in August 1905, was £750,000. The Reserve Fund was £100,000, Interest 3½%. Mortgages 4%.

Poor Relief. The Dewsbury Board of Guardians, meeting at the Staincliffe Workhouse, reported that in December 1905 they paid out in the first week £60 7s 6d, an average of 2s 3d each for 532 recipients. For Christmas it was decided to give each adult and extra shilling and each child 6d.

Prices, Wages etc. Miss Lottie Roberts of Westgate, Cleckheaton, was appointed a supplementary teacher at St. John's infants department at £30 per annum (11s 6d per week). J & B's in Dewsbury offered ladies combinations for 1s 11½d, and corsets for nursing, cycling, walking and working for 1s 11½d. R. Allott at the L&NW yard, Liversedge, could now supply house coal for 12s 6d per ton, with 1s discount for cash. Newsome Clough of Old Bank Chambers, had a house to let in Iron Street for 2s 6d per week, and one in Dixon Fold, Hightown, for 2s 3d. John Thompson, licensed horse slaughterer of Dudley Hill, wanted 5,000 horses. The Lion Confectionery Company were advertising their "Lion Rich Cream Toffee." We don't see much of that these days! And Dr. Stevenson of Liversedge had a grey mare for sale. I wonder if he visited his patients on horseback?

Leisure. Trade was depressed in 1905, and we find that "on St. Thomas's Day in December, the usual dole of bread was distributed at White Chapel" (sic). But there was a Children's Carnival in Howard Park, organised by the Co-op. It was held on July 29th, for the holiday break. Prof. Fenton Cross, lightning cartoonist and paper manipulator was there, with Prof. Carcuss and his Punch and Judy. There was a tug-of-war, dancing, balloon ascents and the children paid 1d for their tea. S. Law & Son had a day out at the Dukeries, along with Charles Hirsts. P & C Garnett Ltd's folks had a day at Morecambe.

Advert for a Hangman. A number of local men applied for the post, caused by the death of Rillington. A retainer of £2 5s a week was offered, with £5 for each hanging, plus expenses. James Berry of Heckmondwike, was hangman in 1884, and he hanged 500 before he retired. It is said that Berry Hill (in Union Road) was named after him. Perhaps this prompted the local applications!!

Adoption Meeting. Thomas P Whittaker attended his adoption meeting in December. The Guardian of December 22 carried in their report: When he got up to speak he was greeted with a long round of applause and "Kentish Fire." Not knowing this expression, I find from my dictionary that "Kentish Fire" means synchronised volleys of applause. We are never too old to learn!

Songs of year 1905. I love a lassie; In the shade of the old apple tree; I wouldn't leave my little wooden hut for you.