Spen Valley Through the Years
by Maurice Popplewell
1921 to 1923

1921

With the war behind us, we still had a Coalition Government in 1921. For now, in spite of what seemed a spate of job vacancies in 1920, we had 2,506,000 unemployed. The post-war depression was setting in. The BBC and the British Legion were founded. The Irish Free State was established, with Dominium status. Jack Dempsey knocked out Georges Carpentier. Women had their hair bobbed. Many had done a man's job during the war, and they wanted to look like men!. Locally it was an uneventful year. True, a coal strike which lasted from April 1st to July 1st, had a bearing on our life in the Valley, for we had many small local collieries.

Drop in Wages. This was the year when wages all round were reduced. And why? The cost of living, based on a pre-war level of 100, had risen to 165 during the war years, and had now fallen to 133. This affected wages. As an example, Ben Turner's scourers and fettlers wages £4 8s in January, dropped to £3 18s in May and faced another drop to £3 0s 5d. And he, and they, didn't like it!

Fish and Chips. All prices should have come down, but many did not. One irate local wrote to the paper: Dear sir, seeing that wages are coming down, is it not time that the price of fish and chips came down? They told us during the war that they would have to charge 3d for a piece of fish, as fish was very dear, and dripping 1s 6d a pound. Now that dripping has gone down to 5d a pound, and potatoes and fish any price, my advice is to keep off and let them eat their own. Yours, Fed up.

Major W.C. Fenton M.C. Was married at Whitechapel Church to Miss Margaret Hirst, third daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Hirst of Fieldhead. Mr. Alex Fenton was best man. The bride wore a beautiful gown of white duchesse satin and fine lace. The panels were mounted over shell pink and outlined with exquisite silver embroideries. Her veil was Limerick lace with orange blossom. She wore a diamond brooch, a present from the dashing Major. Employees of Charles Hirsts gave them a solid silver tea and coffee service, while the folks across the road at BBA produced a solid silver Chippendale tea tray. And there was a set of fish knives and a pipe and pouch from the Ex-Servicemen's Club.

A Busy Man. Edward Parker, born in 1841, came to Cleckheaton in 1870 when he was 29. Before that he had put in a 60 hour week at Pontefract Gasworks for 15s a week. He had a number of jobs in our community and when he was getting on he was made lamp-lighter, but was taken off the job in 1916, aged 75, as he was unsafe up the ladder when gas mantles were brought in. Here in 1921 we find him, still hard at it, working on the roads to eke out his pension. He lived in Union Street.

Wages of Trade Union Officials. Mr John Hirst, secretary of the Gasworkers' Union, said that officials of Trade Unions were getting £6 and £7 a week. He thought that many of them were paid too much. He suggested a minimum of £5, with up to £12 for the very big unions.

Heckmondwike Comrades of the Great War had a member who wanted a job as a night watchman. He was a wounded soldier with only one leg.

Cleckheaton Golf Club. A new course was being discussed which bore fruit in the present location on the Bradford Road. The first club was at Hunsworth, laid out by Tom Vardon of Ilkley as a nine hole course. The second move was to Roundhill in 1904, the course being set out by Alec Herd, the Huddersfield professional. It lasted 16 years.

The Will of Josiah Rhodes of Lytham, and of Albert Rhodes & Co. Ltd., yarn spinners, etc., was published. He left £90,969 gross, net £88,996.

Bad Language. "Your language on this occasion was absolutely rotten," said the chairman of the Dewsbury Bench to Frank Naylor, currier of Liversedge, who had used bad and obscene language in Clough Lane.

Farrows Bank I mentioned earlier the failure of Farrows. Here in 1921 the Official Receiver paid 2s in the £ to depositors.

Florence Benn, a machinist locally, got 3 months for stealing a cap from a local cafe. It was in the ladies' toilet, and belonged to the cashier, who saw her wearing it a fortnight later, and told the police. She had previously stolen a wristlet watch, served in prison, but had to be released to have a baby, which died. Her father wanted nothing to do with her. I wonder what happened to the poor lass?

Roberttown Wesleyans Young Men put on a comic operetta "Ahr Sarah's Wedding" and made £20 for the church funds. At Heckmondwike Secondary School the Operatic Society put on "Gondoliers." Mr Ward Kemp who made no charge for being musical director, was given a set of pipes and a pouch.

Price of Gas. Surprisingly the price of gas in 1921 was 16d (8p) per therm, when wages were around £3 a week. Nowadays, with average wages well over £100 a week, the price is under 40p per therm. This is an indication how our standard of living has improved at least seven fold, and possibly more.

Local Cinemas. Violet Hobson in "The Sporting Duchess" and "The Three Musketeers."

Songs of 1921. Coal Black Mammy, Margie, Ours is a nice house and Ma, he's making eyes at me. Another new song was Look for the silver lining, and as if to support this there was a record dry summer. Not many people took much notice of an ex-German Army Corporal called Adolf Hitler who was trying to stir up trouble in Germany.

1922

Lloyd George was still at the helm of a Coalition Government, but a change came in November, when Bonar Law led the Conservatives, with 345 seats against Labour's 142, National Liberals with 62 and Liberals 54. Tutankhamen's tomb was found by Howard Carter, James Joyce wrote "Ulysses," the Austin Seven arrived, Victor Sylvester became World dancing champion and Huddersfield Town beat Preston North End (1-0) in the Cup Final.

On May 27th, crowds gathered in the park at Heckmondwike for the unveiling of the War Memorial, which had been paid for by public subscription. Councillor Joseph Parker, chairman of Heckmondwike U.D.C. uncovered the octagonal panels at the base of the cross which bore the names of 157 men from the town who had been killed.

The Cleckheaton War Memorial was dedicated and unveiled on November 11th by Lt. Col. A.L. Mowat, DSO, MC, in the park. The official programme gave some interesting information about the Spenborough men who had served in the war. From 2459 men and 55 officers, 71 were prisoners, 69 were shown as 'discharged', with 368 casualties.

Foot and Mouth disease was found at the Healds Hall farm of Mr F. Crowther, and all the affected livestock were destroyed.

National Tramway Strike. Wage scales had become complicated during the war, when everyone received 'War Bonus.' A tramway man had been paid wages for 6days at 7s a day, i.e. 42s plus a war bonus of 40s, making a total of 82s. Now that the cost of living was falling, a change was suggested which would have reduced the bonus to 30s, giving a wage of 72s. The strike was settled in a fortnight by making a reduction of only 4s instead of 10s a week.

Unemployed. Those in work, even at reduced wages, could not compare with the dire plight of those who had no work to go to. A case was quoted of a Halifax lady, Mrs Farnell, being told that the 19s 4d which she earned was sufficient to support her and her out-of.work husband. Their rent was 6s, and they often dined on mashed turnips and dry bread, with an occasional penny herring as a special treat!

A New Cinema was opened in Albion Street, Cleckheaton, next to the Picture Palace. It was given the name Savoy, and it had a pleasant cafe. The gallery alone could seat 300. The cinemas both at Heckmondwike and Cleckheaton were enjoying success, for this was the day of the popular 'silver screen' with Rudolph Valentino charming patrons with his 'Blood and Sand,' etc.

General Election, November 15th. The local result was:
Sir John Simon (Ind. Lib.) - 13,306
Tom Myers (Labour) - 12,519
W.O.R. Holton (Conservative) - 8,104
Total votes: 33,929 out of an Electorate of 40,107 and population of 77,028.

Providence Place. Soon after the election, the Congregationalists at Providence Place celebrated their 250th Anniversary. It was indeed something to celebrate for it was in 1672 that Joseph Dawson had been granted a licence to conduct services at "Ye Closes," a cottage on Cliffe Lane, and from this historic beginning the magnificent place of worship on Bradford Road bore witness to the dedication of the thousands who came after him.

Cases at Court. Herbert Heaton (38) of Cleckheaton was remanded on a burglary charge, He had skeleton keys, a chisel, a jemmy and a six foot length of rope ladder with hooks at one end. When charged, he said: "You're a bit too smart for me!" Willie Barraclough, a miner of Westgate, Cleckheaton, was granted a decree nisi because of the misconduct of his wife Sarah with William Edwards, a grocer, butcher and fruiterer in a big way of business in Barnsley. She seems to have made a very good swap!

Cleckheaton Golf Club. At the AGM in their new location on Bradford Road, it was reported that subs totalled £1,189, but nevertheless they lost £589 on the year. Mr N. Crabtree, who had been president for all the 22 years of the club's existence, was in the chair: he was warmly thanked for his services by Mr J.G. Mowat and Mr John Fenton.

House Sales. Duxbury Hall and grounds were up for sale. And Mr A.H. Ramsden bought six houses in Heckmondwike for £560, with an annual rental of £43. They were 38 & 39 Beauregard Street, 40 & 41 Flush and 42 & 43 New Street.

New Vicar. St. James Church at Heckmondwike wanted a new vicar. The parochial council offered the post at "not less than £400 per annum" (£8 per week). A lamplighter was also wanted. Wages 45s per week.

Bargains. Butter, which had been 3s lb at the Lion Stores, was now 1s 11d lb. Bacon had dropped from 2s 10d to 1s 10d lb. Prices tailors had suits to measure at £3 9s 6d. A Ford Model T cost £196. H. Peel, Northgate, Cleckheaton had turkeys at 2s 4d lb, geese at 1s 8d, Yorkshire ducks at 1s 8d and pheasants at 14s a brace.

Songs of 1922. I'm just wild about Harry, Peggy O'Neill, Say it with music and The Sheik of Araby.

1923

George V is now 58. Stanley Baldwin is Prime Minister. Income tax was 5s in 1922 and now drops to 4s 6d for 1923 to 1925. Shops such as Woolworths, Marks & Spencers and Fifty Shillings Tailors are springing up everywhere. There was some optimism, for unemployment fell from 1,194,700 in January to 903,522.

Over in Germany there was no reason for such optimism, for inflation had taken their economy by the throat, and the value of just one US dollar was 4,200 million million marks! A newspaper cost 200,000 million marks! The writer spent a year in Germany in 1934/35 and talked to people who lived through this experience. Each day, each employee took a suitcase to work to hold the thousands of notes which were paid to him every day. He hurried home to spend them, for the next day he might get twice as many. It usually meant spending it on drink, for there was little to buy. There was a story told to me of a man who took a wheelbarrow full of notes to a shop. When he came out someone had stolen his wheelbarrow and tipped out the notes! I make no excuse for mentioning this saga on inflation, for we should all realise what a disaster inflation can cause.

Firth Park. On May 12th, Sir Algernon Firth opened the Firth Park at Heckmondwike, with its bowling greens, tennis courts, pavilions and a children's playground, and presented the lot to the town. It was said at the time that he had intended these amenities for his workforce, but that he changed his mind after they neglected to honour some member of his family who had a wedding, anniversary or something. Be that as it may, as they say, the facilities have continued to give much recreational pleasure to the citizens.

Heckmondwike Secondary School. On Saturday Jun 25th, the 25th Anniversary of the founding of the school was celebrated, with over 400 old boys and girls attending. The headmaster, Mr R.S. Cahill, gave a history of the school, after a tea provided by Dempster H. Lister had been enjoyed. It was a memorable occasion for the headmaster, for he was soon to retire and, in fact, at a governor's meeting on June 22nd, Lt. Col. H.W. Edwards, M.A. (36), married of Cheltenham, had been selected to succeed him on January 1st of 1924.

Tribute to Mr R.S. Cahill. There was another gathering at the school of old scholars on December 15th to say"Good-bye" to the old headmaster. He was given a cheque, a chiming clock and a case of pipes. Some days later came a further presentation from the governors, staff and scholars. Senior prefects Mollie Exley and Harold Blakeley brought gifts to Mr 'Billie' Deadman who presented them, as the oldest member of staff, and the only one present who had joined the first school with Mr Cahill.

Six Lane Ends. A new housing scheme at Heckmondwike was started up in November, when the first sod was cut on the District Council's Stubley Housing Estate. 32 parlour type and 104 non parlour type dwellings made up the scheme, which was to cost £80,000, the price of just one good modern house today!

Lee Gap Fair. This 800 year old fair was held at Woodchurch on September 21st, and many of our local people went to the popular event. 400 horses, from cart horses to small wild Welsh ponies were on offer. There was the customary galaxy of cheap-jacks, fried fish stalls, harness for sale and corn cures. A welcome visitor was the Black Doctor, whose father had been the chief medicine man of his tribe of Indians.

Hawkers toured our three towns regularly. There was the 'fresh mackerel man,' the 'scouring stone or ruddle man,' the 'any old rags or bones man,' the 'muffin and pikelet man,' the 'pot man' with his cart of wares and others. On at Cleckheaton they had a real character in 'Peye Burgin' who sold grey and green peas from his hand cart, which had metal wheels, thereby announcing his imminent arrival by the clatter he made. He had a charcoal fired affair to keep his peas hot. He charged a halfpenny a portion. It is said that on one foggy night he wheeled his cart into the beck, near to Cooper's garage. He would enlist the help of any child, if he wanted water to top up his brew. One lady remembers his asking her to 'bring a piggin o' watter, doy, and get it 'ot if you can.' On another occasion it was 'fetch a piggin o' watter, luv, and a handful o' salt. Me peyes are gettin' thick!' The girl was rewarded with a free portion. The children even had a song about him, which went to the tune of 'While Shepherds..' it went like this:
While Burgin watched his peas by night, all boiling in his pot,
A lump of soot came tumbling down, and spoiled the bloomin' lot.
The man was still working at 80. He died from a carbuncle on his neck. His wife had died six months earlier. They had brought up a big family, and they outlived them all.

General Election. December 6th, local results:
Sir John Simon (Liberal) - 13,672
Tom Myers (Labour) - 12,597
Eugene Ramsden (Con) - 7,390
33,659 votes with an electorate of 40,678 and population of 77,028.
Simon wanted Free Trade, Ramsden preached Protection. Myers wanted a Capital Levy, on all fortunes over £5,000, which would raise £3 billion, but their manifesto included nationalisation of mines, transport, electricity, land, etc., and their opponents suspected that that was where the money would be spent.

Films of 1923: Jackie Coogan in Oliver Twist. Tom Mix in Just Tom and Mary Miles Minter in Don't call me little girl.

Songs: Tea for two, I want to be happy, My sweet Hortense, Yes, we have no bananas and Last night on the back porch.