1900 - 1999

Abbreviations used for sources of information:

BNA – British Newspaper Archives
CiTP – Cleckheaton in Times Past by Margaret M Wood
RAB – Round about Bradford by William Cudworth
SVPP – Spen Valley Past & Present by Frank Peel
S2S – From Scales to Scholes by the Rev. David Wilding
S2SR – From Scales to Scholes (Revisited) by the Rev. David Wilding
SFT - The Spen Fame Trail, hosted by the Spen Valley Civic Society.
SG - Spenborough Guardian
SN - Source needed
SVC - Booklet on the Charter of Incorporation regarding the formation of Spenborough (author unknown)
TD - Various Trade Directories

1900
1 Oct - Spen railway line opens (BNA)

1901
The BBA, founded in 1879, moves to Cleckheaton (CiTP)

20 Jul - A new organ, built by Messrs. Beale and Thynne, London, was opened at St. Luke's church, Cleckheaton (BNA)

22 Jul - Death of Queen Victoria

1902
26 Apr - Heckmondwike baths formally opened by Thomas Redfearn (BNA)

3 May - Official opening of Heckmondwike Fire Station (BNA)

1903 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1903-1905)
New cemetery at Clough lane, Liversedge opened at a cost of £12,000 (SN)

3 Feb - St. Saviour's, Heckmondwike opens a Sunday School at Jeremy Lane (SG)

18 Feb - Tramway between Heckmondwike & Dewsbury opened (SG)

24 Apr - Tramway between Moorend & Heckmondwike opened (CiTP)

1 Jul - Cleckheaton New Cemetery, Whitechapel Road opened without ceremony at a cost of £7,000 to the Urban Council. (CiTP/BNA)

29 Jul - Tramway between Heckmondwike & Hightown opened (SG)

13 Aug - Death of John Firth, editor & proprietor of the Cleckheaton Guardian, aged 83 (BNA)

13 Oct - Tramway between Heckmondwike & Birkenshaw opened (SG)

1904 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1903-1905)
Reservoir at Hartshead Moor opens (S2SR)

Joah Carver Phelon & Richard Moore (P&M Motorcycles, Cleckheaton) go into partnership. (BNA)

19 Oct - A new Wesleyan Chapel is built at Millbridge, replacing an earlier one built in 1874 (SG)

1905 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1903-1905)
Jan - Critchley, Sharp & Tetlow, Card makers. A new company formed taking in the establishments of Messrs. James Critchley & Son, New Mills, Batley Carr; Messrs William Sharp & Son, Albert Mills, Scholes and Messrs L.M. Tetlow & Sons, Britannia Mills, Cleckheaton. Directors will be John Tetlow (chairman), R.I. Critchley, William Sharp, William Henry Sharp and Samuel Sharp.

25 Mar - Over 1000 old scholars and teachers attended the Centenary celebrations of the Sunday School of Providence Place, Cleckheaton (BNA)

1906 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1906-1908)
Jan - The Cleckheaton Guardian now costs 7d (BNA)

2 Oct - A new tramway from Moor End, Cleckheaton to Scholes was proposed at the District Council meeting, however it was voted against on the grounds that the company offering to do the works were the same responsible for not completing the Hightown to Cleckheaton extension (BNA)

1907 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1906-1908)
A stone axe head was found at Norristhorpe, believed to date back to 1000 B.C. (SVC)

24 May - Plans approved for a new Post Office in Albion Street, Cleckheaton at premises currently occupied by plumbers and blacksmiths shops. (BNA)

21 Jun - Foundation stone for the new Sunday School at the United Methodist Free Church, Hightown was laid. (BNA)

13 Jul - A new Salvation Army Hall in Crown Street, Cleckheaton was opened by Harry Wadsworth. Cost of the building £1450. (BNA)

1908 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1906-1908)
1 Apr - Post office in Albion Street, Cleckheaton opened (CiTP)

3 May - Visit to Cleckheaton by Adela, daughter of Emmeline Pankhurst, who gives a talk at the Co-op Hall on women's matters (BNA) 

1909 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1909-1911)
5 Jun - Foundation stone laid for Whitcliffe Mount School, Cleckheaton by Mr J W Wadsworth, Chairman of the Governors (CiTP/BNA)

1910 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1909-1911)
30 Apr - Opening of Littletown Liberal Club by Sir T.P. Whittaker, M.P. Premises erected at a cost of about £200 and will accommodate 100 persons (BNA)

6 May - Death of King Edward VII

15 Sep - Whitcliffe Mount School opens without ceremony in respect of the untimely deaths of 2 of the main subscribers J W Wadsworth and Mrs Mowat (CiTP/BNA)

3 Dec - Official opening of Moorend Working Men's Club, Cleckheaton by Mr. Alexander Gibson. The building cost about £1,800. (BNA)

1911 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1909-1911)
25 Jan - Formal opening of Heckmondwike Free Library by Mr. W.E. Firth (BNA)

11 Feb - A new Conservative Club at Oakenshaw was opened by Mr. F.A. Kelley (BNA)

27 Apr - The Picture Palace, Croft Street, Heckmondwike opens. Earlier performances had been shown at the baths (BNA)

14 May - Mill premises of S. Wood and Sons (machine makers), Crown Street, Cleckheaton were completely gutted by a huge fire. A neighbouring house was damaged and 3 firemen were also hurt by falling debris (BNA)

22 Jun - Coronation of King George V. Numerous celebrations all around the Spen Valley (BNA)

27 Jul - The Picture Palace cinema, Albion Street, Cleckheaton opened (CiTP/SG)

1912 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1912-1914)
15 Apr - Sinking of the Titanic

10 Jul - Royal visit by King George V to various parts of the Spen Valley including Batley, Heckmondwike & Cleckheaton (BNA)

1913 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1912-1914)
15 Feb - Clock added to the spire of St. Luke’s church, Moor Bottom, Cleckheaton in memory of J. H. Leather (CiTP)

25 Apr - Huge fire at Thomas Burnley's mill, Gomersal

21 Jun - King Edward VII Memorial Park opened in Cleckheaton by Samuel Law who also provided the bandstand. (CiTP/BNA)

Jul - Expansion of the gasworks at Moorend, Cleckheaton takes place on land originally used as Moorend recreation ground (BNA)

 18 Nov - First bus service between Cleckheaton and Scholes started (CiTP)

1914 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1912-1914)
1 Jun - Foundation stone of Heckmondwike Catholic Church laid by the Bishop of Leeds, the Rev. Cowgill (BNA)

28 Jul - Start of World War 1 (The Great War).

Land acquired at Moorend, Cleckheaton from Charles Hirst & Sons, for a new recreation ground. The old site at the top of Heaton Street being required for new gasworks (BNA)

1915 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1915-1917)
8 Apr - First meeting of the new Spenborough Urban District Council, formed from the old Urban Districts of Cleckheaton, Gomersal & Liversedge  (SVC/BNA)

3 Jun - Death of Samuel Law of the firm Samuel Law & Sons, Moorland Mills, Cleckheaton (BNA)

1916 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1915-1917)
21 Aug - The Low Moor munitions factory explosion killed 40 people and the force of the explosion was felt around the Spen Valley area (BNA)

1917 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1915-1917)
St. John’s Operatic Society formed (later Spenborough Amateurs) (CiTP)

22 Dec - A munitions factory explosion at Brookes Chemical Works, Hipperholme claims the lives of 5 men. One of them being Thomas Walker Wilson who had previously been the landlord of the Brown Cow at Whitechapel Road, Cleckheaton (BNA)

1918 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1918-1920)
30 May - Royal visit to Heckmondwike f King George and Queen Mary

11 Nov - End of the Great War

1919 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1918-1920)
28 Jul - Auction at Liversedge Town Hall of large parts of the Radcliffe Estate which had been in the family for 300 years (BNA)

1920 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1918-1920)
Jan - A new social club was instituted at the Cleckheaton Drill Hall for ex-members of the Forces in Spenborough (BNA)

5 Jun - A Cleckheaton student, 17 year old Mavis Irene Field, daughter of Rev. William Field of Central Chapel, was hailed a heroine after she raised the alarm of a destructive fire at Edgehill Girls' School, Bideford. All 140 pupils were saved. (BNA)

26 Jul - Mr. E.R. Cliff, formerly of the Halifax Fire Brigade, is appointed Superintendent of the Spenborough Fire Brigade, based at Cleckheaton (BNA)

1921 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1921-1923)
Sep - A bronze memorial tablet to 13 members of Cleckheaton Cricket Club who fell in the war was unveiled in the club's pavilion (BNA)

1922 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1921-1923)
11 Nov - War Memorial unveiled at Cleckheaton Memorial Park by Alfred Law Mowat (BNA)

1923 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1921-1923)
12 May - Sir Algernon Firth formally opens Firth Park at Heckmondwike (BNA)

Nov - First sod was cut on the District Council's Stubley Housing Estate, Heckmondwike (BNA)

The Savoy cinema, Albion Street, Cleckheaton opened (CiTP/SG)

Porch added at Whitechapel church, Cleckheaton in memory of those who served in WW1 (CiTP)

1924 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1924-1926)
3 Sep - Approval of the construction of a new road from Cleckheaton to Hightown is given by the Ministry of Health who sanction the borrowing of over £27,000 for carrying out the work. 

1925 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1924-1926)

1926 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1924-1926)
10 Jul - Cleckheaton Fire Station opened at bottom of Hightown Road (CiTP, BNA)

1927 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1927-1929)
29 Oct - Hightown "New" Road opened to the public after 2 years of construction. 

1928 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1927-1929)
Electricity showrooms opened in Market Street, Cleckheaton (SVC)

21 Mar - Foundation stone for Heaton Avenue school, Cleckheaton laid by Sir James P Hinchliffe (BNA)

20 Jun - Several wagons from a coal train crash through the bridge at Westgate, Cleckheaton causing extensive damage (SFT)

18 Oct - Death of Mr Joseph Hardill, founder of the Lion Confectionery, South Parade, Cleckheaton (BNA)

15 Nov - A special meeting of the District Council was held after John Gunn Mowat offers to build and equip a public library in Cleckheaton (BNA)

1929 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1927-1929)
1 Mar - Official opening of Heaton Avenue School, Cleckheaton performed by Lord Eustace Percy MP. Cost of the building and equipment over £12000 (BNA)

2 May - Foundation stone laid for the new South Parade School extension, Cleckheaton by R. M. Grylls (BNA)

25 Jun - Thompson Jowett Memorial Homes, Scholes opened (S2S)

1930 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1930-1932)
10 Oct - A substantial extension to South Parade school, Cleckheaton officially opened by Sir John Simon. The cost of the works was around £16,000 (BNA)

14 Nov - Cleckheaton library opened by Mr & Mrs John Gunn Mowat (BNA)

Remains of what was believed to be an old Roman camp were discovered at Snelsins, Cleckheaton (SVC/BNA)

1931 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1930-1932)
16 Mar - Opening of the Keir Hardie Hall, Heckmondwike (BNA)

13 Oct - Explosion at Burnley's Mill Gomersal. Two women were killed and 40 others were injured in an explosion caused by a stoppage to the water supply of a boiler. (BNA)

1932 (also see Spen Valley through the years 1930-1932)
12 Mar - The Duke of York visits Scandinavia Mills (BBA), Cleckheaton (BNA)

3 Jun - John Gunn Mowat, Cleckheaton, receives his Baronetcy for public services in the West Riding (BNA)

 6 Sep - The Hunsworth Estate, belonging to the late Lord Savile, goes under auction at Bradford (BNA)

22 Sep - The Bishop of Wakefield and Sir John Gunn Mowat dedicate a memorial window at Whitcliffe Mount School, Cleckheaton in memory of Herbert Ashman Clayborn, who had been a senior master at the school and then headmaster from 1914 to 1931.

1933
Mixed bathing allowed for the first time at Cleckheaton baths, Tofts Road (SG)

1934
Oct 31 - Tramway between Moor End, Cleckheaton & Heckmondwike closed (CiTP)

1935
1 Jan - Death of Sir John Gunn Mowat, Kenmore, Cleckheaton. Among other things, he provided Cleckheaton with it's free library (BNA)

2 Jan - Death of John Wesley Hillard aged 78. Founder of Lion Stores, Hillards and Director of the Lion Confectionery (BNA)

9 May - Charles Roger Hargreaves (author of the Mr. Men books) born in Cleckheaton. Lived at Halifax Road near to the Old Pack Horse (SFT)

1937
Birkenshaw & Hunsworth Urban Districts and Hartshead with part of Clifton (formerly of Halifax Rural District) were added to Spenborough. (SVC)

30 Jun - The 999 emergency telephone number system was first introduced

15 Dec - The bells at Whitechapel church, Cleckheaton were dedicated by the Canon H. T. Robinson. The cost had been met by subscription and a legacy of the late Mr. T. E. Ellison. (BNA)

1939
Jun - Bernard Sugden (Wm Sugden & Sons, shirt manufacturers) receives a Knighthood.

1 Sep - Start of World War 2.

1943
26 Dec - A stricken Halifax bomber on a training mission from Marston Moor, crash landed in a field next to Drub village. The crew had all bailed out with the exception of the 20 year old pilot, who miraculously managed to avoid all the houses. He was injured, but managed to escape the wreckage. See entry dated 7 Jul 2013 for a memorial to the occasion (SFT)

1945
29 May - Spenborough Council approve plans for the erection of 554 houses on the Windy Bank Estate (BNA)

1947
Moor Bottom School, Cleckheaton (St. Luke’s) closed (CiTP)

1948
5 Jul - Formation of the National Health Service

1949
26 Jul - Royal visit to Scandinavia Mills (BBA), Cleckheaton by Princess Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh (BNA)

1950
25 Jun - Start of the Korean War.

1951
8 Apr - The population of Spenborough was recorded as 36,977 (SVC)

29 Jul - WW2 memorial unveiled at Cleckheaton Memorial Park (BNA)

1953
5 Oct - Heckmondwike, Liversedge & Spen railway stations close (CiTP/BNA)

The railway bridge over Whitechapel Road, Cleckheaton (near to the tar distillers) is demolished after more than 100 years of service and replaced by a new concrete structure. (BNA)

The Roman Catholic church, Our Lady of Perpetual Succour, in Cleckheaton built (SVC)

1954
Mobile libraries introduced to the area (SN)

17 Jul - Official opening of R.M. Grylls School, Hightown by Alderman Hyman, Chairman of the West Riding Education Committee. (BNA) 

1955
29 Jul - Municipal Borough of Spenborough formed (SVC)

29 Jul - The Princess Royal renames the playing fields at Rawfolds to the Princess Mary Playing Fields (BNA)

1959
May - New bus station opened at Cleckheaton at a cost of £22,000 (SG)

1960
A blaze forces the Palace cinema, Albion Street, Cleckheaton to close down. It is replaced a year later by the new Market Arcade (SG)

1961
The Market Arcade, Albion Street, Cleckheaton opened (SG)

1963
22 Nov - Assassination of US President John F. Kennedy

1964
Scholes “New School” opened (S2S)

Headquarters for the West Riding Fire Service were opened at Birkenshaw (SN)

1965
Cleckheaton Central railway station closes (CiTP)

2 Apr - Cleckheaton Health Centre at Greenside opened by Sir George Godber (SN - some suggestion the date should be 1963?)

1966
Post Office opens at Greenside, Cleckheaton (CiTP)

23 Oct - Last service held at Hartshead Moor Wesleyan Chapel (S2S)

1967
27 Mar - Opening of Batley Variety Club

1969
The new Spenborough swimming pool opened at a cost of £300,000 (CiTP/SG)

19 Mar - The mast at Emley Moor comes crashing down, leaving the area without TV (SN)

21 Jul - First human landing on the moon

1970
Scholes Methodist Chapel demolished (S2S)

18 Oct - New spire at Scholes Parish church dedicated to Sam Senior & his son Martin. Paid for out of his Will (S2S)

1971
West Riding Ambulance Headquarters opened at Birkenshaw (SN)

15 Feb - Britain goes Decimal and sees the end of Pounds, Shillings and Pence

1972
7 Oct - First ever Fire Services National Life Saving Championships held at Spenborough baths (BNA)

M62 motorway opens 

Co-op supermarket, Cleckheaton opens (CiTP)

The Savoy cinema, Albion Street, Cleckheaton shows it's last film (SG)

The trial at Wakefield Crown Court of a Dewsbury man who "stole" Cleckheaton railway station. 

1973
Apr - The Red House at Gomersal officially opened as a museum by Mabel Ferrett (SG)

9 Nov - Official opening of the new extension to Cleckheaton library, performed by Lucy Marcia Mowat, daughter of John Gunn Mowatt, who had donated the original building.

Dec - Heckmondwike baths closed (SN)

1974
An extension to provide further shops to the Market Arcade, Albion Street, Cleckheaton was commenced (SN) 

Swimming baths at Tofts Road, Cleckheaton closes due to the popularity of the "new" Spenborough baths (SG)

The sports centre adjacent to Whitcliffe Mount school opened (SN)

1 Apr - Spenborough Council abolished and becomes part of Kirklees (SN)

1979
Cleckheaton baths, Tofts Road demolished (CiTP/SG)

1982
Demolition of Waddington's mill at Moor Bottom, Cleckheaton (SN)

2 Apr - Start of the Falklands War.

1984
Sep - Foundation stone for the new community centre extension at St. John's Methodist(?) church, Cleckheaton was laid

1985
1 Sep - Wreck of the Titanic discovered in the North Atlantic, 73 years after it sank.

1987
Hillards supermarket in Cleckheaton taken over by Tesco (SN)

1989
May - Hartshead Manor Nursing Home opens (SG)

1990
Savoy cinema, Albion Street, Cleckheaton demolished (SN)

1991
Cleckheaton Congregational Church (Providence Place) closes and members start to use Grove Chapel at Gomersal (SN)