Birstall, West Yorkshire

Birstall life, 1970

Does anybody remember Clifford the milkman, he had a barrel in a yard that he used as a dog kennel in the village. Or the Co-op in the village, I think it was that sold record players and I  think shirts folded up, and kept in drawers behind the counter. I was 4 at the time of these memories. The dry cleaners that you could get high on walking past at the bottom of North Terrace. Singing 'Lily the Pink' at the working men's club. My dad Ernest Shaw played darts for the Hare and Hounds, if anybody remembered him he died in 1972. Liptons shop in the village. The fish and chip shop near Raikes Lane infant school, they went to Australia  from the chippy. Did anybody reading this go to that school in 1970 -72? I still have the card you all signed when I left. Does anybody remember Dr Chong's in the village, didn't he always give you a lollypop?   

Growing up in Birstall in the sixties

My memory of the market square was catching the bus in in the middle of the square to go to Batley and Dewsbury on Saturday shopping with my mother. My mother buying fresh tripe from a blue trailer parked in the square across from Bond Street. Living on The Mount (the houses have been torn down now) and going to primary school on Raikes Lane then walking up and down the big hill on Middlegate to school that was on Kirkgate.
My grandfather delivering fresh eggs.
Looking at these old pictures brings back a lot of memories of my life there, before I left England in 1967. I have never returned but hope to do so sometime in the next few years.

Cinema on a Saturday as a boy

I grew up in Driglington late 50s/ 60s and remember going to watch Roy Rogers and Hopalong Cassidy, now that was another lifetime ago.
As I got a bit older lots of us drig lads used to visit a coffee shop in the main street - cannot remember its name, and met lots of Birstall girls there.  I also remember the first 3d movie I saw there, it was the House of Wax, we had to wear those red and green glasses.

An industrial village

Having grown up in Birstall I have a fondness for this little market town in West Yorkshire, situated approximately 8 miles from Leeds and centrally placed for easy access to other major towns Bradford, Huddersfield and Wakefield.

Fifty years ago Birstall was a thriving village, where everyone knew everybody else (and their business!). There were several mills in the area, Birstall Carpet Company, Holton's, Charles Sheards to name but a few.

The shopping centre was busy and there was a variety of shops, unlike today when the centre seems to be full of beauty parlours, hairdressers and takeaways, with traditional shopkeepers struggling to earn a living.

In the market place stands a statue of Joseph Priestley, who discovered oxygen. He was born in Fieldhead. Birstall also has links with the Brontes, as Charlotte often stayed at Oakwell Hall and Brookroyd House and based her book "Shirley" on the area.

Until the 1990's not much had been written about Birstall. I then decided to write a booklet on Birstall in living memory, having written a regular column in the local newspaper for several years. The book, "Birstall where they ka quiet" sold almost a thousand copies in the first few years and in 2006 it was updated and photos of present day Birstall were added. This revised book is now available for sale at the local newsagent in Birstall, opposite the Co-op, and also on Amazon.

Several other local history books about the area have also been written in recent years, it is good that interest has been revived in our village.

There is a wealth of history here and lots of old buildings with interesting architectural features. I am proud of having been born in Birstall and still live not too far away, visiting the village centre regularly to patronise local shops.

Leeds Pocket Album

Severely modern and uncompromising in its architecture, this grammar school symbolised the progressive educational changes of the post-war period. In 1966 proposals were put forward to reorganise the education system within 15 years. It was decreed that all children aged 11 to 18 years would attend comprehensive schools. In the interim period comprehensives were split between those taking 11 to 13 year olds, and those taking 13 to 18 year olds.

Leeds Pocket Album

After the 1930s the next blow to the Woollen District came in the 1960s with the import of cheap Italian heavy-woollen skirtings and coatings. Even after taking transportation costs into account, cheap labour enabled the Italians to undersell heavy-woollen Yorkshire-made products.

Leeds Pocket Album

The Angel Hotel was one of three hotels that catered for motorists, the others being the George and Dragon, and the Brunswick. The Angel was a substantial establishment, with stabling for a hundred horses. Forty pairs of horses were maintained at the inn for posting.