Lyme Regis, the Smithy 1909 (ref. 61633A) | In the early 1900s, no village was without its blacksmith's shop. The smith's main task was the shoeing of horses, but he turned his hand to a great variety of jobs that involved the working of metal. The painter J M Whistler visited the fashionable seaside town of Lyme Regis in 1895. As he climbed the steep main street he must have heard Samuel Govier's hammer crashing against steel in his yard, and seen the glowing fire and the shower of incandescent sparks through the dim doorway. Captivated, he set to and painted 'The Master Smith of Lyme Regis', a fine portrait which now hangs in the Boston Museum in the USA. A painting by a famous artist is no guarantee of immortality, though. In Lyme today nothing of Govier remains, and where his smithy once stood, and where the town children gathered to watch the steam hissing from the white-hot shoes, Woolworth's now stands. The Frith photograph shows Govier at work shoeing in 1909. His assistant holds a rasp which is used for paring down and cleaning the horse's hoof. Against the wall on the right is the grindstone for sharpening tools.
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Boston Spa, High Street 1893 (ref. 32000) | This view reveals Boston's elegant and urbane character. Handsome and dignified Georgian houses and villas line the leafy street. Visitors to the town seem to have been made up from two groups: travellers using the Great North Road, who stopped over just long enough to sample the waters in the Pump Room before departing for more sophisticated destinations; and the citizens of Leeds who made the place popular enough for a daily stagecoach service to operate. | Add your own Memory
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Far Headingley, St Chad's Church c1960 (ref. F85033) | This splendid church was conceived by Sir Edmund Beckett, who as well as being a barrister and amateur architect designed the clock mechanism of Big Ben. St Chad's slender spire soars over the surrounding rooftops and countryside. Chad was a Northumbrian monk appointed bishop of Ite Mercians in 669. He built his cathedral at Lichfield where he died of plague in 672. Chad converted two sons of King Wulfhere of Mercia to Christianity. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, 1894 (ref. 34773) | It would be a few years on before electric street-trams would link Headingley with Leeds city centre. However, in 1894 Leeds corporation took advantage of the Tramways Act of 1870 and bought out the private tramway operators for over £100,000. Horse-drawn trams were replaced on some routes by steam power and electric cars were introduced from 1897. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, Otley Road c1960 (ref. H59026) | In this view, taken over sixty years later, the tram lines can still be seen. Headingley had once been a small village to the north of Leeds and its population in 1775 was estimated at 667 people. However, like Leeds the population had doubled by 1801 and continued to rise dramatically over the coming decades. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, St Michael's Church and the Shire Oak 1897 (ref. 39097) | A view of the spire of St Michael's church, with the remains of the famous Shire Oak, which has a girth of 29 ft. Taylor's Drug Store signboard is almost as big as the shop premises. Boasting branches in London, Leeds, Harrogate and Sunderland, Taylor's claimed they were 'known everywhere' for providing 'the public with pure drugs'. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, the Church, Nave East 1891 (ref. 28263) | St Michael's church, called 'proud and prosperous' by Pevsner, is by J L Pearson, the architect of Truro Cathedral, and was built in 1885. The high arched ceiling is supported on slim pillars of pale stone, creating a light and welcoming interior. The pulpit is of alabaster and the screen of ironwork. Some critics think the concept a little mechanical in its regularity. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, College 1894 (ref. 34772) | In the latter part of the 19th century, several colleges run by various religious denominations opened around Leeds. The Leeds Clergy school and the Roman Catholic Seminary were both opened in 1876. The Roman Catholic College dates from 1909, whilst the Wesleyan College at Headingley predates them all, being opened in 1868. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, the Church, Lady Chapel 1891 (ref. 28264) | The chapel was dedicated to the Virgin Mary. In the Lady Chapel of St Edward's at Clifford, there is a statue of the Virgin sculptured by H Hoffman. Hoffman was a Jew who converted to the Catholic faith when carving the image in his studio in Rome. | Add your own Memory
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Headingley, the Cricket Ground Pavilion 1897 (ref. 39099) | Originally a part of the Cardigan Fields estate, Headingley was put on the market in 1888 and purchased by the Leeds cricket and football clubs in January 1889. The first cricket match was played at Headingley in 1890, and Yorkshire County matches transferred to to the ground from the previous county pitch at Sheffield. Test cricket began at?Headingley in 1899. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Springfield Hospital 1901 (ref. 47149) | This modest hospital was set up in Scotland Lane as the Leeds Work People's Convalescent Home. Members would pay their 1d a week and be entitled to rest and recuperation here. It later fell derelict and became in succession, a home for sufferers from Cerebral Palsy and for Bosnian refugees. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Woodside Church 1901 (ref. 47144) | Among the more colourful sects to establish themselves in Leeds were the Swedenborgians and the Inghamites. The Swedenborgians arrived in 1816 but struggled to survive, and were without a minister for almost 50 years. The Inghamites, once a force to be reckoned with in the Leeds area, declined throughout the 1870s and 80s, and finally disbanded in the 1890s. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Woodside Wesleyan Chapel 1901 (ref. 47145) | In Outwood Lane, this building is now the Woodside Methodist Church. Between 1840 and 1885 only one new Wesleyan chapel was opened in Leeds: at Roscoe Place in 1861. Wesleyan membership declined within Leeds during the 1840s and 50s but seems to have held up in the surrounding townships, such as Horsforth. New missions to these places led to a spate of chapel building in the late 19th century. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Wesleyan Church 1901 (ref. 47138) | This is not the original Wesleyan church in Horsforth - it replaced a building of 1786. It is an unusual structure, with a double-doored porch, and was built in 1868. The date stone states 1867, but completion was delayed by snow. The Wesleyans were the first to open a college in the Leeds area: at Headingley in 1868. In 1816 they had opened the first night school, where young men aged 15 and over could attend and learn to read and write. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Newlay Wood 1901 (ref. 47147) | Within the Leeds city boundary most of the open areas between the townships gradually dispersed under an urban sprawl of industrial and housing development. Horsforth survived as an independent borough until 1974, when it was swallowed up in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Horsforth Hall 1901 (ref. 47139) | This lovely old hall was requisitioned by the local council around the time of the Second World War. However, they failed to bring it the care and attention it deserved and dry rot soon set in. At one point the Clerk of the Council's chair disappeared through the floor! It was demolished in the early 1950s. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Hall Park 1901 (ref. 47140) | This picturesque park was presented to the townspeople by William Mathieson of Wilson and Mathieson of Armley. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Town Street c1960 (ref. H118032) | No town centre worth its salt was complete without its Co-op store. On the left in this picture is the branch of the Leeds Industrial Co-operative Society. Every customer had a membership number against which all transactions were logged. One of the great occasions in the Co-op year was going to collect the family dividend or 'divi'. The divi was the membership share of what would have been a retailer's profit after all expenses. It varied from one society to another, and could be anything from 1s 6d to 3s in the pound. Beyond the Co-op is the Imperial Cinema. On the extreme left is the Electricity Service Centre. Throughout the 1950s and 60s the standard of living continued to rise, and people invested in household aids such as washing machines, fridges and televisions. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, Town Street 1901 (ref. 47133) | A horse takes a breather and feeds from its nosebag on the pavement. The cart on the left looks like a brewer's dray - in the back are barrels - and is probably delivering to the Black Bull on the right. There was probably strong competition between the Black Bull and the Old King's Arms across the street - the latter boasts a billiard room and is the meeting place for the Horsforth Harriers. | Add your own Memory
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Horsforth, the Green c1965 (ref. H118106) | Instead of horses and carts, cars now clog the pavement outside the Black Bull. Note how the dark ashlar is picked out by severe white mortaring. The broad signboards still squats awkwardly over the first-floor bay windows. | Add your own Memory
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