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Spofforth
Spofforth maps
Historic maps of Spofforth and the local area, hand-drawn by Ordnance Survey and Samuel Lewis. View all Spofforth maps
Spofforth area books
Displaying 1 of 28 books about Spofforth and the local area. View all books for this area
You can read extracts and browse photos from these books.
Memories of Spofforth
Displaying a selection of personal
memories of Spofforth.
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or of a photo of Spofforth.
Balcony House
The taller light coloured house on the left, near the centre of the picture, is called Balcony House. The balcony was removed, I believe, in World War 11. The house was built in the mid 19th C by the local apothecary. I lived there c 1977-1982. The shop belonged to a butcher. The four small cottages are older than Balcony House, and behind them lies a farm belonging to the Spinks family.
Park Mount
House on the right looks similar, as it did when I used to live there in the mid 70's - just missing the white wash look.
North Yorkshire memories
Mill in Flames
As a small boy around 1945/1947 walking home from Wetherby Church School I remember one day watching from the bridge as the mill was engulfed in flames and burning down. I wonder if anyone can provide the exact date or has a similar memory. I don't have any other memories of these schooldays other than sometimes being treated to a sticky bun from a small bakery just above the bridge. I was probably eating this whilst watching the flames. Having to walk home a mile or so down the Great North Road I remember seeing the Tanks and also special RAF lorries carrying Aircraft fuselage and wings. In fact because of the danger from this traffic we walked behind the safety of the park wall.
The School Bus Stop
I was 11 years old in 1965 and had moved to Wetherby in 1963. I walked around Bernards store several times. The shop across the side street from Bernards Store was a small Newsagent. The lampost in front of it was the pick up point for Tadcaster Grammar School pupils school bus. When this photograph was taken I was a pupil at Wetherby High School, but from 1970 I went to Tadcaster Grammar School and was picked up from this point by the school bus at about 8:20 every morning. The white building just beyond the newsagent was a fish and chip shop if I remember correctly and the building beyond that was the Post Office.
Harrogate Station Square
Here is Station Square appearing as its architects intended, an open airy town centre piece. The gardens in the foreground are the Coronation Gardens of c.1953, which complimented the Victorian square admirably. Just as this picture was being taken, the lovely old and deliberately 'low roofed' railway station was being totally ruined by the new overscale Station Tower and new station foyer. Looks like Checks' Cafe in the background is boarded up and it wouldn't be too many years hence that the Market Hall and the Coronation Gardens (and their useful public conveniences) would be swept away in the name of progress, with the gross criminal loss a bit later of the re-buildable Victorian Lowther Arcade and the West Yorkshire Road Car Co bus station, where we all met our dates on a Saturday night under the clock. Harrogate needs to move with the times but didn't deserve this onslaught. These are some of the fond memories of a 1950-born Harrogate child coupled with a heavy heart!
George James McConney
Ironically this picture represents two important monuments relating to my maternal uncle. At St. Peter's Church on the right is where he sang as a choir boy. The war memorial on the left immortalizes his death in 1943 at age 20. His name appears on the side facing the church. He served in 1st Airborne, Division Signals, Royal Corps of Signals and gave his life in Tunisia. He grew up nearby on Harlow Moor Drive. I bought this picture on my visit to Harrogate in 2005 and it hangs in my Mum's bedroom.
Montpellier Night Club
Montpelier night club down the hill from the war memorial. Does anyone remember the club in the 1960s? The night club was one of best late night spots in Yorkshire. Dance floor, meals, bar and gaming room. Cabaret artists each week. 5 bob to get in, 1/9d half a pint. Very dear in those days. Jimmy Cummings was the pianist, Jim Overton the compere and singer, Mick Kean drummer. The club went downhill in the early 1970s and was sold. But in the 1960s it was great. Does anyone remember or have any photos?
