Triangle in the 50s

Year: 1956

Triangle in the 50s

My name is Monica Sekulka, I lived at Oaken Royd, Triangle, on the Norland side of the valley. Our house was one of 8, back to back - which the local council decided to demolish in their haste for modernity sometime in the 70s. We moved to Dodge Royd Farm, just a couple of hundred yards from Oaken Royd in the 60s. I remember walking to Triangle primary school over the old bridge by Rough Hey Woods and I have a memory very early in the 50s of steam trains passing through - all I could see was the smoke from the engines - a ghostly mist through the trees. There used to be a railroad station at Triangle, which once the railway ceased became the local boyscouts meeting place - it was finally destroyed by arson - pity. I remember the old co-op, that's where we did our shopping, I even remember the police station - with its blue light. I remember the old pub - my dad, Bruno Sekulka was a member of the local rabbit club, and shows were held upstairs in the pub - people showing their rabbits, pigeons and hens. I remember the old mill which had a hostel for its young women workers - and I remember the men waiting outside the hostel trying to get dates with the hostel girls. The guys tried to look like Elvis with their hairstyles. I remember the cricket club - I'd sit in the woods overlooking the ground and watch the matches on warm days. I remember the demolition of the old houses besides the co-op - yes they were old - but sometimes our history is destroyed by those rushing towards modernity.