Photographs, Negatives, Slides and Plates of Yorkshire

As part of the National War Bond Campaign, a dummy submarine was wheeled around Scarborough to encourage the public to invest in bonds to finance the war effort. The vehicle is seen here parked outside the Pavilion Hotel during the Scarborough Submarine Week of March 1918. Issued to help finance the cost of World War One, the national war bonds were issued and paid out a rate of interest of 5%. It was reported that the total investment during the Scarborough Submarine week was £172,015.

A photograph capturing a crab auction being held at North Landing in Flamborough. Fishermen working out of the bay would bring their haul of crabs in baskets to the shadows provided by the tall cliffs where up to half a dozen dealers would bid for their catch. Bids were made in hushed tones, everybody in attendance knowing the score and prices that could be obtained on a given day in the season. The auction would attract the interest of those visiting North Landing on a day trip from nearby Bridlington.

A photograph capturing the occasion of the Lord Mayor of London visiting Bridlington in July 1906. He was invited by the Corporation to inaugurate the new sea-wall which had been built to prevent coastal damage by the North Sea. Bridlington celebrated the occasion as a holiday, during which the Lord Mayor formally declared the sea wall, incorporating a new promenade and pavilion, open. After the ceremony the officials piled into the pavilion for a bun fight.

A group photograph of some of the children involved in the May Festival at Withernsea. The Queen may be seated in the centre of the group. The festival was an important part of the calendar for Withernsea, with tremendous effort invested by much of the community. This would be the last festival before the First World War when the seaside town was often in darkness to prevent enemy attacks from offshore.

This photograph of the Washford Arms on Attercliffe Road at Sheffield was taken from the junction of Washford Road on the opposite side of the road. After the pub closed around the 1970s the premises were occupied by a fish and chip shop. In the 21st century the former beer house was being used by Goldseal Windows. By this time the upper floor had gone - the building once had a third floor. The tavern was located close to the Washford Bridge spanning the River Don and was opposite the Bridge Inn. At the time of this early Edwardian photograph the Washford Arms was kept by Robert and Hannah Bunting. Robert Bunting was born at Belper in Derbyshire but his wife hailed from Rotherham. After the couple married in 1866 they moved to Stapleford in Nottinghamshire where Robert Bunting was appointed master of the railway station. After a spell at Swinton, Robert Bunting was appointed station master at Whitwick near Coalville in Leicestershire. He and Hannah were running the Washford Arms by 1891. The pub can be seen here in the livery of Mappin's Brewery Ltd. of Rotherham. Hannah Bunting died in 1911 and, following the publican's retirement to 34 Crofton Avenue, his son Clement took over the licence. The former station master and publican died two days before Christmas Day in 1918. Clement Bunting would later run the Park Hotel at Hillsborough.

In this photograph a whole load of weight is being place on the 'New' Monument Bridge at Kingston upon Hull before it was deemed safe to open to the public. At the same time an engineer is working on the overhead system for the trams that were due to travel over the widened bridge. The bridge was named after the William Wilberforce Monument and located close to the site of the ancient Beverley Gate, one of the gates leading into the city where King Charles the First was refused admission by the sturdy Parliamentarians of the city. Erected over the connecting channel between Prince's and Queen's Dock, the new bridge replaced an earlier double-leaf bascule bridge. The increase in traffic, combined with the introduction of tram services, demanded a bridge of increased strength and width. Much to the anger of local businesses, the work was rather protracted. Indeed, in March 1906 a competition was launched in which the public could try to guess the date on which the bridge would finally be opened. The Queen's Dock was infilled in 1931, thus enabling a new roadway. Consequently, Monument Bridge was dismantled and removed at the end of 1932. The William Wilberforce Monument was also moved to the eastern end of Queen's Gardens.

Gayle Beck is looking rather benign in this summer photograph. However, in the rainy season the water cascades down the hill towards Hawes at quite a rate. The water powered the old cotton mill that has been restored in recent times. Just over a kilometre upstream in Sleddale is the Aysgill waterfall, where the beck drops over twelve metres. When describing Gayle, the architectural historian Nikolaus Pevsner wrote that Gayle was "almost as intricate as an Italian stone village."

The Ship Inn on the High Street at Marske-by-the-Sea is a good example of Brewer's Tudor. Erected in 1932-3 the building, when listed in 1998, was regarded as "a very complete example of an inter-war, roadhouse-type public-house." It is said that the timber used in the construction of the building originated from HMS Collingwood and HMS Southampton, battleships scrapped between 1909 and 1912 by Hughes-Bolckow, the shipbreaking company based out of Blyth in Northumberland. The previous version of the Ship Inn was a smaller building and partly occupied the site of this structure.

That old tree still stands on the corner of the road junction in the distance. The bus is trundling up the slope of Gooselands Hill and over the bridge spanning the River Skirfare. Calling at Grassington and Cracoe, the bus is picking up or dropping off passengers in Arncliffe before heading towards the market town of Skipton. During the inter-war years this was an important transport link for those living in Wharfedale and Littondale. At least the wheels are turning on this bus. In May 1936 there was a protest against the erection of caravans in Littondaie made at a meeting of the Settle Rural District Council. A letter was read from Kathleen Bond, of the Low Mill, Arncliffe in which she said "she was horrified to see a large red motor-bus parked in a field, and as the wheels were removed it was apparent that it would remain a fixture. She regarded it as 'strident horror,' and said it had been placed in such a position as to spoil completely the view of a picturesque corner where the beck and river met." Mrs. Bond regarded the bus sans roues to be a "threat of vulgar suburbanism."

This inter-war photograph shows the old swing-bridge at Thorne that used to carry traffic across the Stainforth & Keadby Canal. A swing-bridge for pedestrians is still in use but the road is now carried by an elevated bridge. The pedestrianised crossing is called Princess Royal Footbridge and was opened by Princess Anne in October 2005. The swing-bridge seen here was installed in 1925 to accommodate heavy traffic. Those travelling on the canal were not pleased as it took longer to open and close the new swing-bridge. Apparently it took four minutes to open and another four minutes to close the bridge. The old one took only half-a-minute. It was hoped that by using electricity they could halve the time it took to manually open the bridge. The modern road bridge has completely spoiled the view from the Canal Tavern where patrons can only see concrete and steel. Still, at least the pub was still going in the 21st century. In this photograph the tavern features the livery of the Worksop & Retford Brewery Co. Ltd., a firm acquired by Tennant Brothers Ltd. in 1959 by which time the brewery operated an estate of 192 public-houses.

Traditional sheep-washing at Airton in the Edwardian period. The farmer, with help from family members or labourers in his employ, would drive the flock down the track into the dedicated stone-walled sheep wash. Most rural parishes had such a facility where farmers would spend all day washing and scrubbing the fleece of each sheep. This task had to be undertaken a few weeks before shearing in order to gain a higher price for the fleece. Old maps suggest that the Airton sheep wash was on the north side of Airton Bridge. There are a number of spectators for this activity, no doubt hoping to witness one of the labourers getting dunked or having to chase a runaway sheep down the river.

Probably a replacement for an older structure, the Old Packhorse Bridge at Stokesley dates from the late 17th or very early 18th century. Plenty of modern housing has been erected on the banks of the River Leven, though the tall building in the centre still stands and in recent times has been the premises of the Panda Chinese Restaurant at No.9 Bridge Road. The narrow path over the Packhorse Bridge runs alongside the Queen's Head Inn and directly into the High Street and old Market Place. The packhorse route was an ancient way from Durham to Helmsley with Stokesley being a key market town en-route. Typically, a train of horses would carry all manner of goods from food to timber. Despite the introduction of toll roads, the old lags would avoid fees by continuing to use their old routes.

The Wesleyan Chapel and Sunday School was erected in Back Lane at Airton in 1896. It replaced a smaller chapel at nearby Scosthrop, the foundation stone of which, bearing the date of 1833, was moved to this chapel. The chapel and schoolroom closed in 2004 with the benches and some fittings being moved to the Friends' Meeting House.

Work on the impressive Conisbrough Viaduct is well under way in this Edwardian photograph of this construction project that commenced in March 1905. The completed viaduct would have 21 arches and a 150-foot lattice iron girder to span the River Don. Measuring some 1,527 feet in length, the viaduct was completed in the summer of 1907, though the line was not fully operational until 1909. More than 11 million bricks and 2,000 tons of cement were used in the construction of this railway landmark. The single line was constructed to cater for the mineral traffic of the district. It was part of the Dearne Valley Railway, connecting the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway from Crofton, near Wakefield, with the Great Northern and Great Eastern Railways at Black Carr, just below Balby. Over 500 men were employed during the construction and only one fatality was reported during the project. The contractors were Messrs. Henry Lovatt and Co. of Wolverhampton. The pylon or mast and aerial ropeway can be seen in the photograph. This was used to carry men and building materials to parts of the viaduct. Known as a Blondin, this would be operated by a man with no fear of heights!

Built to replace an older tavern, the Buck Inn was erected in 1874 on the estate of Walter Morrison, the politician who was later High Sheriff of Yorkshire. The old place did not sound too bad. In 1871 the landlord John Benson, successor to W. Harrison, advertised the hotel as "replete with every accommodation for the comfort of visitors." The publican offered post-horses and conveyances for hire and large parties would be picked up from Bell Busk railway station. John Benson was a local man, part of the Benson farming family. His wife Kerenhappuch hailed from Skipton. The couple would later move to the Junction Hotel at Kildwick. It was there that John Benson was declared bankrupt. However, after a sale of his assets, he absconded to the south of France where he remained for 15 months. On his return he faced the courts in July 1887 and received four months' imprisonment with hard labour. In the census conducted four years later he and Kerenhappuch were living in Liverpool where they were running a small dairy business.

This photograph is thought to show George Lane-Fox on the campaign trail during the 1910 election. However, there were two elections in that year and both in the cold winter months so I am unsure which contest was being fought here. George Lane-Fox retained his seat at Barkston Ash near Selby. Indeed, the former military man and Conservative politician represented the constituency until 1931. Note the rosette fixed to the front of the car being used to parade the candidate around the constituency.

The 17th century Quaker Meeting House at Airton was acquired by William and Alice Ellis in 1700. The original building is thought to have been erected by Josias Lambert, father of Major General John Lambert, the Parliamentarian and politician who was eventually imprisoned on Drake's Island near Plymouth.

Hunslet Wesleyan Mission A.F.C. were not the only Wesleyan football club in the Leeds league. Indeed, they were not the only Wesleyan football team in Hunslet. In January 1901 Hunslet Wesleyans were up against Hunslet Wesleyan Mission A.F.C. in a game played at Thwaite Gate. Hunslet Wesleyan Mission A.F.C. were much the stronger side and through goals by Selby and Wharton ran out 5-2 winners. In the same year The Armley Clarendon came off even worse when facing the formidable Hunslet Wesleyan Mission A.F.C. Goals by Tipper, Selby and Ellis resulted in a 6-0 thrashing of the Armley side. In 1903 the team joined the senior league of the Leeds and District Association. They look a very young side and it would appear that the goalkeeper has just been told he has won the lottery!

I originally thought this photograph of Middle Lane in Kettlewell dated from the 1930s but the sign above the village shop does not fit - unless it was not replaced. The grocer Arthur Gill died in 1904. He and his wife Ruth had kept the store for many years. The son of a farmer he was born in Pateley Bridge, as was his wife. She continued to run the business with her son William. Perhaps they felt it inappropriate to erase the name of husband and father? I know the building quite well having patronised it as Zarina's Tea Rooms. This place quickly became a legend in the cycling world and almost every cyclist who has pedalled along Wharfedale has enjoyed the home-cooked food served here. Zarina Belk, along with her husband David, took over the business in 2004. She grew up in the locality and attended Kettlewell school from the age of 8. Sadly for cyclists, but a welcome rest for all their hard work, they decided to retire in 2020.

The signs outside the Hare and Hounds at High Hawsker near Whitby state that not only can you buy beer but also fill up with petrol. The publican's name at the time of this image was Wedgwood. The Hare and Hounds Inn was central to the Hawsker Races held on Hambleton Moor in the 1860s. All stakes were drawn at the house run by James Sanderson immediately after the races. The Danby-born publican kept the Hare and Hounds Inn with his wife Ann. The couple were still running the pub at the time of the 1871 census in which the enumerator recorded the house as the Fox and Hounds. The couple were assisted by a servant named Hannah Carter. She was called as a witness following the collapse and death of Ann Sanderson in August 1877. By the end of the 19th century the Hare and Hounds Inn was kept by William and Hannah Lacy, the latter really being in change and something of a matriarch. The garrulous aristocratic-looking landlady held court in the bar. In this image the former homebrew pub was selling ales from Charles Rose & Co. Ltd. of the Old Brewery at Malton. An advertisement for Tetley beers in August 1931 stated that their mild and bitter was available at the Hare and Hounds.

In recent years the building on the corner of High Street and West Street at Gargrave has been home to the Dalesman Café Tea Rooms. Over 100 years ago the premises were occupied by the confectioner and newsagent John Hyde, along with his wife Sarah Ann. Indeed, the couple kept this business through the reign of three monarchs. The couple were both born in the village in the mid-19th century. John Hyde was so proud of Gargrave he nominated the village as the prettiest in Yorkshire when submitting an article to the Leeds Mercury in July 1907.

The Black Bull Hotel is located near the top of the cobbled street of Haworth, a street that formed part of the Tour de France route in July 2014. In this photograph the Black Bull can be seen next to Church of Saint Michael and All Angels. The building to the right once housed the post office from where, it is alleged, the Brontë sisters sent their manuscripts to their book publisher. In front of the building is the village stocks where miscreants or traders guilty of short weights or measures would spend some time to reflect on their misdoing. If they were unpopular they could have been on the end of a few rotten or stinky items being hurled at them. The Black Bull Hotel claims that Branwell Brontë used to drink in the hostelry. This is probably true but the writer and artist was something of an alcoholic so no doubt patronised all of the pubs in Haworth. He was also addicted to laudanum which he almost certainly acquired from the apothecary across the street.

This photograph was almost certainly taken shortly after the Council School at Airton was completed and opened in 1913. The building was formally opened on 17th May 1913 by County Councillor C. A. L. Swale. Some of the local residents opposed the construction of the school as it would lead to an increase in the rates. In the 19th century the local children attended a school building at Scosthrop. Burnley-born Alice Smith was the mistress when the new school opened. Overlooking The Green at Airton, the school closed in the 1970s and the building was subsequently converted into a house.

The buildings seen here on Redcar Road at Marske-by-the-Sea were still standing in the early 21st century. The tower of Saint Mark's Church acts as a key landmark. Designed in the Gothic Revival style by Frederick Pepys Cockerell, the church was built in 1866-7. I have guessed at the date of the photograph but it could be a little earlier. The newsagent's shop in the centre was run by Bernard and Nellie Fitzhugh. They were trading here at the outbreak of World War Two when the neighbouring shops included a sub-post office run by James and Maud Dack. At that time the shop on the opposite side of the newsagent's was run by the Anderson family. In this photograph however, this was the drapery store of F. Williamson.

The west tower of Gargrave's church dedicated to Saint Andrew is the main component to have survived from the edifice constructed around 1521. Much of today's building is the work of the Surrey-born architect Major Rohde Hawkins. The stone and woodwork was completed by Messrs. Anderton and Roberts of Gargrave. The church is of red sandstone with white Yorkshire stone coins and dressings. The carvings were undertaken by Mr. Boulton of Lambeth with the wood carvings being carried out by Mr. Ratler of Cambridge. The church was consecrated in November 1852 by the Lord Bishop of Ripon.

When this photograph was taken this public-house was known as the Bunch of Grapes Inn. When it was closed in 2016 by the local authorities, the pub was known simply as The Grapes, the name it bore in the 19th century when the occupants mixed the role of publican with dairy farmer. The building, which is said to date from 1771, faces Scaling Reservoir which was constructed between 1952 and 1958. The Grapes had a sad ending when it was featured in the national press with the headline "Filthy pub closed for public safety and fined £30,000." The building, which suffered from a fire, was later refurbished and opened as the Sneaky Fox. In recent times the building became the Jack and Jill Tearooms and Hotel. In an image that seems to date from the 1940s the licensee's name was Albert Birkett.

The Church Lads' Brigade attended this Church Parade at Saltburn-by-the-Sea on Thursday August 8th, 1907. General Sir Leslie Rundle, accompanied by his A.D.C., Captain Pennack, inspected the North-Eastern Camp of the Church Lads' Brigade, a body that numbered over 2,000. During the review the boys, paraded in both company and in battalion columns. The artillery section and the ambulance corps also gave a drill display. The General commented that "he was pleased with their smart appearance, and with the way the drill had been performed."

This Edwardian image is thought to have been taken in the Loftus area, though the precise location is unknown. Unless, of course, there is a history buff in that area that can shed light on the photograph? The banner suggests that the group are representatives or members of the Primrose League. To what extent women were involved in the early years of the institution is also not too clear. Certainly, the inauguartion of a Loftus branch of the Primrose League took place in December 1886. In the Edwardian period the Women's Liberal Association seemed to be more active in and around Loftus.

An elevated post-war view of the Market Place at Settle. The arcaded row of shops is The Shambles where butchers plied their trade in former times. In its original configuration the structure dates from the late 18th century, though there have been some considerable alterations since. The road seen here leading off the Market Place is Constitution Hill, though any cyclist with a strong constitution heads up Albert Hill and High Hill Lane, a route I have enjoyed a couple of times when visiting Settle.

A crowd is gathered in front of Chipperfield's Menagerie at Hull Fair. There are signs for "Paddy the Largest Lion in the World," "The Notorious Lioness Vixen" and "The Lady Performs Here." The entrance fee was 2d. for adults and children could get in for half-price. On the last day of September 1905 Chipperfield's were displaying their menagerie at Selby en-route to the Hull Fair when a lioness escaped and injured two people. The company was giving their last performance of the evening in Micklegate, where there were around 150 punters in the arena, when the incident occurred. It was reported that "The lion trainer Lowdtarno, an American, was, along with Amyil Marcella, a lady performer, arranging to enter the cage occupied by the lioness Norma, when the animal, with more than ordinary quickness, turned on the iron door, and before the trainer could stay its progress, it had forced, its way past him. Nearby was the lady performer, who was flown at by the animal in its attempt to obtain freedom, and as it succeeded in emerging from the cage, it caught the lady with its claw about the right arm, which it savagely bit, making no fewer than five large holes in the limb." The terrified crowd panicked and fled in wild confusion. Norma the Lioness then bit Lowdtarno before she was surrounded by several employees. Henry Wesley, the head-keeper, was greatly mauled by the beast, who jumped at him, and tore his right ear, inflicting nasty wounds on his scalp. He was taken to Selby Cottage Hospital where it was found that his scalp was almost torn off, necessitating many stitches. At one point the doctors thought that they would have to amputate the arm of Amyil Marcella. Meanwhile Norman the Lioness succeeded in getting into the main street and the townsfolk scattered in all directions. It was some time before the men from Chipperfield's got a rope around the neck of the animal and returned it to a cage. Selby had never seen anything like it. I wonder what this incident did for ticket sales at the Hull Fair? The St. John Ambulance Corps were always busy at the annual fair. In 1909 they dealt with 36 cases, including George Martin, who sustained a contused wound on the head, the result of falling over a board. A lady named H. Parker sprained her foot on the cake-walk, and a man named T. Welsh received a cut eye at a boxing show. A man named Jackson was also treated for a scalp wound.

This Edwardian photograph shows both the Railway Hotel and the Duke of York Inn at Thwaite Street in Cottingham. Both pubs faced south towards the grounds of Cottingham Hall. Only the buildings in the distance have survived into the 21st century. A modern block of apartments occupy much of the land in the foreground. The Railway Hotel was rebuilt during the inter-years. The replacement building was demolished in August 2020 to make way for a new housing development. It was reported that X Factor star Samantha Atkinson was the final landlady behind the bar. She took over towards the end of 2018 but her tenure lasted just two months. Only a few years before the Railway Hotel had been runner-up in CAMRA's Pub of the Year Competition. Here the old tavern, a headquarters for cyclists, can be seen offering good stabling to travellers. Hull-born Walter Linskill was the publican in the early Edwardian period. He kept the hotel with his wife Alice. The couple would later run the Albert Hotel on Adelaide Street in Hull. Alfred Padley was in charge of the Duke of York Inn at the time of the 1901 census. Just beyond the Duke of York Inn is Altoft's Refreshment Rooms.

The refuge for many a thirsty miner and farm labourer, the Fox and Hounds Inn at Starbotton was constructed of limestone rubble. The building is dated 1834 on the doorway's entablature. Featuring quoins on the roadside corner, the whitewashed building is attractive with its sold-looking plain stone surrounded windows. Publicans of the Fox and Hounds Inn were also farmers in the Victorian era. In the 1850s Thomas Butler worked 11 acres of land in addition to keeping the pub with his wife Martha. The couple were tenants when the building was sold at auction at the Race Horses Inn at Kettlewell on April 12th 1850. Paying £450, Mr. O. Robinson bought the Fox and Hounds Inn at another auction held at the Ship Hotel at Skipton in September 1917. Run by Tom Slater, the Fox and Hounds was described as an inn with a barn, cart shed, store and stable with hay loft over, a blacksmith's shop, yard, garden and other outbuildings, along with three closes of meadow and pasture land.

This photograph taken in the early years of the 20th century shows Effingham House on the corner of Effingham Street and Frederick Street in Rotherham. This is not to be confused with the Effingham Arms which stood on an opposite corner. During this period the beer house was kept by William Horton. His name can be seen over the front entrance. Their son worked as a drayman, perhaps at one of the breweries in the area. William Horton kept the Effingham House with his wife Mary. The couple had previously run a grocery shop on Greasborough Road. To the left of Effingham House is the grocery shop on Frederick Street run by Sarah Morte. She lived on the premises with her sons Cyril and Leslie, along with her sister Ada Dyson. A poster between the two businesses is an advertisement for the Empire Palace at Sheffield where the popular comedienne and burlesque artiste Marie Loftus was top of the bill. To the right are shops in Effingham Street. Next to the beer house is the cycle shop of Samuel Stringer. The next shop was that of the watchmaker Ernest Cross. A few years after this photograph was taken, in February 1907, the Effingham House suffered damage from very strong winds. A chimney stack fell through the roof into the sitting and bedrooms below.

This mid-1930s photograph shows the historic clapper bridge spanning Malham Beck with Beck Hall in the background. By this time the building had become a Wayfarer's Hostel. The building has become a boutique hotel but I can remember staying here when it was a little more rustic. I believe the rebranding of the hotel is the work of Andrew and Louise Macbeth, who bought Beck Hall in July 2014. The building is said to have been built in 1705 as a yeoman's cottage.

This scene at Station Road in Askern has changed considerably over the years. Firstly, the Swan Hotel seen at the end of the road has vanished, the site being redeveloped with an apartment block. The attractive housing seen here has all been converted into retail units and shops. Even most of the dormer windows have gone. In this photograph a young man is stood outside the post office. Throughout the Edwardian period Herbert Todd was the sub-postmaster running this office. The building caught fire in July 1915 when it was struck by lightning. Born at Laytham, the son of a farmer, Herbert Todd had formerly worked in the drapery business. He was still working in the post office when it was moved around the corner to premises in Church Street. He and his son Edwin were running the place during the Second World War by which time Herbert was recorded as a stationer whilst his son was officially the postmaster for Askern.

Taken from a position near the New Bridge across Malham Beck, this photograph shows the Lister Arms on the left and the Malham Café during the inter-war years. It is no longer a café these days but the building still stands. A cyclist is just about to pass the café on his way up Finkle Street. I hope he was a resident of one of the cottages because, riding that heavy bike, he would be in a whole world of pain if he continued up Malham Rakes. Around the time of this photograph Norman and Annie Wall were running the Malham Café. He was chairman of the Malham Parish Council. They put the café on the market in the early 1930s. James and Beatrice Tyler were the occupants in 1938.

This photograph dates from the end of the Edwardian period and shows the Ship Inn near Shepley Bridge at Mirfield. The pub faces the River Calder and the river has often flooded the hostelry over the years. Trade and industry at Mirfield increased considerably when the Hebble Canal was constructed, one of its junctions with the River Calder being a few metres away at Shepley Bridge. The publican at the time of this photograph was Harry Norminton. He succeeded his father James as licensee of the tavern. He married Eunice Brear at the local parish church in 1906 and they remained in charge of the Ship Inn for many years. The pub was used as for an extraordinary number of coroner's inquests examining the circumstances of those who had drowned in the river or canal, some of whom had been drinking in the riverside inn.

This packhorse crossing of Malham Beck is known as 'New Bridge' but when it was new I am not sure. When it was designated a listed building in 1988, it was described as an 18th century bridge of stone and rubble. This view was captured from the west side of the beck and shows the small shop on the left and the Lister Arms Hotel, an inn sign commemorating Thomas Lister, landowner and politician who presented Clitheroe in the House of Commons from 1713 to 1745.

A busy scene at Withernsea railway station with passengers on one side and the goods yard and coal depot on the other. Coal freight was an integral part of the Hull and Holderness Railway connecting the coastal town with Kingston upon Hull. The line opened in June 1854 and Withernsea developed into a tourist resort for those living in Hull. The line also created an early commuter belt along Holderness. In the foreground of this photograph one can see the turntable used to rotate the locomotives in preparation for the return journey to Hull. The engine would be uncoupled and the table turned by several men. Following the Beeching Report, the last passenger train to roll along the line was on October 19th, 1964. Goods traffic continued for a little longer but this too ceased in the 1960s. The building seen on the left is the only fragment left of the old station. A supermarket and car park occupies much of what can be seen in this Edwardian image.

A nice old image of the Racehorses Hotel at Kettlewell. My immediate thought was that a previous publican either raced horses or that at sometime in the past there was a point-to-point race held in Wharfedale. However, local folklore has it that the name is a corruption of Trace Horse and that drivers of wagons and coaches paid a fee to have extra horses tethered in order to pull their loads up the steep hill at Park Rash. In this respect it is very much like the inn sign of the Pack Horse. Like publicans at the Blue Bell Inn across the road, licensees of the Racehorses Inn during the 19th century were farmers. In addition the pub, when kept by John Marshall in the mid-18th century, was also the village post office.

The couple stood outside the front entrance of the White Bear Inn at Ecclesfield probably commissioned this photograph and took centre stage. A few other locals made a determined effort to photobomb the image. The couple could be Frederick and Mary Gunson who kept the White Bear Inn throughout the Edwardian period. A former policeman, Frederick Gunson probably kept an orderly house. He married Mary Dent in 1893; both of them hailed from Lincolnshire but his service in the West Riding Constabulary brought them to Ecclesfield. By 1911 they had left the licensed trade and were running a fish and chip shop on Northfield Road at Crookes. The former White Bear Inn dated back to the late 18th century, the smaller building set further back at Stocks Hill. It was a Tetley's house when it closed down in 2005. The building has since been converted into the Ecclesfield Business Centre.

This inter-war photograph shows Bridge House or Bridge End House on Gooselands Hill at Arncliffe in Littondale. The building stands to the north of the 18th century bridge spanning the River Skirfare. It is a bridge of ashlar with three segmental arches, featuring two pointed cutwaters rising as pilasters to parapet level. At the time of this photograph the house was occupied by the Congleton-born school master and magistrate Charles William Robinson and his wife Mary who hailed from Ballachulish in the Scottish Highlands.

Judging by this photograph there would be hardly any customers at the Fox and Grapes Inn at Kiddal Lane End on this day - most of the regulars were about to embark on a charabanc trip. Perhaps this was a trip to the coast. Such was the attendance, the organiser of the trip had to arrange for two vehicles. The drivers can be seen leaning against the bonnet of the rear charabanc bearing the name Olympia. The photograph dates from around 1920 when Richard West was the licensee. His name can be seen on the sign above the front door. He and his wife Mary kept the tavern from 1917 to 1924.

No prizes for guessing the location of the photographer when capturing this shot. From the church tower the image shows the Victoria Inn on the right and the Church Hall, a building erected in 1897. It would not be possible to obtain a clear view of the hall nowadays as a house called Holly Grove stands on the opposite side of the road. This is a relatively recent addition to the village but one that is remarkably sympathetic to its environment. The land heading away from the Victoria Inn is Green Gate.

Albert Bellinger was the licensee of the Stag Inn at Woodhouse when this photograph was taken around 1914. The Hampshire-born Company Sergeant Major of Gymnastic Staff kept the pub with his Glasgow-born wife Margaret. Towards the end of the First World War he served with the Royal Air Force, during which time Margaret Bellinger became the licensee. On his discharge the licence was transferred back to Albert in October 1919. The couple remained at the Stag Inn until 1923 when, in January of that year, the licence was transferred to Percival Charles Stacey. The Bellinger's moved to the Upperthorpe Hotel. The Stag Inn, as seen here, was designed by the architectural firm of Gibbs, Flockton & Teather and built by John Middleton for Trusswell's Brewery Co. Ltd., of Eyre Street in Sheffield. The etched-glass windows reveal that the bar was to the left of the building, the smoke room on the opposite side and a club room on the first floor.

This photograph was entitled Friends' Cottage when it was published. However, the building shown is part of Ellis House and Ellis Cottage once one building but since divided into two properties. The building of slobbered rubble has a chamfered doorway inscribed E 16 WA 96. When the building was listed in 1958 it was noted that the interior featured a "very large elliptical arched fireplace with a shield on the lintel carved with the same initials and the date 1702." The initials are those of William and Alice Ellis. Originally from Calton, William Ellis settled in Airton following his apprenticeship to the Quaker weaver John Stott at Skipton. In 1700 William Ellis acquired the nearby Meeting House and Burial Ground from John Lambert of Calton Hall. He placed this into the hands of Trustees three years before his death in 1709.

A 1920s view of the Church of Saint Oswald at Arncliffe. Much of this church dates from the 19th century, the nave being rebuilt around 1800 and restored in 1841. The work of Anthony Salvin, the chancel was rebuilt two years later. However the 15th century tower of limestone rubble, acknowledged as the building's one redeeming feature, was spared by the Victorians. The tower now consists of three stories, the upper one lighted with two light windows, trefoiled, and terminated with plain battlement and pinnacles. It is supported by diagonal staged buttresses. The windows of the chancel were entirely composed of stained glass, the work of William Wailes, the Newcastle-born Gothic Revival artist.

This photograph was taken at the Huddersfield Flower Show held in August 1909. One of the attractions of the show was a horse-jumping competition, though it was called "Horse Leaping" back then. It was the fourth show organised by the Huddersfield Floral, Horticultural and Agricultural Society who reported that the gate receipts on the Friday of 7th August were over £67. The flower show also featured Morris Dancing, a Brass Band and illuminations in the evening.

A view of the High Street in Gargrave in the late Edwardian period. There is a heavy police presence with two bobbies on the beat. One of the officers looks like a sergeant. If so, it could be Sergeant S. White who was stationed in Gargrave around this period, along with Police Constable E. Scargill. They are stood close to what is now Craven House opposite a Co-operative store. The new police station was built in Eshton Road but was closed and sold at auction in October 2012 for £310,000. The buyer was a property developer and the station was replaced by four new homes.

Taken from near the Market Place, this photograph shows Silver Street with the Bay Horse Inn at Masham. In the 21st century the hostelry is operated by Greene King which is perhaps surprising as the town is home to both Theakston's and the Black Sheep Brewery. The latter company was started in 1990 by Paul Theakston and occupied part of the former Lightfoot's Wellgarth Brewery which can be seen in the distance. The buildings seen here along Silver Street have all survived into the modern age. Founded in 1827, Theakston's was originally located to the rear of the Black Bull which was further along Silver Street. Constructed of rendered rubblestone, the Bay Horse Inn dates from the early 19th century.

This 1920s photograph shows a bus just leaving the Buck Inn. This was an important transport link for those living in Wharfedale during the inter-war years. The bus carried passengers to the market town of Skipton. The service was in private hands in these times. Early in 1927 the control of three Wharfedale bus services passed into the hands of Samuel Ledgard of Leeds.

This late Edwardian photograph shows Halifax Railway Station from Horton Street. The Crown Hotel would be to the left of the photographer. Beyond the town is Beacon Hill. This was a joint station and signs for separate booking offices of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway and Great Northern Railway can be seen. The cobbled concourse remains but this building has been replaced by a modern glass and steel structure. The tall chimney stack can still be seen next to the railway. Bailey Hall Iron Works and Bailey Hall Mill once operated on the site next to the Swan Bank Brick Works and canal basin.

An Edwardian view of the village of Malham with a stone footbridge across the beck. The blacksmith is tending to the shoe of a horse at the front of the building in the centre of the image. The 1901 census records Hellifield-born Henry Armstrong as a blacksmith in Malham. On the opposite side of the road is the Buck Inn.

I do not know the location of this photograph. Two West Yorkshire buses are parked up, the signs state "Private West Yorkshire Information Service. The bus on the right is a Bristol and the registration number was CMY 971. The fleet number of SC32 can be see on the engine housing. The fleet number of the other bus was SC81. The registration plate was DWW 595. This vehicle has a number of passengers, one of whom seems to be transferring to the other service.

I am not certain about the date of this photograph but I suspect it was taken shortly after World War 2. A steam locomotive is just pulling into Gargrave Railway Station, the train being observed from the opposite platform by a railway official and a young boy. Originally serving a single track line of the North Western Railway from Skipton to Ingleton, the station was opened in July 1849. The original promoter of the undertaking was Edmund Sharpe, who was elected Mayor of Lancaster. The line was an important link for those living in the Gargrave area who would be able to travel to Bradford and Leeds. No buildings had been constructed when the original 25-mile section was opened in 1849. Carrying directors of the company, the first train to travel along the line was 45 minute late arriving in Skipton!

Almost all of the buildings seen here have survived into the 21st century, the exception being the property to the left which I assume was removed to widen the road junction with Bolton Road. Adjacent to this stands what is today called the Mount Hermon Wesleyan Reform Chapel. The corner stone of this structure was laid on Good Friday 1861. It was stated that it would remain a Wesleyan Reform Chapel but, should the Reformers become extinct and the building sold, the money was to be distributed to the old widows of Addingham parish. After the usual prayers and address, those who gathered piled into the Oddfellows' Hall for a substantial tea. Much of the building is comprised of rubble but the symmetrical façade features dressed stone with rusticated quoins. The congregation were probably dismayed that a malthouse stood to the rear of the chapel. The building also stood a few yards from taverns on both sides. In 2014 a blue plaque was unveiled on the chapel, commemorating a former Pastor, William Kendall Gale. Travelling as a missionary, he served in Madagascar between 1908 until his death in 1935, during which period he established over 250 churches and many schools. The projecting building seen in the background of this photograph was a grocery and general stores. The wall sign shows that it was operated by Alack Bros. In the second half of the Edwardian period the premises was occupied by John and Emma Alack. Earlier in the 20th century the grocery shop was kept by the Dobson sisters, Georgina, Alice and Charlotte. They would later move to a café in Bridge Lane at Ilkley.

Forming part of a row of cottages the former post-office in the Dales village of Hetton still stands, a few doors from the Methodist Chapel. When this photograph was taken in the Edwardian period, it was run by the post-mistress Mary Wright. The daughter of the stone mason John Wright and his wife Margaret, she had lived in the village all her life. In the Edwardian era the spinster occupied the post-office cottage with her elderly mother. Her father had died in 1900. Her brother, also named John, followed in his footsteps by becoming a stone mason. I am pretty certain that Mary Wright never married. She died in 1954.

A view of Winterburn Wood Farm from the opposite side of Winterburn Beck. A listed structure, the bridge dates from the early 17th century, though the downstream arch was widened in the following century. Further work was carried out in the 19th century. The woodland behind the substantial farmhouse was previously known as Braystay Wood. In the early-mid 19th century the farmhouse was occupied by Joseph Nightingale and his family, tenants of Sir Matthew Wilson, resident of nearby Eshton Hall. At the time of this photograph the farmer living here was Thomas Bell. One of the best-known farming families to run the farm were the Watsons who moved south from Ullock Main near Cockermouth. Joseph Watson Jr., was born here before moving back to Cumberland in 1881 to manage Westward Parks under Lord Leconfield. That was one of the biggest arable farms in Cumberland.

I will have to slot this into by unknown locations collection as I do not know where this Red Lion Inn was. The negative is labelled Sheffield but I suspect that the building was in the wider area of Sheffield/Rotherham. It certainly has more of a village feel to it. There is no licensee plate above the entrance, no brewery livery and no street sign. So, few clues to this public-house. It may even have been rebuilt in later years.

Whernside House in Far Lane at Kettlewell was for many years a guest house, baker's shop and café. The bay window seen here remained for a few decades after the building was taken over by the Youth Hostel Association. It has vanished nowadays but the frontage looks pretty much the same. The first couple to run the hostel were Robert and Doris Gummerson. In later years the place was run by Graham and Lesley Chamberlain during which time many of the facilities were improved. Prior to the Second World War the YHA were based in the Old School. At that time Whernside House was occupied by Leonard and Beatrice Heseltine. Beatrice was in charge of the shop and guest house whilst Leonard, a retired Police Sergeant, was a Physical Training and First Aid Instructor. The couple had succeeded the Ellis family at Whernside House. They later lived at The Priory in Gisburn.

A photograph that reportedly shows the Wharfedale Ladies Band, some of whom are brandishing their musical instruments. I think they may have performed at the Wharfedale Musical Festival, an annual event that was launched in 1906. Originally, the festival concentrated on the towns and villages of the Wharfe Valley, but its popularity resulted in it embracing places like Skipton, Guiseley, Yeadon, Esholt, Baildon, and Charlestown. The seventh annual festival was partly held at Ilkley Town Hall. Much of the festival featured classical musicians but perhaps there was a folk element to the event.

A photograph that arguably supports the contention of the Bradford-born author, novelist, playwright and social commentator J. B. Priestley, who once described Hubberholme as "one of the smallest and most pleasant places in the world." He no doubt spent many a pleasant evening in the George Inn. The truly unique element of the George Inn is the Hubberholme 'Parliament' held on the first Monday evening in January each year. It is a centuries-old tradition in which local farmers gather at the pub to bid for 16 acres of pasture land owned by the church. A candle is lit in the House of Lords, the pub's dining room, in which the vicar oversees bidding, whilst offers are tendered by interested parties who occupy the House of Commons, the pub's bar. The highest bid made when the candle flickers out secures the 16 acres for the coming year, the money received being used for the elderly and poor of the parish. The Hubberholme Parliament originated when an unknown benefactor left the village the Poor's Pasture.

These houses on East Avenue at Woodlands near Adwick le Street had not long been completed when this photograph was taken in the early 1920s. It was at a meeting of the Adwick Urban District Council in July 1919 that a lay-out plan of two housing schemes was approved. At Woodlands, over 32 acres of land were to be purchased from the executors of the late Mr C. Thellusson, and 272 houses erected. It was not long until a tragedy affected the street. Matthew Ward of No.48 East Avenue was found hanging behind his bedroom door. It was stated that he left a note that his eyes were going bad and his sight failing, and he did not wish to impose on his family.

A shepherd driving his flock of sheep up the road towards Fleet Moss from Oughtershaw. A post-war magazine article described Fleet Moss as "one of the wildest parts of the Pennine country, a wide expanse of rough moorland with thousands of acres of peaty bog falling away to the shallow valley. Here in a climate which is bleak, windy and rainy, and where the hill pastures are thin or made up of rank grass which sheep find unpalatable, small flocks have grazed over the hills from time immemorial." Back in the day when we had proper winters, the road from Oughtershaw to Hawes was always blocked by snow drifts. In March 1939 the snow was so deep that a snow plough had to be dug out at the top of Langstrothdale. In December 1954 the snow was five feet deep.

The scene of the railway crash near Hawes Junction which occured on Christmas Eve in 1910, to the north of the Lunds viaduct between Hawes Junction and Aisgill on the Settle and Carlisle main line. Twelve people died in the accident which was later attributed to an error by the signalman Alfred Sutton. He had been on duty for almost ten hours during which time he had been very busy dealing with 58 trains. Sadly, he forgot about a pair of light engines on the down main line on which the fast-travelling express train was rapidly approaching. Pulled by the Kirtley locomotive, the Glasgow-bound express train ran into the rear of the light engines and two of the coaches were badly telescoped. It was in these coaches that the twelves passengers died. These days such tragic events are broadcast to the nation via television or online media. However, here in 1910 one can see that many people came to the scene of the crash in order to gawp at the wreckage.

Part of the extensive village green at Arncliffe with the 19th century water pump. The latter is of gritstone with a trough but unfortunately the pump handle and spout have vanished. Arncliffe was the original location shoot for the soap opera "Emmerdale Farm." Camera crews and production team first descended on Arncliffe in 1972. This must have been good business for Falcon Inn which became known as The Woolpack to soap fans. The village was known as Beckindale. As the only pub in the village, those involved in the production would spend their evenings in the tavern, some even staying the night. Sadly for the publican, Yorkshire Television switched locations in 1975 when filming was moved to Esholt. The decision was apparently one of economics as Esholt was closer to the television studios in Leeds. The last episodes to feature Arncliffe as the backdrop were screened in April 1976.

The official unveiling of the Queen Victoria Memorial Monument or Statue at Sheffield is being performed by HRH Princess Henry of Battenburg, or Beatrice as she was better known, on May 11th 1905. Arriving at the Midland Station, she was received by the Lord Mayor Joseph Jonas and his wife. The railway station was decorated for the occasion and a guard of honour from the King's Own Yorkshire Light Infantry was lined three deep for her arrival in the city. Typically, the train was 30 minutes late. The decorations of the Town Hall would have befitted a second coming. Most of the shops closed as thousands gathered to watch Princess Beatrice wield her royal scissors to cut the ribbon before retiring to the Town Hall for a bun fight. The memorial was positioned on the road junction by the Town Hall. Commissioned by public subscription, the bronze statue was the work of the sculptor Alfred Turner. The former queen directed traffic on the road junction until 1930 when the monument moved to Endcliffe Park.

This photograph was marked Starbotton so the bridge would be spanning Cam Gill Beck. If this is the case then there has been some significant changes to the landscape here. Starbotton appears as Stamphotne in the Domesday survey of 1086 but by the 12th century it had evolved into the Norse Stauerboten, thought to mean "the place where stakes are got."

A photograph showing The Pageant at the Ripon Historic Festival held between 19th - 21st July 1906. A newspaper report on the event stated that "a civic procession to the Cathedral opened the proceedings. One the anthems sung was by Edmund Ayrton, who was born in 1734, at Ripon. He was organist of Southwell Minster in 1754 ... a performance was given of Mr. German's opera. "Merrie England," which reflected the highest credit on principals, chorus and orchestra. The ballet of the guild and crafts of the city was one of the finest features. History was pictorially described from the early British period down to the up-to-date girls in a motor-car. There were numerous side events. The principal scene was a very effective representation of a street of the Elizabethan period."

A view of the hamlet of Gayle captured from a position on Wether Fell Side showing the church tower of St. Margaret's in Hawes. The high ground in the distance is that of Pike Hill and Bleak Haw on Abbotside Common. The old mill pond can be seen in the bottom-left of the image. This was dug out on some level ground next to the beck in order to collect and store water for times when the level was low in the dry summer months. Or indeed, to increase the water pressure passing into the mill to drive the wheel. The road from Fleet Moss snakes around Hargill and onwards towards Hawes.

Taken from an elevated position, slightly up Kirk Gill Moor, this photograph shows both the Church of Saint Michael and All Angels and the George Inn at Hubberholme. There is an intrinsic relationship between Hubberholme's church and the George Inn. Indeed, the building was once the vicarage. Made of limestone rubble, it was formerly a farmhouse owned by the church and kept by the parish clerk or churchwarden. The churchyard is the last resting place of the Bradford-born author, novelist, playwright and social commentator J. B. Priestley. He once described Hubberholme as "one of the smallest and most pleasant places in the world." Naturally, the George Inn was one of his favourite inns.

Halifax had a poor record of tram accidents during the Edwardian period. This particular accident occurred on a Sunday evening in July 1906 when a tram driven by Theodore Chadwick went out of control when travelling down New Bank towards North Bridge from Shelf. The tram overturned immediately after it crossed the points at the bottom of Haley Hill. Police Constable James Dixon was on duty at the bottom of New Bank and heard the tram screeching down the hill at a very fast rate. Accordingly, he warned pedestrians to clear the area. The tram can be seen next to the pier of North Bridge, an iron and stone structure opened in 1871. Two passengers on the tram died as a result of the crash and four people were seriously injured. At the subsequent inquest a verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned by the jury.

This may be the inter-war years but the farming methods remain very traditional. Newfield Hall is a mansion built in 1856 for William Alcock, son of the man who founded the Craven Bank. In the late 19th century the house was occupied by William Illingworth, a former Bradford manufacturer who also acquired the Manor Hotel in Airton. The Morkill family were the last domestic occupiers of the house until, like many large estates, it was sold off in the 1930s. Newfield Hall was acquired by the Holiday Fellowship, an organisation established in 1913 by London-born Thomas Leonard with the aim of providing walking holidays for all. Influenced by the Christian Socialist movement, he was also a key figure in the establishment of the Youth Hostel Association and served as President of the Ramblers Association.

Later moving to a new post at Newcastle, William Thompson was the station master at York Railway Station when this photograph was taken in the early Edwardian period. This station, the third to be built in York, was designed by the North Eastern Railway architects Thomas Prosser and William Peachey. When the building opened in June 1877 it was thought to be the largest railway station in the world. This photograph shows Platform 4 with members of staff awaiting the next train. The arched roof is particularly impressive.

This is the view that would greet the traveller journeying to Malham from the south in years gone by. The view is fairly similar in the modern era, though there are many more mature trees. The building on the left has offered accommodation to visitors for more than a century. At the time of this photograph, the building was known as Aire View and run by George Hayhurst. Next to Aire View is the Buck Inn where accommodation was also offered to tourists. Opposite the Buck Inn stands the old smithy which, in the 21st century, was still being run as a workshop by Annabelle Bradley. A stone footbridge across the river can be seen to the right of the photograph. The white building in the distance would later become the post office and café.

There are two forms of public transport in this photograph dating from the 1920s. The bus is overtaking a parked commercial van close to which is a cyclist riding on the pavement. A man and boy are also pulling a handcart. So, a good variety of transporation methods are visible at Utley near Keighley. The Skipton Road has since been by-passed but the scene here has changed little. However, the Roebuck Inn has a small beer garden to the front nowadays. The trolleybus service replaced a tram connection with Keighley after December 1924. The Keighley Tramways Company had run horse-drawn trams to Utley from 1889 until 1901 when, under the Keighley Corporation, an electric tram continued until 1924. The tramline terminated a little further along Skipton Road at Low Utley. Arthur Hanson, licensee of the Roebuck Inn was badly injured when a car he was driving collided with a tram at Nab Wood near Shipley in 1931. His passenger, John Throup, of Brooklands at Skipton Road, was killed in the collision. He was vice-president of Keighley Rugby League Football Club.

Eshton Hall is a large country house rebuilt in 1825-7 by the Kendal-based architect George Webster. Designed in the Elizabethan revival style for the Wilson family, the property has since been converted into apartments. The manor of Eshton is an ancient one, Ranulf de Eston held it during the 12th century. The hall was rebuilt several times before coming into the possession of the Wilson family in 1646. There was a Wilson Arms at Threshfield, once forming part of the estate but it was sold just after the First World War when Richard Henry Wilson started to liquidate his assets. In 1923 he leased the hall to Arthur Stanley Wills, a director of the famous tobacco company. In failing health, this was his residence until his death in February 1935. It was during the Second World War that the hall was turned over to educational use and throughout the conflict Bramcote School of Scarborough relocated here. Following the war Ronald W. Purdey, a master at Bentham Grammar School, established a new school in the hall. The building was converted into a residential nursing home during the 1960s. Eshton Hall was used in this role until 2002, following which a property development company converted the building into apartments.

Although now part of Cumbria, Dent was historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire. The Sun Inn was described "newly erected" in 1758 so has a couple of hundred years of history under the influence of its "Best Ale Under The Sun," as claimed on the old inn sign. Alice Haygarth was the licensee in 1822. John Nelson was running the place twelve years later when the Sun Inn was one of five taverns in Dent. There was a bit of farmland attached to the tavern and publicans would split their duties as farmer and publican. Peter Moore was one such landlord in the 1850s. Born at Ingleton Fells at the end of the 18th century, he kept the pub with his step-son William Speight and niece-in-law Alice Parrington. In more recent times, the Dent Brewery was started at the Sun Inn during 1990. Note the horse-mounting steps to the right of the Sun Inn.

Although the buildings on the right of this photograph have largely survived, the same cannot be said for the corner of High Street and Church Street at Gargrave. A bus is parked up near the junction of Church Street, not picking up passengers from the bus shelter which can still be seen today. On the far corner a group of buildings were removed and the cross repositioned. What is there in the 21st century - another blinkin' car park.

Looking at this inter-war photograph it would seem that the location of the market cross at Northallerton has shifted a little. In what appears to be an image from the early 1930s a group of elderly men are sat on benches next to the cross and no doubt putting the world to rights. There were not so many cars in those days. Modern traffic congestion forced the pedestrianisation of the High Street. The shops to the left of the image include Knagg's drapery store, next to which was the Metropole Garage. On the other side of an entry was the Black Bull, an outlet of John Smith's. Further along the street is the Three Tuns and the Golden Lion Hotel. The latter is the only hostelry of these three to be trading in the 21st century.

An extension of the High Street at Gargrave, the old turnpike heading west out of the village was known as Anchor Road as it led to the Anchor Inn on the Leeds and Liverpool Canal. There is an Anchor Bridge, Anchor Lock and Anchor Plantation. The hostelry has become a Whitbread food outlet fronting the company's Premier Inn. Taken from near the stepping stones, this scene of the main road remains unchanged with the buildings having survived into the 21st century.

This Edwardian photograph of the Buck Inn at Chop Gate stands on the road from Helmsley to Stokesley, a historic route of great beauty in the old North Riding. The building was mentioned in a survey of 1781/2, though it was recorded as Baker's Coffie House. Indeed, John Baker was the occupant who also farmed 10 acres of land. It had become a licensed tavern in the early 19th century. The Buck Inn was home to the Johnson family throughout the Victorian era. In the late 19th century the licensee was Garbutt Johnson who had learned the trade at the nearby Tiger Inn. He was a member of the Bilsdale Foxhounds who held their annual dinner at the Buck Inn. Following his death, widow Hannah Johnson took over as licensee. Her name can be seen above the door in this photograph. Her son, also named Garbutt, would later become the publican. He was also Secretary of the Bilsdale Hunt, a body that claimed to be the oldest pack of foxhounds in the country, since the second Duke of Buckingham hunted the fox in the Dales of Yorkshire with Charles II.

This photograph of Kettlewell was taken from The Knipe, an elevated position on Gate Cote Scar. The view shows the bridge spanning the River Wharf and Cam Head rising up beyond the village. The ashlar and rubble stone bridge dates from the late 18th century. Tenders for the widening and rebuilding of the old bridge were invited in May 1781. The bridge was fortified following the terrible floods of 1883. This was probably when the south side was widened.

This early 19th century building is now a private house called Airton Manor. In this 1930s photograph it can be seen as the Manor Hotel. During World War One the hotel was run by Mrs. Redfern. The building suffered considerable damage when a fire broke out in October 1951. It was thought that a bird's nest in the chimney caught fire and spread to the roof timbers. The couple running the hotel at this time were Albert and Ethel Wiggins. They had previously kept the Buck Inn at Malham for many years.

The times they were-a-changin' at Cracoe when this photograph was taken in the late-1920s. Two modes of transport are using the dirt road with a waggoner making his way along to where a car is parked opposite the Devonshire Arms Hotel. Indeed, I suspect that this was the mode of transport being used by the photographer. There is a grocery shop on the right in the foreground. The Devonshire Arms was a favourite haunt of the village bobby when this image was captured. He would spend many a happy hour in the back room - that is, until he was spotted by a customer who happened to be Police Superintendent Bell. In fact, the publican, John Blake, was the one hauled before the magistrates and fined £5 for harbouring the police officer whilst he should have been on duty. John Blake kept the Devonshire Arms with his wife Elizabeth. The couple would later move to the Bay Horse at Snaygill just outside Skipton. A trade directory for Cracoe published in 1927 records two shops in the village. Harry Carr ran a greengrocery store whilst John Hebden operated a butcher's shop. In addition there was a post-office kept by the post-master John Howarth.

Although annotated Cam Gill Beck near Starbotton, I have been told that this is more likely to be Park Gill Beck, next to which a remote road connects Wharfedale with Coverdale. This involves a rather steep climb up the notorious Park Rash. Park Hill Beck is formed from the streams running off Whernside and Diamond Hill.

An inter-war photograph of Friar's Head at Winterburn, a property thought to have been built by Stephen Proctor at the end of the 16th century. The late Tudor gentry house was built on the site of an older building given the same name that served as a hunting lodge for the Abbots of Furness who had been gifted the land in the 12th century. Nearby is St. Helen's Well, once a site of pilgrimage. A chapel once stood near the site of the well. Bronze age artefacts have been found around the nearby Pillow Mounds or Giant's Graves.

The post office of Slaithwaite can be seen on the left of this photograph that is lookng along Britannia Road in the mid-late 1930s. In more recent times the premises of the post office had become a charity shop. The shop with the large plate glass windows has become a hair design studio. The photograph was captured close to the junctions of Back O' Dam and Ned Lane. At the time of this photograph the wall on the right of the image was part of the New Picture Theatre, a cinema that became The Winston in 1943, a tribute to the incumbent of No.10 Downing Street. The two women wheeling the pushchair are about to cross Kiln Hill. The first shop they would encounter on Britannia Road would have been the butchery of Fenton Tweed. In recent times this retail unit had become a branch of Thomas Cook. Fenton Tweed was both farmer and butcher so I imagine that local people knew the source of their meat. In the distance Britannia Road crossed the River Colne before the road went up to the railway station.

This 1950s photograph of the Avenue Hotel on Chanterlands Avenue at Kingston upon Hull was taken from Lynton Avenue. In the 21st century the house, rebranded as a Sizzling Pub, has an awful front extension and large conservatory so the rather pleasing inter-war design has been sadly lost. The area known as The Avenues was laid out and developed on Newland Tofts. Chanterlands Avenue, the road on which this pub is located, was largely developed after the First World War. The land around the site of the pub was formerly a polo ground and tennis courts. Lynton Avenue was formerly called Somme Street. The M & R seen above the front entrance shows that the public-house was built for Moors & Robson's Breweries Ltd., of the Crown Brewery on Francis Street in Kingston upon Hull.

The old post office at Buckden was tucked away off the main road. In more recent times the building is known as Chestnut Cottage. The building to the right is Ivy Cottage. In the early Edwardian period William Gill was both postmaster and boot maker. He was assisted by his wife Deborah.

Slaithwaite United are gathered together outside the Harp Inn before the start of the 1906-7 season. Joe Sykes was the licensee at the time. He and his wife Annie were pleased to have the team based at the Harp Inn where they served the players and staff a celebratory dinner at the end of the previous season in which the side won the Slaithwaite and District League. This resulted in promotion to a senior league. The captain of Slaithwaite United, and the man credited with much of their success, was J. Buckley. Joe and Annie Sykes kept the Harp Inn for John Ainley & Sons Ltd., a firm based at the Wapping Spring Brewery on Lindley Moor, Huddersfield. The company had acquired the Harp Inn during 1897. Joe Sykes held the licence until his death in April 1916. He was succeeded by his wife Annie who kept the Harp Inn until 1920 when Allen Dodson was granted the licence. Before Joe Sykes the landlord of the Harp Inn was the well-known local cricketer A. A. Wood.

A mid-1930s photograph of the Buck Inn at Buck Inn. Emmott Wood was the licensee of this house during the Second World War, though he died aged 63 in March 1943. He had previously been in business as a butcher in Keighley. Indeed, he was four times President of Keighley and District Butchers' Association. For a time he served on Keighley Town Council. He was an honorary life member of Keighley Conservative Club and was Past Master of the Three Graces Lodge [408] of Freemason's, Haworth, and member of the Worth Lodge of the Mark Master Masons. He served throughout the South African War. I assume he acquired the Buck Inn not long after this photograph was taken. The Buck Inn was sold at auction in June 1939. The sale, held at the Black Horse Hotel in Skipton, provided details of the building which included 9 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, bar, parlour, smoke room, 2 lounges, dining room, kitchens, bakehouse, yard, wash-house, garages and outbuildings.

An early Edwardian photograph of the Crown Inn on the corner of Meadowhall Road and Station Lane at Brightside in Sheffield. James Levers was the licensee at the time of this photograph. The Rotherham-born publican kept the tavern with his wife Emma. The couple later kept the Banner Cross Hotel on Ecclesall Road. A member of the Sheffield and Rotherham Licensed Victuallers' Association, he was also licensee of the Wellington Inn at Brightside for some years. Following the First World War, he and Emma operated a tobacconist's shop on Ecclesall Road. In the 19th century the Crown Inn was quite a sporting pub with an angling club meeting at the house. There were also a number of pigeon-shooting matches staged here. The window lettering shows that the corner of the house was a dram shop and the smoking room to the right. I suspect that the little girl in the doorway is either Lilian or Doris, a young daughter of James and Emma Levers.

Taken around 1920 this shows the Buckden Village Stores facing the triangular green. The building has served as the village shop for generations. It also served as the post office and telegram office, supplied hardware, petrol, tobacco, newspapers and fancy goods. These days, of course, this would be called a convenience store but during the inter-war years this was an indispensable retail outlet for those living at the northern end of Wharfedale. The sign above the door shows that George Moore was running the store. He operated the business throughout the 1920s with his wife Maud.

Taken in 1968, this photograph focuses on Anderton's Bar and Grill at No.52 High Street, Skipton. In recent years these premises formed an extension of Boot's Chemists and housed the company's optical department. There was some continuity in the shop to the right in that Lennard's shoe shop later became a branch of Stead & Simpson. However, by 2015 it was occupied by Tog 24. Anderton's Bar and Grill was certainly trading here in the late 1950s, though I am not sure when the business was established. It is interesting to note that four of the five cars parked outside were manufactured in Birmingham, the other being made at Coventry.

This early 19th century building at Airton evolved into the Manor Hotel. However, in this early Edwardian image there is no sign bearing such a name. However, the women pictured here hosted travellers as there is a sign for the Cyclists' Touring Club above the front door. I am not sure but I think the older of the two women may be Elizabeth Carradice.

A photograph of the Pack Horse Inn at Bridlington that was taken in 1914. The licensee at the time was William Botham Potter. His name can be seen above the yard entrance. He ended up in the courts in 1924 for alleged desertion of his wife Margaret. He later lived in lodgings at a house run by Mary Ferguson. She took him to court in 1929 for money she alleged she had lent him for the payment of expenses in his divorce proceedings. In the following year William Potter married again to Lily Acklam. The former publican who had dabbled at being a Mineral Water Manufacturer died in 1937. There are some stocks outside the Pack Horse Inn nowadays but these are replicas of the stocks and pillory that once stood in the Market Place, opposite the Corn Exchange. After re-opening in November 2015 following a closure, the Pack Horse Inn became an exclusive outlet for the Bridlington Brewery. Here however, one can see the pub being operated by the Hull Brewery Company Limited. Although much work has been done to the building in subsequent years, the building dates back to the 18th century. However, it is said to have replaced an older thatched house.

Like neighbouring Malham, I believe the post office has moved locations at Airton. This building is on the opposite side of the road to Tatham House. Post Office Barn is a little further south up the slope heading out of the village. Post Office Cottage was actually on the left-hand side of this building. Mrs.E. Earnshaw was the sub-postmistress in the mid-1920s and probably at the time of this photograph. The little post office was swamped with letters in 1952 when Phyllis Crone, a local resident, wrote an article about women with big feet. Measuring 5ft 8ins, Mrs. Crone struggled to find smart shoes for her size 9½ feet. The response to her article was 6,000 letters being addressed to her, including 70 proposals of marriage! I guess the post office were not amused with the sacks of mail.

The building central to this photograph of Malham village would later serve as a café The building to the right next to the 'New Bridge' would become the post office. This business has moved around the village over the years. The horse and cart to the left of the photograph is parked up outside the earlier post office. However, the older post office was over the bridge and on the other side of the beck. Sadly, there is no permanent post office in Malham nowadays, the nearest being at Town End Farm Shop in Airton.

Oughtershaw Hall at Langstrothdale is an impressive mansion house, once the second home of Charles Henry Lardner Woodd, a man of considerable wealth who mixed with many notable figures during Victorian times. A fellow of the Geological Society, he was friend of Hugh Miller and Charles Darwin. As a memorial to his wife Lydia, the nearby school is thought to have been designed by John Ruskin, a regular visitor to Oughtershaw Hall.

A key role of the Brockabank Bridge at Eshton was to carry traffic connected to the nearby limestone quarry. There was once a limekiln close to the bridge, remains of which can still be seen today. The track over the bridge also served Brockabank Farm not far from Eshton Beck. Also nearby is Saint Helen's Well, from which water spills into a rectangular stone basin, the overflow being Eshton Beck.

The two houses on the left later formed part of the extended Elm Tree Inn at Embsay, a pub once owned by Bentley's Yorkshire Brewery Limited. This photographer is looking along Main Street from Elm Tree Square. A shepherd is driving his flock along the road. A look at modern images suggests that the tree in the foreground has been replaced. Converted into a private house, the photograph shows that the building on the right, Crag View Terrace, was once the Craven Stores run by William Kirby. This was both grocery store and off-licence but free from any brewery. I think this would also become the post office. Certainly, this business was run by William and Jane Kirby during the 1930s.

I have estimated the date of this photograph, though I suspect it may be a littler earlier, perhaps early Edwardian. The image shows the only house erected on the triangular green at Airton. The small building to the left was the recently-opened reading rooms in which local residents could, for an annual fee of five shillings, meet and have access to books, newspapers, periodicals and board games. Housed in a tin chapel-style building, the reading rooms was run by a committee spearheaded by the local vicar. Remaining in use until the 1930s, the building was left to rot, as metal buildings do, and was finally demolished in 2000.

This is an awkward photograph. There is some information available but the location is not so clear. The football clearly has the lettering of "Brierley Wood A.F.C. 1908-9" written in chalk but the small card next to it is not so easy to read even after magnifying the image. It may say Colne Valley League, in which case I think it may be Brierley Wood near Huddersfield. The men pictured here seem to be stood in a quarry. There were a number of quarries in this area, one being at Brierley Wood on the old Manchester Road. There was a football and cricket ground nearby at Paddock - perhaps the venue for their matches?

This post-war photograph was taken from a very steep road climbing up from Darnbrook Beck. Part of a remote area of the Yorkshire Dales, the road connects Malham with Arncliffe. The view from the hill today is almost the same, except for additional farm buildings and a lot of tree growth around the beck. The farm building beneath the scars of Cow Bank still stands. When the UK used to have real snow places like Darnbrook would be cut off for weeks.

This view of the old fishing port of Staithes shows the footbridge spanning Roxby Beck, or Staithes Beck as it is more commonly known. Flowing down from the moors, the beck divides Staithes into two parts. Consequently, those walking along the bridge today are crossing a municipal boundary between Teesside and Scarborough Borough Council, part of North Yorkshire. In addition to the high number of fishing boats that sailed from Staithes, the port was also an excellent den for smugglers. I like to think that the bridge played a key role in the movement of booty.

There have been several churches in Kettlewell, the current building dating from the mid-1880s. The first place of worship is thought to date back to 1120 and probably established by the de Arches family. The font from this Norman church has survived for use in succeeding buildings. The Norman church was taken down and a new church built in 1820. The tower of that building by Thomas Anderson still stands but the nave and chancel was replaced by T.H. & F. Healey between 1882-85. A legacy and remembrance of the fallen, there are some notable stained-glass windows in Saint Mary's. A memorial to Lieutenant Charles Cutcliffe Hyne, the East Window shows a young Christ looking over the battlefield of 1916. The son of the author C. J. Cutcliffe Hyne, he was wounded in the Battle of the Somme and died from his wounds. The window has three panels, the left depicting a soldier on sentry duty amid the battlefield, the right depicting a soldier by a camp fire, smoking a cigarette. The centre window shows a guardian angel, perhaps ministering to the soldiers. The Holdsworth windows commemorate John and Michael Holdsworth of Scargill House. Serving with the Fleet Air Arm, Lieutenant Michael Holdsworth was killed on active service off Tobruk whilst based at Malta. His brother, Major John Holdsworth M.C., died in Belgium in March 1945 while serving with the King's Royal Rifle Corps.

Dating from around 1912, this photograph shows Moss Road at Askern with the Railway Hotel on the left. Next door is a bicycle shop where repairs were undertaken. Perhaps the young girl purchased her bicycle from this small emporium. Sadly, the shop no longer stands and modern housing occupies the site. However, the Railway Hotel has endured. The attractive red-brick and stone building is only a few metres away from the level crossing on the former branch line of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway. A station was opened here around 1847 and would have been popular for visitors to what was once a spa town. However, the coal mines put paid to this tourism. Regular passenger traffic on the line ceased in March 1947. The station buildings, along with most of the platforms were removed. In the Edwardian period the premises of the cycle shop was occupied by the Stones family who traded as grocers, confectioners and caterers. They sold the shop and premises in the winter of 1908 and this was probably when the cycle shop was opened. Mr. E. Claybourne was an agent for Raleigh and Fleet Cycles.

Constructed with millstone grit, the parish church of Saint Michael the Archangel at Kirkby Malham was built in the 15th century on the site of an older place of worship. Around the site of the church was an old tavern called the Sun Inn. The building was restored in 1879-81 by the Lancaster-based architectural firm of Paley and Austin. The plan of the building consists of a four-bay nave with a clerestory, north and south aisles, both with side chapels, a south porch, a north hearse house, a two-bay chancel, and a west tower.

Things do not look quite so rural at this public-house in the 21st century. Fronting the Chesterfield Road the building is surrounded by development of Norton Woodseats, a few kilometres from the centre of Sheffield. This mid-Edwardian photograph shows the old hostelry that would later be rebuilt. Indeed, the former name also vanished in the mid-1930s when the Masons' Arms became the Big Tree. The name refers to the lovely old tree seen here. However, it is said that this was uprooted by an elephant belonging to a touring circus. The animal had apparently been tethered to the tree. The replacement tree was also lost after strong winds damaged what was a diseased specimen. Another tree now stands outside the Greene King-operated hostelry. This old tavern was recorded as the Freemasons' Arms in 1825 when James Frith was the licensee. The name was shortened by the 1840s. The faded name of Joseph Ibbotson can be seen on the sign above the door. This publican had kept the house in the late 1870s and 1880s. At the time of this photograph, the Masons' Arms was kept by the Irish-born widow Mary Twivey.

Now there is a quandary for the touring cyclist - left for Fleet Moss or straight on for Kidstones? Either route is a cycling classic. Or, for the more leisurely-minded, it is left for the George at Hubberholme or carry on a bit for the White Lion at Cray, both very tempting roadside taverns.

A 1961 photograph showing the Boosbeck Hotel and a general shop on the corner of High Street and Fenton Street in Boosbeck. The pub was still trading in the early 21st century, the retail unit becoming the village shop and café. Here in this 1961 image it was a general store run by K. Elliott, selling hardware, electrical goods and pet food plus a whole lot of other essentials. Formerly known as the Commercial Hotel, the pub competed from trade with the Station Hotel located further north on the High Street. The building formed part of a planned development in which Carney Street, Fenton Street and Gerrie Street were lined with terraced houses.

A view of the large village green at Arncliffe in Littondale, a settlement recorded in the Domesday Survey. The name is thought to derive from the Old English for Eagle's Cliff. Certainly, the village nestles beneath soaring high ground on most sides, though the Skirfare valley is wide where Arncliffe was established at the confluence of Cowside Beck and the River Skirfare. Picturesque Arncliffe was the original setting for the fictional village of Beckindale featured in the television soap opera "Emmerdale Farm."