Towngate
General
This is the area around the Potted Meat Stick, and the Cross and Stocks that is regarded as the centre of Baildon. Pre 1960s the Potted Meat Stick, Cross and Stocks were to the right of the bottom of Hallcliffe when viewed from Hallcliffe.
One of the dominant buildings in Towngate prior to the rebuilding of the 1960s was Fountain Buildings that housed the Mechanics Institute. Records show that the Mechanics Institute was built in 1862. This is the same year as the Potted Meat Stick, which was a fountain. I assume this is why there were Fountain Buildings and Fountain Fold. The Fountain Buildings were demolished in the late 1960s along with the buildings behind and to the side - Fountain Fold, Manor Croft, Manor Fold, one side of Browgate and parts of Kelcliffe.
During the rebuilding in the late 1960s the Cross and Stocks were moved to the paved area opposite the Liberal Club/Pickles and the Potted Meat Stick taken away only for it to be found and returned in 1986.
In 1853 Towngate got the first gas light of the village, it was mounted on the top of the Market Cross - see more in Market Cross section below.
In the 1960s the roundabout was built. The Potted Meat Stick was removed and the Stocks and Cross moved to the new paved area directly opposite the Liberal Club building. Read more below about The Potted Meat Stick being found in pieces and returned to the village centre in 1986.
Potted Meat Stick
The Potted Meat Stick has been a feature of Towngate since 1862 except for a few years when it was removed to make room for traffic flow improvements. It has its own page - The Potted Meat Stick
Stocks
The Towngate Stocks have been a feature of Towngate for many years except for being removed in 1862 when The Potted Meat Stick was installed and then returned in 1904. They have their own page - Towngate Stocks
Market Cross
The Towngate Cross is another feature of Towngate but it has had better luck with its location. It has not been taken away from Towngate, but it has been moved out of the way of traffic having been damaged on several occasions. It has its own page - Towngate Cross
Conservative Club
This photo showing Enoch & Sarah Proctor above the cellar steps was taken sometime between 1891 & 1910. The 1891 Census has Enoch & Sarah living at 11 Tentercroft. Enoch was a Cloth Weaver and Sarah a Fish Dealer. In 1901 Enoch (51) & Sarah (56) were still at 11 Tentercroft with Enoch listed as Greengrocer. If it is the same Enoch then records show that he was buried in Baildon 3 Aug 1910 and had been living at the Workhouse, Newall, Otley. (The workhouse later became a hospital and then flats.)
Golden Anniversary Souvenir. 1885-1935
In 1935 a souvenir booklet was produced commemorating 50 years of the Club - 1885 to 1935.Baildon Conservative Club Golden Anniversary. 1935.
Club of the Week
In their Club of the Week spot for Thursday, 31 August 2000 the Target covered Baildon Conservative Club.
Village club looking for business Thursday, August 31, 2000 Baildon Conservative Club has been a central part of the village for more than 100 years. It has always been in the same spot overlooking the Potted Meat Stick monument and has witnessed many changes going on around it as well as changing itself to move with the times and demand. Years ago it was the snooker tables in the middle of the floor which were the focal point of the club - recently an extension was built on and the tables were moved to make more space. There are two snooker tables as well as a pool one and there’s always a game of dominoes on offer. For those who prefer to watch sport rather than to play it, the club has just bought a wide screen television. Every Saturday there’s a quiz and on alternate Saturday nights it’s followed by stage acts. Club member Eddy Robinson said: “We have all sorts of entertainment lined up - from charity nights to Play Your Cards Right, Millionaire — even Somerset Pig Racing!” And he added: “We've got more than 550 members, but they don’t all come and use the club. “We've got fantastic facilities here so I can’t understand why people don’t all come and make the most of it.” The club is looking at getting its rooms booked up during the day for private parties and important occasions such as wedding receptions and even funeral teas. It also hoping that businesses might chose it as a venue for training courses. Mr Robinson said: “There are a lot of businesses around here who want to find an informal place for their training sessions — we can give them what they want here in comfort.” The club also supports two charities in particular - the Marie Curie Cancer Care and the Anthony Nolan Bone Marrow Trust. “We’ve had many a fundraising do including leg waxing, but the total concept of the club is giving the opportunity for people to enjoy a friendly pint with friends,” he said. Visitors can be signed into the club six times a year and anyone interested in joining needs to be proposed and seconded before being elected as a member. To find out more contact John Chapman who’s the bar manager or the club secretary Jean Riley on (01274) 581524
The Baildon Conservative Club building on Towngate is one of the few buildings to have survived the various works in Towngate. The other nearby buildings of any age are The Angel and Towngate Rooms. The buildings opposite were demolished leaving the older buildings of Westgate and the West side of Browgate.
In October 2020 it was reported that the club, which had closed due to the COVID-19 lockdown in March, had not re-opened and that the members had voted unanimously for it to be closed permanently. All club items were to be sold and the club secretary, Jean Barstow, said the building, valued at £335,000, was to be put up for sale.[1] Which raises a question -"Who owns the building?"
Noble’s Shop
This picturesque house and shop was situated at the Eastern side of the Towngate (between the Angel Hotel and Conservative Club.). Barclays Bank was built on the site of this building.[2]
The Ambler family owned and occupied it as a Butcher’s Shop and before Mr Noble a man called Riley Brook lived there. ( Grocer ) There is a record of the birth of Myrtilla Brook at the property in 1850, she had a brother ( Arnold ) who was blind. ( blind from birth )[2]
Mr W Noble occupied the property after Riley Brook and he purchased it in 1920 from the Ambler & Whitham Trust. The Nobles were Hardware Dealers and Willie Noble’s brother, Tom, had stables and a croft at the bottom of Westfield Terrace.[2]
In the early part of the twentieth century children used to go digging for lead bullets in the slag heaps near the rifle range on Baildon Moor and Mr Noble paid twopence a bucketful.[2] (See J W Noble for other anecdotes.)
In 1920, when the property was being auctioned Mr William Noble was still on Military Service, so his brother Tom bid at auction at the Angel Hotel. A year later when William Noble asked for transfer of the deeds to his name his brother demanded £100 profit. Willie had no choice in the matter but he never spoke to his brother again. The price paid at auctions was £665. The building was sold to Barclays Bank in 1967 and demolished.[2]
Barclay's Bank
This text is from the hand written notes of Arthur Edwick:-
The Bank appointed Mr Harry Robinson (Chemist) as its first agent for the village. Mr Robinson’s premises were Heather House, Browgate.[2]
Mr Richard Lancaster owned the three shops at the side of the Mechanics Institute in the Towngate. And at that time Barclay’s Bank was situated in a small office round the corner in Heather House, Browgate Pharmacy. [3]
At the suggestion of the manager, Mr Haley, the bank approached Mr Lancaster with an offer to purchase the three shops with the intention of demolishing the two shops in the centre of the block leaving the end shop intact. Mr Lancaster knew that the dividing walls of the shops & flats above were only single brick walls as one occupant, Mr Denby, had driven a six inch nail through and it had passed through the plasterwork of Mrs Jagger’s flat next door. Mr Lancaster sold the block of shops to the Bank with a clause in the agreement that if the rebuilding of the centre of the property proved structurally impossible and subsequently the end shop would have to be demolished the bank would compensate the occupant by rehousing them temporarily at the Bank’s expense and also find temporary shop accommodation, also at the Bank’s expense.[3]
The whole development proved financially disastrous for Barclays Bank. The whole block had to be demolished with subsequent compensatory payments etc. and all the delay involved in funding temporary accommodation for the occupant. Then work recommenced, but when excavation for the strong room started, the Baildon Moor Beck (which flows under the Towngate) was uncovered directly where it was hoped to construct the strong room. This led to much more delay.[3]
Eventually a very fine building was erected, but unfortunately Baildon Urban District Council decided to re-design the village centre and the fine edifice was demolished after only fourteen years. The Bank purchased Mrs Nobles shop & house on the eastern side of the Towngate. The property was demolished but unfortunately once again the excavation for the strong room was difficult to dig as the workmen “struck rock”, eventually dynamite had to be used.[3]
Mr Lancaster throughout these difficult days continued to use his a/c with the bank.[3]
The Noble's shop and house next to the Conservative Club were sold to Barclay's Bank in 1967.[4] This was to take the place of the building on Towngate next to the Mechanics Institute - all those buildings were to be demolished. Barclays occupied the first building for fourteen years which therefore dates the purchase/rebuilding of those buildings to 1953 or so.
Towngate House
This building on Towngate was for many years owned by Baildon Urban District Council and it was used as the home for the Town Clerk, Mr Rudolph Howard Moore, who was appointed in 1920.
In 1935, when the drawing room of Towngate House was being prepared for redecorating, a fine example of a Tudor stone fireplace was found. The sixteenth century workmanship was similar to the fireplace in the Malt Shovel suggesting they could have been built at the same time and could even have been part of the same estate. In the nineteenth century an iron grate was fitted. It was decided to restore the fireplace and to make the rest of the room harmonise with this newly-discovered feature.[5]
In the 1960s a well was uncovered and then filled up in the garden of Towngate House.[6]
Towngate House was still the home of Mr Rudolph Howard Moore, the Clerk, up until the re-development of Towngate in the 1960s when it was demolished to allow better access for buses and to build new shops. Around that time the building was also reported to be structurally unsound.
1960s & 1970s Redevelopment
Towngate, Manor Croft, Manor Fold, Fountain Fold, and Browgate were subjected to substantial redevelopment in the 1960s and '70s. A few building at the bottom left of Westgate had already been demolished leaving an area that was sometimes referred to as Bottomley's Corner (Bottomley had the Newsagent just round the corner on Towngate.)
In the major redevelopment the newsagent, adjacent shops, Towngate House, and the cinema were demolished and new commercial premises built. Glendale House etc. with a bus stop separated from a walled, paved, area with benches and the relocated Cross and Stocks. One major event, though it wasn't thought as such at the time, was the removal of the Potted Meat Stick to a council yard. The roundabout was built. At around the same time the building just before Lyton House that had housed The Roebuck Inn and later the Midland Bank was demolished and Airedale House put in its place. Manor Croft, Manor Fold and Fountains Fold and empty cottages in Kelcliffe were demolished. The Mechanics Institute and the buildings down Browgate were demolished and finally the comparatively newly built Barclays Bank demolished. Barclay's Bank was moved to the site that had been for many years Noble's hardware store. This left room for the building of the Ian Clough Hall and Library and the car-park with suitable widening of the roads.
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Newsagent, Towngate House
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Towngate roundabout being built
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Paved area with stocks and cross. Far building still there.
Businesses
C G Lupton. - 1929, 1930 - Market Place, Ale & Porter Stores. High Class Grocer & Provision Merchant. Agent for Whiteway's Cider. Shipley 1028[7][8]
Photos
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Mechanics Institute, Potted Meat Stick
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1969
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Victory Celebrations 1945
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Damaged pillar. 1923?
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Replaced pillar. Damaged Cross. 1928
Combined Sewer Overflow
In March 2005 a large tank was sunk under the roundabout in the centre of Baildon to act as a Combined Sewer Overflow. The company responsible for the work have sent this PDF file for use on the Wiki. It shows the rounabout being worked on. This CSO overflows into Barnsley Beck.
Road Safety
Shipley Times and Express - Wednesday 10 October 1956
TRAFFIC DANGER IN BAILDON CENTRE
The danger from speeding traffic in Baildon centre was emphasised by several members of Baildon Council Highways and Buildings Committee at their meeting last Tuesday night.
The Clerk (Mr. R. Howard Moore) had caused some surprise when he told the Committee that their suggestion that traffic control signals should be installed at the Westgate, Browgate and Northgate Junction, Baildon, had not been adopted by the County Council Committee concerned.
Coun. Horace Chapman spoke of the dangers from traffic at this point. The real danger came from the driver who was not familiar with the district and came down the hill at an excessive speed, he said. What was wanted was a warning “Slow' or “Halt" sign put on the road from the moor.
While agreeing with the need for a halt sign, Coun. J. B. Franks said in his opinion the dangerous motorist was the one who did know the district and took the risks. The motorist not familiar with the area would usually slow down when he saw the bottle-neck road by the village fountain.
There was discussion, too, on the pedestrian crossing in the village, several members saying it was dangerous and that many drivers ignored it altogether.
Mr. R. Howard Moore said his Sunday mornings were made ghastly by a bunch of 18 to 20 motor cyclists who regularly roared at 40 m p.h. up Browgate and through the village.
Coun. Ambie Schofield said it was remarkable the number of motorists who ignored the pedestrian crossing at that point.
It was decided to refer the matter back the Road Safety Committee.
References
- ↑ ExaminerLive 23 Oct 2020 Century-old Social Club Closed
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 A Edwick handwritten notes. (Green folder)
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 Arthur Edwick handwritten notes. (Blue Folder)
- ↑ Invoice to Nobles from the Bank
- ↑ Shipley Times and Express - Saturday 22 June 1935 DISCOVERY OF TUDOR STONE FIRE PLACE
- ↑ Arthur Edwick handwritten notes.
- ↑ 1929 Baildon Hospital & Charities Week Programme
- ↑ Advert in 1930 Baildon Hospital & Charities Week programme.
