Events in the 1900s

This Foldout presents some events which took occurred in the 1900s

  • January 1900 There was a national influenza epidemic. In London, people were dying at the rate of 50 per day

  • Monday, 1st January 1900 Robert Stansfield (aged 78), a well known farmer residing at Everill Shaw Farm, died after falling from a hay loft. Ann Uttley, his daughter and house keeper, saw him at 4 o'clock when he was going into the mistal to see to his cattle. Shortly afterwards, she heard a noise of something falling and found him lying unconscious. After placing a support under his head, she got assistance from John Speak, a neighbouring farmer, and they carried him into the house and laid him on the sofa. He died later.

    Verdict Accidental Death

  • Thursday, 4th January 1900 There was a fever epidemic at Todmorden. It was reported that

    there were 15 patients at the Drill Hall, all doing well, and 19 at Lee Bottom, one dangerously ill

  • Thursday, 25th January 1900 Firth House Mills, Scammonden of George Wheelwright was destroyed by fire which broke at 12:30 pm

  • Saturday, 27th January 1900 Upper Mill, Cragg Vale – owned and occupied by Hinchliffe Hinchliffe – was completely destroyed by fire. Damage was estimated at around £4,500 and was not covered by insurance

  • Friday, 2nd February 1900 Smith & Blackburn's mill burned down

  • Thursday, 8th February 1900 Sam Brook of Elland [42] was killed and Alfred Stott of Fixby was injured in an explosion at Sharratt's Brick Works, Elland

  • Saturday, 10th February 1900 Blizzards caused chaos in the district for 4 days. Telephone, telegraph, and railway services were badly disrupted. 18 inches of snow were recorded in Brighouse on 11th February

  • Wednesday, 14th February 1900 Hartley Boothroyd, 39, and William Foster, his stepson, were killed in a roof-fall at Three Nuns Pit, Hartshead

  • Wednesday, 21st February 1900 A fire at the Woodvale Mills, Brighouse of W. Smith & Sons Limited caused £6,000 damage and put around 250 people out of work. No-one was injured

  • Thursday, 22nd February 1900 John Morris [25], of Rose Place, Cornholme, a pipe fitter at Wilson's Bobbin Mill, Cornholme, suffocated by being overcome with the fumes of benzoline whilst repairing a tank at the mill

  • Monday, 5th March 1900 A fire – said to be have been caused by spontaneous combustion – broke out at the Danny Lane Mill of James Clay caused damage estimated at around £7,000. A large order of wool and khaki cloth was destroyed

  • Wednesday, 25th April 1900 Services from Halifax to Luddendenfoot, Halifax to Stump Cross and Northowram, and Halifax to Queensbury began on 25th April 1900

  • Friday, 11th May 1900 Early this morning, Miss Elizabeth A. Fawcett of Cliviger, was knocked down by a train as she crossed the line at Portsmouth Railway Station. She was taken to hospital in Burnley where her leg was amputated

  • Tuesday, 5th June 1900 Route Number 12 tram service extended from North Bridge via New Bank, to Staups Lane, Stump Cross

  • Thursday, 14th June 1900 A disastrous fire caused damage of around £9,000 at the Glen Dye Works, Todmorden of Lishman & Company Limited

  • July 1900 The driver a Lancashire-Yorkshire train was attacked by the fireman as the train neared the end of Sowerby Bridge tunnel. The fireman beat him about the head until his face was covered with blood. The driver was pulling on the brake and could not defend himself. The driver had recently reported the fireman for

    a breach of duty

    The fireman was fined 40/- and costs at Halifax.

  • Thursday, 12th July 1900 Severe storms and torrential rain caused flooding across the West Riding

  • Tuesday, 17th July 1900 The part of Union Mills, Halifax used by Briggs & Stott was destroyed by fire causing damage estimated at £20,000. The end wall collapsed on to the public road

  • Tuesday, 24th July 1900 The tramways Committee decided against extending the services to Hipperholme and Brighouse

  • Friday, 24th August 1900 Mechanic's apprentice, Arthur Sutcliffe [aged 15], son of Councillor Thomas Sutcliffe, a Hebden Bridge grocer, was repairing a broken strap in machinery at John Pickles & Son, when he became entangled in the belt and drawn round the shaft. He died from his injuries a short time afterwards

  • Sunday, 26th August 1900 Services from Halifax to Cote Hill, and to Ogden began

  • Tuesday, 28th August 1900 William Barker [44], of Gauxholme Fold, Todmorden, a horse keeper with the Rochdale Canal Company, committed suicide by drinking carbolic acid

    Opening of tram routes to Cote Hill and Ogden

  • Thursday, 30th August 1900 Route Number 10 tram service extended from Illingworth to Ratten Clough

    Route Number 7 tram service began from King Cross to Cote Hill

  • September 1900 There was an outbreak of bubonic plague in Glasgow

  • Friday, 14th September 1900 Fire at Charnock's wood yard, Pellon Lane caused damage estimated at £10,000

  • Wednesday, 19th September 1900 Services from Halifax to Southowram began

  • Friday, 21st September 1900 Route Number 10 tram service extended from Ratten Clough to Causeway Foot

  • Monday, 12th November 1900 Slight earthquake recorded in the district

  • Saturday, 24th November 1900 John Smith [aged 33] of Well Close Street, Brighouse, a teamer with Brighouse Corporation Sanitary Department, fell, or was knocked, down the tip as he was emptying his cart at Birds Royd. He managed to crawl out and back into the cart, but was thrown into the street when the horse moved off. He was picked up unconscious and taken home and then to Huddersfield Infirmary, where he died on the following Tuesday morning of injuries to his spine

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Roger Beasley

  • Wednesday, 28th November 1900 Shortly before 4:00 am, the mail train from Normanton to Halifax ran into a goods train standing near Anchor Pit at Brighouse, half a mile from Brighouse Station. The lines were strewn with wreckage and the lines were blocked for 4 hours. The guard of the goods train leapt to safety and the driver and the stoker of the mail train also escaped the impact. A single passenger on the mail train escaped injury

  • Tuesday, 18th December 1900 Route Number 7 tram service extended from along Burnley Road from Cote Hill to Causeway Head / top of Tuel Lane

  • Saturday, 22nd December 1900 Route Number 8 tram service extended from Boothtown to Stocks Gate

  • 1901 The Salterhebble Lift was proposed as a means of linking the trams from Halifax to Dudwell Lane – taking the passengers down in the lift – and thence on to West Vale

  • Saturday, 12th January 1901 Tram service extended from King Cross to Highroad Well

  • Friday, 25th January 1901 Route Number 8 tram service extended from Stocks Gate to the Cavendish Inn, Ambler Thorn

  • Monday, 28th January 1901 Route Number 12 tram service extended from Staups Lane to the Stump Cross Inn

  • March 1901 Parts of the district recorded the coldest March since 1845

  • Thursday, 11th April 1901 3 men badly injured in a gas explosion at Brighouse

  • Friday, 12th April 1901 Skircoat ratepayers protested against the building of a tramways lift at Salterhebble

  • Thursday, 25th April 1901 Route Number 12 tram service extended from the Stump Cross Inn to the Stocks Arms, Northowram

    Route Number 8 tram service extended from the Cavendish Inn to Queensbury

    Route Number 7 tram service extended from Causeway Head / Tuel Lane to Luddendenfoot

  • Monday, 1st July 1901 Route Number 12 tram service extended from the Stocks Arms, Northowram to Shelf

  • Tuesday, 2nd July 1901 Opening of the tramways to Mytholmroyd

    Route Number 7 tram service extended from Luddendenfoot to Brearley

  • Saturday, 20th July 1901 The hottest day in 3 weeks of intense heat when temperatures reached 90°F

  • Friday, 2nd August 1901 Opening of the Bradford tramways to Queensbury

  • Sunday, 25th August 1901 Soyland Paper Mill was destroyed by fire

  • September 1901 There was a smallpox outbreak in England in September 1901. By January 1902, the death toll had risen to 2273 in London. Locally, the epidemic ran from November 1902 to August 1903. Several people died – many were infants and children

  • Saturday, 7th September 1901 Route Number 7 tram service extended from Brearley to Mytholmroyd

    Fire caused £500 damage at Levi Harwood's Stoney Springs Mills, Midgley

  • Tuesday, 10th September 1901 Fire broke out in the lower room of Levi Harwood's Stoney Springs Mills, Midgley

  • Wednesday, 11th September 1901 In the early hours of the morning, Levi Harwood's Stoney Springs Mills, Midgley were destroyed by fire. The mill was doomed, by the time the Halifax Fire Brigade arrived at 12:30, and their efforts were directed towards saving the engine-house and the boilers. Two members of the brigare – Charles Redhead & A. Allison – were injured when they were covered by debris as a wall fell outwards. The owner – John Riley of Herefordshire – was fully insured. Harwood's losses were about £1,000 and they were only partly insured

  • Thursday, 12th September 1901 Severe drought in the Upper Calder Valley closed the Summit section of the Rochdale Canal between Todmorden and Littleborough until the rain had replenished the reservoirs. The water supply was turned off in many parts of the district and only available for a few house each day. Several mills were closed for lack of water. Halifax trams were also stopped [??]

  • Thursday, 19th September 1901 Tram service extended Route Number 7 from North Bridge, along Beacon Hill Road, to the terminus at Bank Top, Southowram. The service ended on 22nd July 1931 when it was replaced by motor-buses

  • Monday, 21st October 1901 Mrs Jane Kay was gored to death by a bull at Highfield Farm, Southowram

    The Derbyshire Courier [29th October 1901] & other newspapers reported


    At Southowram Mrs Jane Kay (age 62) wife of a farmer of Highfield Farm, Southowram, was attacked by a bull and fatally injured. Mrs Kay left the house to fetch the young bull, and her son, not knowing she had gone went to fetch it himself. He was surprised to find he gate open but got the animals into the farm buildings for the night. The young man told his father he had seen something white in the field so his father went to have a look. It was dark at the time and Mr Kay was horror-struck on discovering that the white object was his wife lying dead on the ground.

    It was evident from her injuries and torn clothing that she had been attacked by the bull. The animal was about one year and nine months old and had not previously shown any bad signs

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Friday, 25th October 1901 Fire at the Bridge Royd Mill & Dye Works, Stansfield of Dan Crabtree & Sons caused damage estimated at £3,000

  • Monday, 4th November 1901 Dense fog caused several accidents between Stansfield Hall station and Todmorden station

  • Tuesday, 12th November 1901 Hundreds of houses were inundated and mills and schools were closed following tumultuous flooding at Todmorden and other parts of the Calder Valley. The Summit Tunnel flooded and water overflowed the trains. The Calder overflowed its banks along a 10-mile stretch. Brighouse and Elland were under water. Stubbin Bridge, Hebden Bridge was washed away. The reservoirs were full again after the long summer drought

    200 people were killed in gales in Britain

  • Monday, 18th November 1901 St James's School, Brighouse was destroyed by fire. Damage was estimated at £2,000

  • Monday, 2nd December 1901 Route Number 7 tram service extended from Mytholmroyd to Fallingroyd Bridge

  • Thursday, 12th December 1901 Severe snowstorms and blizzards in the district

  • 1902 An outbreak of typhus was blamed on the residents at Dawson City

    Heavy local snowfalls

    Serious flooding at Bailiff Bridge

  • Friday, 28th February 1902 24 trucks on a goods train separated and then collided in the Mill Wood tunnel between Todmorden and Eastwood, blocking the line for several days. No-one was injured

  • Friday, 21st March 1902 Route Number 7 tram service extended from Mytholmroyd to Hebden Bridge. The service had been delayed by a dispute over the positioning of the electricity posts.

    The Halifax-Hebden Bridge service ended in 1936

  • April 1902 An accident occurred at Scotland Quarry, Midgley, owned by Messrs J. & J. Schofield. A steam derrick crane was being used to remove a large block of stone when a pin at the top of the upright broke and the crane, with the engine & boiler, was thrown down. Mr Welcome Farrar who had charge of it fell with it and his feet were wedged in the ironwork, but his injuries were only slight

  • Tuesday, 29th April 1902 The church and organ at Zion Congregational Church, Ripponden were damaged by fire. Damage was estimated at £750. The repairs too a year to complete

  • May 1902 Temperatures in the first three weeks of May were the coldest for May since 1841

  • Tuesday, 13th May 1902 George Jones [16] of Wakefield Road, Sowerby Bridge, was injured when he fell a distance of 18 ft through a trapdoor whilst moving boards at the Tofferies of C. W. Mattock Limited in Sowerby Bridge. He

    alighted on his head and shoulder

    and received concussion of the brain, and was unconscious for some days

  • Thursday, 24th July 1902 Tramways committee decided not to embark on extensions to Hipperholme and Brighouse

  • Sunday, 24th August 1902 Fire at Northern Engineering Company, Parkinson Lane caused damage estimated at £10,000

  • Tuesday, 26th August 1902 Charles Baxter [40], a blacksmith, was found unconscious on the floor of a barn adjoining The Ridge, Widdop. He was suffering from fractured ribs, concussion, and other injuries. It was never discovered how he sustained the injuries. He died on the following night in Todmorden Workhouse hospital without regaining consciousness

  • Sunday, 7th September 1902 Halifax Town Council received a deputation from the Trades and Labour Council regarding the grievances of tramway employees

  • Wednesday, 24th September 1902 Fire at the Parkinson Lane works of the Northern Engineering Company Limited caused £10,000 worth of damage

  • Wednesday, 1st October 1902 Halifax Council approved laying of tracks to Hipperholme and to West Vale

  • Friday, 17th October 1902 Tram service extended from King Cross to Wharf Street, Sowerby Bridge. The round trip [?] cost 3d.

    The service ended in 1934

  • November 1902 There was a smallpox outbreak in Halifax & Brighouse, November/December 1902

  • Tuesday, 11th November 1902 Tram service Route Number 3 extended from Stump Cross to Hipperholme

    The Halifax Guardian [Saturday 15th November 1902] reported


    The Tramways.

    The new section of the Halifax Corporation Tramways system from Stump Cross to Hipperholme was opened for passage of traffic on Tuesday. One car is placed on the route giving an hour's service to Halifax.

    The receipts were £5 2/10d on Tuesday, £7 12/2d on Wednesday, and £5 17/- on Thursday.

    Included in these sums, however, are fares taken between Union Street and Stump Cross

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Wednesday, 12th November 1902 Fire at the Cinderhills Fireclay Works, Siddal of Joseph Morton Limited caused damage estimated at £2,000. The engine house was burned out and the engine completely destroyed. A new engine – to be known as Louise – was delivered by Pollit & Wigzell Limited, and was up and running by January 1903

  • Friday, 28th November 1902 Lawrence Oates of Southowram was killed at Hollings Mill Quarry, Sowerby Bridge. His back and leg were broken and his head crushed when the jib of a crane knocked over a stone weighing an estimated 2 tons

  • Wednesday, 3rd December 1902 A man was knocked down by the Manchester Express as it passed between Mytholmroyd and Luddendenfoot. The driver reported the incident when he pulled up at Luddendenfoot and a search found an unknown man lying helpless and insensible. He died a few minutes later.

    He was about 35 years of age and was dressed as a navvy. It was suggested that he was in search of work widening the line which was in progress nearby.

    There were no reports of the man being identified. He was said to be known as Little Jim. In his pockets, he had 1/9d, a handkerchief, a brass ring, and a Coronation medal presented by C. W. Bartholomew, Blakesley Hall, North Hants

  • Wednesday, 17th December 1902 Arthur Daw [17] died when he was hit by an express train and killed immediately as he crossed the line at Hipperholme

  • 1903 Willie Brooke was killed in a railway accident in Lightcliffe tunnel

    There was a serious fire in the Dene Mill at Kebroyd Mills, Triangle. The mill was rebuilt

  • Thursday, 1st January 1903 A case of smallpox was reported in Finkle Street, Sowerby Bridge. The victim had been staying with friends in Burnley where there had recently been several cases of the disease

  • Wednesday, 21st January 1903 Dust from the Sahara made the rain red in southern England

  • Sunday, 1st February 1903 Lloyd George visited Halifax

  • Monday, 20th April 1903 Fire at the Asquith Bottom mills of Siddall & Hilton Limited, Sowerby Bridge caused damage estimated at £6,000. The fire broke out at 10:18 am in the japanning department, and was thought to be the result of the vat boiling over. The fire brigade successfully prevented the fire spreading to the adjacent Asquith Bottom Dye Works of W. H. Hellewell & Company

  • Thursday, 21st May 1903 Sowerby Bridge tram service extended from Wharf Street to Jerry Lane

  • Monday, 29th June 1903 Tram service Route Number 3 extended from Hipperholme to Hove Edge

  • Monday, 13th July 1903 Fire was discovered shortly before 7:00 am in the old brick mill at Whitworth's Cooper House Mills, Luddendenfoot. The roof collapsed and damage was estimated at £10,000. Around 80 people were thrown out of work by the fire. The cause was not known.

    In March 1903, it was decided to rebuild the mill

  • Thursday, 10th September 1903 A great storm caused widespread damage in southern England

  • Thursday, 22nd October 1903 George E. Croysdale a commercial traveller was killed and 24 other passengers were injured in an accident in Sowerby Bridge tunnel

  • Monday, 26th October 1903 About lunchtime, the five-storey Alexandra Mill, Brighouse of Ormerod Brothers Limited was destroyed by fire, with damage estimated at £50,000 Fireman Alexander Carmichael was killed on his way to blaze. The fire was still smouldering 24 hours later

  • Monday, 21st December 1903 Winston Churchill visited Halifax, and, with E. W. Beckett MP for Whitby, addressed a Free Trade Demonstration

  • Wednesday, 13th January 1904 There was a fire at Messrs Shepherd & Blackburn's new mill in Sowerby Bridge. The fire brigade and work people were hampered by dense smoke which filled the room on the top storey where the fire started. The damage of £350 was covered by insurance

  • Friday, 26th February 1904 Tram service Route Number 3 extended from Hove Edge to Brighouse. The new terminus was outside the George Hotel, Brighouse.

    See Alexander Oldfield Stocks

  • March 1904 Calder Bridge Cotton Spinning Mill, Brighouse was destroyed by fire

  • April 1904 45 cases of smallpox reported at Hebden Bridge. 35 of the victims had not been vaccinated

    Fire at the Clifton Mill of Firth's Carpets caused damage estimated at £5,000

  • May 1904 Outbreak of smallpox at Causeway Head, Burnley Road. 4 members of one family were admitted to hospital

  • Friday, 15th July 1904 Mytholm Mill, Hipperholme was damaged by fire.

    The Halifax Evening Courier [Friday 15th July 1904] reported


    Fire at Hipperholme

    Last night a fire occurred at Mytholm Mills, Hipperholme, the property of Mr John Lister of Shibden Hall.

    The premises were four storeys high, six windows long and four in breadth.

    Until lately, they were tenanted by the Yorkshire Motor Car Company and later by Messrs Ingham, clog sole manufacturers.

    The 12 workmen had left work at about six o'clock at night and soon afterwards smoke was observed coming from the place. A message was sent to Mr Rhodes, the station master at Hipperholme, and the station fire appliances were quickly on the scene.

    The flames got complete hold of the building so a message was sent for the Halifax Fire Brigade, and Superintendent Collins and fourteen men set out with the steamer and tender, but all that could be done at this stage was to save the adjoining property.

    The dam close at hand held no water, but there was good pressure on the mains.

    The fire attracted a large number of villagers and also afforded a fine sight for travellers on the railway.

    Damage was said to be covered by insurance

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Sunday, 24th July 1904 A severe thunderstorm passed across Brighouse, putting an electric tram out of action at Broad Oak, Hove Edge. A nearby house was also struck by lightning

  • Wednesday, 3rd August 1904 The hottest day in Halifax for 4 years. The temperature was 107.6° in the sun and 79.1° in the shade

  • Wednesday, 7th September 1904 Halifax Town Council agrees to extend the tramway from Sowerby Bridge to Triangle at an estimated cost of £4,200

  • Thursday, 13th October 1904 Route number 3 tram service opened for traffic from Brighouse to Bailiff Bridge.

    Tram Number 40 and Tram Number 86 were used on the service.

    The service closed in 1929.

    A photograph of the first tram can be seen on the page of Photographs of Trams & buses

  • Friday, 14th October 1904 Five people were injured in a tram accident at Halifax. Power failure made the brakes inoperable, and caused Tram Number 95 – driven by John Rhodes and descending Horton Street – to leave the line and collide head-on with Tram Number 96 – driven by James Broadbent – coming up Horton Street around noon.

    The runaway tram had no passengers, the 3 passengers on the other tram were Fred Laycock, Paul Standeven, and Mrs Kershaw.

    The two trams were single-deck one-man vehicles and had only been in service for 10 days when the accident occurred; it was later found that the trams did not conform to Board of Trade regulations. There was an alternative mechanical brake, but the driver did not know about it

  • Monday, 31st October 1904 Fire broke out at 7:00 pm at Elland Mill causing damage estimated at £8,000

  • Sunday, 6th November 1904 A fire completely destroyed the larger of the 2 Kebroyd Mills, Triangle of John Hadwen & Sons Limited. It is thought that the fire broke out in the doubling room on the top storey but one. The damage to stock was estimated at between £15,000 and £20,000, to machinery about £10,000, amounting to a total of £50,000.

    Nothing was salvaged – except a Bible which had remained intact although nearby stonework was severely blackened. The Bible was displayed in the new mill.

    The mill was rebuilt

  • Tuesday, 29th November 1904 Fire caused an estimated £1,500 damage and partially destroyed Lee Mount Infants' School

  • Monday, 5th December 1904 A goods train with 50 wagons drawn by 2 large engines broke in two as it approached Todmorden on the Burnley branch line. One engine and 10 wagons continued for some time before the drivers realised what had happened. They put on top speed to get clear of the but only reached Stansfield Hall Station when the loose wagons collided into the rear. Many of the wagons were crushed and strewn across the station. Others crashed into the bridge. The guards and other workers escaped uninjured

  • Tuesday, 6th December 1904 Winston Churchill addressed a Liberal meeting at Brighouse Town Hall

  • Wednesday, 7th December 1904 Railway disaster near Brighouse. Isaiah Dewis [65] of Low Moor, a guard in charge of a goods train, was killed

  • Thursday, 15th December 1904 Thomas Savile Bowman [24], of West Mount, Halifax, suffered a fracture and dislocation of the spine after being accidentally caught in a hoist at Lee Bank Mills. He died from his injuries on 5th January 1906

  • Friday, 23rd December 1904 Very dense fog in the Sowerby Bridge district caused inconvenience to the tramways, the railways, postmen and other outdoor workers

  • 1905 Bad winter caused economic depression.

    See Halifax Citizens Guild

  • Saturday, 21st January 1905 Fire at Old Lane Dye Works caused damage estimated at £8,000

  • Tuesday, 7th February 1905 Service from Sowerby Bridge to Stile, Triangle began. It was withdrawn on 25th July 1934

  • Friday, 10th February 1905 Tram service extended from Jerry Lane, Sowerby Bridge to Triangle

  • Monday, 24th April 1905 An earthquake was recorded at 1:04 am in many parts of Yorkshire, Lincolnshire and Nottinghamshire. Local reports came from Elland and Brighouse

  • June 1905 There was a period of hot weather, with reports of several people across the country dying on account of the heat, including William Pengilly as he worked at Inchfield Picker Works, Walsden [27th June 1905].

    On 28th June, there were terrific thunderstorms across Lincolnshire and the East Riding. Cattle were killed by lightning in Knaresborough

  • Wednesday, 19th July 1905 Fire at the Rishworth factory of cotton-spinners J. W. Wheelwright & Sons Limited caused damage estimated at £3,500

  • Thursday, 20th July 1905 Fire at Grove Mills, Ovenden caused damage estimated at £7,500

  • Thursday, 27th July 1905 Fire at Victoria Mills, Brighouse caused damage estimated at £25,000 and the loss of 150 jobs.

    See Henry Barber fire engine and Neptune fire engine

  • Wednesday, 2nd August 1905 Halifax Town Council agreed to trial ½d tram fares for children as an experiment. The fares were introduced on 1st October 1905

    Tram service Route Number 1 was extended from Dudwell Lane, Salterhebble to West Vale. The service terminated at The Shears Inn

  • Thursday, 3rd August 1905 Route Number 1 tram service extended from Dudwell Lane, Salterhebble to West Vale

  • Sunday, 1st October 1905 Introduction of ½d fares for children which had been tried out since 2nd August 1905

  • Monday, 2nd October 1905 £50 was stolen in a robbery at the Crown, Brighouse. The thief [name unknown] was apprehended and convicted

  • Thursday, 21st December 1905 The Halifax-Highroad Well tram service extended to Thrum Hall Lane

  • Monday, 19th March 1906 7-year-old Fred Hirst of Wood Terrace, Ripponden was seriously injured when he was run over by a lorry at Ripponden. He was taken to the Halifax Infirmary where he died the following day

  • Saturday, 7th April 1906 There was a fatal accident near the Derby Bar, Rishworth

  • Monday, 9th April 1906 On Monday 11th April, 1906, a newspaper reported


    Terrible Accident at Halifax Paper Mill

    On Saturday, at Barkisland, Halifax, an inquest was held on the body of Thomas Wadsworth (aged 48), an operative at Firth House Paper Mill, who, whilst repairing the belt on a shafting, became entangled and was whirled round the shafting at a fearful velocity. Before the engine could be stopped, the man was whirled round over 200 times, and was dead and fearfully mangled when released.

    A verdict of accidental death was returned

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Tuesday, 10th April 1906 Fire destroyed the carding room at the Delph Mills of James Clay & Company Limited at Luddendenfoot

  • Thursday, 12th April 1906 A fire destroyed the Boy Mill, Luddendenfoot of James Clay & Company Limited.

    The Leeds Mercury [13th April 1906] reported


    Damage amounting to between £12,000 and £15,0000 was yesterday done by a fire at Boys Mill, Luddendenfoot belonging to James Clay & Company Limited.

    The mill consisted of two blocks, and the outbreak was in the older one which was about 100 feet long and partly two and partly three stories high.

    The fire was discovered at 5:30 am. Residents hastened out of bed, half dressed, and stacked their belongings in heaps at the road side. The Luddenden and Halifax Fire Brigades attended but the latter was late owing to a mishap on the journey. On reaching Friendly, about a mile from the scene, the pole shaft broke with the result that the horses had to be dispensed with and the men had to drag the engine by hand for the remainder of the distance.

    The mill employs 100 hands.

    Only on Tuesday, another mill of Messrs Clay sustained fire damage costing about £1,000

     

  • Thursday, 19th April 1906 Joshua Smith was struck by an engine and killed as he crossed the line at Cornholme Station

  • July 1906 The fustian workers' strike began

  • Sunday, 1st July 1906 2 men were killed and 12 others injured in the North Bridge Tram Accident

  • Friday, 31st August 1906 Halifax tram strike. No cars running

  • Saturday, 1st September 1906 The men's notices expire during the Halifax tram strike

  • Wednesday, 5th September 1906 There was a presentation to Halifax Town Council of a 13,000 signature petition disapproving of the action of the Tramways Committee

  • Tuesday, 20th November 1906 The engine house at the Pellon Lane works of Mitchell Brothers was wrecked when a pinion wheel burst

  • Friday, 28th December 1906 W. L. Carter & Company's Dredger Soap Works, Upper George Yard, Halifax gutted by fire

  • Tuesday, 1st January 1907 Todmorden Corporation became only the second borough in the country to operate a motor bus service when they opened the Todmorden to Walsden service.

    Shortly after 2:00 pm, the first motor bus started from Todmorden Town Hall to Walsden. Although the roads were in a shocking condition, owing to a recent thaw, an excellent run was made

    The service to Walsden was

    postponed until further notice owing to the inclement weather

    On 18th March 1907, there was the first bus crash.

    See Todmorden Omnibus Company

  • Thursday, 3rd January 1907 There were disturbances in Todmorden – and again on 10th January 1907 – when around 50 passive resisters were summoned for non-payment of the educational part of their Poor Rate

  • Saturday, 26th January 1907 George Henry Greenwood [23], a porter at Hebden Bridge Railway Station, was knocked down by an engine and killed

  • Thursday, 21st February 1907 Albert Nellis [19], a railway engine fireman of Low Moor, Bradford, was killed on the railway at Brighouse

  • Monday, 18th March 1907 Only 11 weeks after the start of the Todmorden bus service on 1st January 1907, a bus crashed into Roomfield Chapel. William Nothard, the bus driver, was trapped but not seriously hurt. The accident was caused by the failure of the steering mechanism

  • Friday, 19th April 1907 An

    alarming fire

    at Portsmouth Mill, Todmorden caused £1,000 damage

    Fire damaged the works of Harrison & Singleton in Halifax

  • Monday, 22nd April 1907 Fire at Woodside Flour Mill, Elland caused damage estimated at £2,000-3,000

  • Tuesday, 30th April 1907 Two outbreaks of fire on the same day – one at 1:00 am and the other around 9:00 pm – damaged the Brearley works of Levi Sykes & Company, causing £10,000 damage

  • Wednesday, 22nd May 1907 Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll – daughter of Queen Victoria – came to open the Brighouse Art Gallery. She stayed at Kirklees Hall during her visit. She was the first member of the royal family to visit Brighouse.

    Large crowds turned out to see the Princess, but she drove in a closed carriage and spoke very few words at the Gallery. William Smith – who had given the Art Gallery to the town – was so disappointed that the Town Clerk, James Parkinson, accompanied the Princess back to the railway station at Cooper Bridge

  • Thursday, 20th June 1907 Halifax Tramways Committee abandoned any proposals to extend their services to Cragg Vale, Elland, Rishworth, Stainland, Wainstalls and other destinations

  • Thursday, 18th July 1907 A wagonette carrying members of a Todmorden pleasure party overturned at Towneley, killing James Schofield [51], a weaver of Albert Lane, Todmorden

  • Tuesday, 23rd July 1907 Fire caused £1,000 damage at Sandholme Iron Works, Todmorden

  • Monday, 29th July 1907 Fire at the mill of A. & D. Norcliffe at Stainland

  • Friday, 27th September 1907 Accident at Holme Station, Todmorden caused by

    the breaking of a draw-bar of a long luggage train

    The station wrecked and the assistant station master – William John Pim – was killed when a goods train ran off the rails. The station was not rebuilt

  • October 1907 James Blackburn of Hope Street, Stone Chair was run over by an electric tram of the Shelf Steam Tramways Company

  • Tuesday, 15th October 1907 5 people – including the conductor – were killed and 42 people were injured in the Pye Nest Tram Disaster

  • Friday, 18th October 1907 William Christopher Donahue died from injuries sustained whilst using a grinding wheel at the Helvetia Works of Altenbach Limited

  • Wednesday, 30th October 1907 Only 15 days after the Pye Nest disaster, another tram ran away on the outward journey, but the three-man crew was able to stop the vehicle after 150 yards. Confidence in the service was such that, although this car was almost full, only about 10 passengers stayed on board to complete their journey

  • Friday, 1st November 1907 An axle broke on a Halifax tramcar as it was coming down West Street, Sowerby Bridge. The disabled vehicle was left in the street until it was removed to Halifax after 11:00 pm

  • Wednesday, 13th November 1907 A partial settlement was announced of the Hebden Bridge Strike which had dragged on for 68 weeks

  • Sunday, 1st December 1907 Newspapers reported

    A sensational affair at Charlestown, Hebden Bridge; waggon load of furniture in the river and terrible experience of a Halifax driver named William Helm

  • Thursday, 19th December 1907 3 men were injured in an explosion at Brooke's Limited coal mine at Walterclough, Southowram

  • 1908 Bankhouse Mills, Stainland were gutted by fire with £7,000 damage

    Bad winter caused economic depression.

    See Halifax Citizens Guild

  • Wednesday, 26th February 1908 James Widdop [25] of Southowram and James Hobbs [17] of Elland, were fatally injured as a result of falling down a hoist at Valley Mills, Elland

  • Wednesday, 27th May 1908 Travelling tinplate worker, Barney Crosby [74], was fatally injured when he was knocked down by a motor cab in Broad Street, Halifax

  • Friday, 18th September 1908 John W. Fitter [36], a carter employed by Amos Mitchell was

    run over by his own lurry at Copperas House, Walsden

    He was taken to Halifax Infirmary where he died from his injuries 4 days later

  • Monday, 21st September 1908 A plate-layer was killed and other people were injured on the line near Greetland Station. Another man, John Biddulph died later

  • Saturday, 24th October 1908 Sad accident at Lineholme when James Baldwin, a scutcher of Meadow Bottom, Todmorden, had the misfortune to have his arm torn off

  • Friday, 4th December 1908 Fire at motor works and underclothing factory in Square Road, Halifax

  • Sunday, 27th December 1908 There was an incident in which a train jumped the rails just outside Halifax Railway Station, blocking Beacon Hill Tunnel and dislodging masonry which fell into the yard of J. & J. Baldwin Limited.

    There was structural damage and the parapet was smashed at Clarke Bridge, Halifax

    The Brighouse News [Wednesday 30th December 1908] reported


    Mill Property Damaged in Halifax

    A goods train consisting of 104 waggons travelling from Fleetwood to Low Moor was partly wrecked just outside Halifax station. It was being drawn by an engine of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Company, assisted at the rear by another engine of the heavy type. Having passed Halifax Station, the train pulled up so it could be shunted into the goods yard when one of the waggons in the centre jumped the points and left the metals. This caused the front waggons to swerve and many overturned, blocking both the up and down lines just in front of Beacon Hill tunnel.

    The result was that a large section of masonry fell into the mill yard of Messrs. J. & J. Baldwin Limited, Clark Bridge Mills.

    Fortunately there was no personal injury

     

  • Friday, 1st January 1909 A weavers' strike at Hebden Bridge ended after 42 weeks. The strike cost the Weavers' Amalgamated Association a total of £23,000

  • Friday, 29th January 1909 The Calder Bank Mills of silk spinners J. Cheetham & Sons Limited were destroyed by fire which caused £25,000 damage. The fire was believed to have been caused by overheating in a drying room. The mill was insured unlike many other buildings in those days.

    The irony of this incident was that Cheetham's had only the week before established a water system in the mill and had started asking amongst the work force for anyone who was willing to join and form a volunteer fire department specifically for this mill.

    It was fortunate for the owner and the employees that a few weeks earlier Barker & Butterworth, the owners of Belle Vue Mills had closed down and was waiting for the sale day of their mill's entire contents. To ensure Cheetham's could resume production quickly, the family bought the vacant mill and was soon able to return to a degree of production

  • Wednesday, 17th March 1909 A fire at cotton manufacturers Lister Booth & Company Limited badly damaged Grove Mills, Brighouse

  • April 1909 The first fully enclosed buses ran in Widnes, Lancashire. Earlier buses had open top-decks and open stairs at the back

  • Thursday, 15th April 1909 West Riding Flour Mills, Cooper Bridge destroyed by fire

  • Tuesday, 15th June 1909 A fire in the joiners' shop at the Baltimore works of Lord Brothers Limited caused damage estimated at £3,000

  • Wednesday, 23rd June 1909 Fire at the brushworks of Yates & Company, Boothtown

  • Sunday, 4th July 1909 Several passengers were injured in an alarming motor-bus accident at Lob Mill

  • Thursday, 29th July 1909 Fire at J. Crowther & Company Limited, cotton spinners, Brighouse

  • Monday, 16th August 1909 Houses wrecked by lightning at Cragg Vale and cattle killed at a Warley farm

  • Monday, 30th August 1909 Serious fire at Stone Slack Farm, Heptonstall

  • Saturday, 4th September 1909 Clara Phillips [45] of Meadow Bottom, Todmorden, committed suicide by jumping from a boat carrying day trippers from Dublin

  • Monday, 11th October 1909 John Greenhalgh [1859-1909] from Burnley was knocked down by a train and killed in Millwood Tunnel

  • Friday, 29th October 1909 Mackintosh's Kingston Confectionery Works, Halifax was destroyed by fire. The damage was estimated at £20,000

  • Wednesday, 24th November 1909 Todmorden Town Council purchased 2 second-hand motor buses for £600

  • December 1909 There were record freezing temperatures in the district.

    The snow delayed explorer Sir Ernest Shackleton getting to a meeting at the Victoria Hall

  • Friday, 31st December 1909 Several people has a narrow escape when a landslip occurred at Rastrick

  • 1910 The heyday of rail transport, there were 163 trains every day at Halifax Station

  • Sunday, 20th February 1910 Hurricane-force winds caused extensive damage

  • Friday, 20th May 1910 Britain's last broad-gauge train ran from Paddington to Penzance. Henceforth, all railway lines are standard gauge

  • August 1910 Bad weather in August and September led to the cancellation of several outdoor events, including the Brighouse Musical Festival

  • Wednesday, 7th September 1910 There was a serious fire at Branxholme Mills, Bailiff Bridge occupied by A. Hardman & Son Limited. The fire broke out in the late morning in the spinning department, and caused £200 damage

  • Tuesday, 6th December 1910 Halifax Artillery Barracks in Arden Road, Halifax, gutted by fire

  • Sunday, 22nd January 1911 Jim Nuttall [42], a weaver of Hollins Street, Walsden, was killed whilst trespassing on the railway

  • Thursday, 23rd February 1911 A Bradford schoolgirl was killed in a fall after being swept 20 ft from the ground by a freak gust of wind

  • Sunday, 26th March 1911 A fire at the rubber works of T. Hallas & Company at Cinderhill Mills, Todmorden caused more than £2,000 damage

  • Friday, 31st March 1911 Mrs Emmeline Pankhurst appeared at the Halifax Mechanics' Institute

  • Monday, 15th May 1911 Riley Brothers & Hartley began paving the main road from Shade to Gandy Bridge. Their tender was £4,786 13/6d

  • Friday, 26th May 1911 An alarming fire at Pavement, Todmorden, destroyed the leather works of Dean & Howarth, the printing office of F. Lee & Company, and the bakery of Mrs Abraham Crossley

  • Tuesday, 27th June 1911 Alfred Stott [51] was fatally injured whilst unloading machinery at Hare Mill, Todmorden

  • August 1911 There was a strike of railway workers

  • Friday, 11th August 1911 2 cows belonging to William Butterworth of Watty, died from anthrax

  • Monday, 28th August 1911 The death-rate increased during a heat-wave

  • Saturday, 9th September 1911 Water famine at Heptonstall

  • Saturday, 16th September 1911 A youth, Rowland Isherwood of Mount Pleasant, had his right arm cut off whilst crossing the goods yard to catch a train at Hebden Bridge

  • Sunday, 26th November 1911 John William Blacka [59], a master plasterer of Harehill Street, Todmorden, died from injuries received when he fell at Luddendenfoot Railway Station

  • Tuesday, 28th November 1911 James Pickup, a hardware dealer from Burnley, died whilst travelling in a train between Holme and Portsmouth Stations

  • 1912 Wellington Mills, Elland burned down

  • Wednesday, 3rd January 1912 Halifax Town Council voted against allowing postmen in uniform to travel on tramcars at half fares

  • Monday, 5th February 1912 The Calder froze between Sowerby Bridge and Mytholmroyd

  • Friday, 21st June 1912 4 dead, 5 seriously injured, and over 20 slightly injured when an engine of the Lancashire & Yorkshire Railway, pulling 7 carriages, took the Charlestown Curve – between Hebden Bridge and Todmorden – bend too quickly and left the rails, crashing into the embankment.

    See the Foldout

  • Saturday, 22nd June 1912 A passenger train crashed into a goods train at Todmorden station in fog. One lady fainted!

  • Sunday, 23rd June 1912 A fire at Winterbutlee Mill, Walsden caused £120 damage

  • Wednesday, 10th July 1912 During their tour of the West Riding, George V and Queen Mary visited Brighouse on the 10th July, the first visit by a reigning monarch. The day was declared a holiday. The couple travelled from Cleckheaton by car, passing down Clifton Common, along King Street, and on to Brighouse Railway Station where they boarded the Royal Train

  • Thursday, 11th July 1912 During their tour of the West Riding, George V and Queen Mary were in Halifax where they visited Savile Park and touring Crossley's Carpets works at Dean Clough. During the visit, the Royal Cars were garaged with Edgar Smith

    Fire at Turner & Wainwright's confectionery factory at Brookfoot Mill

  • Saturday, 20th July 1912 9 women Salvation Army officers were travelling from Haworth in a wagonette which ran off the road in dense fog near Hebden Bridge. All the occupants were thrown out of the vehicle. Over an hour passed before help arrived. 6 people were injured and Miss Grace Greenwood [65] of Hebden Bridge died at the scene

  • Friday, 26th July 1912 A disastrous fire at the Number 2 mill of Wellington Mills of George Lumb Limited in Elland. The workers had narrow escapes and adjoining cottages were destroyed. Many families were evacuated from the their homes and a makeshift camp was set up nearby

  • Thursday, 17th October 1912 The first Halifax Corporation motor buses went into service running between Queens Road and Mount Tabor. Some months later, a second service ran from Ward's End and Siddal

  • Tuesday, 29th October 1912 Agreement reached to extend Halifax tramways to Rastrick

  • Monday, 11th November 1912 An elaborate tramways extension scheme was agreed by Halifax Town Council

  • Tuesday, 24th December 1912 George W. Rohrer [14] of Wellington Road, Todmorden, accidentally shot his sister, Margaret Caroline Louisa [23] with a revolver

  • Wednesday, 25th December 1912 Maggie Robden, daughter of a Todmorden jeweller, kissed her brother under the mistletoe and ran away. Her brother, pointed a pistol at her, believing it not to be loaded, and the bullet penetrated her head, killing her

  • Friday, 3rd January 1913 Bus service started to Siddal

  • March 1913 Tram service began from Odsal Top to Bailiff Bridge.

    Different track widths prohibited the service linking with the earlier service from Brighouse

  • Wednesday, 5th March 1913 Frank Pickles [4] died after being knocked down and run over by a

    Motor Lurry

    in Halifax Road, Todmorden

  • Monday, 17th March 1913 Extension of Bradford trams from Wyke to Bailiff Bridge

  • Tuesday, 8th April 1913 A fire at the Fox & Hounds, Todmorden caused damage of £400 to £500

  • Thursday, 1st May 1913 A carters' strike [1st & 2nd May] in Halifax

  • Saturday, 28th June 1913 Richard Booth [36] died after falling from the hayloft at Hollinroyd Farm, Todmorden

  • Wednesday, 2nd July 1913 Joseph Exelby, a weaver of Todmorden, was sentenced to 18 months' hard labour for assaulting May Barlow [20] of Merrybent Street, Todmorden

  • Tuesday, 22nd July 1913 His Eminence Cardinal Logue visited St Joseph's Catholic School, Claremount. The occasion was marked by a poem in the collection Poems in Peace & War

  • Saturday, 13th September 1913 A plague of flies throughout the Calder Valley

  • Tuesday, 30th September 1913 A fire at Knowl Top Farm, Walsden caused about £200 damage

  • Sunday, 7th December 1913 Fire at John Crossley's Hebble Mills caused damage estimated at £20,000

  • 1914 The tram service from Huddersfield was extended to West Vale. The terminus was in Saddleworth Road. The gauge of the Huddersfield trams was different from that of Halifax trams. Passengers travelling onwards to Halifax had to get off and walk into Stainland Road to make their connection

  • January 1914 A married lady from Southowram tried to commit suicide by stuffing handkerchiefs down her throat

  • Wednesday, 14th January 1914 Huddersfield to Elland tram service opened

  • July 1914 Floods damaged the Clark Bridge Mills of Paton & Baldwin. On 19th May 1916, Mr Justice Atkin, sitting at London, ordered Halifax Corporation to pay £600 damages to Paton & Baldwin for the damage

  • Wednesday, 1st July 1914 A very valuable car was wrecked in an accident at Highmoor Lane, Clifton. The 2 occupants were taken to the Royal Halifax Infirmary

    Around 5:00 pm, a rainstorm – the heaviest in the memory of elderly residents – struck Halifax. Rain fell in sheets for a quarter of an hour. Conditions in the lower parts of the town – Clark Bridge & Charlestown Road – were indescribable. Drains and gullies were unable to cope with the deluge and the debris

  • 1915 Whiteley Turner wrote a booklet on a blizzard which occurred in 1915

  • Friday, 29th January 1915 There was serious fire at Smith Bulmer & Company, Keighley Mills

  • Saturday, 22nd May 1915 20 people were injured when Tram Number 89 began to oscillate and ran out of control, left the rails and overturned at Lee Bridge on its journey between Causeway Foot and Savile Park. It was Whit Saturday and the tram was full. No reason was found for the accident, although the short wheelbase may have been a contributory factor

  • Friday, 24th September 1915 6 people – all from Burnley – were injured in a railway accident near Todmorden

  • Saturday, 16th October 1915 There was an accident at Clifton Common when a solid-tyred Daimler motor bus – the 9:40 pm from Cleckheaton – careered down the hill and overturned – see Clifton Common Tram Accident

  • Thursday, 28th October 1915 Vernon Asquith [aged 10] of 3 Providence Buildings, Southowram, was run over by a motor car in Pinnar Lane, the wheels passing over his chest and abdomen. He was taken to Halifax Infirmary where he died 2 hours later

  • Saturday, 13th November 1915 A chimney fell in Horton Street, Halifax

    Conductresses were introduced on Halifax trams

  • Sunday, 21st November 1915 Around 9:00 am, fire broke out in the warping and tentering rooms at the Longbottom Fulling Mills, Luddendenfoot of Joseph W. Whitworth Limited, causing damage of at least £2,000, and affecting around 130 workers

  • Saturday, 15th April 1916 About 10:00 pm, a goods train with 85 wagons broke in half as it approached Hebden Bridge on the Charlestown Curve. The front portion pulled up at Luddendenfoot, and the rear portion at Mytholmroyd

  • Tuesday, 9th May 1916 Nellie, the 8-year-old daughter of John Albert Barker, was killed in a traffic accident.

    The Todmorden Advertiser & Hebden Bridge Newsletter [12th May 1916] reported the Inquest into the event


    Nellie was on her way to Todmorden National School and was crossing Adelaide Street when she was caught by a heavy motor lorry and instantaneously killed as the wheel passed over her head.

    The driver was Charles Prattley, and an eye-witness agreed that it was impossible for him to avoid the accident.

    The Jury agreed that the death was accidental and that the driver was exonerated from blame. The Jury expressed their sympathy with the family, and recommended that warning signs for the school be put in a conspicuous position, and that the Police take some measures for safe-guarding the children at the opening and closing of the school

     

  • Monday, 21st August 1916 There was fire which caused a serious explosion at the Low Moor Munitions Company which manufactured picric acid. The explosion spread to the neighbouring gasworks, and destroyed a nearby railway signalling box.

    40 people were killed, and over 100 injured.

    The noise was heard in many parts of district. Wyke National School was damaged.

    Because of wartime security, the press made little mention of the incident.

    Guy Langton Tillotson was killed in the explosion

  • October 1916 A 30-ton boiler crashed into the entrance to Breck Mill, Hebden Bridge when the traction engine which was moving it skidded in Bridge Lanes, Hebden Bridge

  • 1917 St John the Divine, Thorpe was badly damaged by fire

  • Monday, 8th January 1917 21 people were injured when an electric tram ran down the hill from Wyke to Bailiff Bridge. The driver had left the tram in order to deliver newspapers to a shop when a strong wind set the tram off down the hill, where it ran into another vehicle. The woman conductor of the second vehicle was among the injured

  • Saturday, 13th January 1917 A passenger and the lady conductor were killed in a tram smash at Wyke

  • Monday, 23rd April 1917 A runaway wagon in Huddersfield Road, Brighouse killed 3 people.

    The driver was Frederick Wilford, of Wilford & Smith, of Guiseley. The victims were

    The Inquest heard that pieces of the mechanism of the wagon were found on the steepest section of the hill, between the Friends' Meeting House and Daisy Road and that these parts would make the foot brake on the wagon ineffective

  • Sunday, 15th July 1917 Mrs Caleb Easton of Luddendenfoot was killed and 37 others injured in the Ambler Thorn Tram Accident

  • Tuesday, 17th July 1917 Fire broke out in the third storey of Salterhebble Mill of cotton spinners John Crabtree & Sons, destroying the entire room and spinning mules

  • Wednesday, 17th October 1917 The Prince and Princess Alexis of Serbia visited Halifax during an appeal for the Serbian Red Cross Fund

  • Saturday, 22nd December 1917 There was an explosion at the Sharp & Mallen munitions factory at Wakefield Road, Copley.

    Annis Pearson [4] was killed by falling masonry, and two other people were injured.

    Wartime censorship meant that details of the event could not be reported in the media

    5 people died in an explosion of Brooke's chemical factory at Hove Edge: James Begg [31], John Cockburn [52], Herbert Moore [30], Thomas Smith-Shannon [29], and the foreman, Thomas Walker Wilson [58].

    2 were killed by the explosion and 3 died later of their injuries.

    The explosion caused some damage to St Ann's in the Grove, Southowram.

    Many local residents suffered when their skin was turned yellow by chemicals in the atmosphere – see Crow Nest Mansion

  • Friday, 28th December 1917 The driver of a coal cart and his horse were killed when they collided with a tram at Lee Bridge, Halifax

  • 1918 In the 2 years 1918-1919, there was the worst pandemic of influenza – known as Spanish flu because the first outbreak was reported in San Sebastian, Spain – with 3000 people dying each week in London.

    It affected about 40% of the world's population and killed 250,000 in Britain and a total of 30-40 million people worldwide.

    These were mainly healthy, young adults 20-50 years old. Many of those who survived may have acquired immunity after surviving the 1891 epidemic.

    This was 4 times the number of people who died in World War I.

    There are various suggestions as to the source of the epidemic

    Many soldiers who had survived the war died of the flu – see Spanish flu victims.

    The first outbreak in Halifax was on 1st July 1918.

    This was influenza type A, H1N1 strain

  • Wednesday, 2nd January 1918 Fire at Kingston Toffee Works, Halifax caused damage estimated at £5,000

  • Friday, 1st February 1918 Hole Bottom Mill, Todmorden as destroyed by fire

  • Monday, 11th February 1918 There was an outbreak of smallpox at Halifax Barracks, with 3 cases being reported in 6 days

  • Friday, 12th July 1918 Joe Boothroyd (aged 52), a mule spinner of Serpentine Road, Cleckheaton, was working at Broadholme Mill, Brighouse when he was caught in a machine, and sustained fatal injuries

  • Friday, 23rd August 1918 The body of 52-year-old Mrs Clara Wild Smith was found with her throat cut in the lavatory at Billingshay Mills. She had been depressed since her husband, who worked at Campbell's, had been in Halifax Infirmary with a broken ankle

  • Thursday, 19th September 1918 12 year-old Herbert Heywood was killed in an accident at Mons Mill, Todmorden

    The Todmorden & District News [Friday 20th September 1918] reported


    Boy's Awful Death

    Yesterday, a shocking fatality occurred at Mons Mill, Todmorden, the victim being twelve year old boy named Herbert Heywood who was employed at the mill. He was the son of Alfred Heywood, a spinner of 11 Leigh Road.

    The deceased and four other boys began to play with the hoist. They rode up to the fourth floor, where three of them got out. The hoist was then restarted and deceased and Thomas Wademan, age 14, of 21 Leigh Road went still higher. When the hoist had got about five feet past the fifth floor, somebody lower down stopped it. Deceased tried to jump out but missed his footing and fell to the bottom of the well, a distance of 60 feet. He was picked up by the mill manager and Dr Thorp was summoned, but he was beyond hope of recovery having received frightful injuries

     

  • Wednesday, 6th November 1918 One man was killed and 8 injured in a boiler explosion at the Brookfoot Dye Works of Thornton, Hannam & Marshall. The explosion took place at the back of half-a-dozen boilers. The roof of the boiler house was blown off and debris was scattered over a wide area. Fire broke out but was overcome by the firm's hosepipes.

    The body of Levi Holroyd was found amongst the debris.

    The list of injured included

  • Wednesday, 27th November 1918 Two women died and many were seriously injured in a fire at Union Mills, Holmfield works of Nahum's cotton doublers. Many of the women tried to slide down the chain of the mill's crane.

    George Hoyle received the Carnegie award for gallantry at the fire

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Friday, 3rd January 1919 Heavy snowstorms caused considerable damage in Todmorden. Telephone and telegraph services were disrupted by damage to overhead lines. The town was cut off

  • Saturday, 4th January 1919 Hundreds of telephones in Halifax were out of action because of heavy snow. Wires were broken everywhere

  • Monday, 13th January 1919 Fire – thought to be caused by friction in a twining machine – broke out in the second room of C. Whiteley & Son, cotton doubler at Phoenix Mill, Brighouse. The local fire brigade responded quickly but damage amounted to several hundred pounds in stock & machinery

  • Thursday, 16th January 1919 A meeting was held at the Victoria Hall, Halifax appealing for information about soldiers and POWs whose fate was unknown

  • Saturday, 14th June 1919 The cotton mills in Sowerby Bridge resumed work after the strike

  • Monday, 23rd June 1919 Cotton strike closed many mills in Sowerby Bridge

  • Thursday, 31st July 1919 Fire gutted Constantine's timber yard at Hipperholme

  • October 1919 Robert Rushby sustained fatal injuries in an accident at T. H. Longbottom & Sons, worsted coating manufacturers, Carlton Mills, Sowerby Bridge.

    The Inquest is reported in the Foldout

  • Friday, 28th November 1919 The Halifax-Leeds express was derailed near Hipperholme

  • Saturday, 6th December 1919 ½d fares abolished on Halifax trams

  • Wednesday, 24th December 1919 Tram services through Godley Cutting were stopped when a landslide caused the wall to collapse

  • Saturday, 3rd January 1920 The papers reported

    Serious explosion of gas meters at Queensbury: meters exploded, windows were shattered, cupboards were forced out and crockery shattered

    John Foster & Son Limited produced gas for Queensbury, and there had recently been complaints about the poor illumination provided by the gas, so Foster's increased the gas pressure

  • Monday, 5th January 1920 Ratepayers meeting turned down proposal for trams to run on Southgate, Halifax

  • Tuesday, 10th February 1920 Serious floods in the Upper Calder Valley after torrential rain Roads were closed and furniture was washed out of houses by the force of the water

  • Thursday, 19th February 1920 Part of William Edleston's mills in Sowerby Bridge were gutted by fire

  • Monday, 1st March 1920 An explosion at the Brighouse & Lightcliffe Steam Laundry, killing the proprietor, Johnnie Kendall

  • Tuesday, 18th May 1920 Princess Helena Victoria opened the Boys' Red Triangle Hut on Commercial Street, Halifax

  • Thursday, 3rd June 1920 A strike ended by the employees of the Halifax Industrial Society over union recognition

  • Sunday, 13th June 1920 A strike, by the employees of the Sowerby Bridge Industrial Society over union recognition, was settled

  • Thursday, 7th October 1920 There was a serious fire at Booth Wood Paper Mills in the Ryburn Valley

  • Wednesday, 20th October 1920 As a result of the coal strike, it was decided to suspend the Sunday tram service

  • Saturday, 30th October 1920 5 people from Wadsworth were killed in a charabanc accident at Cockhill

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Chris Barnett

  • Friday, 3rd December 1920 At Stocks Gate, Catherine Slack, 2 trams were blown over in high winds. Several people were injured

  • 1921 Because of falling profits, the company gave up its carrying business on the Rochdale Canal

    For greater efficiency, the Railways Act amalgamated over 100 railway lines into the 4 companies: GWR, LMS, LNER, and SR. This came into effect on 1st January 1923

  • Thursday, 10th February 1921 The mummified body of a baby was found in a Halifax railway carriage

  • Thursday, 24th March 1921 Route Number 1 tram service extended from West Vale to Holywell Green and Stainland

  • Thursday, 5th May 1921 The Owler Ings Mill of Thomas T. Ormerod was damaged by fire

  • Saturday, 14th May 1921 Route Number 1 tram service extended from Holywell Green to Stainland. The trams ran as far as the Café by the vicarage in Stainland Road.

    The service was withdrawn in 1936

  • July 1921 The trolley-bus service opened between Pellon and Wainstalls

  • Wednesday, 27th July 1921 Fire at Woodvale Mills, Brighouse

  • Sunday, 18th September 1921 The mutilated body of a girl aged about 20 was found on the railway line at Lightcliffe. Her skull was fractured and she had several other wounds. Some distance from the body were found a walking-stick, a pair of gold-rimmed spectacles, and a velour hat containing the initials RF. A railway ticket was found on the body. One of the carriage doors of the 10:54 pm train to Bradford was badly damaged. It was suggested that she had been attacked on the train

  • Wednesday, 5th October 1921 One child was killed and another injured in motor accident at New Bank, Halifax

  • Friday, 7th October 1921 A child was killed by car at Ovenden

  • Sunday, 13th November 1921 A crack motor cyclist was killed at Barkisland

  • 1922 A waggonette carrying members of the Hebden Bridge Salvation Army overturned at Cockhill Moor, Oxenhope, killing 1 woman and injuring 5 other people.

    The vehicle was carrying 10 people – although only equipped to carry 7 – but the driver and the company were cleared of blame

  • January 1922 There were many local deaths from influenza

  • Tuesday, 3rd January 1922 The mutilated body of a baby was found in Trinity Road, Halifax

  • Monday, 9th January 1922 Fire at Callis Mill, Charlestown

  • Saturday, 14th January 1922 Heavy snowfalls throughout the district

  • Tuesday, 17th January 1922 A mother and daughter were fatally gassed at Back Crib Lane, Halifax

  • Tuesday, 31st January 1922 A West Vale couple were fatally gassed

  • Tuesday, 7th February 1922 Croft Mill, Hebden Bridge was gutted in £20,000 blaze

  • Wednesday, 8th February 1922 There was a collision in the Summit Tunnel when a goods train travelling from Rochdale to Todmorden broke into 3 parts as it entered the tunnel. The signalman diverted one part on to the Burnley branch line, but the third part – 30 wagons – stood in the tunnel when the 4:30 am passenger train from Manchester to Leeds ran into it. The guard of the goods train – William Elliott of Miles Platting, Manchester – was injured. The inquiry showed that the signals were not working properly owing to the frosty weather, and the accident was due to the signalman's failure to observe the rules regarding the signals

  • Sunday, 12th February 1922 A baby was drowned by its mother at Sowerby Bridge

  • Monday, 27th February 1922

    The Yorkshire Post & Leeds Intelligencer [Tuesday 28th February 1922] reported


    A fire occurred yesterday at Hollins Mill, Sowerby Bridge owned by Hollings Mill Estate Company, there being several tenants. The fire started in the part of the mill occupied by Messrs James Clay & Sons, Woollen manufacturers.

    The damage, which is covered by insurance, will be £25,000 to £30,000 and over 200 workpeople will be temporarily thrown idle

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Wednesday, 8th March 1922 There were winds of 100 mph along the south coats of England

  • Wednesday, 19th April 1922 11 people were admitted to hospital at Todmorden suffering from smallpox. 4 others were under observation. The outbreak started in a family of 5 Belgians

  • Tuesday, 20th June 1922 2 children were killed in a motor smash in Range Bank, Halifax

  • Saturday, 1st July 1922 One was man killed and two others were injured in a sewer collapse at Holmfield, Halifax

  • Friday, 11th August 1922 There was a printers' strike at the Courier & Guardian. The dispute lasted a week but the newspaper continued publication

  • Tuesday, 5th September 1922 A baby was killed by a taxi at Ripponden

  • Wednesday, 6th September 1922 A boy was killed in a traffic accident at King Cross, Halifax

  • Tuesday, 26th September 1922 A Northowram boy was killed by lorry

  • Monday, 16th October 1922 A passenger train crashed into a stationary goods train near Sowerby Bridge. Some passengers complained of shock

  • 1923 The tram service from Huddersfield to Brighouse began

    There was unemployment in the local silk industry

  • Wednesday, 31st January 1923 Fire at Rosemount Dye works, Rastrick caused damage of around £30,000

  • Tuesday, 13th February 1923 Heavy snowfalls throughout the district

  • Monday, 12th March 1923 Huddersfield to Brighouse tramway opened

  • Friday, 30th March 1923 Outbreak of smallpox reported at Hebden Bridge

  • Wednesday, 30th May 1923 The Prince of Wales – later Edward VIII – visited Queensbury during a tour of the West Riding

  • Monday, 24th December 1923 The bodies of two women who died at St Luke's Hospital, Halifax were interred in the wrong graves

  • Tuesday, 8th January 1924 Just after 7:00 pm, a fire broke out amongst the hay at Swat Farm, Cragg Vale which was then owned by Mr W. Gothard.

    His wife went to Cragg Vale Post Office and the fire buzzer at Mytholmroyd sounded at 7:45 pm.

    This was the first occasion on which the Mytholmroyd Fire Brigade used their new motor fire engine.

    The frosty & snow bound roads and the blizzard slowed the engine on the 5-mile journey to the farm, and it was 8:25 pm before the engine poured water on to the fire. The farm well was pumped dry and a local stream, 800 yards away, was called into action.

    Damage was estimated at about £200

  • Saturday, 9th February 1924 Rail smash at Charlestown Curve

  • Tuesday, 12th February 1924 There was opposition to Prayer Book revision at Elland

  • Sunday, 30th March 1924 There was a fatal motor accident at Illingworth

  • Thursday, 8th May 1924 There were 2 fatal cases of sleepy sickness in Halifax. Since 1918, there have been epidemics in Britain and in Italy. Another case was reported at Holywell Green on 29th May 1924

  • Saturday, 5th July 1924 A fire destroyed Atlas Soap Works, Elland

  • Thursday, 1st January 1925 Floods at Mytholmroyd

  • Monday, 12th January 1925 The opening of a new mustard-manufacturing factory at Oxford Street Mill, Brighouse was delayed when 3 tons of mustard burst into flames during processing

  • Wednesday, 4th February 1925 Fire at Paton & Baldwin's mill at Clark Bridge, Halifax

  • Wednesday, 11th February 1925 Floods at Mytholmroyd

  • March 1925 Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, visited Halifax with her husband, Viscount Lascelles later Earl of Harewood, to open a new maternity unit at the Royal Halifax Infirmary

  • Thursday, 26th March 1925 The driver – Clifford Lumb [33] of Sowerby Bridge – and the fireman – Ronald Bailey [21] of Halifax – of a goods train with 100 trucks were killed when it collided with buffers at Luddendenfoot

  • Wednesday, 1st April 1925 Lower tram fares were introduced

  • June 1925 Severe drought in many parts of Britain

  • Friday, 12th June 1925 Route Number 10 extended from Godfrey Road, Skircoat Green to Dudwell Lane, Skircoat Green

  • December 1925 Heavy snowstorms and blizzards made it a white Christmas lasting well into the New Year

  • Friday, 11th December 1925 Smallpox case reported at Lightcliffe

  • Tuesday, 22nd December 1925 A second smallpox case was reported in at Lightcliffe

  • 1926 A bus service to Stainland began, run by a private company in competition with Halifax Corporation

    On Wakes Tuesday, one man was killed and 10 others injured when a motor-bus crashed at Brearley, as it travelled from Siddal to Blackpool

  • Sunday, 21st March 1926 Dean Head Church School, Barkisland was destroyed by fire

  • Saturday, 3rd April 1926 A boy was killed by a motor bus at Hebden Bridge

  • Sunday, 18th April 1926 A child was killed by a car at Lightcliffe

  • Friday, 14th May 1926 Three Halifax tram men were sentenced to one month's imprisonment for an assault on a bus driver. On appeal, one of them was acquitted and the other two had their sentences reduced

  • Thursday, 24th June 1926 A driver burned to death in a blazing motor lorry at Brighouse

  • Saturday, 3rd July 1926 There was a small fire at Booth Wood Paper Mill, Rishworth

  • Tuesday, 6th July 1926 Booth Wood Paper Mill, Rishworth was completely destroyed by fire. Damage was estimated at £10,000. The site was cleared

  • Tuesday, 10th August 1926 An improvised motor bus was wrecked at Brearley after colliding with a tram. Eleven passengers on their way to Blackpool were injured, one of them, Mrs Anne Newland [52] of Halifax was injured, and died on Friday 13th August

    An improvised motor bus was wrecked at Brearley after it collided with a tram. Eleven passengers on their way to Blackpool were injured, one of them died three days later

  • Monday, 16th August 1926 A train of empty carriages on the Ryburn Branch Line started moving from Ripponden and ran away until it was derailed at Watson Crossing, Triangle, just before the tunnel – by then 112 carriages were involved. There were no injuries

  • October 1926 The trolley-bus service ended between Pellon and Wainstalls

  • Friday, 15th October 1926 The Prince of Wales – the future Edward VIII – visited Halifax.

    The Prince came to open Shibden Park, and toured Dean Clough Mills and Ladyship Mills, where he was greeted by J. W. Standeven and his son, Jack Standeven.

    The Souvenir commemorating the Royal visit to Ladyship Mills records:

    The highlight of the tour was when Mr Jack Standeven asked the Prince to accept two or three suit lengths as a memento of the visit. His Royal Highness eventually decided on two grey Glen checks and a brown bird's eye pattern and suit lengths were duly forwarded

    Rain fell heavily throughout the afternoon and the Prince had to ride in a covered car.

    See John Marsh & Sons

  • Saturday, 23rd October 1926 George Thomas Proberts was killed in a shooting accident Lumby's Limited boiler makers

  • December 1926 A White Christmas for the second year running

  • Wednesday, 1st December 1926 Shaw Mill, Mixenden was gutted by fire

  • Friday, 28th January 1927 200 empty runaway passenger coaches of the LMS Railway which had been standing on a dead end between Sowerby Bridge and Ripponden, reached speeds of 40 miles per hour and crashed into an embankment at Watson Crossing after an engine had accidentally knocked them. 12 coaches were derailed and smashed. There were no injuries

  • Saturday, 5th February 1927 The stage, scenery and dressing rooms of the Theatre Royal, Halifax were seriously damaged by fire

    The Sheffield Daily Telegraph [Monday 7th February 1927] reported


    Stage Properties Ruined

    A serious fire at Theatre Royal in Halifax on Saturday morning did damage computed at £10,000 and only the safety curtain saving the main body of the hall from destruction. The whole of the stage, with eleven dressing rooms, and properties of The Ringer which has been playing during the week were destroyed. The fire was discovered by Herbert Marshall, a Corporation tram driver, when he was leaving home at 4, Westgate.

    Northern Theatres Limited, owner of the house, have made arrangements for the companies booked for the Royal to be transferred to the Grand from Monday

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Thursday, 10th March 1927 A particularly severe snowstorm

  • Sunday, 24th April 1927 Four cases of smallpox were reported in Halifax

  • Sunday, 15th May 1927 The Halifax electric mains superintendent was killed in motor smash at Mount Tabor, Halifax

  • Saturday, 4th June 1927 A boy was killed by motor bus at Mill Bank

  • Monday, 8th August 1927 One man was killed and 11 others injured when a 26-seater charabanc collided with a Halifax tram car at Spring Royd, Luddenden/Brearley.

    There had been another accident in the same spot a few weeks earlier when a car collided with a Halifax tram car

  • Tuesday, 20th September 1927 A Lightcliffe lady was killed by a motor cycle

    A loss of £23,434 on Halifax tramways reported

  • Tuesday, 11th October 1927 A fly wheel burst at Valley Mills, Elland and caused causing much destruction

  • Wednesday, 2nd November 1927 Numbered routes were introduced on Halifax trams

  • Saturday, 24th December 1927 A white Christmas with heavy snowstorms

  • 1928 Fire at Gosport Old Mills, Stainland owned by Thomas G. Armstrong & Company Limited

    There were smallpox outbreaks and epidemics in several parts of the district in 1928/1931

    Floods caused serious damage at Mytholmroyd in February and March, and flash floods at Bolton Brow, Sowerby Bridge in June

  • Saturday, 7th January 1928 The wife of the stationmaster at Hebden Bridge was killed by a motor car

  • Saturday, 28th January 1928 A fire at Backhold Royd Farm, Southowram – owned by John Alderson – destroyed 6 tons of hay

  • Thursday, 16th February 1928 A police sergeant was killed at Brighouse by a wheel which had become detached from a motor vehicle

  • March 1928 While quarrying stone at Scotland Quarry, Midgley, two men – G. Davies (aged 63) of Luddenden and T. Maloney (aged 24) of Ellen Holme, Luddendenfoot – were crushed to death by falling rocks

  • Saturday, 10th March 1928 Severe snowstorms in the district

  • Wednesday, 14th March 1928 Smallpox cases were discovered at St Luke's Hospital

  • Wednesday, 21st March 1928 There was a fire at Fairlea Mills, Luddendenfoot

  • Saturday, 24th March 1928 The verger at Copley was killed by a motor vehicle. Later, the driver was fined £10.

  • Tuesday, 3rd April 1928 A Halifax man was prosecuted at Borough Court for marrying his niece

  • Saturday, 14th April 1928 A number of workmen were killed at Gorpley reservoir construction site

  • June 1928 Wharf Mill, Sowerby Bridge was badly damaged when a cloudburst sent a flood of water running down Bolton Brow and into the mill. The side of the mill was demolished. Women working in the winding and warping departments lost their belongings but were themselves unharmed

    Wharf Mill, Sowerby Bridge was badly damaged when a cloudburst sent a flood of water running down Bolton Brow and into the mill. The side of the mill was demolished. Women working in the winding and warping departments lost their belongings but were themselves unharmed

  • Saturday, 16th June 1928 Lily Artingstall [47] of Conway Street, Halifax was killed when she fell between the coaches and the platform as she was boarding a train at Sowerby Bridge Station

  • July 1928 A serious fire broke out as workmen were cleaning out the furnaces which heated Thornber's Square Works factory at Mytholmroyd, causing £10,000 worth of damage

  • Friday, 13th July 1928 Disastrous fire broke out at Thornber Brothers Mytholmroyd as workmen were cleaning out the furnaces which heated the property. Damages was estimated at £10,000

  • Friday, 27th July 1928 Shortly after 3:00 am, fire caused an estimated £700 damage to the mechanics' shop at the works of W. T. Knowles & Sons

  • Monday, 30th July 1928 A motor lorry belonging to Arthur Ainley, haulage contractor and coal merchant, Southowram, crashed into a fence wall on Beacon Hill Road. The driver, Lazenby Lorimer, succeeded in steering the vehicle away from the perilous side of the road, after the right wheel came off. The incapacitated lorry blocked the tram line for some time

  • Monday, 10th December 1928 The London, Midland & Scottish Railway started a bus service between Rochdale station and Halifax station

  • Wednesday, 12th December 1928 Fire at Central Street Council School, Hebden Bridge

  • Wednesday, 2nd January 1929 A heavily-laden goods train en route between Liverpool and Bradford broke in 2 on the Charlestown Curve. The drivers were unaware and the front section travelled more than 2 miles towards Mytholroyd before it was discovered and the train stopped. The second part then crashed into the stationary section. Thomas Poole, the guard, was slightly injured

  • Monday, 21st January 1929 Bus crash in fog at Mount Tabor

  • February 1929 25·7 degrees of frost were recorded at Belle Vue meteorological station – the lowest temperature in 30 years.

    The Rochdale Canal froze from Brearley to Sowerby Bridge.

    The Calder froze.

    A gasometer collapsed at Redacre, Mytholmroyd when the low temperatures buckled metal plates. No-one was injured in the consequent gas blast.

    At Hebden Bridge Post Office, mail had to be sorted by candle-light when the gas pipes froze

  • Friday, 8th February 1929 A gasometer collapsed at Mytholmroyd

  • March 1929 Tram service to Brighouse and Bailiff Bridge was the first line to close

  • Tuesday, 19th March 1929 A fire completely destroyed Chapel Field Mill, Ripponden. The children from Ripponden Infants' School were allowed to watch the blaze

  • Saturday, 30th March 1929 Bailiff Bridge tramway was sold to Bradford for £7,500

  • Thursday, 25th April 1929 Bailiff Bridge Railway Station was badly damaged by fire – see The Fire at Bailiff Bridge Station

  • Thursday, 16th May 1929 A textile dispute started in the Calder Valley

  • Thursday, 5th December 1929 26 people were killed as 94 mph winds swept across Britain

  • Wednesday, 8th January 1930 Halifax Town Council discussed the policy of suspending the tram service on Christmas Day

  • Thursday, 20th February 1930 Fire at Brick Mill and Cooper House Mill, Luddendenfoot, caused an estimated £40,000 worth of damage Brick Mill was destroyed.

    The 6-storey Cooper House Mill was part occupied by Robert Whitworth & Company and part by Lewis Whiteley & Sons Limited. The fire broke out at noon in Whiteley's section. All employees escaped without mishap, although 150 were thrown out of work

  • Monday, 9th June 1930 Mrs Margaret Buick [aged 30] of 2 Coal Pit Farm, Southowram pleaded guilty to stealing 3 cauliflowers from William Henry Kitson at Highfield Farm, Southowram. Constable Heald had been watching her and arrested her in flagrante. She was fined 10/-

  • Thursday, 7th August 1930 A boy drowned in the River Ryburn at Triangle. His body was recovered 8 days later at Brighouse

  • Monday, 24th November 1930 Fire at Salterhebble cotton mill

  • Tuesday, 25th November 1930 A verdict of Murder verdict against person or persons unknown was given following the discovery of the body of a new-born baby at Siddal

  • December 1930 Fire at Lower Willow Hall Mills, Sowerby Bridge

  • Thursday, 15th January 1931 Fire at Lilywhite's Lumb Mill caused damage estimated at £100,000 and completely destroyed the building, films, negatives, and prints

  • Wednesday, 4th February 1931 Smallpox epidemic at Queensbury

  • May 1931 Halifax to Brighouse (via Hipperholme) tram service ceased and converted to buses

  • Wednesday, 6th May 1931 The last tram left Brighouse

  • Sunday, 7th June 1931 Violent earth tremors were felt throughout Britain

  • Wednesday, 22nd July 1931 A motor bus service to Southowram run by Halifax Corporation replaced the tram service from Halifax to Bank Top, Southowram which began on 19th September 1901

  • Wednesday, 2nd September 1931 An Elland woman died of anthrax

  • Monday, 21st September 1931 A double-decker bus overturned at Bailiff Bridge, injuring 12 people

    Princess Mary visited Halifax to open the Princess Mary High School

  • Wednesday, 4th November 1931 Heavy rains caused serious flooding in Todmorden. The flood disrupted the construction of the New Olympia Cinema

  • 1932 Tenders were put out for flood prevention work at Mytholmroyd

  • January 1932 Broadholme Mill, Brighouse had been disused for 6 or 7 years when it was destroyed by a disastrous fire. Men were dismantling machinery on the 3rd floor when sparks ignited the dry, oil-soaked floor timbers. The flames spread rapidly.

    The Corporation Fire Brigade arrived but made little progress in extinguishing the flames. About 2:00 pm, the roof collapsed, carrying the 2 upper floors with it. Then the north wall collapsed inwards

  • Friday, 4th March 1932 Fire caused minor damage to Mayroyd Mill, Hebden Bridge

  • Thursday, 31st March 1932 Two men were killed in a train accident in the Summit Tunnel

  • Tuesday, 26th April 1932 There was a bus smash at the corner of Parkinson Lane and King Cross Street, Halifax. 1 woman was killed and five other people injured

  • July 1932 Michael Holroyd Smith pioneer of the electric tram died

  • Saturday, 16th July 1932 Start of local cotton workers' strike against a reduction in wages. Some Ripponden mills were closed.

    The dispute was settled on 24th August 1932

  • Tuesday, 22nd November 1932 Silver coins found in an Elland garden were declared treasure trove

  • 1933 Serious local flooding. It is said that in Brighouse, many cellars – including all the pubs – were filled with water. The area around Clifton bridge was under 3 ft of water

  • February 1933 Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, visited Halifax to open a new Eliza & Jane Simpson Isolation ward and the Princess Royal ward at the Royal Halifax Infirmary

  • Friday, 24th February 1933 Many roads were blocked in the heaviest snowfalls for 40 years.

    Bus and tram services were disrupted

  • Monday, 13th March 1933 Counterfeiting charges were brought at Todmorden against a Sowerby man and a Luddendenfoot man

  • Tuesday, 25th April 1933 An offer of £600,000 was reported for the purchase of the Halifax tram and bus undertaking by a national electricity company

  • Friday, 2nd June 1933 There was a heatwave in Halifax and the warmest Whitsuntide for 33 years

  • Thursday, 22nd June 1933 One boy died during an outbreak of infantile paralysis discovered at Rishworth School. One girl died in a further outbreak at Sowerby Bridge

  • Saturday, 29th July 1933 Three men were killed in collision between a bus and furniture lorry at North Bridge, Halifax

  • August 1933 Britain had a long drought. Forest fires broke out

  • Wednesday, 16th August 1933 Halifax-Stump Cross-Northowram route closed

  • Tuesday, 29th August 1933 2 men were killed and others injured when a lorry carrying furniture went out of control and ran into a bus at the junction of Haley Hill and North Bridge. The bus-conductor, Harold Frankland of Stone Chair, Shelf, died on the way to Royal Halifax Infirmary. The bus-driver, Dowman Robinson of Pellon New Road, was admitted to the Infirmary. The driver of the lorry, John E. Brown of Leeds, was admitted to the Infirmary, but died later

  • Thursday, 31st August 1933 A Brighouse foreman platelayer was knocked down and killed at Elland Station

  • Monday, 11th September 1933 There was a severe drought in the district. Water was turned off between 8 pm and 6:30 am

  • Saturday, 23rd September 1933 Water restrictions were extended. The supply was cut off between 6 pm and 6 am

  • Saturday, 30th September 1933 Tram route from Stump Cross to Hove Edge abandoned

    Tram service from Brighouse to Hove Edge was discontinued

  • Saturday, 7th October 1933 Water restrictions were extended. The supply was cut off between 5 pm and 7 am

  • Wednesday, 20th December 1933 A Halifax double decker bus overturned and rolled down a hillside on the Northowram route above Stump Cross. The driver and passenger were injured

  • 1934 Tram service to Boothtown withdrawn

    Tram service to Stainland withdrawn

    Tram service to Queensbury withdrawn

    Tram service to Catherine Slack withdrawn

    Tram service to Sowerby Bridge withdrawn

    Tram service to West Vale withdrawn

    Tram service to Stump Cross withdrawn

  • Wednesday, 3rd January 1934 There was a disastrous fire at Clifton Bridge Mills, Brighouse, silk spinners. One hundred operatives were put out of work

  • Thursday, 8th February 1934 Two Brighouse women were killed when a chimney stack collapsed during a gale and fell through the roof on to the bed in which they were sleeping

  • Thursday, 22nd March 1934 A package containing jewellery, the proceeds of a Manchester robbery, was thrown from a train into the street at Mytholmroyd. The thieves escaped

  • Thursday, 14th June 1934 An RAF plane made a forced landing at Heptonstall

  • Monday, 25th June 1934 Halifax buses made profit of £17,332 and trams a loss of £19,810

  • Wednesday, 18th July 1934 A plague of crickets was reported at Bailiff Bridge

  • Wednesday, 25th July 1934 Tram service from Sowerby Bridge to Stile, Triangle was withdrawn

  • Thursday, 14th March 1935 Marjorie, the 12-year-old daughter of Albert Sutcliffe, died after she was run over by a trailer attached to a lorry at Bolton Brow at 7:50 pm.

    She had been playing hide-and-seek with 9-year-old Barbara Ann Washington, Donald Sharp and Willie Smith, and had run across the road when the accident occurred.

    She was taken to Halifax Infirmary but was dead on arrival.

    It is thought that the driver of the vehicle was unaware of the accident.

    Marjorie was buried in the same grave as her grandparents, Ann and Herbert Ambler Sutcliffe. At the inquest, the jury returned a verdict of Accidental death

  • April 1935 The first automatic traffic lights were installed to control the busy junction with Charlestown Road, New Bank, and Boothtown Road, at the northern end of North Bridge

  • Sunday, 7th April 1935 Fire broke out at Albion Mill, Elland, belonging to Robert Kaye & Sons. It was believed spontaneous combustion was the cause of the fire. The fire caused damage estimated at £1,500

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Anthony Peabody

  • Wednesday, 12th June 1935 Around 7:30 am, Arthur Bairstow & Norman Wilkinson, two platelayers for the London, Midland & Scottish Railway Company were struck by the 7:45 am Holmfirth to Bradford train while working in Beacon Hill Tunnel. Bairstow was hit by the train and he was hurled against Wilkinson, throwing him against the wall of the Tunnel.

    Wilkinson was injured and crawled out of the Tunnel to give warning of the incident; Bairstow later died in the Halifax Infirmary.

    Many local newspapers reported the incident

  • Wednesday, 24th July 1935 First profit on Halifax trams and buses for 10 years

  • Thursday, 14th November 1935 There was a disastrous fire at Holme Royd Mills, Luddendenfoot. Machinery was damaged by the water used to tackle the fire. Windows in nearby Railway Terrace were damaged by the heat of the blaze

  • 1936 The tram service to Stainland which began on 14th May 1921 was withdrawn

    The last tram ran to New Road, Hebden Bridge

  • Monday, 27th January 1936 6 sticks of gelignite and 50 brass detonators were reported missing from an explosive store at Illingworth. A radio warning was broadcast lest they should fall into the hands of children or other unaware of its nature

  • February 1936 Mayroyd Mill, Hebden Bridge – occupied by William Barker & Company – was badly damaged by fire.

    6 fire brigades attended the incident. Fred Greenwood [48] collapsed and died, due to over-excitement at the event

  • Tuesday, 31st March 1936 The tram service between Halifax and Hebden Bridge ended after 34 years

  • Tuesday, 14th April 1936 Coldest Easter of the century

  • Saturday, 30th May 1936 Bottoms Mill, Salterhebble was almost destroyed by fire

  • Friday, 17th July 1936 The Spanish Civil War [1936-1939] began

  • Friday, 31st July 1936 There was a fire at Badger Hill Mills, Rastrick

  • Friday, 18th September 1936 Sterne Mills, Copley were destroyed by fire

  • Saturday, 12th December 1936 An RAF bomber crashed on Wadsworth Moor in thick cloud, and burst into flames, killing three of the crew – Sergeant D. G. Church of London Leading Aircraftman P. G. Clements of Bournemouth and Aircraftman C. V. Bodenham of Ludlow – and injuring the fourth, Sergeant V. C. Otter. Fog hampered rescue attempts by locals who heard the crash.

    The plane was one of a formation of 7 heavy bombers which left Northern Ireland for Finningley. The squadron flew into dense fog and only one plane arrived safely

  • Monday, 14th December 1936 Mytholmroyd was under 3 ft of water when the Calder overflowed

  • 1937 The Asquith Bottom Mills, Sowerby Bridge of William Edleston & Company Limited were badly damaged by fire

    The last narrow boat Alice carried 20 tons of wire from Sowerby Bridge to Manchester on the Rochdale Canal

  • January 1937 Herbert Lister was killed when a scaffold in the clay mine of Allen & Son, collapsed on him

  • September 1937 The last commercial craft was Thomas made the through journey across the Pennines on the Rochdale Canal

  • Wednesday, 20th October 1937 George VI and Queen Elizabeth visited the district during a visit to Yorkshire, and called at Shelf, Shibden Hall, Halifax, Elland and Brighouse. A 21-gun salute was fired from Beacon Hill.

    See John Marsh & Sons

  • 1938 Tram service to Hebden Bridge cut back to Tuel Lane, Sowerby Bridge

    Tram service to Triangle cut back to Station Road, Sowerby Bridge

    Tram service to Highroad Well withdrawn

  • Tuesday, 18th January 1938 Tram service to Illingworth and Causeway Foot withdrawn. It was replaced by the bus service on the following day

  • Tuesday, 14th February 1939 The Halifax tramway system closed when the last tram – Number 109 – ran on the Ovenden route leaving from the Queen's Head, Illingworth at Mason Green at 11:32 pm. Whiteley Lumb was the driver

  • Monday, 29th May 1939 Tram service from Huddersfield to West Vale was replaced by a trolley-bus service

  • June 1939 The last vessel made the whole journey along the Rochdale Canal

  • November 1939 George Barker, the Mayor of Halifax, was travelling in the official car when it was involved in an accident at Cheapside, Halifax.

    The Halifax Courier [Saturday 25th November 1939] reported


    While returning in his official car to the Town Hall after the annual civic service at Siddal, the Mayor of Halifax Alderman George Barker JP together with the Town Clerk, Mr Percy Saunders and Mrs Saunders were involved in a serious car crash at the junction of Southgate and Cheapside.

    The car was being driven by the Mayor's chauffeur, Mr Hugh Sutcliffe, with the mace-bearer, Mr Ernest Hardy riding in front with the driver.

    At the bottom of Cheapside a collision occurred with a car which came up Russell Street. Both drivers swerved and the Mayor's car struck a lamp standard and the other car crashed into the grille protected front of Messrs Lister Horsfall, Jewellers.

    The Mayor and Mrs Saunders were thrown into a heap in the bottom of the car. They were helped from the car and taken to the Town Hall, where after treatment they were allowed to go home. The mace bearer was treated for cuts at Halifax Infirmary and the chauffeur was suffering from shock and allowed to go home.

    The driver of the other car, Mr Gerald Pullen of 64, Victoria Street, Manchester and his passenger Edward O'Hara were taken to the Infirmary but not detained

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • 1940 The Brighouse tram service was replaced by a trolley-bus service

  • January 1940 When the country was well into World War II, Britain had the coldest January since 1838, and between January 26th / 29th, the country suffered the heaviest snowfalls since 1927.

    The south of England also had ice storms, when rain falling in sub-zero temperatures covers objects in clear ice

  • Friday, 5th July 1940 George Street Mills, Brighouse was destroyed by fire

  • Friday, 22nd November 1940 Around 9:00 pm, a 100 kg (220 lbs) bomb and fell at the junction of Hanson Lane and Crossley Terrace. It killed 11 people and damaged the West Hill pub and 537 houses, about 30 of which had to be demolished

  • Saturday, 22nd February 1941 Snow blanketed much of northern England

  • Monday, 28th April 1941 A heavily-laden 8-wheeler lorry – the largest type allowed in British roads – driven by Thomas Clare and with colleague Charles Frederick Drabble, both of Bolton, was involved in an accident as it descended Brookfoot Hill. As they turned right at the bottom, the lorry scraped the wall and crashed into Elland Road. Clare was pinned beneath the vehicle and died at the scene. Drabble escaped with multiple leg and face injuries

  • Wednesday, 19th November 1941 Providence Mill, Elland was badly damaged by fire. Damage was estimated at £10,000

  • 1942 Elland National School was badly damaged by fire

  • May 1942 Fire broke out and destroyed the top floor of Wainstalls Mill. Men came from all parts of Wainstalls to join the forces from the Fire Service in Halifax. It was feared that the fire might spread to the new Shed by way of a wooden passage which joined the 2 buildings. It was suspected that the fire was carried by sparks from a grass fire near New Mill Dam

  • Thursday, 21st January 1943 A Halifax bomber of 51 Squadron RAF, returning from an operation, crashed on Hoar Side Moor near Hebden Bridge killing 2 of the crew

  • 1944 Record local floods

  • April 1944 Terrible storms affected the district around Sowerby Bridge. Mrs Effie Priestley [66] of Norland died when she fell into a stream, and Arthur Ritchie [34] of Norland died when he fell into a culvert

  • June 1944 The last tram ran on the service from Bradford to Bailiff Bridge

  • Sunday, 24th December 1944 At 6:00 am, a German V1 doodlebug landed in a field 30 yards from Little Toothill Farm, Sowerby, killing several geese, damaging buildings at the farm, and breaking windows at Cottonstones. The crater was about 26 ft in diameter and 4 ft deep. An old lady living at the farm died of delayed shock some months later. After the war, St Mary's Church, Cottonstones claimed reparations for the bomb damage, and used these to repoint the church tower

  • Saturday, 13th January 1945 2 German prisoners, members of the Luftwaffe, escaped from a camp in Lancashire and were recaptured on the following day at Ripponden

  • Monday, 7th May 1945 [7th/8th May 1945] was VE Day when the Allies in World War II accepted the surrender of the armed forces in Nazi Germany

  • June 1945 Winston Churchill visited Halifax in June 1945 in the run-up to the July general election – see Memories of Calderdale

  • Thursday, 19th September 1946 Serious floods when the Hebble, the Ryburn and the Calder flooded and burst their banks after 2 days of heavy rain.

    Most parts of the district were affected.

    The Summit Tunnel was flooded when a culvert burst its banks near Walsden Station.

    The goit from Leadbeater Dam to Spring Dam burst and Square Mill Dam burst flooding many parts of Wainstalls.

    Relief funds were set up to help those affected.

    Brighouse was badly affected, and the Ha'penny Bridge was torn from its base and blocked the entrance to the lock.

    See Photograph of flooding at Copley and Photograph of flooding at Mytholmroyd

  • Saturday, 8th February 1947 This is the one they all talk about ... still! I describe it in a separate Foldout

  • Monday, 7th April 1947 37 people were injured when a Halifax Corporation bus overturned at the Calder & Hebble Junction. The roof was torn off. The vehicle was scrapped

  • Wednesday, 3rd September 1947 The goods yard inspector at Mytholmroyd Station, W. Whiteside, was killed in a shunting accident

  • Thursday, 16th October 1947 An avalanche of mud from peat bogs and disused clay workings near an open-cast coal mine at Ratten Clough Pit covered the main Todmorden-Burnley Road – about 1 million tons in volume, 30 ft wide and 9 ft high – flowed down the hillside and into the valley below and approached the railway line near Todmorden. No lives were lost in the incident

  • Wednesday, 12th November 1947 Mytholmroyd was under 3 ft of water when the Calder overflowed

  • Thursday, 8th April 1948 Raymond Farrar, the projectionist, died following a fire at the Picture House, Halifax

  • Friday, 28th May 1948 St Peter's Church, Walsden was damaged by fire

  • Thursday, 2nd September 1948 A Halifax Corporation bus – new in March of that year – skidded as it travelled down Salterhebble Hill. It hit a building, spun round and then ran backwards down Rookery Lane, where it came to rest

  • December 1948 Three men – including the proprietor William Edward Ogden – were killed and several injured when defective oxyacetylene equipment exploded at the Northgate factory of James Ogden & Sons

  • February 1949 Expectant mother, Mrs Joan Richards [20] of New Street, Southowram, was killed when a chimney collapsed and fell through the roof and bedroom floor of her home during strong gales which swept through the district. 4 people in Halifax were injured when a chimney fell through the roof. Prefabs in Illingworth were severely damaged

  • Wednesday, 23rd February 1949 Many people – from Warley to Todmorden – felt an earth tremor at 5:35 pm. The epicentre was said to be in either Russia or South America

  • April 1949 Fire crews from most parts of the district tackled a blaze at F. & H. Sutcliffe's Victoria Mill, Hebden Bridge wood-manufacturing factory. 7 firemen were injured. Damage was estimated at £26,500

  • Monday, 27th June 1949 The Leeds/Halifax bus collided with a fire engine in Godley Lane on its way to a grass fire. The drivers of both vehicles were killed

  • Wednesday, 13th July 1949 A violent storm brought to an end a drought which began on 4th June

  • Tuesday, 26th July 1949 Princess Elizabeth and Prince Philip arrived by train to make their first visit to Halifax on a 3-day tour of the West Riding. They were in Halifax for 2 hours and visited an exhibition at Arden Road Drill Hall where there were more than 30 stands displaying industrial products manufactured in Halifax, including John Mackintosh & Sons and Reflecting Roadstuds. They then signed the visitors' book at Halifax Town Hall, heard school children sing and watched a gymnastics display at Spring Hall. During the visit, Princess Elizabeth officially handed over Spring Hall mansion and grounds which Paton & Baldwin's had given to the town

  • Friday, 16th September 1949 Pilot Officer Richard Percy Price of Leconfield and Flying Officer S. I. Rowe of Blackpool were killed when their trainer aircraft crashed into the hillside at Hebden Bridge in heavy rain and mist

  • 1950 Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, visited Halifax to open new YMCA headquarters at the Marlborough Hall

  • Friday, 5th May 1950 1000 people were vaccinated after a mild case of smallpox had been identified in Sowerby Bridge. Over the next few days, 14,000 people were vaccinated in Halifax and 10,000 in Sowerby Bridge

  • December 1950 There was the first White Christmas for 10 years

  • 1951 The Rochdale Canal was closed to navigation along its entire length

  • 1952 The Rochdale Canal Act made the Rochdale Canal Company no longer liable to maintain the Rochdale Canal for navigation.

    The company sold much of its property, leased many of its reservoirs to local authorities, and officially abandoned the through-route across the Pennines.

    Except for a short section in Lancashire, between Castlefield and the Ashton Canal junction at Piccadilly, the canal closed to traffic. This section was still owned and run by the private Rochdale Canal Company

  • January 1952 The Yorkshire Evening Post [29th January 1952] reported


    CENTURY OF FOXES then he puts his gun away.

    Twenty years ago, when he found foxes had bitten the heads off 30 of his pullets, Mr Frank Verity, a smallholder of Mount Pleasant, Southowram, declared war and vowed not to rest until he had shot 100 of them.

    He has just killed his hundredth, a 14lb vixen, and has now put away his double-barrelled 12 bore gun

     

    This & associated entries use material contributed by Jeffrey Knowles

  • Saturday, 31st January 1953 There were several cases of influenza

  • Saturday, 14th February 1953 The Shay had to be cleared of snow for Halifax's game against Tottenham Hotspur. Halifax lost 3-0

  • Wednesday, 18th March 1953 Mons Mill was closed when it was thought to be the centre of a smallpox epidemic which swept through Todmorden. 4 people died and there were 19 confirmed cases in the town. It was suggested that this outbreak and others in Lancashire were caused by infected imported raw cotton, although it was later stated that smallpox was present in the town before the suspected cotton was handled. Todmorden practitioners, Dr John de Ville Mather and Dr Stella Brown, were placed under quarantine during the outbreak

  • Thursday, 5th November 1953 Fire at Hoo Hole Dye Works, Mytholmroyd caused damage estimated at £68,000

  • 1954 There were smallpox outbreaks in several parts of the district

  • Saturday, 21st August 1954 Severe flash floods at Hebden Bridge, Mytholmroyd, and Luddenden. The Calder rose 6 feet in less than 2 hours. Elphin Brook was 10 feet above its usual level

  • 1955 2 barges – the Sowerby Bridge and the Frugality – were the last commercial craft to use the Calder & Hebble Canal

    Brighouse town centre was flooded

  • Monday, 21st February 1955 An express train from Leeds to Manchester collided with a brake van and a wagon which had become detached from a freight train at Luddendenfoot. None of the 40 passengers on the express was injured The guard of the freight train, J. H. Hart, received injuries from which he died. The guard and a signalman, J. L. Halliday, who had failed to notice the detached wagons, were held responsible for the incident

  • Saturday, 9th July 1955 The trolley-bus service ended in Brighouse

  • March 1956 Gales caused considerable damage in the West Riding. The Brighouse district suffered badly

  • Saturday, 10th March 1956 Fire severely damaged the Royal Mills, Halifax of Jesse Robinson & Son Limited. Several floors collapsed with heave machinery

  • 1957 The Asian flu pandemic of 1957-1958 probably affected more people than that of 1918 – 1 million world-wide, and 33,000 in Britain. These were mainly the very young and the very old. The availability of antibiotics to treat the secondary infections which are the usual cause of death, resulted in a much lower death rate. This was type A, H2N2 strain

  • 1958 Princess Margaret visited Halifax

  • Thursday, 15th May 1958 A double-decker bus ran out of control down New Bank and overturned on North Bridge

  • 1959 Fire at Victoria Mills, Brighouse

  • July 1959 During a printing dispute involving members of the Typographical Association resulted in a newspaper strike. Many local and national papers – including The Halifax Daily Courier & Guardian, The Brighouse Echo – were published as a free news-sheet

    Fire caused at Ash Grove works of W. T. Knowles & Sons

  • November 1959 The last steam trains gave way to diesel engines

  • March 1960 5000 chickens died when fire swept through the Mytholmroyd poultry farm of Harry Taylor

  • Friday, 20th May 1960 Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, visited Elland and opened extensions to Elland Grammar School

  • 1961 Princess Mary, the Princess Royal, visited Halifax and opened an extension to the Meredith & Drew works

  • Thursday, 26th January 1961 A 4 storey block at Hollins Mill, Sowerby Bridge was gutted by fire just after 180 workers had gone home for lunch

  • July 1961 With 2·8 inches of rain, this was the wettest since records began

  • Saturday, 2nd September 1961 A severe thunderstorm lasting 15 hours disrupted power supplies and communications in Brighouse

  • 1962 An influenza epidemic

    There were smallpox outbreaks in several parts of the district

    The Ashton Canal was abandoned

  • January 1962 The most severe winter weather for several years

  • 1963 The Beeching Report on the railways in Britain, produced by Richard Beeching, chair of the British Railways Board, recommended the closure of loss-making railway lines and the improvement of money-making routes. This resulted in the closure of hundreds of lines and several thousand stations

  • Sunday, 13th January 1963 70 passengers escaped when the York to Liverpool train caught fire on entering a tunnel after leaving Sowerby Bridge Station

  • Wednesday, 23rd January 1963 Starting just before Christmas 1962, the winter of 1962/63 was the coldest in England and Wales since 1740, and the coldest in Scotland since 1879. For most of the period from Boxing Day 1962 to early March 1963, much of England was under snow. Temperatures of 10° F / -12·2° C – the lowest since 1947 – were recorded.

    Locally, it was the worst since 1947 and there were drifts several feet high. Streams and waterfalls in the district froze – threatening water shortages.

    For 3 months in the winter of late 1962 and early 1963 there was 1½ inch thick ice at The Shay – Halifax becoming the first football league club to open its ground for public ice-skating. Fees were adults 2s 6d, children 1s 6d, and spectators 1s.

    Customers of the Commercial Inn, Sowerby Bridge played five-a-side soccer on the canal there

  • Wednesday, 9th October 1963 Fire at Thomas Sugden & Son, Brighouse, in the grain warehouse, behind the Black Swan, possibly started by the drive belts. The grain smouldered for several weeks afterwards.

    The warehouse was rebuilt following the fire

    This & associated entries use material contributed by David Shaw

  • 1964 An influenza epidemic

  • Tuesday, 3rd November 1964 Calder Mill, Hebden Bridge was badly damaged by fire causing £50,000 damage at Paul Bates Limited and £15,000 at Halifax Wireform Limited

  • Monday, 16th November 1964 Fire caused £1,000 damage at Ratcliffe Brothers Calder House Mills, Mytholmroyd

  • Wednesday, 9th December 1964 Overnight rain caused the heaviest flooding in 20 years in Mytholmroyd and the Upper Calder Valley

  • Tuesday, 15th December 1964 Crossley Mill, Hebden Bridge was occupied by Thomas Ratcliffe & Company when it was destroyed by fire – within the space of an hour

  • 1965 Cross Lane United Methodist Chapel, Hebden Bridge was destroyed by fire

    C. W. S Union Flour Mills, Sowerby Bridge burned down

    The 9 locks on the Rochdale Canal through Manchester city centre were almost unusable and an Act of Parliament gave permission for the section to be closed

  • Friday, 1st January 1965 The business of general merchant Trevor Peel Limited at Clay House Mills, Greetland was damaged by fire

  • Friday, 15th January 1965 A freak hailstorm delayed traffic throughout Halifax

  • Monday, 25th January 1965 A guard was injured at Elland Station when a railway engine and guards van were derailed

  • Tuesday, 13th July 1965 Torrential rainstorms disrupted traffic in and around Halifax

  • Sunday, 26th September 1965 Floods in the Wheatley Valley tore away supports at the Birks Hall Culvert which was under construction, and water poured 200 feet into the Hebble Brook

  • Thursday, 25th November 1965 Flood warnings sounded after heavy rain in Todmorden and Hebden Bridge

  • Monday, 29th November 1965 Heavy snowfalls stranded many buses and lorries in Halifax and district. Hundreds of children sent home from school

  • Thursday, 9th December 1965 Mytholmroyd was impassable when the Calder flooded

  • Wednesday, 9th February 1966 Trains and buses were delayed when snow blocked roads in the district

  • Saturday, 19th February 1966 Many sports fixtures were cancelled following snowfalls

  • Saturday, 2nd April 1966 Heavy snowfall in Halifax damaged trees and telephone lines and caused traffic chaos

  • July 1966 The Victoria Copper Works of H. S. Holdsworth Limited were damaged by fire

  • August 1966 Storms and heavy rain ruined the Halifax Show, and caused flooding in many parts of the district

  • Friday, 16th September 1966 A Todmorden man was killed when he fell 200 feet down a railway ventilation shaft at the Summit Tunnel

  • 1967 The tracks at Halifax Town station were reduced to two tracks and a single island-platform

  • Tuesday, 14th March 1967 Fire at the Carlton Buildings of the Todmorden Co-operative Society caused an estimated £150,000 worth of damage. The only casualty was a fireman with a broken ankle

  • Wednesday, 15th March 1967 Fire damaged Hebden Bridge Dye Works

  • Tuesday, 15th August 1967 Around Midnight 15/16 August Bernard Warren [44] of Padiham, the driver of a diesel engine, was killed when his goods train – pulling 36 wagons from Burnley to Halifax and travelling at 70 m.p.h – ran into the back of a steam engine shortly before midnight at Cornholme, Todmorden.

    One wagon crashed into a house. The driver of the steam train was slightly injured.

    The inquest revealed that Warren had drunk 5 or 6 pints of beer and had ignored 6 stop signals before the accident

  • Tuesday, 17th October 1967 Worst flooding for many years at Copley and the Calder Valley

  • Sunday, 10th December 1967 Firth Mill, Todmorden was gutted by fire

  • 1968 The Hong Kong flu pandemic of 1968-1969 affected between 1 and 4 million people world-wide, and 30,000 in England and Wales. These were mainly the very old and people with other medical problems. This was type A, H3N2 strain

    Steam trains finally stopped running in Britain

  • July 1968 Snow and hail fell in parts of the district

  • Tuesday, 2nd July 1968 Freak summer weather caused flooding in parts of the district. Serious flooding by the Clifton Beck at Bailiff Bridge caused extensive damage to Firth Carpets factory

  • October 1968 The Divi was discontinued

  • Wednesday, 23rd October 1968 The Duchess of Kent visited Halifax and opened the Laura Mitchell Clinic

  • 1970 A freak storm hit Norland. Hollin Lane and Harper Royd Lane, Norland were badly damaged as water rushed through houses here, carrying the furniture and other belongings downstream to Sowerby Bridge

  • April 1970 Some of the older buildings at Badger Hill Mills were badly damaged by fire

  • 1971 Fire destroyed the Square Congregational Church, Halifax

  • October 1971 The Queen opened the M62 and the Scammonden Reservoir

  • Sunday, 10th October 1971 The body of a well-dressed man was found in Bankhouse Tunnel. He was chained to the rails and a train had decapitated the body. It was unclear whether it was murder or suicide

  • Tuesday, 25th July 1972 A thunderstorm caused flash flooding in many parts of Halifax

  • 1973 An explosion destroyed the offices of Sagar-Richards Limited at Luddendenfoot

  • 1974 A group of volunteers reopened the Ashton Canal. The Rochdale Canal in Manchester was renovated

    The Rochdale Canal Society was formed and started a campaign to restore the Rochdale Canal

  • Wednesday, 13th November 1974 The Queen came to Halifax to open the new Halifax Building Society headquarters in Trinity Road. This was her first visit as the reigning monarch. Schoolchildren were given a half-day holiday

  • Monday, 2nd June 1975 Snow and hailstones fell throughout Calderdale

  • 1976 A swine flu epidemic amongst soldiers in New Jersey, USA

  • Monday, 16th February 1976 Arson was blamed for a fire which damaged the disused Odeon Cinema building

  • Tuesday, 17th February 1976 15 fire engines and 65 firemen were called to a fire which badly damaged Acre Mill, Old Town

  • June 1976 From June to September, Britain had its worst drought for 150 years, breaking records for temperatures and low rainfall. There were 15 consecutive days with temperatures of 32 ° C [90 ° F]. Forest fires broke out in many parts of the country

  • Sunday, 29th August 1976 In the middle of the drought, there were floods in parts of Calderdale

  • Saturday, 25th September 1976 Floods

  • Saturday, 2nd October 1976 Floods and wall of mud in Todmorden

  • 1977 Calder Bank Mills, Rastrick were destroyed in a fire described as Brighouse's biggest bonfire and the great Brighouse fire of 1977

    A Russian flu epidemic in many parts of the world

  • Tuesday, 18th January 1977 27-year=old PC Michael Taylor was hit by a train as he was investigating a suspected case of vandalism on a railway signal at Sowerby Bridge Station

  • February 1979 In February and March, there were the worst blizzards for several years, closing all roads into Lancashire except that through Todmorden.

    The situation was aggravated by an overtime ban by drivers of gritting vehicles

  • 1980 Mytholm Mill, Hebden Bridge / Brown's Mill was destroyed by fire

    Ripponden Mill burned down

  • January 1980 Melting snow caused severe flooding

  • Sunday, 20th April 1980 The Canal Mills of Sowerby Worsted Manufacturing Limited were destroyed by fire. The damage was estimated at £750,000

  • 1981 Fire destroyed the Battinson Road Mills which were occupied by the Asda Supermarket and the Yorkshire Antiques Market

    The last commercial use of the Calder & Hebble Canal – the coal traffic to Thornhill power station at Dewsbury – finally ceased

  • 1982 The first major restoration of the Rochdale Canal began

  • January 1982 At Braemar, Aberdeenshire, the temperature reached a record -27·2°C – a repeat of the winter of 1895

  • Sunday, 3rd January 1982 Heavy rain caused flooding throughout Calderdale

  • Saturday, 5th June 1982 Flash floods at Norland destroyed several houses

  • July 1982 There was serious flooding at Mytholmroyd

  • August 1982 The worst floods in living memory engulfed Todmorden and surrounding areas

  • 1984 The Rochdale Canal Trust was formed

  • Tuesday, 17th January 1984 Many homes in Abbey Park, Halifax damaged by a storm

  • Friday, 20th April 1984 A £500,000 fire destroyed Prince of Wales Mill, Brighouse. Business was back to normal 3 days later

  • Tuesday, 3rd July 1984 Drought worse than 1976

  • Thursday, 20th December 1984 Summit Tunnel Fire. There were no casualties

  • February 1985 Trans-Pennines routes were closed by snow

  • Tuesday, 19th March 1985 £152,000 flood alleviation scheme started in Todmorden

  • April 1985 Several inches of snow fell, blocking roads in the district

  • Sunday, 29th September 1985 Fire at the factory of Tilsa Yarns Limited, Brighouse caused damage estimated at £2,000,000

  • December 1985 Fire destroyed part of the roof, the organ and furnishings at the Central Methodist Chapel, Brighouse

    After a cold spell, the thaw burst water-pipes and caused chaos

  • 1986 Revitalisation of the Rochdale Canal began with a £1,000,000 with money from the English Heritage derelict land grants, to restore stretches of the canal by clearing blocked sections

    A coal train was derailed at Underbank, closing the line for several days

  • February 1986 40 people had to be rescued from their vehicles when they became stranded by blizzard conditions on the trans-Pennine routes

  • April 1986 Roads were blocked by several inches of snow. The first spring snow for 5 years

  • May 1986 Brighouse packaging companies Copgrove Supplies, and S. Milnes & Son Limited were destroyed by fire

    Fire caused £1 million damage at Joseph Blakeborough & Sons Limited

    Factory of Wattlid Limited, Mytholmroyd, destroyed in a suspected arson attack

  • September 1986 Fire at Monoplas Industries, Hebden Bridge caused damage estimated at £250,000

  • Monday, 12th January 1987 The big freeze caused chaos in the district. The coldest day for 30 years was recorded

  • Wednesday, 14th January 1987 Fire caused £1·5 million damage at Marshall's, Southowram

  • Friday, 6th February 1987 Prince Charles visited Calderdale as President of Business in the community and Patron of the Civic Trust. He visited the Piece Hall, and Sowerby Bridge, Greenup's Mill, and Dean Clough

  • May 1987 Dean Clough was affected by flooding of the Hebble

  • Friday, 16th October 1987 The Great Storm caused considerable damage in southern England with the wind gusting at speeds of up to 100 knots

  • Friday, 4th December 1987 Prince Charles visited Calderdale. He visited the Lowfields site

  • February 1988 Fire at the Maltings Mill, Hipperholme

  • May 1988 Princess Anne visited the English Drilling Equipment Company Limited at Ainley Top

  • 1989 A cloudburst on the moors above Luddenden caused severe flooding of the River Ludd and Luddendenfoot

  • Tuesday, 14th February 1989 Prince Charles visited Halifax, Hebden Bridge and Todmorden as part of his Business in the Community initiative

  • Wednesday, 22nd February 1989 Oats Royd Mill – occupied by 5 firms – was destroyed by fire

  • Friday, 19th May 1989 Freak storms raised the level of Hebden Water by 8 ft, washing away or damaging all wooden bridges and stepping stones and leaving the only remaining crossing at Gibson Mill

  • Saturday, 20th May 1989 Freak storms hit Calderdale. The Luddenden valley, Dean Clough and Ovenden are worst hit

  • Saturday, 17th June 1989 Prince Charles played a charity polo match in aid of Bailiff Bridge Community Association centre appeal

  • Thursday, 19th October 1989 Fire damaged Brown's engineering company, Hebden Bridge

  • Tuesday, 24th October 1989 Prince Charles visited Dean Clough, Abbey Park Estate at Illingworth, Halifax Town Hall, and the Halifax Building Society at Copley

  • 1990 Princess Margaret visited Halifax

  • Tuesday, 23rd January 1990 Several people were killed and much damage was caused by gales of up to 115 mph which swept across Britain

  • Monday, 2nd April 1990 An earthquake centred in Shropshire was felt in many parts of Britain in the early afternoon

  • November 1990 Fire damaged an electrical company at Bramston Street, Rastrick

    The Camping Centre at Hipperholme destroyed by fire

  • December 1990 Walkley Clogs building badly damaged by fire

  • February 1991 The district was gripped by a Siberian Winter

  • June 1991 Prince Charles opened the canal-side promenade by Brighouse market

  • December 1991 The centre of Mytholmroyd and Brearley were flooded

  • Thursday, 6th February 1992 Part of Robinwood Mill, Todmorden was destroyed by fire in an attempted insurance fraud

  • Thursday, 9th July 1992 Prince Charles visited Halifax where he formally opened Eureka! and visited the Square Chapel Arts Centre

  • Tuesday, 21st July 1992 There was a serious fire at Allied Colloids in which 28 firefighters were injured

  • Saturday, 5th September 1992 Fire caused £250,000 damage at Thornber's Mytholmroyd egg-factory

  • Monday, 23rd November 1992 Arsonists caused £2 million damage at Walsden Printing Company

  • January 1995 Sudden snowstorms stranded many people. Offices in Halifax were opened to shelter people marooned by the blizzards

  • February 1995 Parts of the Calder Valley were flooded when 4 inches of rain fell in 24 hours

  • June 1995 Fire swept through Lock Hill Mill, Sowerby Bridge

  • July 1995 A hot summer broke all records in most parts of England and Wales, leading to the worst drought in 500 years

  • Sunday, 31st December 1995 A temperature of -27·2° C [-17° F] was recorded at Altnaharra, Scotland

  • February 1996 Snow and treacherous weather conditions caused problems for motorists

  • Friday, 3rd May 1996 The 100 yard Tuel Lane link tunnel between the Rochdale Canal and the Calder & Hebble Navigation was reopened with the lock at Sowerby Bridge, with a depth of 8·1 metres, being the deepest lock in Britain

  • September 1996 Garden Street Mill, Halifax gutted by fire

  • 1997 In Hong Kong, an outbreak of bird flu killed 6 people and was stemmed by killing all the chickens in the colony. This was type A strain H5N1

  • February 1997 For 6 hours, 14 fire crews tackled a fire which destroyed Royal Mills, New Bond Street, Halifax

  • September 1997 Princess Anne, the Princess Royal visited Halifax and toured the offices of Timeform which were celebrating their 50th anniversary

  • 1998 The listed building at Halifax Town Station – owned by Eureka! – underwent redevelopment with the help of a Heritage Lottery Fund grant

  • 1999 In Hong Kong and China, there was an outbreak of bird flu. This was type A strain H9N2

    The Calder flooded in Spring

  • April 1999 Prince Charles visited Halifax and toured the St John's area

    © Malcolm Bull 2024
    Revised 16:28 / 8th April 2024 / 198036

    Page Ref: C813-1900

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