HISTORY OF SCHOOL AND COTTINGLEY TOWN HALL

Mr. Ellis Heaton, a former resident of Cottingley, wrote the following sketch in 1914. Mr. Heaton was brought up in Cottingley early in life and showed promise of great usefulness. He was appointed Secretary of the Sunday school, but very soon afterwards had to remove from the district. The ensuing history of the Town Hall is reproduced here in its original form. INTRODUCTION England is today a nation in arms. Europe is one vast battlefield. Little Belgium is once again the arena of international strife. We are living in the midst of wars and the alarums of wars. The guns are booming out from the Priory Cliff near my house; soldiers pass to and fro beneath my window. Only a few days ago the ships of the enemy came off our coast and wrought havoc in three of our seaside towns. The year 1814 was no less a time of wars and alarms, but the end was in sight. Napoleon, who had been the scourge of Europe for a dozen years, was a prisoner in Elba, and peace seemed sure. But 1815 saw his escape from that island prison, it saw the exciting events of the Hundred Days, it saw Napoleon's overthrow and his safe lodgement in the lonely southern isle of St. Helena. Such were the times in which a few brave pioneers still holding to the Gospel of Peace and Goodwill, converted a smithy into a Sunday School, and started the work, the history of which we are to trace in these pages, and over which we rejoice today. England had been drained by the wars. She had poured out her blood and her treasure and she was exhausted. But it was all over in June 1815. Oh that we might join to our Centenary and Jubilee Celebrations, the rejoicings over a lasting peace in which "Nation with Nation, land with land, arm in arm, shall live as comrades free, in every heart and brain shall throb the pulse of one fraternity." Christmastide 1914 E.W.H. CHAPTER 1 The Smithy that became a Sunday School Anyone making a tour of the village of Cottingley today can see for himself that the Cottingley of a hundred years ago must have been a much smaller place. The old houses cluster about the foot of the village or range themselves now on this side and now on that of the Main Street, which led in those days to the Old Hall that stood at the t op of the village. There were three houses of distinction in 1815. There was the Old Hall which dated from 1659 and belonged to the Ferrands of St. Ives. This was pulled down in 1872 but we have a reminiscence of it in the "Old Hall Well". Then there was the Grange, erected in 1671, the home of the Hollings family, with its pleasant garden sloping down to the beck and looking across to the ancient hostelry known as the Sun Inn. This inn stood on the old Coach Road and near it was the Smithy, which in 1815 became the Sunday School.

Cottingley Hall (then known as Cottingley House) was of more recent date than the Old Hall or the Grange, and in 1815 it was occupied by Miss Sarah Ferrand.

The inn was kept by the Fosters, one of whose daughters became the wife of James Moore.

The inn had a good reputation and it was here that the "musicians" mentioned in the early accounts of the Sunday School took their refreshment when they came from surrounding villages to help in the anniversary.

Can we picture to ourselves the England of 1815. The population was only eleven million souls. There were more than three-quarters of a million slaves in the British Empire, though slave trading had ceased some six years before. Wilberforce was then a man of fifty-six. Leeds was a little town of 80,000 inhabitants. Travelling was by coach. There were no trains or trams or cabs. There were only two steamers in the British Empire and together their tonnage was only 456. Gas was practically unknown. A Member of Parliament got up in the House and said "You might as well talk of ventilating London with windmills as talk of lighting the streets with gas." Duelling was common. Intemperance was an everyday fault. Laws were severe. Poachers could be transported for seven years. Men could be hung for stealing a sheep. The prisons were in a dreadful state. Elizabeth Fry had paid her first visit to Newgate in 1813 and was now fully launched on her career of mercy. Women could be flogged in public places. One person in every eleven was a pauper. Only one child in four was receiving any education whatsoever. Shelley wrote - "In countries that are free such starvation cannot be as in England now we see." Children were sent to work at the age of seven, and were often made to work 16 hours out of the 24: every child has read Charles Kingsley's story of the boy chimney sweeps of those days in "Water Babies". Can we wonder that men, whose hearts were touched with the love of Christ, brooded and yearned and eventually moved in the direction of service to Christ's "little ones", and overcame every obstacle, turning the village smithy into a school house, where every child might learn to read that he might "search the scriptures" and be able to say in the words of the psalm, "Thy word have I hid in my heart that I might not sin against Thee."

It was towards the end of 1814 and in the early months of 1815 that those noble pioneer s rented the Smithy at the foot of the village from Joseph Hollings esquire, of Whetley Hall, in the parish of Bradford, and vested its management in a committee. They built better than they knew, but so careless were they of fame that they have not even left their names on record for us to honour.

The school was to be conducted "on a liberal plan". There were to be no narrow tests. All who loved the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and in truth and who therefore possessed the moral qualities such love ensures were welcomed as workers in the cause which knew no sect or party. We read in the records - "The Committee shall permit and suffer the children of parents of every denomination, sect and party to assemble in the said schoolroom for the purpose of instruction by such as shall be willing to labour gratuitously". "The said teachers shall be persons of good moral character, and shall not be objected to on account of his or her or their faith or principles."

The work began as a Sunday School. This was the foundation on which they built. Parents and grown-up children had been in the habit of worshipping in the chapels and churches of Bingley, Shipley, Allerton and Wilsden. Occasional preaching services had been held in cottage houses prior to the conversion of the smithy into a school house. But now the committee took the further step of initiating "Preachings" in the village. There must have been many who could not travel to the towns and there was growing up a new generation linked to the school. What could be more wise or desirable than that they should commence preaching services in the schoolhouse. So we read the committee decided - "to permit and to suffer the said school-house to be open for the admission of preachers and ministers of all and every denomination whose lives and characters are respectable."

Having secured that the right kind of person shall teach and preach the committee proceeded to make sound rules for the scholars. Here are two of them - "Any scholar, either boy or girl, heard swearing - the superintendent shall immediately have the boy or girl placed in a conspicuous part of the room for the space of ten minutes, with a piece of paper in his or her hand on which shall be written the offence." "Each scholar shall be obliged to observe due reverence towards their masters, superintendents and visitors."

It is interesting to find that the committee urged superintendents candidly to put in practice the above resolutions.

The earliest financial statement of which we have any record is for the year 1817, and occurs in the Sunday School "Accompt Book".

The income for the year was just over £11, and there is a handsome balance at the close of £2.13.4½d. Some interesting items are - Two Dozen of Candles ... £0.16s.0d A Letter to London ... £0. 1s.0d. To the Musicians ... £0. 4s.11d. It is gratifying to find that the Ferrands and Joseph Hollings each contributed an annual gift of £1 to the funds. Both families belonged to the Anglican Communion. The earliest recorded names of workers are those of William Picard, Henry Moulden, John Hudson and J. Sugden.

In 1818 we find a Thomas and a William Whitley, and in 1819, James Pollard.

There is no mention of oil lamps till 1828: till then candles had served: this must have been chiefly for the preaching services, since the school meetings would generally be in daylight. A regularly recurring item of expenditure is - To "Whitewashing" the school, 2/6.

By the year 1831 the school seems to have been thoroughly established and henceforth we find a complete record of its doings. From the Minutes of April 12th of that year we gather that "All teachers are expected to be in attendance ten minutes before school time". The we learn that the school time-table was as follows - Morning School 10.0 to 10.20 - Singing and Prayer 10.20 to 10.50 - Reading 10.50 to 11.0 - Spelling 11.0 to 11.10 - Singing of Hymns 11.10 to 11.50 - Exercises on the "Helps" 11.50 to 12.0 - Singing Afternoon school: Commencing at 2 o'clock; routine similar to that above, omitting the opening prayer.

This was indeed a strenuous programme; but all teachers of children will see the wisdom displayed in the variety of the menu. It is gratifying to find that the children were allowed to take books home to read. It is no wonder that we find in 1833 a note of the first grant of £1 towards a school library.

All who have had anything to do with Church work and organisation will be interested in the following Minute - "Committee members absenting themselves and not providing a substitute shall pay a fine of 3d., the same to go to school funds."

Let us hope the school funds gained little from this source!

It is in 1831 that we come across the first mention of the Whitsuntide Anniversary. There was a big meeting on Whit Monday at which a number of scholars recited their "pieces". So popular was this function that we find no fewer than nineteen scholars holding forth at one and the same gathering. The girls outshone the boys, as they always do at reciting.

The first Anniversary "Sermons" mentioned are those of April 12th 1835.

The years 1831 to 1835 were years of great movements in our national history. The Reform Bill was passed in 1832. In the following year slavery was abolished in the British Colonies and the first English Factory Acts came into operation. Wilberforce just lived to see the success of the cause to which he had without stint given his life, and Richard Oastler, whose monument stands in Forster Square, in the City of Bradford, was reaping the first fruits of noble labours on behalf of children. The year 1834 saw the Poor Law amended.

Cottingley Sunday School was doing its part. In 1834 two dozen copies of "Reading Made Easy" were bought for the little ones. In the following year we meet with the first mention of "The Mechanics Institute". It was called upon to recompense the Committee for coals to the tune of six shillings. We have evidently here the beginning of another branch of work. The schoolroom was to be a busy hive of industry on week evenings as well as on Sundays. And how this institution prospered! We find it ranking with the Sunday School and Day School in the bold proposals of the early sixties.

Many names which were household words in the Cottingley of a generation ago appear on the books recording the work of the period 1831 - 1842. Those most frequently recurring are John Hudson, William Dibb, William Ferrand, Joseph Dean, Thomas Stephenson, Thomas Smith, Joseph Pollard, John Pollard, Jonathon Whitley, Francis Smith, William Smith and James Firth. John Hudson was a leading worker till 1833. John Pollard succeeded him as treasurer, and was himself succeeded by Benjamin Ferrand in 1837. In 1835 we come across the familiar names of George Hey, Joshua Laycock, James Moore and John Smith. These young men lived to serve the village far on into the seventies. Geo. Hey who died in 1880, left a fragrant memory and "his works do follow him". Joshua Laycock took a prominent part in the educational activities of the Old School and in the establishment of the New Town Hall, passing to his rest full of honours and respect in 1885.

In the thirties home brewed beer was the common beverage of the people; tea and coffee were just coming into use, but as yet they were the luxuries of the few (the tax on tea was 1/5 on each pound). The first mention of tea occurs in the accounts of 1836 and the first mention of coffee in 1837. We note a curious minute to this effect - "Beer for scholars and singers, tea and coffee for the teachers and friends."

The accounts of this period show the interesting fact that the modest sum of 3d per week was paid for cleaning the school-house. It was evidently a labour of love. The schoolroom was by no means an ideal building, as we may gather from the fact that in January 1836 the Committee had to be called together "to enquire if nothing could be done to prevent the fire "smoking in future": also "whether the schoolroom could not be made more comfortable." John Craven and George Hey were asked "to devise the best methods of preventing the evil referred to." Within a week they had done so.

From this time onward the names of Benjamin Ferrand and William Pollard repeatedly occur. The former was Treasurer from 1837 till 1842, when he was followed by his son Thomas, who held the post with honour to himself and great advantage to the school, for the long period of twenty six years. William Pollard succeeded him as Treasurer and he in turn handed on the office to his son, John Pollard, who has held the office now for forty years.

No sooner was the "smoke nuisance" cured than the Committee began to think of enlarging the school. The proposal was to fill the "Extension" with pews. Were they to be wide pews with seats on three sides or were they to be narrow pews of the general type? Were they to stand on the floor or were they to rise one behind the other on a gallery slope? Such were the burning questions which engaged the Committee in 1836. Thomas Petty followed the good old English plan of proposing a compromise, but whether his plan was carried out or came to nought the records do not show. We are told "Many ingenious reasons were given in favour of each scheme and it was decided to call a general meeting of the committee, teachers and friends." At this meeting a good brother proposed the following very obvious and sensible resolution - "This meeting is of the opinion that the school-room, on account of its contracted size, does not afford the accommodation for teaching which a larger would, and that steps be taken, etc." This was seconded and carried, nem con.

The year 1837 will always stand out as a memorable year. It was the year of Queen Victoria's accession to the throne she was destined to occupy for the long period of 63 years. It was the year, too, when the only recorded "difference" between members of a committee in connection with the management of school or church affairs in Cottingley occurred. It was on this wise. The Secretary, being an idealist, wanted to vote £1 to the Library fund; the Treasurer, being a practical man (as all treasurers should be) objected. How happy is the community that has both types of men in its service.

Another incident of note we must record in connection with the year 1837. At the Anniversary Meeting, one child had the temerity to give a recitation from the Greek Testament. The scholars of today will have to look to their laurels.

On April 5th, 1838, there was born at Cottingley Hall, Richard Thornton. At the age of twenty, after completing his education at Bradford Grammar School and the Royal School of Mines (to which college it was the writers privilege to go as a student many years after) he left England with Livingstone for the unexplored interior of Darkest Africa. He was the scientist of the expedition, and his work was highly valued. He met his death from dysentery whilst out on an expedition seeking food for the famine- stricken people on the banks of the Shire River, Livingstone was with him at the time.

Whilst the Thorntons were at the Hall there was living at the Grange, Edward Berwick, who employed a large number of villagers in hand-combing and spinning. He is of special interest in this record since his daughter married Isaac Skirrow Smith, whose name henceforth appears frequently on the records of the Sunday School.

In the accounts of 1839 we meet with reference to a money club and in the Minutes of the Committee we read - "All who are not teachers or subscribers to the Sunday School shall pay 1/- a year to the funds."

This was evidently a further development of the many sided activities which found their home in the old school.

That the school did not lack for supporters and workers we may gather from the following instructive Minute - "Resolved - that Teachers be asked to come once in four weeks."

Some new names on the books at this period are as follows:- Abram Hird, Benjamin White, David Whitley, Timothy Hird.

By 1844 tea seems to have supplanted beer for the scholars since we meet with the following entry - "For the Scholars' Tea, 4/9." The Whit-Sunday Anniversary was the outstanding event of the year for the grown ups and the Whit-Monday tea Meeting for the young folks. In 1847 the cost of the singers was no less than £1, and the large sum of £3 is set down for "Fitting up the Anniversary".

When anything needed to be done the Committee set about it in right business- like fashion. Nothing was left to chance. In 1843, some enlargements of the school premises were desired. At one Isaac Skirrow Smith was deputed to interview the Hollings family at Whetley Hall and Benjamin White and John Craven were appointed to "canvas" the village. Thus the work got done.

We first meet with the name of Robert Tempest in 1846. No name in the annals of Cottingley hold a more honoured place. A working man, honoured by all, workers and employers alike, he laboured in season and out of season for the good of the village. Nearly 40 years were to elapse before he fell on sleep and "was not, for God took him".

One wonders if it was his benign influence which led to the following resolution finding its way upon the Minutes for 1846: Rule 2 - "No stick is allowed to be used in the school during school hours."

With the year 1847 the records of the old school somewhat abruptly end, but not until it has been put on record that at the Whitsuntide Festival three children recited on " The Rise and Progress of the Sunday School at Cottingley."

A generation has passed since the foundation of the school, and it was well that teachers, scholars and friends should look back on the wonderful way in which God has prospered their labours, and take heart of grace to go forward.

Another dozen years were to elapse before the committee put their hands to the huge undertaking which culminated in the building of the Town Hall. And what years! In 1848 nearly every king and prince in Europe trembled on his throne as revolution spread like a fire from land to land. No throne was so secure as that of England's honoured Queen.

The railway from Bradford to Keighley had been opened in 1846. The Crystal Palace was set up in Hyde Park in 1851. The Crimean War broke out in 1854, and the stirring events which Tennyson describes were thrilling English hearts. "Half a league, half a league, Half a league onward, Into the valley of death Rode the Six Hundred."

Whilst Europe was thus convulsed, great changes had begun in the village of Cottingley. The Mill, formerly a tannery, had been taken by Thomas Baines of Wilsden, who brought with him as junior partner, Thomas Thornton. The event was a landmark in the history of the village.

There followed an influx of workers and a spurt in building. By 1861 when the census was taken there were 133 houses in the village, and the population had reached 667.

It is no wonder that many new names appear between 1852 and 1880. Among the most familiar of these in connection with works at the Old School and in the New Hall were the following - Adam Pollard, Mark Dickenson, Joseph Wilson Thornton, Kaberry Baines, John Briggs, William Clough, Alfred Hartley.

In 1858, the year after the terrible outbreak of the Indian Mutiny, we meet with the first striking evidence of a great advance of numbers in the school. The accounts show an order for 150 hymn books, and that 98 of these were sold.

By the following year, the workers could wait no longer - something must be done and that quickly. With the same business-like earnestness which we have noticed was characteristic of the Committee right from the outset, the Sunday School Committee called together the Day School Committee and the Mechanics' Institute Committee to consider the question of providing a new building adequate to the growing needs of the rapidly growing population of the village. This date, April 11th 1859, marks the beginning of a new era in the story we are following in these pages. It shall therefore mark the opening of a new chapter in this sketch.

But we cannot yet close our record of the Old School whose Centenary we are now about to celebrate. The Town Hall was not ready for use until March 1865. Meanwhile the workers made the best use of the inadequate premises at the foot of the village.

The accounts for 1855 show that the annual Public Collection made by the school was equally divided between the Sunday School and the Day School. It is evident therefore that a day school had been opened to meet the growing desire for education which was springing up very generally throughout the country at this time.

The Day School actually made a start in 1835. The first schoolmaster was Nicholas Walker, whose name is honoured by his old pupils to this day. Many of them are alive still, and stand to the credit of the old school and its first schoolmaster.

In 1862 we meet with a record of the first temperance lecture held in the village. The lecturer was a Mr. Andrews.

Looking back on it all, one wonders however the many sided activities represented by the record of this chapter managed not only to survive but to thrive in the inadequate premises of the Old School. Yet those who benefited by its activities and shared its hospitality look back with reverence (as they were taught according to the rules of the school) to the teachers and superintendents and kindly visitors who toiled and scraped and gave and gathered that the children of their day might learn of the children's saviour and take the Old Book as a lamp to their feet and a light to their path.

The Old School is gone, but its work goes on. It is fitting that we pause to honour the men and women (how is it that we never mention our women?) who gave their talents and time in the service of Him who first loved them and gave Himself for them.

CHAPTER 2 The Building of the Town Hall

We can never be too thankful that in the days when the Old School began to prove inadequate to the growing needs of the village, no breaking away or splitting up into separate denominational communities occurred. Cottingley has been saved the problem, which faces so many villages in England, of two or three or even more village Bethels each struggling to keep its head above water, and it was in the first half of the nineteenth century that nonconformity seemed to show most inclination to split off into many groups. The tendency was a part of the spirit of the age. It was an expression of independence and of a sense of the inalienable right of every man to worship in the way his conscience approves.

The latter half of the century saw a change of attitude growing up in drawing together of Nonconformity for united and common fellowship and action in face of the social problems which afforded common ground and appealed with equal urgency to all Christian Churches alike.

The Free Church Council had no existence in the fifties and sixties, and the spirit of the age was against it. But what wisdom and charity it shows in the leaders of the Old School at Cottingley that no move towards separation occurred, when a fairly good excuse was to hand in the cramped conditions of the Old School House.

We have seen that the first steps toward providing more adequate premises were taken in 1859, when the Sunday School Committee (once again the pioneers) called to their councils the Committee of the Mechanics' Institute and that of the Day School. At the memorable meeting held on the 11th April 1859, John Briggs (President of the Sunday School) was voted to the Chair and Adam Pollard appointed as secretary. Joseph Wilson Thornton, son of Thomas Thornton, already a teacher in the Sunday School and at that time a young man of 25, moved - "That a new building is required to accommodate the three before mentioned institutions."

The joint meeting proposed in the very next resolution that - "Such building shall be vested in the hands of 13 trustees, 7 of which to be chosen by the Sunday School, 3 by the Day School and 3 by the Mechanics' Institute."

It is evident that no superstitious fear of the number 13 entered the minds of this practical and statesmanlike Committee.

The best site in the village for a Town Hall was vacant and belonged to William Ferrand, M.P. of St Ives.

At first it was proposed to ask Mr. Hollings, of Whetley Hall, to give the Trustees the Old Schoolroom, and if successful, then to ask Mr. Hollings to grant the gift of the waste ground surrounding it. But by April of the next year the Committee waxed bold enough to present memorials to the two landowners praying for the gift of both sites - (A) the Old Schoolroom with the waste land surrounding it and (B) the Town Hill. Thomas Baines and Isaac Skirrow Smith were deputed to present the memorials. How great must have been the joy of the Trustees when they learned that both sites were to be handed over as a free gift for ever.

The following are the names of the first trustees:- William Ferrand Isaac Skirrow Smith John Hollings James Moore Thomas Baines Mark Dickenson James Fyfe

Joshua Laycock George Bishop Joseph Wilson Thornton William Ferrand Kaberry Baines Adam Pollard (July 7th 1862)

Whether the number 13 did afterwards obsess the committee or not we cannot say, but four other names were proposed in December.

All the preliminaries having been completed satisfactorily, it was necessary to get to work at once, and to this end an Executive Committee was formed on June 2nd 1863. It consisted of Adam Pollard, Thomas Baines, Joseph W. Thornton, William Clough, Isaac Skirrow Smith, Robert Tempest and Joshua Laycock.

A week later a joint meeting of Trustees and Executive was held and Thomas Baines was appointed chairman of both. Joshua Laycock and Robert Tempest vice-presidents; Adam Pollard secretary, and Alfred Hartley to be assistant secretary. Thomas Thornton was elected treasurer.

Of all the worker mentioned above Alfred Hartley is the sole survivor.

By the 9th June 1863, the general plan of the building had been agreed upon and its name was to be "The Cottingley Protestant Hall".

The next problem was the financial one. Two Committees were formed - (1) Home Finance Committee (2) Foreign Finance Committee

Most of the foreigners lived within twenty miles of the village!

At the first Executive Committee it was decided to ask Mr. Ferrand for permission to get the necessary stone from the Plain Field. This was granted and the Committee undertook to do the leading. One would have liked to see the members of the Executive leading stone from the Plain to the Town Hill. No doubt they did it by proxy. Many of the farmers lent their horses and carts for team work, and a goodly number of villagers helped in the evenings to dig out the foundation.

The Home Finance Committee commenced operations by opening the schoolroom on Friday evenings for weekly subscriptions from the villagers.

The Building Committee determined that no jerry-work should find a place in the new "Protestant Hall" for they appointed no less than seven of themselves to supervise the progress of the building. Fancy seven clerks-of-works!

The Anniversaries had grown too big for the capabilities of the old schoolroom and were now held in Mark Dickenson's barn until such time as the new hall was ready.

By Christmas 1863 everything was ready for the laying of the Foundation Stone. This took place on Boxing Day, and marks a red-letter day in the history of the village.

Thomas Baines, as chairman, read the report. It showed that William Ferrand of St. Ives had given the Town Hill site which was valued at £150, and John and Thomas Hollings of Whetley Hall, Manningham had given the Old Schoolroom and the site on which it stood, valued at £100.

The Old Schoolroom had served the purposes of a Sunday School, a Day School, an Evening School and a Mechanics' Institute. The New Hall was to be devoted to the same high purposes and its scope widened to permit lectures and addresses on "Sanitary and Social Subjects." Like the Old School it was to belong to no sect or party, but to the people of Cottingley for ever. It is an education in breadth, charity and catholicity to con the speeches delivered on the occasion of the stone-laying, as recorded in the local press.

Joshua Laycock waxed eloquent (he had a real gift of eloquence) as he declared that "This institution will be the means of subduing the lion-like passions of man and of reinstating the principles of the Lamb. It will be one of the means of bringing about the time when the strongholds of ignorance shall be swept away, and when knowledge shall cover the face of the earth."

The stone was "well and truly laid" by William E. Glyde, of Shipley. He was hardly a "foreigner", for on every opportunity and occasion he proved himself a friend of Cottingley. In an excellent speech he declared his belief that "Knowledge is rather the hand-maid of devotion than ignorance." He then enlarged upon the unity of spirit for which the new building was to stand. "In efforts of this kind there need be no sacrifice of principle. The evil of religious strife did not arise from the earnest maintenance of a man's own views, but rather from the bad unchristian temper with which these points were often argued."

"Religion should extinguish strife And make a calm of human life."

Thomas Thornton (the treasurer) thanked Mr. Ferrand and Mr. Hollings for making "all the inhabitants of Cottingley freeholders."

The afternoon was characterised by piercing winds and considerable rain, but no less than 250 persons sat down in the Old Schoolroom (not all at once surely) to "discuss the comestibles" as reported by the "Bradford Review". The evening meeting was presided over by James Fyfe and the people were treated to another "feast of reason and flow of soul".

The year 1864 was one of steady progress with the building and with subscriptions. One alteration was made, and wisely. There were many Roman Catholics in the village and they could participate, at any rate, in the benefits of the Mechanics' Institute and its various activities. Prominent among these was Michael Abberton. The name of the building now rapidly rising before their eyes was changed from "The Protestant Hall" to "The Cottingley Town Hall". It was another mark of the tolerance and wisdom of these master builders. The change of name was suggested by William Clough, of New Close Farm, who with his wife and family rendered much service to the Town Hall. It was William Clough's ambition as a farmer to make two blades of grass grow on his land where one had grown before, and he carried the same spirit in to his church activities.

It is in 1864 that we meet with the first mention of a Whitsuntide Walk

The tea following the walk was served in the Old Schoolroom. A gala followed in a field nearby, but "all contests for money" were strictly prohibited.

Anno Domini 1865 was the culminating year of the Town Hall scheme. The Opening took place on Tuesday March 21st. Of course the proceedings began with a Tea. Somebody had been quick enough to propose a charge of 2/- for the first sitting down. It stopped the rush of hungry little boys and it brought more grist to the mill.

The evening meeting revealed that the "Home Campaign" had raised £458. The weekly subscriptions alone amounted to £100.15s. Heads of families had regularly given their sixpence a week plus one penny for every child.

The members of the Baines family gave in all £170. Isaac Skirrow Smith gave the public clock, which cost £46. Thomas Thornton gave £15.

The "Foreign Campaign" had been no whit less successful. In addition to the gifts of land by Mr. Ferrand and Mr. Hollings, John Crossley of Halifax (the chairman of the evening), had given £100, Titus Salt £100, W. E. Glyde £50, William Murgatroyd of Bankfield £35, Isaac Holden £30, Charles Stead £21, and the Duke of Devonshire £10.

The evening meeting was a great occasion. The principal speakers were the Rev. J. P. Chown (Baptist) and the Rev. Dr. Campbell (Congregationalist) both from the "Foreign Field" since they laboured in the distant town of Bradford. The Rev. Frederick Greeves (Wesleyan) and the Vicar of Bingley were unable to attend. On the platform were also W. E. Glyde, James Fyfe and Samuel Jackson (the architect), and, of course, the local workers.

Mr Crossley facetiously referred to the name - Town Hall - and suggested that soon they would be having a Mayor and Corporation. He did not, however, suggest names.

No meeting in those days was complete without a few words from Joshua Laycock. He referred to the broad basis on which the Town Hall had been established, and to the open doors which now "unfolded themselves to the world". It was not the outward form of physical constitution that made the man. He then proceeded to quote Watt's verse - "Were I so tall to reach the pole, Or grasp the ocean in my span, I'd still be measured by my soul The mind's the standard of the man."

Then in a great wave of eloquence he declared that the Town Hall would "save thousands of sons and daughters, fathers and mothers from having ever to enter the much dreaded Bastille."

Mr. Glyde spoke with his usual wisdom.

The nett proceeds for the day reached the handsome total of £65.10s.9d.

Having now secured adequate premises, the Committee turned their attention to internal organisation. A Preachers' Committee was formed; it consisted of Independents, Baptists, Methodists and one Anglican. It was agreed to introduce the New Congregational Hymn Book.

August12th 1865 saw the opening of the Day School, and on September 13th the Mechanics' Institute began its first session's work under the improved conditions.

To celebrate the occasion, the Institute got up a Soirée on the 4th October 1865. The guest of the evening was Lord Frederick Cavendish, M.P. (who in 1882 met his death at the hands of assassins in Phoenix Park, Dublin, just when a prominent career in politics was opening out before him.) The village was in gala mood when Lord Frederick came. The streets were "decorated with arches of evergreens and flowers. Within, the walls were ornamented with flags and banners inscribed in gilt and silver letters with various appropriate mottoes."

The noble chairman told the people of those days how far our educational system was behind that of Prussia, though he seems to have thought our American cousins could give the Prussians a few points.

W. E. Glyde spoke as wisely as ever; he urged on his hearers the fact that the three "R's" are only the ABC of education. He was followed by Alfred Illingworth, M.P., who made reference to recent factory legislation on behalf of children.

Several new names occur on the records about this time. William Pollard succeeded Thomas Ferrand as treasurer of the Sunday School - an office which he held till 1873, when he was succeeded by his son, John Pollard, who still, after 40 years continuous service, retains the office.

George Hey now becomes a president of the Sunday School; Lot Moore and James White act as secretaries; Robert Tempest and Joseph Wilson Thornton teach a newly-formed select class.

By October 1866, the Executive were sufficiently free to utilise the land on which the Old Schoolroom stood. It was decided to build two houses thereon, one for the schoolmaster and one for the caretaker. Mr. Thornton, who had all along evinced gifts in that direction, was asked to prepare plans.

The quiet year of 1867 was succeeded by the outstanding year of 1868.

At the very beginning of the year, Joseph Armstrong became secretary to the trustees and to the executive. Was there ever a more scrupulous and efficient secretary? Among the records of Cottingley Town Hall, his impress will always stand out for its fullness, its clearness and its inimitable style. He was a Churchman, and the friends of Cottingley Town Hall will always hold his name in remembrance.

The year opened with a presentation to Thomas Baines for his untiring efforts as chairman of the trustees and of the executive, and for his generous gifts, as well as for his successes in the foreign financial field. A purse of £33 was handed over to him with a view of his obtaining a personal memento in the way of an oil portrait. With characteristic generosity he devoted the sum towards the Organ Fund, which was already under way, and added another £17 to bring it up to £50. In addition he gave a portrait of himself to hang in the Vestry of the Hall.

On the 10th January, everything was ready for the Bazaar on behalf of an Organ - the one thing needed to complete the equipment of the Town Hall. The two days Bazaar yielded no less than £182 5s. John Crossley of Halifax had again given generously.

The organ was opened by George Hirst, of Liverpool.

The Town Hall was complete, and it was free from debt except for the Organ Fund. Surely a triumph of faith joined with arduous and enthusiastic works!

New Times, New Measures and New Men

In 1870 the Town Hall was complete, but it was complete in a way that allowed for development. And the history of the work onward is still one of growth and expansion.

The year 1870 will always stand out as a remarkable year in the history of England and Europe. It was the birth year of the German Empire and of the French Republic. It was the year of Forster's Elementary Education Act: that for which the pioneers of the Old School at the bottom of the village had yearned and worked was at last within sight - a chance of education for every child of the realm.

The historic year was also one of great moment in the history of the Town Hall.

The Preacher's Committee met and arranged the First Baptismal Service on January 23rd 1870, and the first Administration of the Lord's Supper on January 22nd 1870.

Not a week later, a new Penny Bank opened its doors in the library on Friday evening January 28th.

Many new workers' names appear for the first time on the records of this year. Outstanding names are Foulds Heaton, Albert Newall Barker, Joseph Lee and David Shackleton.

In March, John Ashworth of Rochdale (author of "Strange Tales") gave his lecture on Palestine".

But the great event of the year was the formation of a Christian Church Fellowship, properly organised with its Deacons and periodical Church meetings. This was decided upon at a meeting held on 21st May. Again the Sunday School had taken the lead. The grown-ups had retained their membership with their respective denominations in the neighbouring villages and towns. The scholars growing into adolescence in the Sunday School had no such attachment. Hence the wisdom of the step. It enabled all who loved the Lord Jesus Christ, both young and old, to join in common church fellowship and to sit together at the Lord's Table; it created the family-tie which should bind the young people to the Church of Christ.

The first Church meeting was held on the 30th May 1870, and three deacons were appointed. The qualifications for a deacon were made very comprehensive. They are set out in the records as follows: "The Deacons must be Sunday School teachers, members of the preachers' committee and members of the church; also diligent and anxious for the welfare of the Sunday School, and invite all Christians into Christian fellowship."

The first three deacons were William Pollard, John Briggs and Foulds Heaton. At a subsequent meeting held on September 13th, William Pollard was elected treasurer and Foulds Heaton secretary of the Church Meeting.

By the end of the year, when the deacons presented their report, there were 31 members on the roll and seven new names to report. It was wisely resolved:- "That the Church be considered permanent."

The gathering together in Church fellowship did nothing to weaken denominational loyalties - Wesleyans were Wesleyans still, Congregationalists and Baptists likewise: but it did foster that Christian charity which is the enemy of all bitterness and sectarian strife.

The Mechanics' Institute was also very active in 1870. It presented its first printed report on August 23rd. At the same time it started a Club with newspapers and periodicals. We notice that conversation was allowed. No doubt the readers discussed the war and politics as we are doing now, for on 1st September Napoleon the Third gave up his sword to William the First of Prussia after the fateful battle of Sedan, and by the 19th of the month the Germans were besieging Paris.

Nevertheless the motto was "Business as Usual", for the same month saw the formation of science and art classes in connection with the Education Department at South Kensington. What happy and busy days those were!

At last the women were coming into their own. This was due to the democratic basis of the Church Meeting. But indeed it was a time when the "emancipation of women" was in the air. One historian ascribes it to the invention of the safety bicycle. The truth is both were the outcome of deeper movements which can be traced to the writings of Charlotte Brontë, Mrs. Gaskell and George Eliot. Here were women who could rank with any of the writers of the Victorian age, and their influence was profound.

In January 1871, three deaconesses were appointed to share the work of the deacons. And what scope there is in every Christian community for the ministrations of women.

The first deaconesses appointed were Sarah Baines, Alice Bartle and Elizabeth Armstrong.

Prominent among Sunday School workers were Jane Hartley and Sarah Knapton, Ruth Verity and Elizabeth Brista.

Since the foundation of the Town Hall the "March Anniversary" (which occasionally fell in April) has always been an outstanding event of the year. In 1871, Bishop Ryan, D.D., the genial and beloved vicar of Bradford attended the Annual Meeting and gave his benediction to the many and varied activities of the Town Hall.

The Anniversary Sermons were preached by another learned Doctor of Divinity - The Rev. S. G. Green, Principal of Rawdon Baptist College.

At the close of April, the Trustees and Executive decided to abolish seat rents and substitute offertories. The amount obtained was to be posted in the porch each week. At the same time it was decided to hand over the offertories to the Preachers' Committee, who were to meet the Preacher's payments out of it.

The following scale of payments was adopted: Ministers, 20/- per Sunday Students and supernumeraries, 12/6 Lay Preachers, 10/-

Readers will judge on what principle the scale was fixed; there was one, though it does not appear on the surface.

The Preachers' Committee had evidently deserved this confidence, for we find it recorded in May 1871: "The Preachers we have had are satisfactory".

But not only were the preachers to be paid. The "leading singer" was to receive 20/- a quarter and the organ blower 13/-. It is evident the one was nearly as important as the other. Not even Dr. Spark could play the organ without a blower.

The bell ringer too was not forgotten. He received 1/- a week (which works out the same as 13/- a quarter). When the blower and ringer were one and the same individual (as in the case of Tom Whittingham) the total salary left that of the leading singer quite in the shade.

The Preachers' Committee evinced great economy in their selection of preachers, for at the end of the year they were able to make a gift of £20 to the Executive.

Some new names for 1871 are W.E.Cooke, Lot Pollard and Thomas Whitley. Mr. Cooke was the first schoolmaster under the Act of 1870.

The March Anniversary of 1872 was celebrated with the first visit of the blind singers from York. One of their numbers, Jacob Hird, was a Cottingley native.

John Ruskin had been invited to come for the annual meeting, but being unable to come, he sent a copy of his latest work, "The Eagle's Nest", as a contribution to the library.

At this anniversary the finances of the Preachers' Committee were in such a healthy condition that it was able to hand over £15 to the organ fund.

We find from the records of 1873 that the Smiths of Cottingley Hall had shown great interest in the work of the Mechanic's Institute, Miss Smith being especially interested in the classes for girls. It is no wonder, then, that she was asked to distribute the prizes at the Mechanic's Institute Soirée, which was the outstanding event of the autumn.

Swire Smith, of Keighley, was the principal speaker, and Cottingley friends rejoice to know he still lives to serve his town and county, and that his King has honoured him with a knighthood, for surely no such honour was better deserved. John Sutcliffe, headmaster of Bingley Grammar School and father of Halliwell Sutcliffe (whose novels of Yorkshire life have made his name a household word among us) also spoke.

Among the youthful prizewinners were John Pollard, Tom Thornton and Jesse Clough.

Some new names in 1873 were A. F. Perfect, Tom Dean, Frederick Lobley, A J. Handyside, Alfred Laycock and Martha Laycock. Mr. Perfect succeeded Mr. Cooke as Schoolmaster.

The Soirée was such an important function that the committee decided: "That we cease working at the mill at 4.45 pm". Such was the unanimity between masters and men.

By the year 1874 we get well into the "land of the living". The Executive Committee included John Pollard and Thomas Smith (C.B.). The mysterious letters have nothing to do with "The Royal Order of the Bath" but signify that Thomas Smith of Cottingley Bridge is meant. These two names still stand on the executive roll - a fine record of forty years continuous service and loyalty.

For the first time we meet with the names of Joseph Hewitt, James Riley and George Hewitt.

We find the young men of the Mechanics' Institute are reading "Fors Clavigera". They evidently were feeling the new power to which the great Franchise Bill of 1867 had introduced them.

In March 1876, the annual function took on a new form. A spelling bee was held. It was confined to the hamlet of Cottingley. There were two sections - (1) Bees above sixteen years of age (2) Bees under that age. (Seeing that the average life of a bee is four months, some of the Cottingley bees were very venerable). The function was a great success, though it revealed some deplorable weaknesses in spelling. We refrain from giving names. The Act of 1870 had not yet had time to show what it could do.

Another outstanding year was 1877. A Church of England Mission was opened and placed in charge of the Rev. J. Simpson, M.A., who came from Grasmere and has remained in the village ever since. The permanent Church was completed in 1886 and Mr. Simpson became vicar of the Parish of Cottingley.

In July 1877, the Town Hall was registered as a Place for Public Worship and licensed for the purpose of marriage.

In this year, also, The Rev John Maylard, a Primitive Methodist Supernumerary Minister from Idle, was appointed to have pastoral care of the members. Thomas Baines became a deacon. Many who had hitherto refrained from joining as "members" of the "Cottingley Christian Church" now came in. The offertories reached the large sum of £81 and the pulpit expenses only came to £59.

In this year, too, Joseph Wilson Thornton and Foulds Heaton began the joint superintendency of the Sunday School which lasted for many years. Joe Smith (as he has always loved to be called) became secretary of the Mechanics' Institute and Sam Hartley the librarian.

What happy memories we have of Westfield Beck! How proudly we stepped out to the tune of "Lyngham", accompanied by a string band. One remembers, too, in the early days, the vigour with which Alfred Laycock brought forth sweet sounds from his piccolo. How we enjoyed our tea from the big milk cans!

It is in 1877 that we first hear of Westfield Beck. The Whitsuntide Meeting, as a result, was done away with, and so on December 29th, 1877, we have the record of the first tea and meeting under the new conditions.

It was in the autumn of 1877, too, that a Temperance Society with Juvenile Band of Hope attached was formed. Here was fresh scope for enthusiastic workers, and they were not lacking. The founders of the society were:- Robert Walmsley, Thomas Smith, Edwin Bartle, Lot Moore, Thomas Whitley, and Samuel Hartley. Edwin Bartle still continues his close connection with the work.

In the early days of 1878 we read of a great influx of church members. The numbers on the roll now stood at 188. Six deacons were appointed to work with Mr. Maylard. They were as follows: George Hey, Robert Walmsley, Foulds Heaton, Thomas Baines, William Jones, Lot Pollard.

This great increase in church activity was the outcome of a mission conducted by Thomas Seymour of York. The most outstanding instance of conversion was that of old Jack Wood, who lived in the Back Fold. Though over 70 at the time, he lived for many years to enrich the village church with his striking witness to the saving and keeping power of the Gospel. What a touching story he could tell of his experience on the stone-heap, where he laboured just outside the gates of Stock House and how beautifully he let out the secret of Mrs. Baines' kindly ministry to his bodily needs. But she was not the only one who had a tender place for old Jack. Mrs. Thornton used to see that he got a good square dinner every weekday, and Mrs. Foulds Heaton loved to provide his Sunday mid-day meal.

From 1878 to 1880 may well be called "The Age of Conversaziones". These were another variation from the Spelling Bee and formed part of the March Celebrations. The first of the series fell on Tuesday, March 26th 1878. It is in connection with this event that we first meet with the name of Levi Lilley. He had come to take charge of the village day school in succession to Mr. Perfect. It was a good day for Cottingley when Mr. Lilley came, and it was a sad blow when death claimed him prematurely in 1887 at the early age of 31.

A great feature of the first conversazione was a series of scientific lectures by Joseph Thornton, Tom Thornton and Mr. Severs. Among objects of interest which claimed considerable attention for their novelty was a Remington Typewriter (another sign of the coming day of the women) and a tricycle. It is no wonder that among the new names on the records at this time we find:- Mary Pollard, Hannah Pollard, Cissie Thornton and Emma Dickenson.

And there is one new name which stands for much in the later growth of the work at Cottingley - John William Hodgson.

The 25th of June 1878 saw the first wedding in the Town Hall. The contracting parties were:- David Whitley and Martha Willis.

The officiating minister was the Rev. John Maylard. The happy pair received a Family Bible at the generous hands of Mr. Baines.

In June, too, an attempt had been made to commence Cottage Services at the hill- village of Stoney Ridge. The missionary spirit had seized the members. By September a scheme of regular services was established.

The Church Meeting in October was able to report the remarkable total of 118 members.

It was now opportune to lay down Rules for the Constitution of the Church, and this was done on January 31st 1879.

Thomas Dibb joined the Executive in 1878. His term of office continued for 13 years.

The Conversazione of 1879 eclipsed even that of 1878. It was so successful that it was suggested to hold the next on three successive nights.

The March Anniversary was taken by Dr. Andrew Fairburn, the Principal of Airedale College (and afterwards the first Principal of Mansfield College, Oxford). It is interesting to find a record that:- "His society and general bearing excited universal admiration".

No wonder he was invited again in 1880. So from beginning to end the March Anniversary of 1879 was a red-letter event.

The Bingley School Board had taken over the management of the Day School since 1875, and, as is the way with School Boards and Committees, in 1879 they asked for an extension of the premises in the way of a better "Infants' School". And indeed it was needed. Without delay the Trustees and Executive got to work and the thing was done. The new department was ready for opening on February 7th 1880! The scheme had cost £600.

The Conversazione of 1880 did go on for three nights. The third evening was devoted to a performance of the "Messiah". The first and second evenings followed the lines of previous years. Mr. Lilley gave a lecture on "The Eye", and another on "The Ear". The great novelty of the year was the performance of Professor du Bonner (in ordinary life Thomas Clough, the village plumber). He was described as "The Talented Necromancer". And talented he certainly was. Did he not appear before Royalty at Milner Field, and had he not by his "dark acts persuaded Elizabeth Hudson that he had dealings with the nether world!

Light and shadow, sunshine and shower all go to make up the landscape of life. This s ame month two old stalwarts of the cause and firm friends of Cottingley, passed away in the persons of George Hey and Paul Normington,

The end of the year saw the membership at 122. Among new workers in the school we find Tamar Pollard, Jane Leach and Fanny Clough.

The March Anniversary of 1881 took the form of a great public meeting, and afforded the opportunity of reviewing the progress attained since the foundation stone had been laid in 1863. The total expenditure up to date on buildings and equipment had reached £3682, and the debt was £62.

The next three years were quiet and uneventful, yet years of health, for we find the average attendance at the Lord's Table was 77. Can there be a surer sign of spiritual health? Some new names appearing on the records for these years are John Shackleton, Harrison Moore, John Richard Eastwood, William Hird and Jesse Thornton. During these years the conversazione had given way to concerts, and the same high level of quality was maintained.

The March concerts were looked forward to with eagerness. They went on for seven consecutive years. There are many who can never forget the singing of the Misses Tomlinson, of Charles Blagbro, and of Willie Thornton, or the playing of Samuel Midgley. The most ambitious of the concerts was that of 1884, when the audience was treated to a performance of the first part of Rossini's "Stabat Mater", followed by Gounod's Cantata "The Pet Dove". A return visit of the blind singers was greatly appreciated.

The Town Hall was re-opened after decoration in 1884, and in October 1885 a mission was conducted by the Rev. P. Hastings of Heckmondwike. It was a time of spiritual refreshing. Mothers' Meetings were begun and prepared the way for the Women's Guild, which in recent years has done such noble work in the village.

Levi Lilley and Thomas Thornton took up the work of superintendents of the Sunday School. The Stoney Ridge Services were discontinued. The financial report for the year showed that for the last twenty years the total sum paid in interest had been only £20. The year had not closed before two veterans in the service of the village, as diverse as men could be in type and temperament, yet both one in loyalty to the Town Hall - Joshua Laycock and Robert Tempest - had passed away.

The year 1886 was to see still further changes. John Richard Eastwood removed to Wilsden, Mrs. Baines passed to her rest, mourned by all the village, Protestant and Catholic alike.

Foulds Heaton severed a long connection of 17 years, full of work in nearly every department of the school and Church, to take up his residence in Bradford. The Committee could not let him go without giving him as a token of their appreciation, a handsome illuminated address. The following words occur therein: "His unvarying kindliness whilst filling the above positions (teacher and superintendent) and his punctual attention to the duties he voluntarily undertook have prompted this expression of gratefulness and goodwill"""

Thomas Baines, Joseph Wilson Thornton, John Pollard, Levi Lilley, Sarah Tempest and William Smith signed the Testimonial.

The year 1886 was the coming of age of the Town Hall, and here it is perhaps best that our history should end. Within a year Mr. Lilley was dead and Mr. Baines shortly afterwards left the village to spend his declining years at Morecambe. They were a long summer evening, for he lived to be 86. Joseph Wilson Thornton lived on to serve the village in a multitude of ways till the close of 1902. He had been a member of the Trust and Executive from the very outset. For the long period of fifty years he had served as teacher and superintendent in the Sunday School, and there is no surer test of a man's loyalty than this. Mr. Thornton was a man of exceptionally versatile gifts and they were all at the disposal of the village. He was a born teacher. In how many a youth did he implant the desire for knowledge of the best things! He has left a worthy successor in Thomas Smith.

Two other prominent workers in 1887 who passed to their reward somewhat prematurely were Thomas Whitley and William Hird, the former in May 1900 and the latter in March 1890. Others left the village (we must mention William Jones) but many of the leading workers of that year are still in the van today.

John Pollard, Joseph Smith and Thomas Smith (no longer C.B.) have carried on the work laid down by Thomas Baines, Joseph Thornton, Robert Tempest and others. Thomas Smith, in addition to his work in Cottingley, has ably served the interests of the village on the Old Bingley School Board and the New Education Committee; in this work he followed Joshua Laycock.

George Hewitt and John William Hodgson have taken up the work left behind by George Hey, Foulds Heaton and John Richard Eastwood. Cottingley Town Hall never had a more faithful deacon than George Hewitt, or a more loyal Church secretary than John William Hodgson. They have both stuck to their posts for a quarter of a century.

Snowden Hird has now served as Superintendent or Local Preacher for a long number of years.

Among the many devoted women workers, none have served Cottingley better than Lucy Thornton, Annie Maylard, Polly Smith (C.B.) and Hannah Dibb (now Mrs. Holmes). They bear good names and have shown themselves worthy of them.

The story of the choir has received scant justice in this sketch, but this is because the records afford little help. The Town Hall has always been known for its good singing. One remembers the enthusiasm of Harry Pollard, and the days when the Pollards, the Smiths and the Thorntons could have made a choir by themselves. One recalls, too, how heartily Mr. Baines joined in the singing and at the same time eyed the naughty boys in the gallery and controlled them with his finger. Was it not a theory of his that boys were necessary evils! Does Cottingley realise how much it owes to this noble man of masterful spirit - autocratic in temperament and democratic in faith - who came to Cottingley just at the "psychological moment" in the history of its educational and religious development and served its best interests by pen and purse and voice, for the long period of 36 years. Then we cannot forget the unwritten but unforgotten ministry of Mrs. Baines to the needs of the village (irrespective of creed) or the valuable services of Miss Baines at the organ.

The mantle of Harry Pollard fell upon the worthy shoulders of Joseph Smith, and now rests with equal fitness on Robertshaw Knowles. Joseph Smith's connection with the choir goes back to the days of the Old School. There are still living seven members of the Old School Choir.

Their names are: Mrs. Joseph Myers, Mrs. Fox, Mrs. Alfred Laycock, Miss Baines, Horatio Fearenside, Thomas White and Joseph Smith.

But this is giving away ages and that is hardly fair.

Music has never lacked for enthusiasts in Cottingley. In 1895, Henry J. Mason of Bankfield, formed a Choral Society and added one more to the many valuable sides of Town Hall activity. The Choral Society has gone on prospering under his presidency and today numbers 62 members.

An institution, which one could not well forget to mention in these pages, is that which provides aged persons resident in the village, with an annual treat. This Institution which was founded in 1894, is upheld entirely by voluntary subscriptions and workers. The secretarial duties have been ably carried out by M. Crowther, W. Atkinson and R. F. Whitley, while the offices of chairman and treasurer have been in the capable hands of George Hewitt and William Frankland respectively.

At this point we cannot refrain from acknowledging the many services rendered by an old member of the choir - Willie Smith - who left the village in 1892. He had served for fifteen years as Secretary to the Sunday School, and for three years as Secretary to the Executive. Another loss to the Town Hall was the removal of Thomas Thornton to Keighley. He had seen much service in every branch of the work.

The departure of so many workers in such a short space of years and the death of Thomas Whitley in 1900 called for new workers to step into their places, and the response has been noble. Prominent among these are John Fielding and Joshua Ives, who ably support the men who have for so long stood by the cause.

In 1895 the Trustees had been thinned down to five by the sickle of the Reaper. It was therefore necessary to form a new Trust. This was done on December 19th. The thirteen Trustees elected are as follows: William Ferrand James Denby William Ferrand Jnr Thomas Gawthorpe Herbert J. B. Hollings Henry Johnson Mason George Hewitt John Pollard John William Hodgson Walter Ramsay Kay Thomas Whitley Joseph Smith and Thomas Smith In 1900, a time of great spiritual revival was experienced in connection with the visit of the Rev. Fred Robinson. Fifty-six new members were added to the Church.

In 1904, the Women's Guild was formed under the Presidency of Lucy Thornton (who still holds the office). She has been ably supported by Mrs. George Hewitt and a series of loyal secretaries. Here is scope for the young women growing up in the Sunday School. The Guild has done and is doing a splendid work in the village. Practical Christianity is its mark. As many as 87 members have joined. The annual average number of visits paid has been 300. More power to their elbow!

The same year saw the passing of Mrs. Pollard, the oldest member of the Church. In the year 1912 Elizabeth Hudson died and at the close of 1913 Mrs. Thornton, who had for many years taken up the kindly offices which Mrs. Baines had left, fell on sleep after half a century of quiet unobtrusive service to the village of her adoption.

It is some time since Mr. Fred Laycock passed away at Toorack, Melbourne, Australia. As a supporter of the Cottingley Sunday School and Anniversary he has rendered great service. It is gratifying to note that interest and support has been continued by his son - Mr. Burdett Laycock.

We are sorry to have to report the death of Mr. & Mrs. Thomas Gawthorpe, of Rydal Mount, Langley Avenue, Bingley, formerly of New Brighton, Cottingley. For a great many years they have taken a deep interest in the Whitsuntide Festival and the Sunday School Anniversary. To these they have liberally given their support. Mrs. Gawthorpe passed away September 1914 and Mr. Gawthorpe January 1915. Mrs. Briggs (sister to Mr. Gawthorpe) who formerly resided at New Brighton, Cottingley, continues to take interest in and support the Sunday School.

At the Annual Meeting of the Sunday School on January 3rd 1914, the School did itself honour in recognising the fifty years connection with the Old School and the Town Hall, of Joseph Smith. The event took the form of a presentation of a Cabinet to him and a Solid Silver Vase to his wife.

Our story is now complete. What a record of unstinting service, of enlightened activity, of breadth of view and charity of spirit! What a splendid line of loyal labourers in the vineyard, many of them working steadily for thirty, and forty, and even fifty years for the Master, and in the love of the children! Their reward is sure: they have reaped it here and there is more in store.

May Cottingley never want for workers of the same spirit in the same high calling! Sunday School Superintendents Thomas Bradley, William Smith, Thomas Ferrand, Joseph Dean, Timothy Hird, Joseph Pollard, John Briggs, Hollings Smith, Adam Pollard, George Hey, Joseph Wilson Thornton, William E. Cooke, David Shackleton, Lot Pollard, Foulds Heaton, A. F. Perfect, Joseph Wilson Thornton (2nd Term), Foulds Heaton (2nd Term), Thomas Thornton, Levi Lilley, John Richard Eastwood, F. Fitchett, Thomas Thornton (2nd Term), Snowden Hird, John William Hodgson, Thomas Whitley, Albert Smith, John Fielding, John William Hodgson (2nd Term), Arthur Fielding, Joshua Ives.

Secretaries

Adam Pollard, James White, Kaberry Baines, Lot Moore, Mitchell Bailey, A. J. Handyside, Alfred Laycock, Albert N. Barker, Joshua R. Laycock, Thomas Thornton, Thomas Smith, William Smith, Benjamin G. Thornton, Jesse Jones, Amos Heaton, Joseph Hodgson, Skirrow Smith, J. W. Ellis, William Denby, Bernard Bartle, William Pollard, Joseph Pollard, Ernest Hewitt, Willie Greenwood,

Treasurers Thomas Ferrand , William Pollard John Pollard (since 1874) .

CHURCH MUSIC

Choirmasters Henry Pollard , Joseph Smith Robertshaw Knowles,

Organists Marinda Baines, George Hey Jnr, Tamar Pollard, Joseph Whitley, Herbert Thompson, William Smith, Robert P. Whitley, John M. Knowles,

Mechanics' Institute Presidents Thomas Baines, Joseph Wilson Thornton, Joseph Smith

Vice-Presidents Thomas Thornton , Joshua Laycock, Kaberry Baines, John Shackleton, Joseph Wilson Thornton, Thomas Smith, Alfred J. Handyside, William Frankland,

Treasurers Joseph Armstrong, Snowden Hird, Jesse Jones , William Smith.

Corresponding Secretaries Frederick Lobley, Thomas Smith, Thomas Thornton Jnr, Joseph Smith, James Hird

Financial Secretaries Alfred J. Handyside, David Whitley, Joseph Hewitt, Foulds Heaton, John Pollard, Thomas Smith,

Librarians Joseph Hewitt, David Whitley, Joseph Smith, Robert F. Willis, Samuel Hartley, Alfred J. Handyside.

Temperance Society Founded 1877 Presidents Thomas Smith, Edwin Bartle, Thomas Whitley, Skirrow Smith, Joshua Ives,

Vice-Presidents Edwin Bartle, E. E. Taylor, Harrison Moore, Joshua Ives, Joseph Hodgson , Robert F. Whitley, Harry Smith,

Secretaries Samuel Hartley , William Denby, William Smith, Bernard Bartle, R. G. Thornton , Walter Haigh, John William Hodgson, Fred Fielding, William Atkinson, J. W. Taylor, Skirrow Smith, Albert Whittingham, Henry Fielding,

Treasurers Samuel Hartley . Alfred Baxter. John William Hodgson

Music Leaders Joseph Smith , William Smith, Robert F. Whitley,

Present Staff of Workers Cottingley Sunday School Superintendents John William Hodgson , Joshua Ives, Arthur Fielding,

Secretaries Willie Greenwood , Willie Denby, Ernest Hewitt.

Teachers 1st (Select) Class Females Mary Smith, Lucy Thornton, Annie Maylard 2nd Class Females Ivy Holmes, Maggie Butterfield 4th Class Females Jane Hartley, Alice Mainwaring 5th Class Females Emily Hill, Clara Naylor 1sr (Select) Class Males Thomas Smith, Wm. H. Hey, Joseph Pollard 2nd Class Males Fred Helliwell, William White 3rd Class Males Percy Stead, Albert Whittingham, Herbert Fielding 4th Class Males Daisy Fielding, Nellie Raistrick

Infant Teachers Joseph Smith, Janie Bartle, Eliza Hird

Deacons George Hewitt, John Hudson, Richard W. Addison

Church Secretary - John William Hodgson

Preachers' Committee Secretary - John William Hodgson Joseph Smith, Arthur Fielding, John Pollard, Joshua Ives, George Hewitt, John Holmes, Robertshaw Knowles , William Frankland, Thomas Smith,

Mechanics' Institute

President - Joseph Smith Vice-President -John Pollard Treasurer and Secretary - James Hird

Committee William Frankland, Robertshaw Knowles, John Leahy, George Webb, Craven Heaton, James Stones, Brooksbank Hoyle, William Whitley, Thomas Smith, Norman Smith,

Savings Bank President - Joseph Smith Actuary - William Smith Managers William Frankland, George Webb, Joseph Hodgson, Brooksbank Hoyle, T. Howcroft Hodgson.

Choir Choirmaster - Robertshaw Knowles Organist - John M. Knowles Sopranos Lucy Thornton, Mary Pollard, Alice Ann Smith, Janie Bartle, Miriam Denby, Alice Mainwaring, Nellie Raistrick, Daisy Fielding, Mary Miller, Agnes White, Edna Smith, Master T. Frear. Contraltos Mary Whitley, Edith Bartle, Alice Petty , Clara Butterfield. Tenors Joseph Smith, Herbert Fielding, Harry Smith , Arthur Wood, Walter Smith , Harry Wright, Harry Willis.

Basses John Pollard, Robertshaw Knowles, Emsley Snowden,Fred Fielding, T. Howcroft Hodgson, John Taylor, Ernest Hewitt. Organ Blower - George Taylor

Temperance Society and Band of Hope President Joshua Ives Vice-Presidents Skirrow R Smith , John William Hodgson, Edwin Bartle , Robert P. Whitley. Secretaries William Denby, Henry Fielding Superintendents Joshua Ives , Norman Denby, Arthur Fielding , R. Cundall, Herbert Fielding , Thomas Smith.

Committee (in addition to above) John W. Taylor , Albert Whittingham, William Whitley , T. Howcroft Hodgson.

Fred Fielding, Cottingley Choral Society (Founded in 1895) Present number of Members 62 President (ever since foundation) Henry J. Mason Secretaries William Smith to June 1896 Samuel Whitaker to June 1900 Herbert Thompson to present time

Librarians Emsley Snowden, Clifford Hewitt, Charles Whittingham, Charles Taylor, John Frear, Walter Smith

Conductors Henry J. Mason to about 1898 Frederick James, Mus.Bac.(Cantab), L.R.A.M. to present time Accompanists Joseph Whitley , Herbert Thompson, Lowther Hanson , William Robertshaw. Committee (First) Joseph Smith, Geo. Webb, Robsertshaw Knowles, Midgley Crowther, Fred Harding Committee (Present) Fred Harding, Harry Smith, Robertshaw Knowles, George Webb, Samuel Whitaker Eleven members who joined at the commencement of the Society are still active singers, in the Society Independent Order of Rechabites Salford Unity Diamond Tent (Founded in 1897) Founders Snowden Hird, Tom Snowden, John William Hodgson, Joshua Ives, Hartley Moore,, Fred Scott, Arthur Whitley, Harry Smith, John Hill, William Haigh, Fred Denby, Tom Shackleton.

Present Officers Snowden Hird, C.R.- Joseph Haigh, D.C.R.- William Whitley, P.C.R.- John William Hodgson, T.T.- William H. Hey, T.S.- Arthur Fielding, A.T.S.- William Haigh, T.L.- Tom Shackleton, T.G.- Bernard Bartle, Auditor- T. Howcroft Hodgson, Auditor..

Cottingley Women's Guild (Founded in 1904) as a branch of The Yorkshire Women's Guild of Christian Service President (ever since its formation) Lucy Thornton Visitors Secretary (ever since its formation) Mrs. George Hewitt Treasurer Mrs. John Holmes Secretaries who have held office Martha H. Thornton , Alice H. Webster, Alice Hird , Ruth Verity, Mary A. Smith , Mrs. William Holroyd. The Guild commenced with 40 members. The present number is 85 The work of the Guild is two-fold:- (a) Visitation of the sick (b) The rendering of help wherever needed

Old People's Annual Treat Chairman and Treasurer John Wm. Hodgson Secretary Robert F. Whitley Committee Bernard Bartle , John W. Ellis, John Smith , William Pollard, Herbert Thompson , Albert C. Holdstock.

Town Hall Cottingley Centenary and Jubilee Celebrations 1814-1865-1915

On Saturday and Sunday, March 20th and 21st, 1915, the fiftieth anniversary of the Town Hall and the Centenary of the Sunday School were celebrated by special gatherings.

A Reunion Tea and Meeting was held on Saturday March 20th, 1915. Tea was served in the schoolroom at 4.30 pm followed at 6.30 pm by a Meeting in the Town Hall, which was newly painted and decorated for the occasion.

The Meeting was presided over by an old scholar, Alfred Hartley, esq. of Bingley. During the evening selections were rendered by the choir (past and present members), and addresses were given by a number of old scholars, namely: Mr. Jesse Clough, Leeds Mr. William Harrison, Thirsk Mr. Robert Walmsley, Bramley Mr. Foulds Heaton, Huddersfield Mr. John Richard Eastwood, Bradford Mr. Henry Clough, Harrogate Mr. Thomas Thornton, Shipley Mr. Ellis W. Heaton, Tynemouth Offertories were taken at Tea and Meeting towards the Renovation Fund. Mr. Ellis W. Heaton, an old scholar residing at Tynemouth, conducted special services on Sunday, March 21st, in the morning at 10.30 and in the evening at 6 o'clock. In the afternoon at 2.30, a special Musical Service was given by the Choir (past and present members) A collection was taken at each service in aid of the Renovation Fund.