NEWSLETTER NO. 69 EARLY SPRING 2007 EDITORIAL A happy New Year to all and I hope you enjoyed a pleasant Christmas. The first half of the 2006/7 lecture programme seems to have flown by and Jane has already booked the dates for the 2007/8 lectures and is working on developing the programme. The dates for the first lectures in the 2007 programme are 6 October, 24 November and 8 December so put them in your diaries now. Following the successful talk on Granary Wharf and the Leeds Canal Basin, several members suggested that we should have a walk around the area to see the changes first hand, following the Section AGM on 21 April. I thought this was a good idea and perhaps it might encourage more members to attend the AGM, which I will try to keep to a minimum time. We will meet after lunch at 2pm by the statue of the Black Prince in City Square, Leeds. Members who can’t make the AGM are welcome to join in the afternoon. Although I will try to keep AGM business to a minimum, it is always good to hear from members in the session that follows. So if you have slides (personally I always enjoy the views of past excursions just to see how sites – and hairstyles - have changed in only 20 or so years) or another form of short presentation, let me know either at the February or March meetings or give me a call. On the subject of lunch, we always invite our speaker to lunch following the morning lecture and we now eat in the Victoria in Great George Street, which is behind Leeds Town Hall. It has some splendid Victorian décor, a large non- smoking room and a good range of food and beer. Why not join us after the lecture and have an informal discussion with the speaker and other members of the section. Members may recall that the main Society asked the section to help in arranging a series of excursions during 2007 with an industrial theme, the details of two of these have now been finalised – exploring the Upper Luddenden Valley on the weekend of 24th/25th March and a coach trip to Hawes on 14 April. Full details are given later in the Newsletter. The third event will be field day in Goole on 20 May, details on this to follow. I hope that the events will be well attended by Section members and also that any non Section members will be encouraged to join. I had planned to issue a separate subscription reminder to Section only members in early December, but somehow time seemed to pass too quickly, so I have enclosed a reminder that subscriptions are now due for 2007 with this Newsletter. If you have already remembered that subscriptions are due in January and have already paid, well done and thank you! Your 2007 membership card is enclosed. If you are a member of the main Society, you will receive your subscription reminder direct from Claremont. I would be grateful if you are intending to renew your membership (and I hope you will) you will do so promptly. Welcome to Miss F Chambers and Mr F Jordan who are new members since the last Newsletter. I am aware of one member who is helpfully supplying membership leaflets to York Library. If other members would be willing to do the same in their local library or information centre then copies of the membership leaflets are available from Claremont or let me know and I can supply you with some. I shall be compiling the next Newsletter after the AGM in April which will include the usual reports on the 2006/7 lectures. News items, details of events and short articles from members are always welcome, thanks to David George who has sent an item in for this Newsletter. These do help me to fill the pages, so please send them in. Margaret Tylee NEWS FROM CLAREMONT The main Society’s AGM was finally held on 28 October 2006; it was originally scheduled for 24 June and I did manage to attend on behalf of the Section. The major item of discussion was the report of the strategy group who have produced a long term strategic plan for the Society. (Main Society members should have received a copy but copies are available from Claremont). The main aims of the Society are: • the maintenance of a library and archive • the holding of meetings • the publishing of a range of material • the making of grants for work It was recognised that the financial management of the society needs to be improved and that more needs to be done to increase the membership and develop partnerships with regional bodies. The problem with the accounts (which led to the delay in holding the meeting) was discussed. The auditors were not happy with the way in which the subscription income and membership records were linked and consequently the accounts were qualified. Specifically the membership figures and by direct association, the subscription income, do not take account of whether the member has actually paid the correct rate of subscription or any subscription at all. The Society has now co-opted a membership secretary who will be working to ensure the subscription information is accurate. There was an election for the Management Board with 5 standing for 4 places. A reminder: nominations for the Management Board and Council for 2007/8 must be submitted to the YAHS Secretary no later than 31 March 2007. I asked about progress for the “grand plan” to refurbish and develop Claremont. Members may recall donating to the fund from the Section as well as giving individual donations. The reply was that it had been put on hold with the refurbishment of the kitchen being the one of the outcomes so far (which is a great improvement over what was there previously). It was reported that any outstanding money in the development fund set up specifically for the plan would be repaid back to donors. We await this! NEWS ITEMS Engineering consultants Atkins have completed a study into the feasibility of restoring the Barnsley and Dearne & Dove canals to create a Yorkshire Waterways Ring. The study recommends that the restoration should go ahead and is likely to cost £258million. This figure includes the restoration of the Elescar and Worsborough spurs of the Dearne & Dove and the extension of the Barnsley Canal to Barugh; none of this work would be necessary to recreate the Waterways Ring. The work is likely to be carried out piecemeal over the next 30 years. Three industrial sites in Yorkshire have recently been given grade II listing. Braime’s Pressed Steel Works, together with offices and workshops in Hunslet Road, Leeds dates from 1911-13. The terracotta front is finely detailed with Art Nouveau floral motifs which are echoed in the stained glass of the windows. Not what you would expect from an engineering works. The company was founded in 1888 to make oil cans but later expanded to make all types of steel pressings. In Sheffield, the Horn Handle Works at 32 Broom Close is a fine example of a 19th century workshop which contributed to Sheffield’s cutlery industry. The building has many decorative features and is largely unaltered, but currently boarded up and awaiting sympathetic restoration. Finally something completely different – a sighting tower at Ilton near Harrogate built in 1903 for Harrogate Corporation to aid the alignment of the Carlesmoor Aqueduct which supplied Harrogate with water from the Roundhill Reservoir. It is 14m high in dressed stone with buttressed piers and is unusual because most towers became redundant and were demolished once construction was completed. Gayle Mill, the subject of our January 2007 lecture, features on the front of English Heritage’s report on the State of Yorkshire and the Humber’s Historic Environment 2006 part of their wider report on the state of the historic environment. It is available along with all the regional reports at www.heritagecounts.org.uk. News of more industrial site developments in the Leeds area. The development of the Tower Works by ISIS Waterside Regeneration is expected to provide 150 homes and 150,000 sq. ft. of commercial floor space. ISIS has also received planning permission to develop Granary Wharf with 273 apartments, offices and a hotel. Phase two of the Round Foundry regeneration project has started. It will comprise offices at the Dry Sand Foundry, 101 Water Lane and the Engine House. Otley Riverside Holdings has received outline planning permission for residential use, restaurant, offices, pub, hotel, retirement complex and surgery at Garnetts Paper Mill, Otley. A new interactive map has been launched which celebrates the role ofHolbeck’s pioneers of the industrial revolution in the development of the area and shows how their legacy is being preserved as the Holbeck Urban Village begins to take shape. The Living Map can be found at www.holbeckurbanvillage.co.uk The West Riding was a major centre of the tanning industry from at least the 16th century and an excavation by ARCUS, the University of Sheffield’s archaeological consultancy has unearthed the remains of a tannery including ten tanning pits in the Westgate area of Wakefield. It is hoped that some of the remains can be preserved in the Arts Centre being built on the site. Still on the subject of tanning, the University of Bradford, School of Management has produced a website chronicling the history of Pittards from its origin in Somerset in 1826 to recent times when it acquired the Leeds firm W H Miers in the mid 1970s.