Postings from Anon

This page last updated 7 April 03

We keep getting postings on the messageboard from a local character, regarding local history. Sadly, no-one seems to be replying. Here's a flavour...

Anyone remember the old days - dancing at The Welfare to Fred Hudson & His Band, featuring vocalists Keith Horner and Wendy Tennant. Also the wild jiving of Donald (Monkey) McCall and Angela McGlinsey?

Billy Gellin - a REAL Skipton character. In the '40s an old man could be seem most days, pushing a rickety hand-cart, often loaded with coal. His name was Billy Gellin. He lived, with a few cats, in a derelict house in Union Square. Billy's old cart, which had two "mangle" wheels (from old wringing machines) was used, in conjunction with an old bucket with holes in, fixed to the end of a long pole. With this contraption, Billy would dredge coal from the "cut" (canal) at the points, behind mills, where coal-barges unloaded. The bargees would "accidentally" spill some coal between the barge and the bank, with Billy in mind. Billy sold the coal he obtained in this way. On weekdays, he never wore a shirt - just a three piece suit, even in the coldest weather. On Sundays, however, he DID wear a shirt with the suit and a top-hat, for attending church. He lived mainly on stale bread, given to him by various bakeries. When he died - eith late '40s or early '50s, it is said that he left several thousand pounds to a cats home!

Come on old-timers, let's hear from you. I mean those who can remember swimming at Moorview Baths, emptying middens, walking in the Gala, visiting the Fair in the Bold Venture Field, outside closets, meat-safes, etc.

I remember Moorview Baths, Short Bank Road in the '40s. There was a small interior pool and a larger outdoor one. The outdoor pool was very interesting. The water came in from a stream (at the shallow end) which originated at "Rankin's Well" on Rombalds Moor, and ran out at the deep end. The pool was home to frogs, newts, bullheads, minnows, crayfish, trout, and (it is thought) the odd pike. In the winter when the pool froze, it was often used as a skating rink. I doubt whether it would have passed a "health & safety" check, but it was good fun. Every summer the Baths hosted a Swimming Gala (in the outdoor pool) which was always well attended and the grassy banks on each side made a natural amphitheatre.
Next to the pool was a putting green, run by an old WW 1 veteran with one arm, called Mr Hyde. When putting was rained off, we used to sit in his little hut and play records on an old wind-up gramophone. Happy days!

MIDDENS were a common feature as late as the '40s. Along with all her neighbours my Aunt, who lived in Brougham St, had a midden in the back yard. This forerunner of the dustbin took the form of a small structure built into the backyard wall. Rubbish was dumped through an opening and a shield-shaped cast iron door in the back street would then be opened by the "midden men" (refuse collectors) who shovelled the rubbish into a (sometimes horse-drawn) cart. Today's "wheelie-bin" men have it easy!

Loos & Baths - in the '40s through to the '50s many terraced houses in Skipton (and elsewhere) still had outside loos and no bathrooms. Baths were galvanised steel and hung in the back yard. The Swimming Baths catered for those with no bath by providing so-called "slipper baths" where you could sit in a regular bath with running hot & cold water - what luxury! Loos were usually in the back yard and "guzundas" (jerries or chamber-pots) were obviously popular. My great-aunt, who lived in a street off Broughton Road (now demolished) had NO LOO of her own. The communal loos were at the end of the street, and always in a bit of a state. Those were the "good old days"

Does anyone remember. . . cables running from the eaves of a house to the eaves across the street. The whole street was criss-crossed with these wires. They were nothing to do with phone lines - they were aerials for the old "steam-driven" wireless (radio). As they were quite high, they were usually festooned with the remains of kites and toy parachutes which had snagged on the wires. These usually remained there until they rotted away. In those days, ('40s) many radios were powered by "accumulators" (lead-acid batteries in glass cases). These were maintained by the local bicycle shop which provided an exchange service. I could never work out why people didn't use mains electricity. Does anyone know?

What happened to. . . the Whitsuntide Fair, held for a week on the Bold Venture Field, Keighley Road. This great funfair was the place to be in Whit week. There were many stalls, rides, fortune-tellers, etc. The yokels came down from the hills to show off their new navy-blue suits and brown boots. They would often get a "skinfull" and then treat all and sundry to the contents of their stomachs as the "chairoplanes" whizzed around.
And, while we are at it, how about the Skipton Gala, held to support local hospitals. This took the form of a long procession, with bands, floats, and many walkers arranged in sections such as "Children & Their Pets". The procession formed in Westmoreland Street and paraded through town, up High St, along to Gargrave Road, finishing up in Airdale Park. There were numerous entertainments laid on there, from wrestling, acrobats, funfair, brass-bands, etc. and a good proportion of the people of Skipton attended. Why did it stop?

Anyone for COW WALLOPING? When I was a lad I earned many a shilling by cow walloping. It went as follows: Skipton cattle market was a thriving concern and many local farmers bought and sold their. In those days (during and just after WW II), not many had access to trucks with which to transport their animals. So, for a few bob, young lads would "wallop" the cows to outlying farms, sometimes quite a few miles away. If there were more than a handful of animals, this was quite a skilled procedure requiring more than one "walloper" to ensure that the cows didn't stray too far. Does anyone else remember those times? ;>)

JUVENILE FUN: Our idea of fun (in the '40s) was going to the Craven Motor Company (a motorbike shop on Ship Corner) and splashing out with 1/3d to buy a tin of calcium carbide. This was still stocked to fuel lamps for pre-war motorbikes. If water is added to calcium carbide, then the gas acetylene is produced - ideal for stink bombs (have you every smelled acetylene!!). I won't tell you (because of the intermational situation), what else we used it for - maybe some old-timer can remember!"

It was also jolly good fun to put it in the inkwells at school. (Those of you who remember inkwells are probably as old as me) We had this daft teacher who could never understand what was going on and would run up and down the classroom trying to mop up the mess. Poor man I think he had some kind of breakdown.

Let's hear it fromanyone from the Shortbank Road area who had their milk delivered by John-Willy TEAL (in the '40s). J.W. came from Draughton and was the same chap who milked the cows earlier in the morning. He delivered 'loose' milk from a galvanised can direct to the door - not a milk bottle in sight!. Customers took jugs to the door. My mother took a large baking bowl for our milk. After the cream had settled, we skimmed it off, popped it into a clean syrup tin, closed the lid and shook it up and down until we had a nice knob of butter to supplement the meagre wartime ration. Forgive me for saying it once more, but 'those' really 'were the days!'

If you are a local historian and have any information to add to this page, or to this Skipton history section in general, please e-mail us.

Click thumbnails to to see high resolution images.

Search the photo gallery