Hothfield Junior School will be celebrating its centenary next year. Pictured above are head teacher James Procter (seated at the front) and his management team: deputy head Su Lord-Cloke (front right), Jennie Hudson (front left) and, at back, Elisa Woffenden and Jonathan Crossley. The school has 277 pupils. Hothfield replaced the Bolton Road School, which had been built in 1852 by the trustees of the Wesleyan Methodist Church and which soon came under the rule of the local School Board.  

The longest-serving head of the Bolton Road School was David Longbottom, who is pictured above with the staff in about 1910. On the left is his nephew Ambrose Longbottom, a trainee teacher at the time. The door behind the group can still be seen. It is part of the present Silsden Library, the middle one of three red doors when viewed from Botlon Road. David Longbottom made an unmatched contribution to the development of education and culture in Silsden. Longbottom Avenue is named after him. He was head master from 1880 until the school closed in 1914. His daughter, Margaret Wintringham, was the first British-born woman to become a Member of Parliament. 

Hothfield School's catering team (pictured above) serves around 170 meals a day. Left to right are: manager Gillian Cooper, Christine Thomas, Sue Hopkins, Kay Waddington and assistant manager Janet Ellis. The children's favourite lunches are roasts and sausages and mash.

Pictured above are Hothfield's lunchtime supervisors. In the middle at the front is senior supervisor Pam Ogston. 

Pictured above are Hothfield's finance administrator Pauline Pring (right) and clerical assistants Karen Farrar (centre) and Anita Wilkinson.

Year 3 children recently were given a hands-on insight into the life and times of the Romans. Visiting expert Murray Edwards instructed pupils in Legionnaire disciplines (pictured above). 

Above: Role-playing included masters being waited upon by their servants, who brought them food typical of the time. Year 3 teachers Bevan Bolland, Jennie Hudson and Nicky Illsley, who is pictured below, joined in the spirit of the day.  

Replicas of Roman helmets (pictured below) were among the exhibits providing historical authenticity.  

Tree-planting (above and below) at Hothfield in 1952, when it was Silsden Secondary Modern School, although it also included juniors as in these two pictures. The trees were planted in front of classrooms (Horsa huts) which were on the site of the present swimming pool. 

The teacher in the above photograph is the late Geoffrey Rundle, who taught at South Craven Comprehensive School after Silsden County Secondary ceased to exist in 1967, subsequently becoming Hothfield Junior School, fed by Aire View Infants, which had opened as a junior school in 1872 and later became a primary school. Pupils in the above picture include Marian Dobson, Ann Rawnsley, Joan Waterhouse, Christine Astbury, Cedric Webster, Joan Pickles, Jim Wade, Mavis Watson, Kenny Whitaker, Tony Bailey, Stuart Parker, Barry Ellison, Graham Thompson, Mel Driver, Richard Clarkson, Jack Driver, Robert Whitlock and Jean Tillotson. (My apologies if some of the names are misspelt.)

Above: The Secondary Modern School's 1949-50 soccer team pictured with headmaster George Manners and teacher Arthur Southwell. Back row (left to right): believed to be Bruce Pinder; name not known; Donald Whittingham; David Boothman; Raymond Clayton; Granville Burkitt; Peter Smith.  Middle row (left to right): Malcolm Barrett; Mr Manners; John Newton; Mr Southwell; Brian Whittingham. At front: Jack Nicholson (left) and Matt Farrow. (Photograph by courtesy of Brian Whittingham.)

Above: Mrs Broughton's class of 1953, or thereabouts. Many of the children in this photograph are in the earlier picture with Geoffrey Rundle.

The students pictured above with their teacher, Miss Wilkinson, were photographed in about 1957.