The Post Office in Kirkgate has been at the hub of the community in its present premises since 1907. The Cathey family has run the post office since 1955, when William Cathey became postmaster. His younger son, Andrew, above, has been postmaster since 1990. Andrew is pictured with two of his assistants, Rosemary Wallbank (left) and Judith Throup. One of the oldest in Yorkshire, Silsden’s postal service started around the time postage stamps were introduced in 1840 and occupied several different locations before 1907 when a row of Kirkgate houses was converted into shops.

 Kirkgate in about the 1970s before traffic congestion and road markings.   

Kirkgate scene in the early 1900s, probably before 1907 and certainly before 1914 when the first telephone box was installed alongside the post office. Note the shack in the foreground (left) by the the Stakes Beck dam.