Above: The bent-nail sculpture celebrating Silsden's nail-making industry, which was a widespread occupation for 100 years from 1760, dominates the Wesley Place car park. The handsome steel sculpture, by Sam Shendi, who owns the Arabesque kitchen showroom in Elliott Street, was installed in 2011. The area between Wesley Place and the public library off Bolton Road bears no resemblance to its pre-1970s existence. 

Above: The view in spring 2013 looking towards Bolton Road End. The car park occupies the site of  the properties below, which at the far end, fronting Kirkgate, included the fire station.  

Above: A better view of the Fire Station. The picture shows at the bottom right of the gable wall an encased map with buttons you could press to find locations, a facility that delighted children. The above two black and white photographs are by courtesy of Silsden Camera Club.

Above: Speedy getaways were possible for engines responding to emergencies in the days when Kirkgate was not as clogged with traffic as it is today.

Above: Possibly early 1970s gala parade. The Kirkgate window of Julie's shop, which sold cigarettes, sweets and ice-cream, includes an advertisement for Vaseline hair cream from its previous life as a barber's shop. The capped gentleman with his hand on the "throw your pennies" cart is Bill Hartley, a former Co-op coalman, who is pictured in a 1950s procession in my July posts. 

Above: An earlier photograph of a rain-hit gala procession, traditionally led by a marching band, passing the Fire Station. The Bolton Road End shop was J. W. Palmer's. The war memorial on the extreme left, unveiled on November 12, 1921, was moved to its present site on the opposite side of the road in 1957.