Proposals for 190 homes at Belton Road, 140 at Becks Mill and 47 at the old timber yard

1) Becks and Riverside mills

Local resident Sam Slater, among the many people who enjoy the tranquility of ancient Sykes Lane, inspects plans to build 140 three and four-bedroomed houses on the site of the former Becks and Riverside (Weavestyle) mills.

The scheme (above) was open to public view at the Town Hall on April 7. The Becks, Belton Road and Banks schemes will all be accessed from junctions with Keighley Road. The junction for the Becks houses will be nearly opposite the Aldi entrance. This estate road into and from Keighley Road runs the width of the development near the top of the diagram. It ends in Sykes Lane opposite the pens and outbuildings -- sited so as to serve any future housing development beyond the present scheme.

The development site is pictured above in its wider context. Shazad Khan, the project's transport expert, says cars can be managed without traffic lights or a roundabout, which would become options if congestion is rife. Predictions based on national modeling assume 2.6 cars per household. The symbols along Keighley Road on the map above represent bus stops.

The Keighley Road frontage is virtually opposite the Aldi store car park. Outline plans for the Becks and Riverside site have yet to be put to planners. Leeds-based consultants Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) are handling the project on behalf of site owner Silvermantle Ltd., whose service address is in Manchester.

The Becks Mill was Silsden's first steam-powered textile factory, built in 1837/1838. It subsequently became Stocks Mill with a huge frontage to Keighley Road (see my posts of November 2014). This photograph was taken in 2009 when demolition of the mill fronting Keighley Road exposed this two-storey section, latterly occupied by Belmont Silks.

The entrance to the proposed housing estate will be here, about 45 metres south of the Aldi entrance.

The Riverside Mill (above), part of the 11-acre site, was purpose-built for textile firm Weavestyle. Plans for a Tesco store on the site were turned down following the recent demolition of the mill. 

View from the canal towpath. The vacant Riverside Mill area can be seen through the trees on the left

This 1970s view, also shown in my post of March 2016, partly indicates the Becks and Riverside mills site beyond the Keighley Road sports pitches in the foreground. The chimney nearest the pitches belonged to the old dyeworks, which gave way to the Weavestyle premises.

2) The Banks

Around 47 three, four and five-bedroomed homes are planned for The Banks on the canal-side site of the old Tunnicliffe timber yard. Access to and from Keighley Road will be opposite the old Corn Mill along the track (where caravans were once stored) beyond the lorry and the gate shown above. 

Above: The old timber yard where around 47 houses are to be built. Developer Harron Homes, of Leeds, describes Silsden as a "quaint town".

Above: an impression of the development adjoining the canal.

Above:  the access to and from Keighley Road will run between Victorian Mill Banks on the left and the unmade road on the right, which leads to picturesque Albert Square. 

Above: the Sykes Lane end of the access road.

Above: the access road will cross Sykes Lane at this point to serve the new estate. Looking across to Millfields, a relatively recent housing development between the canal and Elliott Street.

Above: Sykes Lane is known to have been in existence in 1565 but its origins are possibly much earlier. It was an access route to early field systems. Flanked for years by an old-fashioned mishmash of smallholdings and pursuits, the lane is rich in birdsong in spring and a leafy delight in summer. 

3) Belton Road

Bradford council regulators, meeting on April 7, deferred consideration of plans to build around 190 homes on land between Belton Road and Henholme Lane. Part of the proposed site is shown above, looking towards Henholme Lane.

Above: the development area is ringed in red. The access is in Belton Road near the junction with Keighley Road. Councillors want more information about the risk of flooding.

Above: an illustration of the proposed development. The builder, Countryside Properties, of Essex, which has a Stock Exchange listing, is seeking outline consent. Part of the site is reported to be in an area known to be a flood risk. City Hall officers said the scheme should be approved but councillors called for a fuller flood-risk assessment taking into account the Boxing Day floods. The developer's assessment had been written before the area's December deluge.

Jet propulsion for cars from a leisurely motoring era

Above: three Austin 7s on their way from Bristol to the Keighley and Worth Valley Railway at Haworth stopped to refuel at the Silsden Jet garage in Keighley Road on March 31. Austin 7s were built between 1922 and 1939.    

Great grandson of Town Hall builder donates
ceremonial trowel for permanent display

Above: Arthur Tillotson is pictured by the ceremonial trowel he has donated for permanent display at Silsden Town Hall. Arthur's great grandfather Joshua Tillotson built the premises, then known as the Mechanics Institute, in 1883/84, and the trowel was used to lay the foundation stone. The Friends of Silsden Town Hall have restored the trowel, which bears the name of Lord Hothfield, who opened the building in December 1883. Arthur, 89, is life president of Silsden Football Club, for whom he starred in his playing days. Tillotson Street is named after his great grandfather, whose firm also built Hothfield and Tufton streets and the lower stretch of Skipton Road.

Above: as well as unveiling the trowel, Mr. Tillotson declared open a new history panel telling the story of the Town Hall and its continuing role as a community asset. The panel has been funded and produced by Silsden Local History Group. Attending the ceremonies on March 21 were committee members of the Town Hall Friends and the Local History Group and representatives of Bradford Council. Ray Colling, chairman of the Town Hall Friends, is pictured second from left and David Mason, chairman of the Local History Group, is fourth from left.

New licensees at historic inn on the hill that
was a community focal point

Silsden’s landmark Punch Bowl pub, closed for several months, has reopened with new licensees. Chef Sam Middleton and his partner Linzi Harper (pictured above) have taken on the tenancy. Sam has been a chef since leaving school 17 years ago, most recently at the King’s Arms in Silsden, where he ran the kitchen for six years. He has also worked at the former Grouse Inn in Silsden and jointly ran a pub in Ilkley.

Linzi, who has lived in Silsden since the age of three, worked at the Skipton Building Society’s head office, and also has experience in the licensed trade, having served behind the bar at the former Bridge pub in Silsden and at the Punch Bowl during David Smart’s tenancy.

The Punch Bowl, dating back more than 230 years (a datestone says 1784 but that may only indicate when the then landlord arrrived), is part of the Enterprise Inns portfolio of 5,500 leased and tenanted pubs.

Punch Bowl Hill in front of the pub was a community hub in Victorian and Edwardian times, being popular for meetings and functions because it was the centre of Silsden. It was also the starting point and terminus for horse-drawn and early motor-bus services. This photograph, from the late Kevin Bower's collection, was taken before the Conservative Club was built in 1900. 

Spring and autumn sheep and cattle fairs were held on Punch Bowl Hill until 1914. The livestock pens also filled both sides of Kirkgate and Bolton Road.

Political rallies and the carnival fair used to be held at the Hill. The photograph above shows the half-yearly meeting of Skipton Conservative Association in 1912. In those days, Silsden was part of the Skipton parliamentary constituency. 

This picture from the late Kevin Bower's collection shows the Punch Bowl Inn and Road End probably shortly before the outbreak of the First World War. 

Looking towards the Punch Bowl in 1927. The war memorial was unveiled on its original site near the Conservative Club in 1921. To the right, partly obscured by the bus, are the former fire station and Tom Wade's garage. 

Motor bikes and sidecars: those were the days. This 1950s photograph is also from the late Kevin Bower's collection.

From Lovers' Lane to Middleway Meadows and Wayside Mews: Banklands' new identity

Above: a view from across town of the housing development on land between Daisy Hill and Banklands Lane. Two well-known local firms are developing the site. Snell Developments Ltd. are building 26 homes at what the company has named Middleway Meadows. Adjoining the Snell properties is Wayside Mews, next to the playing fields, a development of 14 homes by Croft Building Ltd.

Above: a fine view, again across town, from the 1970s showing on the upper right the field now occupied by the Snell and Croft houses. Heartache was caused there in 1967 when Norman Waterhouse, one of the country's top pigeon racers, and his wife Isobel, and Jack and Margaret Culley were forced to move from their homes because the old Silsden Urban District Council wanted to build a road through their smallholdings to link Daisy Hill and Banklands Lane. The field was untouched for 50 years after the Waterhouse and Culley families had left.

Above: 1960s view of the fields beyond the Primitive Methodist Chapel before Craven Drive and Craven Avenue were built. The Methodists now have a new chapel on the site of the Primitives' handsome edifice. Photograph by Will Baldwin.

Above: Banklands Lane about 100 years ago. Until housing development began in the 20th century, the lane, which borders the Snell and Croft site, was a quiet, tree-shaded pathway known as Lovers' Lane or Lovers' Walk.

What a relief: removal of the beck barrier

that blighted an iconic setting

The Stakes Beck barrier that brought floods of complaints when it was installed 18 months ago was removed on March 1st, thus bringing to a close a bizarre episode involving disputes, denials and dismay. 

This is how the barrier, supposed to prevent the beck overflowing when in spate, spoiled the look of a picturesque and historic corner of Silsden. Bradford council ordered and implemented the removal of the barrier, which was engraved with the name of Silsden Town Council and stated "Built by M. O'Dwyer". The barrier had been installed voluntarily under the leadership of town councillor Michael O'Dwyer as a member of the Silsden Environmental Group. The group and Silsden Youth Council had been awarded public funds of up to £3,500 for materials and to clear the beck of flow-obstructing rubbish. (See my Blog post of September 2014.)

A dim view of solar panels? Now you see them......

Solar panels recently installed to serve the flats in this Kirkgate property, which is in a conservation area, were removed on February 28 (see below).

And now you don't......