Walks Around Addingham

by Don Barrett
£10

Addingham, just south of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, is an excellent base from which to walk, being surrounded by glorious but undemanding walking country.
The walks devised for this book radiate out from the village; north to Beamsley Beacon and historic Bolton Abbey, east to Ilkley, south to Rombald’s Moor, west to Counter Hill and to points in between. Two walks are mainly within the village itself, including a trail round the village locating the Blue Plaques attached to historic buildings and telling their story.
All the walks start and finish on Main Street, Addingham. The lengths vary and all have options and short cuts which enable the walker to choose which suits their interest and ability. Each walk includes a detailed route map and directions, interspersed with numerous photographs and with notes about the geology, history and nature in the area. Maps and photographs all in full colour.

Update: This book has been revised and updated for the 2021 season. An insert page to update exisiting copies can be downloaded here – 2021 update insert

Addingham in World War Two

By Beryl Falkingham and Richard Thackrah
(Edited by Don Barrett)
£5.00

This book describes the ways in which villagers worked for the war effort at home, in the Civil Defence, Home Guard or ARP (Air Raid Precautions) and other organisations, continues with a diary of wartime newspaper reports, followed by detailed information about the lives, and deaths, of the men from Addingham who lost their lives in the 1939 to 1945 conflict. It finishes with details of wartime plane crashes near Addingham and the village memorials.

William ‘Bill’ Bradley

Addingham’s Most Inventive Engineer’
by Don Barrett & Ian Crawshaw
£4.00

This book describes the life of William Bradley from his birth in 1885 to his death at the great age of 98.
The son of an Ilkley plumber, he courageously travelled to Canada at age 19 and after his return, went on to found
his own successful business in Church Street, Addingham.

Starting as a vehicle repair and servicing garage but later becoming manufacturer of innovative textile industry equipment.

Bill Bradley was a remarkable engineer. During his long working life, as well as helping numerous motorists with their servicing and repairs, he built complicated and uniquely inventive motorcycles in his successful attempts to master cross-country trials riding and he took on a challenge to solve some of the problems that beset the local textile industry.

This book tells of his early life, becoming well known in motorcycling circles for his ‘Bradley Special’ trials bikes (usually named ‘Felix’), his life as a family man, and his time as manufacturer of textile equipment at his Beacon Works. The book ends with his final years in retirement and includes appendices giving technical details of his machines.

Main Street Memories

Living and Shopping in 1940s Addingham

by Don Barrett, Beryl Falkingham & Gloria Stitt
£4.00

Present day Addingham is very different to what it was during the Second World War and the 1950s.
The first part of this book describes the everyday life of two young girls growing up on Main Street during the war, and for their families. With rationing, gas lighting and no central heating or modern conveniences, life was hard for mothers, particularly, many of whom had their husbands away on the front line.
However, as youngsters, the authors knew no different life and playing in the fields and shopping on Main Street (particularly for sweets and comics) were more important!
The second part of the book describes an imaginary shopping walk that they could have made down Main Street and back in the 1940s, with descriptions of all the sixty plus shops and other businesses that then lined the street and supplied the villagers with their every need. Few of these shops remain today.
However, Addingham, even though no longer a working mill village, retains its charming village character and still has lots to offer, with its thriving population, some much valued shops, and all of its pubs.

We Who Served…

Stories of Addingham and The Great War, 1914-1918
by Catherine Snape
£10.00

From Addingham, a close knit village of millworkers and farmers, with a population of less than 2,000, over 400 men marched off to fight in the 1914-1918 war.The war brought many changes and much hardship. Families rallied to help each other in the hope that their menfolk would return. More than 80 did not, but the true unsung heroes are those who did, and the families who supported them through those long dark years and helped to rebuild their community.This book tells about these families, their remarkable stories of stoicism, hope and sacrifice, and about their men who went to war.

Addingham Houses 1750 – 1850

by Arnold Pacey
£3.50

Before 1750 Addingham was a small farming community, but during the next 100 years (the period covered by this book) the village was transformed by the coming of the textile industry and the construction of substantial mills and related enterprises. This expansion produced wealthy mill owners who needed suitable housing for themselves and their families and also lesser properties for their workers. It is very fortunate that so many houses of this period still exist in Addingham (which has over 100 listed buildings) and, indeed, much of Main Street is still lined by original buildings.

In the first part of this book, local historian Arnold Pacey has written chapters about the principle property owners, particularly the Cunliffes and the Cockshotts, and describes the houses that they built, with detailed pen and ink drawings (mainly by the author) of architectural  features, and photographs of some of the houses.

The second part of the book is devoted to the builders, stonemasons and other craftsmen who built the houses and the distinctive working methods which left their mark and show who built which house. Particularly featured here are generations of the Breare family.

The above publications are all published by Addingham Civic Society and are available in local shops and at Civic Society meetings.

Other books about Addingham:

‘Trouble at t’mill’
by Dr George Ingle. The story of the Luddite riots
including the attacks on Low Mill, Addingham.

‘Yorkshire Dales Textile Mills’
Published 2009 by Ilkley author Dr George Inglewhich includes a lot of information about Addingham mills.
ISBN 978-1-907197-00-0

The above books are available from local bookshops.