Cleckheaton

Last updated

Cleckheaton
Cleckheaton Town Hall (2690406558).jpg
West Yorkshire UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
Cleckheaton
Location within West Yorkshire
Population16,622 (Ward, 2011 census) [1]
OS grid reference SE185256
Metropolitan borough
Metropolitan county
Region
Country England
Sovereign state United Kingdom
Post town CLECKHEATON
Postcode district BD19
Dialling code 01274
Police West Yorkshire
Fire West Yorkshire
Ambulance Yorkshire
UK Parliament
List of places
UK
England
Yorkshire
53°43′30″N1°43′08″W / 53.725°N 1.719°W / 53.725; -1.719
Church of St John The Evangelist Church of St John The Evangelist, Church Street, Cleckheaton (1) - geograph.org.uk - 1631646.jpg
Church of St John The Evangelist

Cleckheaton is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is situated south of Bradford, [2] east of Brighouse, west of Batley and south-west of Leeds. It is at the centre of the Spen Valley and was the major town in the former borough of Spenborough. Cleckheaton has a history as a mill town and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.

Contents

History

Early history

Whitechapel Church Cleckheaton Whitechapel.jpg
Whitechapel Church

The Spen Valley was once heavily wooded. Evidence of human habitation in Mesolithic and Neolithic times has been found in the area. Roman remains have been found in the valley and it is thought that roads from York to Chester, and from settlements in Halifax and Wakefield, passed through Cleckheaton. [3]

Cleckheaton was in the ancient parish of Birstall. A chapel of ease, known as the White Chapel (later Whitechapel) was established. [4]

Textile working

The area was very disorganised for a long time after the Norman Conquest and the richest townships at that time were still the richest 300 years later as the Poll Tax returns of 1379 show. They also demonstrate the lack of administration as only the richest four of the 227 families living in the Spen Valley were made to pay more than the 4d (approx. 2p) minimum tax. These tax returns also show the recent deviation from the traditional sources of wealth in the area (i.e. farming and allied trades). These were centred on textiles and included dyeing, weaving and fulling (common names in the area nowadays still recall these early trades: Lister- dyer, Webster- weaver, Walker- fuller). [5]

After the Reformation, Kirklees Priory was largely destroyed, many families were driven from the area and new non-aristocratic lords of the manor who were sympathetic to Protestantism were introduced by Elizabeth I, as was a puritan clergyman who was installed at Birstall Church. By 1570, at the time of the Rising of the Northern Earls, the last of the old Norman noble families had been swept away. Sir John Neville went into exile and forfeited his estate and Thomas Hussey (heir to the de Tilly family of Oakwell Hall) was imprisoned in the Tower of London for some time before being pardoned. [6]

By the 17th century land-owning farmers were finding it increasingly difficult as were their landlords and some payments were still in kind as farmers had no money to pay their debts. Meanwhile, the textile workers were becoming more and more prosperous and paid less and less attention to their hard up and increasingly impotent landlords. During the English Civil War the clothiers were on one side and the landlords on the other. Lords of the area were made Royalist officers and made some progress such as at the Battle of Adwalton Moor about a mile east of Birkenshaw and the siege of Bradford, before the Parliamentarians took control of the area. [7]

Nonconformity

Independent Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street Independent Methodist Chapel Cleckheaton.jpg
Independent Methodist Chapel, Chapel Street

After the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Anglicanism was reintroduced. However, many people had found Puritan teachings more to their taste, and it took many years to re-install an Anglican vicar to Whitechapel. Despite the draconian nonconformist laws, there were many nonconformist meeting houses and nonconformity flourished; a fifth of the population of the Birstall Parish was estimated to be nonconformist. Quakers were widespread, and even now a number of 17th and 18th century Quaker burial grounds remain in the area. In the 18th century, Presbyterianism was widespread, but then it lost a large minority of its flock to Unitarianism and to the Baptist church. Methodism also flourished from the 1740s after visits from John Wesley and Charles Wesley, as did the Moravian Church. Indeed, John Wesley visited Birstall some 40 times. [8]

In spite of the religious strength in the valley, the inhabitants were somewhat unconventional and still went to astrologers, quack doctors and prophets. Local religious leaders included people like Eli Collins, the "Wizard of Wyke", and Alvery Newsome, the "Wise Man of Heckmondwike". [9]

Industrial Revolution

Prospect Mills in Prospect Road Prospect Mills Cleckheaton.jpg
Prospect Mills in Prospect Road

In 1804 the Reverend Hammond Roberson, annoyed that the administration of Liversedge was disorganised, promoted a system of reform (the select vestry) which quickly spread to Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. In 1810, after his wife's death, Roberson turned his attention to church building in the area. In 1818 Parliament voted £1 million for the building of new churches in the country, and Roberson was able to secure funding to build Cleckheaton Church: St John the Evangelist in Church Street. [10]

Spen Valley

By the mid 19th century the Spen Valley entered its golden era. In 1800 children were paid starvation wages for putting staples into leather for carding wool, but by 1838 there were eleven carding factories in Cleckheaton and by 1893 the town was recognised as the carding capital of the world. [11]

20th century

Around 1900, many large and expensive buildings were erected and became symbols of the area's wealth; massive chapels and a new grammar school were built in Cleckheaton, and to mark the new urban district and the fact that it was the centre of it, Cleckheaton built a town hall in 1892, paid for in part by public subscription. [12]

In 1903, Lion Confectionery began making "Midget Gems" in Cleckheaton, and 1904 saw the opening of the Phelon & Moore (Panther) motorcycle factory in the town, soon followed by a car factory. [13] BBA (formerly British Belting & Asbestos), the large asbestos, friction material, and conveyor belting firm, built its headquarters at Moorend, where they manufactured automotive disc brake pads under the Mintex banner. A tourist industry developed to serve visitors to the area aware of its connection to Charlotte Brontë's novel Shirley and Luddite attacks. The philanthropic Mowatt family paid for Cleckheaton Library. [14]

Cleckheaton railway station

The railway station closed to passenger traffic in 1965 and to goods four years later. In 1972, a singular case was heard at Wakefield Crown Court. A Dewsbury man was accused of, as counsel for the prosecution put it, effectively stealing the station. British Rail had contracted for the clearing of the site; part of the deal was that the contractors would sell and retain the proceeds from disposal of the materials and scrap. On arrival, they discovered that the station and most of the material were already gone. It transpired that the defendant had been contracted by another firm to clear the site, had been advanced a sum for hire of plant, and had spent three weeks clearing the site. Subsequent efforts to trace the second firm failed, and the court found the man not guilty, deciding that he had been duped and left significantly out of pocket. [15]

Cleckheaton bus station

Cleckheaton bus station stands Cleckheaton bus station 001.jpg
Cleckheaton bus station stands

Cleckheaton has a bus station in the town centre. It has six stands, and the main operator is Arriva Yorkshire. However, there is a regular service to Bradford Interchange with different operators and a school bus also operated here. It is owned and maintained by West Yorkshire Metro, who rebuilt it in April 2005, replacing the previous site owned by Arriva Yorkshire. [16]

Government

Local government

Cleckheaton Town Hall (1892) by Mawson & Hudson of Bradford Town Hall Cleckheaton.jpg
Cleckheaton Town Hall (1892) by Mawson & Hudson of Bradford

Cleckheaton adopted the Local Government Act 1858 in 1864 and a local board was formed. The Local Government Act 1894 reconstituted the area of the local board as Cleckheaton Urban District. There were at this time attempts to involve all the local authorities in the valley in joint projects such as installation of sewers and water. In 1915, the three urban districts of Cleckheaton, Liversedge and Gomersal were amalgamated to form Spenborough Urban District. In 1937, a county review order enlarged the urban district to include Birkenshaw, Hunsworth and Hartshead. [17] Spenborough (which included all the Spen Valley except for Heckmondwike) was granted a charter of incorporation and became a municipal borough on 23 May 1955. The borough used the coat of arms which bore the motto "Industry Enriches" which it had been granted in 1949. [18]

On 1 April 1974, the Local Government Act 1972 reorganised administration throughout England and Wales. The borough of Spenborough was abolished, and its area combined with that of ten other local authorities to form the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, one of five metropolitan boroughs of West Yorkshire. [19] Cleckheaton is a ward of Kirklees and is unparished. The population of the ward at the 2011 Census was 16,622. [1] It elects three of the borough council's 69 councillors. In 2007 all three councillors were members of the Liberal Democrats. [20] Under the borough council's decentralisation scheme, Cleckheaton's councillors and those from Heckmondwike and Liversedge and Gomersal form the Spen Valley Area Committee. [21] In August 2014, it was announced that Cleckheaton councillor Kath Pinnock was to be elevated to the House of Lords as a life peer. [22]

Parliamentary representation

In 1885, Cleckheaton and the three neighbouring townships, Gomersal, Heckmondwike and Liversedge, were grouped to form the Parliamentary county constituency of Spen Valley and remained in that constituency until 1950. [17] The seat was held at various times by the Liberal, National Liberal and Labour parties. From 1950 to 1983, Cleckheaton was included in the borough constituency of Brighouse and Spenborough. [17] It was a marginal seat, changing hands between the Conservative and Labour parties on six occasions. Cleckheaton is now in the Batley and Spen constituency, [23] created in 1983. It was represented by a Conservative Member of Parliament (MP) from 1983 to 1997, then by Labour MP Mike Wood until 2015, when Wood retired and was succeeded by Jo Cox (Labour). After Jo Cox was murdered in 2016, she was replaced in a by-election (which was uncontested by the other major parties) by Tracy Brabin, who retained the seat in 2017 and 2019. When she became Mayor of West Yorkshire in 2021, there was another by-election which was won by Kim Leadbeater, from the Labour Party. [24]

Geography

Cleckheaton is at the centre of a number of villages in the Spen Valley: Oakenshaw, East Bierley, Hunsworth, Birkenshaw, Drub, Gomersal, Little Gomersal, Littletown, Millsbridge, Liversedge, Roberttown, Hartshead, Clifton, Hightown, Heckmondwike and Scholes. The town is made up of Moorend, Whitechapel, Whitcliffe, Moorbottom, Moorside, the Marsh and Rawfolds. [25]

Cleckheaton is about four miles north-west of Dewsbury and six miles north-west of Huddersfield. A mile to the north is the M62 motorway accessed at Junction 32, Chain Bar.

Cleckheaton was on a railway line that connected Bradford via Mirfield to Huddersfield. It closed in the 1960s but its trackbed between Low Moor, south of Bradford, and Ravensthorpe, between Dewsbury and Mirfield, is a cycleway known as the Spen Valley Greenway. [26]

Media

Local news and television programmes are provided by BBC Yorkshire and ITV Yorkshire. Television signals are received from the Emley Moor and local relay transmitters. [27] [28]

Cleckheaton local radio stations are BBC Radio Leeds on 92.4 FM, Heart Yorkshire on 102.6 FM, Capital Yorkshire on 105.6 FM, Pulse 1 on 102.5 FM and Greatest Hits Radio West Yorkshire on 96.3 FM.

The local newspapers are Dewsbury Reporter and Telegraph & Argus. [29] [30]

Sports

Cleckheaton Sports Club, based at Moorend, is the home of the town's rugby union team, Cleckheaton RUFC., who play in the National 3 North league at the fifth tier of English domestic rugby. The club is also home to Cleckheaton Cricket Club, who play in the Bradford Premier Cricket League Division One. Yorkshire Captain Andrew Gale is a member of Cleckheaton and occasionally plays, depending on his availability and commitments for Yorkshire. Also the club, are two bowling greens, home to Cleckheaton Sports Bowls Club, which has hosted the BCGBA Senior Merit "All England" Finals four times. It also hosts lesser annual competitions such as the John Smith's Classic. [31]

Liversedge F.C. are the town's highest football club in the football league pyramid, currently playing in the Northern Premier League Division One East as of the 2021–22 in English football season. They play their home games at the Clayborn Ground, 0.6 miles (1 km) from the town centre. [32]

Other cricket clubs from the local area include Spen Victoria, Gomersal, Hartshead Moor and East Bierley from the Bradford Cricket League, and Scholes and Liversedge from the Central Yorkshire Cricket League. [33]

Notable people

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batley</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Batley is a market town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, south-west of Leeds, north-west of Wakefield and Dewsbury, south-east of Bradford and north-east of Huddersfield, in the Heavy Woollen District. In 2011, the population was 48,730.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gomersal</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Gomersal is a town in Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is south of Bradford, south west of Leeds. east of Cleckheaton and north of Heckmondwike. It is close to the River Spen and forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">River Spen</span> River in West Yorkshire, England

The River Spen or Spen Beck, in West Yorkshire, England is a tributary of the River Calder. It rises north of Cleckheaton, runs through Liversedge and flows into the Calder to the south of Dewsbury at Ravensthorpe. The average rainfall for the river valley of between 600–1000mm per annum when combined with the steep narrow river channel, makes the Spen susceptible to regular flooding. It is referred to in the name of the local parliamentary constituency, Batley and Spen, to account for the villages and suburbs of Batley in the Spen Valley, such as Liversedge and Gomersal.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kirklees</span> Metropolitan borough in England

Kirklees is a metropolitan borough of West Yorkshire, England. The borough comprises the ten towns of Batley, Birstall, Cleckheaton, Dewsbury, Heckmondwike, Holmfirth, Huddersfield, Meltham, Mirfield and Slaithwaite. It is governed by Kirklees Council. Kirklees had a population of 422,500 in 2011; it is the third-largest metropolitan district in England by area, behind Doncaster and Leeds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hartshead</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Hartshead is a village in the Kirklees district of West Yorkshire, England, 3.7 miles (6 km) west of Dewsbury and near to Hartshead Moor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heckmondwike</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Heckmondwike is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England, 9 miles (14 km) south west of Leeds. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, it is close to Cleckheaton and Liversedge. It is mostly in the Batley and Spen parliamentary constituency, and had an estimated population of 16,986 at the 2011 Census increasing to 18,149 at the 2021 Census. Heckmondwike forms part of the Heavy Woollen District.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Oakenshaw, West Yorkshire</span> Village in West Yorkshire, England

Oakenshaw is a village located in both the City of Bradford and Kirklees in West Yorkshire, England. It is located midway between the town of Cleckheaton in Kirklees and the suburb of Wyke in Bradford. The village is close to the M606 motorway. The village's main shopping centre is on Bradford Road and its main church, dedicated to St Andrew, is a grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Batley and Spen (UK Parliament constituency)</span> Parliamentary constituency in the United Kingdom

Batley and Spen is a constituency in the House of Commons of the UK Parliament. The current MP is Kim Leadbeater, a Labour politician, elected in a 2021 by-election by a 323-vote margin. The seat has returned Labour MPs since the 1997 general election.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heavy Woollen District</span> Localised area of West Yorkshire

The Heavy Woollen District is a region of textile-focused industrial development in West Yorkshire, England. It acquired the name because of the heavyweight cloth manufactured there from the early 19th century.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Liversedge</span> Town in West Yorkshire, England

Liversedge is an industrial town in the Metropolitan Borough of Kirklees, West Yorkshire, England. Historically part of the West Riding of Yorkshire, Liversedge lies between Cleckheaton and Heckmondwike. The Kirklees ward is now called Liversedge and Gomersal with a population at the 2011 Census of 19,420. Liversedge forms part of the Heavy Woollen District and was historically part of the parish of Birstall.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spenborough</span>

Spenborough was, from 1915 to 1974, a local government district in the administrative county of Yorkshire, West Riding, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">A638 road</span> Road in England

The A638 is a major road in England. It runs between the A1 at Markham Moor, Nottinghamshire and Chain Bar Interchange – Junction 26 of the M62 motorway, south of Bradford in West Yorkshire.

Brighouse and Spenborough was a parliamentary constituency in the West Riding of Yorkshire, comprising the two municipal boroughs of Brighouse and Spenborough and neighbouring areas. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

Spen Valley was a parliamentary constituency in the valley of the River Spen in the West Riding of Yorkshire. It returned one Member of Parliament (MP) to the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Leeds New Line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

The Heaton Lodge and Wortley Railway was constructed by the London and North Western Railway, to provide a duplicate route between Huddersfield and Leeds, leaving the existing line at Heaton Lodge junction, east of Huddersfield and rejoining it at Farnley junction, south west of Leeds. During construction it became known as the Leeds New Line and following nationalisation it was referred to as the Spen Line. Passenger services ceased in the 1950s with full closure in stages between 1960 and 1990.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Beggarington</span> Hamlet near Bradley, West Yorkshire, England

Beggarington, also known as Beggerington and Begerington is a hamlet consisting of a few houses about 0.4 miles (0.6 km) north of Hartshead in Kirklees, West Yorkshire. It is situated in a bend of the B6119 road at the junction with the road from Roberttown. Beggerington has traditionally been considered a part of Hartshead. The place name means either "where the berries grow" or is related to beggar.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spen Valley Line</span> Disused railway line in West Yorkshire, England

The Spen Valley Line was a railway that connected Mirfield with Low Moor through the Spen Valley in West Yorkshire, England. Opened up by the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway in 1847, with full opening to Low Moor in 1848, the line served a busy industrial and textile area and allowed a connection for trains between Huddersfield and Bradford. The line was absorbed by the London & North Western Railway, the London Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) and British Railways on Nationalisation. A separate link between Heckmondwike Central and Thornhill that opened later and was known as the Ravensthorpe Branch, allowed through running to Wakefield and beyond. The line was closed down to passengers in 1965 with freight continuing sporadically until 1981. A Spur onto the former Leeds New Line from the Ravensthorpe Branch kept the very southern end open until the late 1980s. The majority of the route is now the Spen Valley Greenway cycle path.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2021 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council election</span>

The 2021 Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council election took place on 6 May 2021 to elect members of Kirklees Metropolitan Borough Council in England. This was on the same day as other local elections. One-third of the seats were up for election, with two wards Almondbury electing two councillors. In November 2020, 3 Labour Councillors resigned in protest over the handling of the suspension of Jeremy Corbyn. This resulted in Labour losing overall control of Kirklees Council.

References

Cleckheaton cemetery chapel White Chapel Cleckheaton.jpg
Cleckheaton cemetery chapel
  1. 1 2 UK Census (2011). "Local Area Report – Cleckheaton Ward (as of 2011) (E05001393)". Nomis. Office for National Statistics . Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  2. Chisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Cleckheaton"  . Encyclopædia Britannica . Vol. 6 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 478.
  3. "Whitechapel Road Cleckheaton: Archaeological Evaluation" (PDF). West Yorkshire Archaeological Services. 1 December 2015. p. 4. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  4. Samel Lewis (1848). "Cleckheaton". A Topographical Dictionary of England. British History Online. Retrieved 1 March 2008.
  5. "The Returns for the West Riding of the county of York of the Poll Tax laid in the second year of the reign of King Richard the Second". National Archives. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  6. Birstall, Gomersal, and Heckmondwike. The Publications of the Thoresby Society. p. 30. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  7. MacKenzie, John (2020). "Battle of Adwalton Moor". BritishBattles.com. Retrieved 4 August 2020.
  8. "Birstall". UK Wells. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  9. Peel, Frank (1893). Spen Valley, Past and Present. Senior and Company. p. 273.
  10. Port, M. H. (2006). Six Hundred New Churches. A study of the Church Building Commission, 1816–1856. Spire Books.
  11. Gillian Cookson (1998) The Mechanization of Yorkshire Card-Making, Textile History, 29:1, 41–61
  12. "History of Cleckheaton Town Hall" (PDF). Retrieved 30 May 2018.
  13. "Belle Vue Grammar School". Bradford Timeline. Retrieved 29 January 2008.
  14. "Letter: A first for the Friends of Cleckheaton Library". Dewsbury Reporter. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  15. Body, Geoffrey: Railway Oddities, Tempus, 2007 ISBN   978-0-7524-4399-7
  16. "Cleckheaton Bus Station". West Yorkshire Metro. Archived from the original on 28 July 2021. Retrieved 28 July 2021.
  17. 1 2 3 Frederic A Youngs Jr., Local Administrative Units of England, Vol II: Northern England, London 1991
  18. Geoffrey Briggs, Civic and Corporate Heraldry, London 1971
  19. Local Government Act 1972, (1972 c.70), Schedule I
  20. Your Councillors in Cleckheaton, Kirklees Council, accessed 1 April 2008 Archived 18 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  21. Spen Valley Area Committee, Kirklees Council, accessed 1 April 2008 Archived 18 June 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  22. "Liberal Democrats". Nick Clegg announces new Liberal Democrat Peers. 8 August 2014. Retrieved 8 August 2014.
  23. The Parliamentary Constituencies (England) Order 2007, Office of Public Sector Information, accessed 1 April 2008
  24. Wolfe-Robinson, Maya; Stewart, Heather (2 July 2021). "Labour's Kim Leadbeater wins narrow victory in Batley and Spen byelection". The Guardian . ISSN   1756-3224. OCLC   60623878. Archived from the original on 2 July 2021. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  25. "Area Profiles". Kirklees Council. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  26. "Spen Valley Greenway, West Yorkshire". Railway paths. Retrieved 30 April 2024.
  27. "Full Freeview on the Emley Moor (Kirklees, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  28. "Freeview Light on the Cleckheaton (Kirklees, England) transmitter". UK Free TV. 1 May 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  29. Foundry, The Theme (17 May 2014). "Dewsbury Reporter | British Newspapers Online" . Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  30. "Telegraph & Argus". British Papers. 24 May 2014. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
  31. "John Smiths Open Classic (Cleckheaton)". talkingbowls.com. 27 May 2008. Archived from the original on 13 March 2016. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  32. "Baris Northern Counties East Football league : Teams : Liversedge". Northern Counties East Football League. Retrieved 17 May 2013.
  33. "Three new clubs join Central Yorkshire Cricket League for 2013 season". Ossett Cricket Club. 8 October 2013. Retrieved 17 May 2013.[ permanent dead link ]
  34. "Feature: William Baines and Flamborough Head". British Music Society. 22 February 2022. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  35. "Wilf Barber was a cut above!". The Press. 3 February 2017. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  36. "How the Spen Valley inspired Batley author's new crime thriller". Dewsbury Reporter. 11 July 2021. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  37. "Jeff Butterfield and John Bentley". Spen Valley Civic Society. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  38. "Danny Cadamarteri". First Team. Huddersfield Town FC. Archived from the original on 23 May 2009. Retrieved 30 March 2009.
  39. "Yorkshire skipper Gale remembers his debt to Cleckheaton". Telegraph and Argus. 11 June 2012. Retrieved 8 May 2022.
  40. Malam, John (October 2005). "Hargreaves, (Charles) Roger (1935–1988)". Oxford Dictionary of National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved 1 April 2008.
  41. Clayton, Emma (20 January 2017). "An IT girl, an English teacher and Cleckheaton Library - author Wendy Holden on the road to bestselling success". Bradford Telegraph and Argus. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  42. "Frederick Lord". Olympedia. Retrieved 8 March 2021.
  43. Spartacus Educational. "Edward Wadsworth". Archived from the original on 14 December 2013. Retrieved 14 January 2015.