Welcome to our website
We hope you enjoy looking at our website, which we created in Autumn 2015 to provide information about the history of East Keswick, and about the East Keswick Local History Group. The website is in the course of being developed, with new content being added.
East Keswick is a village 10 miles north east of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. Its history dates back to the Doomsday Book.
The Local History Group undertakes research into the history of East Keswick and the surrounding area. It has around 50 members and meets regularly in the village. We also have a couple of outside meetings each year. New members are always welcome.
East Keswick is a village 10 miles north east of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England. Its history dates back to the Doomsday Book.
The Local History Group undertakes research into the history of East Keswick and the surrounding area. It has around 50 members and meets regularly in the village. We also have a couple of outside meetings each year. New members are always welcome.
Our meetings
Everyone is welcome to attend our meetings, which are mostly free to members, and £5 to non members.
Unless otherwise stated, meetings are at 8pm in the Verity Room of East Keswick Village Hall (School Lane, East Kewsick, Leeds LS17 9DA).
2023 Meeting Programme (New)
All meetings will be held in the Verity Room of the Village Hall at 8pm unless otherwise stated. If for Covid related or any other reason, meetings have to be cancelled, details will be posted promptly on this webpage.
Meeting dates for your diary.
Thursday 26 Jan : "Getting Around Town: Transport in Leeds c.1800-now" talk by Patrick Bourne who is Assistant Community Curator at Abbey House Museum in Leeds
Thursday 23 March : “A Lofty story” – A talk by Carol-Anne Pask.
Having a new roof fitted led to a hidden treasure trove of documents being unearthed in the attic.
The documents relate to Scarcroft during WW2 and include records of the air wardens amongst other things. They provide an amazing insight into the life in the village at the time.
Thursday 11 May : "The Lost Historic Houses of Hunslet" a talk by Steve Burt. Steve is an eminent Leeds local historian who gave our inaugural talk on the history of Roundhay Park in July 2001 and we are thrilled he has agreed to come back to talk to us again.
Thursday 28 Sept : AGM
Thursday 2 Nov
Thursday 7 Dec
Past Meetings in 2022
Thursday 24 February : The Aire & Calder Navigation - a talk by David Taylor.
This talk will take a look at the Aire and Calder Navigation, the waterway which connects Wakefield and Leeds to the port of Goole. It has a long history starting in the 1600s and continued as a working waterway well into the 20 century.
Today, it has a place as both a leisure route and to a lesser extent carrying commercial traffic.
During this long history there have been many changes as technology developed and as it faced competition from proposed rival canal routes and the railways of Victorian times. The Directors met these challenges throughout it’s working life by improving the waterway, its locks and working methods.
Thursday 24 March: The Montague Burton story - Jacki Lawrence presents an illustrated history of the life and times of Montague Burton, the UK's most famous manufacturer and retailer of men's wholesale clothing in the 20th century, tracing his footsteps from impoverished door-to-door hawker to creator of the world's largest clothing empire.
Thursday 12 May: "William Gascoigne, Leeds astronomer - or how a spider placed Leeds at the forefront of the scientific revolution". David Sellers will explore the life of William Gascoigne (c.1612-1644), the first inventor of the telescopic sight and the telescope micrometer.
Wednesday 17 August (1.30pm onwards): a visit to Allerton Castle. Space is limited, so please contact Liz Parr (email: ekhistory@gmail.com) if you're interested. Tickets cost £18, payable in advance.
Tuesday 6th September: a visit to Hovingham for a walk and talk on prehistoric artefacts found on a local farm
Thursday 22 September: our AGM, followed by a talk "A History of the Leeds Carnival" by Arthur France
Thursday 10 November: a talk - "The Moon grocery empire". The story of the Moon family, their grocery empire and their lasting impact on the village
Thursday 8 December: our Christmas meeting - a talk entitled "You couldn't make it up: the secret family of Mary Moon". Following on from November's talk this follows the Moons to and from East Keswick, Canada and Hollywood.
The talk will be followed by festive nibbles and drinks.
Membership
You don’t have to be actively involved in researching local history to become a member. If you have an interest in the history of East Keswick and the surrounding area you should find our programme interesting. For an annual subscription (currently £10) members will receive a newsletter, and entrance to most meetings will be free.
Contact Liz Parr, Secretary, email: ekhistory@gmail.com
You don’t have to be actively involved in researching local history to become a member. If you have an interest in the history of East Keswick and the surrounding area you should find our programme interesting. For an annual subscription (currently £10) members will receive a newsletter, and entrance to most meetings will be free.
Contact Liz Parr, Secretary, email: ekhistory@gmail.com