TROLLEYBUSES and vintage cars trundle along Bingley’s Main Street, past shops with wide sun canopies and pedestrians ambling by.

This was the scene in 1930, and is one of the images of this market town captured through the ages by local resident Alan Cattell.

The retired university lecturer has delved into the history of Bingley in a new book Bingley A Living History.

Divided into four sections, the book begins with the governance of the town as it developed from an agricultural base into an industrial manufacturing town.

Photographs of the town centre follow, showing changes to the main buildings and thoroughfares. ‘The year 1888 saw the removal of the Market Hall, Butter Cross and Stocks to Prince of Wales Park and the demolition of Elm Tree Hill to enable Main Street to be widened to allow safer passage for pedestrians and horse drawn traffic,’ writes Alan.

‘The first mechanised public transport, the tram, arrived in Bingley in 1913. Car and lorry transport developed from this period onwards. The route through the town centre was converted to public trolley buses in 1939 and the tram rails were removed during the Second World War. The trolley bus was replaced by motor buses in November 1963.

The anticipated rise in car ownership from the 1950s onwards led to Bingley Urban District Council proposing a by-pass, but it took another five decades before the relief road opened in 2003 to relieve congestion.

The boom is full of interesting facts such as the reason for Park Road being known as Toad Lane. An 1898 contributor to Chronicles of Old Bingley recalled that thousands of toads crossed the neck of land between two mires (Bingley North and South bogs).

A chapter on places and people includes Myrtle Park, Bingley Fire Station, Bingley Swimming Pool and Bingley Teacher Training College for Women.

Famous sons include Gilstead-born Fred Hoyle the academic, mathematician, astrophysicist, astronomer, cosmologist, broadcaster and science fiction writer who coined the phrase Big Bang Theory.

Long distance endurance swimmer Barry Watson of Crossflatts, who set a world record for swimming the English Channel from France in 1964, also features. This record was not broken until 1981.

Events include the sad Milner Field Drowning Tragedy, when, on August 6, 1901, postman Tom Mirfield died by drowning in Milner Field Lake during a game of water polo.

‘Around 300 spectators had watched the match, which finished at 3.45pm, from the banks of the lake. As it finished, all but two of the players were thought to have left the lake via the landing stage. The two who remained in the water then gave a demonstration of what was called ‘fancy swimming’.

It was only later that they realised that one of their party was missing, due to a set of clothing being left unclaimed on the banks. His body was discovered only after the lake was drained. It is believed that he been struck by severe stomach cramp and was trying to get out.

‘He had been married about six weeks and the distressing fact was that his wife was present with the spectators,’ writes Alan.

The opening of Bingley Swimming Pool and Princess Hall is thoroughly covered, from the first mention of a public baths in Bingley being made in 1869. Princess Hall opened in 1927 and the pool was opened on March 12, 1928, The latter included exhibitions by Ivy Gill who had swum the English Channel in 1927 and by George Webster (appointed an instructor at the pool) who had represented Britain in the 100 metres backstroke at the 1912 and 1920 Olympic Games.' writes Alan.

Queen Victoria’s Jubilee Celebrations in Bingley are documented as is the Boer War Commemoration in 1905, when Major General Sir Leslie Rundle who had served in both the First and Second Boer War. He visited to unveil a memorial for three Bingley soldiers.

Alan has dug deep to unearth facts and figures about the history of Bingley, where he has lived for the past 16 years. While researching at Keighley Library during 2013 he came across details of a long-forgotten call to the women of Bingley from an imprisoned suffragette who was a local organiser and resident of the town.

The book follows on from Alan’s previous book ‘Bingley and Surrounds - Forgotten Moments from History.’ *Bingley A Living History by Alan Cattell is published by Chris Thorpe Graphic Design and is priced £12.99 Visit bingleyhistoryseries.co.uk