SIR – The Carnegie Library in Windhill represents a proud moment in Bradford’s history. It was opened in 1905 by Joseph Wright. Wright was a poor-house waif from Windhill who, aged six, became a donkey boy in a local quarry and, at 15, taught himself to read and write.
He saved up to go to university – to Heidelburg because he could not afford an English university.
Subsequently he became a Professor at Oxford and won international acclaim for his pioneering work, “The Dialect of Windhill”. At Oxford he inspired the young Tolkien with his interest in languages.
At the opening of the Carnegie Library he celebrated the fact that Windhill supported classes teaching six languages. He retired from Oxford to Thackley and always enjoyed the opportunity of speaking his native dialect. Carnegie Libraries were intended to help with working people’s self-improvement, and self-improvement was part of the culture that Wright and the classes at Windhill represented.
We could use a bit of that culture of self-improvement in Bradford today! And we should be proud of Windhill’s fine Carnegie Library.
Nicholas Bielby, Frizinghall Road, Bradford
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