THERE is a rich bit of history to the Otley Road corner of the town reflected in the street names, says regular Remember When contributor Vincent Finn.

"During the Civil War of the 1640s the occupation of Bradford went back and forth between the army of Parliament and the kings forces. The names of the streets reflect this period - King Charles Street, Cavalier Street, Gaunt Street all have a civil war influence," says Vincent.

"When the whole area behind the cathedral on Church Bank was torn down in the mid 1950s two large blocks of flats were build there. Each one was named after a civil war leader, Lord Fairfax and Lord Newcastle.

"Part of the 1947 Bradford Centenary Pageant was a re-enactment of the siege of Bradford by the attacking army of the day. In the 1947 re-enactment large bales of wool were hung over the side of the cathedral to repeal the cannon balls being fired at the church, as had happened in the 1640s.

The cannons we had were set up in Peel Park for the re-enactment. The pageant lasted all week and all the schoolchildren who took part in it were given a small badge for the lapel of your jacket. It was black enamel with a white boars head on, it was about the size of a shilling piece. I still have one somewhere.

"The only link left now in the area for this historic period are the flats on Church Bank, named Newcastle and Fairfax House."

Vincent has sent us these pictures of Lower Otley Road, showing Cavalier Street, and some empty shops. "The one on the corner had been empty for quite a while prior to its demolition," he says. "Shops had two floors above them, these were apartments usually where the people who owned the shop lived."

He adds: "From where Otley Road began with its junction with Barkerend Road and Tennyson Place, about a quarter of a mile, there were four pubs all on the same side of the road - the Cock and Bottle, the Olive Branch, the George, and the Airedale.

"The Olive Branch was a Hammonds House; a very old pub, it had stone floors and was quite busy.The shop next door was a chemist's shop and on the corner of the next street up was The George, a Tetleys house which was kept for many years by a man named Harry Lawson. I would imagine many of your readers will remember him.

"Look at the roof line above the Olive Branch - there is a TV aeriel, one of the first in Otley Road."