Berry Brow & Armitage Bridge Conservative Club
Armitage Bridge Conservative Club
Aka
Berry Brow and Armitage Bridge
Conservative Club
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https://huddersfield.exposed/wiki/Conservative_Club,_Armitage_Bridge,_Almondbury
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Berry Brow Conservative
Association was established in 1867 with an inaugural banquet being held in the
schoolroom of the Salem Chapel of the Methodist New Connexion in Berry Brow.
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| Salem Chapel. Kirklees image archive |
The room was “profusely adorned on the walls”
with well-known mottoes of the times and the names of Conservative statesmen in
“wreaths of evergreens.”
James Priestley,
who would later become club president, chaired the event which was attended by
100 men. They were joined after the meal
by a number of women, one would presume they were wives and family of the men.
A variety of well known, local Conservatives gave speeches throughout the
evening and these were interspersed with
“some excellent vocal music.”
Yorkshire
Post 9 December 1867; Huddersfield Chronicle 14 December 1867
By 1871 the association had
increased its numbers to over 80 financial members. The had met as a club for several
years in small premises in the village. The building consisted of two small
cottages knocked together and a description in the Huddersfield Chronicle of
1871 stated that they
“possessed excellent reading and recreations rooms,
centrally situated, and they are well furnished with every convenient requisite
for carrying on the objects of the Association.
There is a good library connected with it, and the tables are well
supplied with an excellent assortment of daily and weekly newspapers.”
That same year the
association held its “annual soiree” in the National School at Armitage Bridge
where 120 people sat down for tea. In addition to the customary speeches the event had a comic act and a glee and musical party to
add variety to the proceedings. Huddersfield Chronicle 11 March 1871
However as numbers and
popularity for their cause grew they club were forced to consider finding new and
larger premises. The decision was made to build
“a more commodious and
substantial building such as will afford ample accommodation to the members of
the new club.”
Funds to begin the
project were provided by friends of the club and it was hoped that by the end
of it they would raise sufficient amounts to open the new club without debt.
The plan was to build on a
site near the river so that it would serve both communities of Berry Brow and
Armitage Bridge. It was also on the border of two constituencies – Huddersfield
and Colne Valley, a point which was highlighted by John Arthur Brooke at the foundation laying ceremony.
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| Armitage Bridge. Kirklees Image Archive |
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| Berry Brow Methodist Church and school. Kirklees Image Archive |
The ceremony was well advertised across the local Huddersfield newspapers and full advantage was taken on the day that the
foundation stones were laid on 31 July 1886, especially as the weather was
particularly fine and sunny. The afternoon began with a procession of school
children and club members led by the Berry Brow Brass Band. They paraded
through the main streets of both villages finally arriving at the site to find
a large crowd had gathered as the fine
weather on the day had attracted people to witness the ceremony. The village had been decorated with bunting, flags and banners, especially around the area of the new building which must have given a party
type atmosphere to the occasion, together with the children waving flags as they
paraded.
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| Huddersfield Chronicle 24 7 1886 |
The corner stones for the Berry Brow and Armitage Bridge Conservative
Club were laid by Mrs Thomas Brooke. Mrs Brooke was presented with a trowel by Mr
Priestley and a mallet by the architect, Edward
W Lockwood. The stone was then
lowered into position and laid by Mrs Brooke with
“the customary ceremony.”
Thomas Brooke (who later became Sir Thomas Brooke of Armitage Bridge) addressed the crowd on
behalf of his wife.
Then followed a public tea, described as
“excellent and substantial”
served in the National School with tickets for the
event being sold at 1s. However the attendance at the tea was so large, around
500, meant that
“foragers had to be sent out for fresh supplies of provisions!”
After tea a public meeting
was held in
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| Armitage Bridge House and grounds. Kirklees image archive |
“Mr Brooke’s park”
at Armitage Bridge House
where a large crowd listened to addresses given
by several prominent local Conservatives. Children from the National Sunday
School and the Berry Brow Brass Band provided entertainment.
The new club building was designed
by Edward W Lockwood, a local
architect and by the time it was officially opened in August 1887 the club boasted 140 members. The date for the formal
opening had been fixed for some time and went ahead despite other events
happening in the area.
The club was described as being
“well adapted and
pleasantly situated at Armitage Bridge.”
Flags and banners adorned the building and
gave an atmosphere of excitement to the occasion which members had looked
forward to since the completion of the building works. They felt that the club
would go on to have an important bearing on the political future of the area. Mrs John Arthur Brooke, of Fenay Hall,
should have performed the ceremony but due to ill health was unable to attend
and so her role was taken by her daughter Blanche
Brooke. The club committee had purchase a gold key in the form of a brooch
which they presented to Blanche who went on to unlock the door of the new club
premises. Following the formal opening an open air meeting was held in the
park. J. A. Brooke addressed the crowd
and thanked everyone on behalf of his wife and daughter. He stated in his
speech that of his wife had been there she would have addressed the crowd
“for
he did not know a more enthusiastic politician than his wife, unless it be some
of his sisters! Ladies nowadays took a more prominent place in political
affairs and his wife had looked forward with the greatest pleasure to performing
her part in the ceremony of the afternoon.”
He went on to say that he hoped the club would be open for many years
and would be not only
“a centre for working men to enjoy useful and necessary
recreation but that it might also be a school for political thought.”
They then
explored the new building. There would be no “intoxicating liquors” sold at the
club which was the case in many similar clubs at the time.
After the official
proceedings had finished the large crowd reassembled in Thomas Brooke’s park for an open air meeting with the club president, James Priestley presiding over the proceedings. The meeting was then
followed by a tea in the National School which was enjoyed by a large
gathering. Entertainment and music for
dancing was provided by the Berry Brow Brass band to conclude the day’s events.
The club had cost roughly £800
and since opening membership had risen rapidly and the club was described as
being in a
“flourishing condition”.
The
president continued to be James Priestley a
local JP. By March 1889 around £500 had
been raised, lowering the debt to £300.
The lady friends of the members had all got together to arrange and hold
a bazaar with the aim of paying off the remaining debt. The ladies held regular
weekly sewing meetings to create goods for sale at the event. Teas were held to provide funds for the
materials needed for the making of
“useful and fancy articles”
for the stalls
at the bazaar. Some eight months after its initiation the bazaar took place in
the Armitage Bridge Schoolroom where the two day event was opened by Mrs William Brooke. The room was decorated with flags and emblems
created by the young men of the Conservative Association who had worked with
the ladies to promote the success of the bazaar and also had their own stall. The Huddersfield Chronicle reported that
“sales proceeded vigorously throughout the day!”
A flower stall offered a range of blooms put
together by George Hey who was gardener to Thomas
Brooke. A variety of entertainments took place during the evening as a
continuation of the day and were presided over by T. Furniss. The sale continued the following day and in the
afternoon a “Magic Lantern Show” was given by T. Quinn which proved to be very
popular and drew a large audience. To round off the event a ball was held in
the evening with music provided by Haigh Littlewood’s Band and about 35 couples
“indulging in the pleasures of the dance until the small hours of the following
morning.”
The total proceeds of the event were around £100. Sheffield
Daily Telegraph 8 August 1887; Leeds
Times 9 March 1889; Huddersfield
Chronicle 24 July 1886; 2 & 8 August 1886; 13 August 1887; 5 & 9 March
1889
1888 proved to be a very busy year for
the clubs with lots of events being reported in the local press.
In January the members worked
closely with the members of the Liberal Club to arrange a social gathering for
the elderly people of Berry Brow. They
invited all people over the age of 60 living in Berry Brow and Armitage Bridge
to a knife and fork tea. About 150 people attended and those that were unable
to attend had tea delivered to them at their homes. Several speeches were made
during the evening, but the evening also had musical entertainment and a
ventriloquist. There was a
"desert
interval”
where oranges, apples and grapes were handed round to the
audience. This was to become an annual
event and was very popular and successful.
The main aim of the club was
“political education”
and John Arthur
Brooke reminded the club membership of this aim when he spoke at the annual
meeting in November 1888. The club had
been used throughout the year for political meetings, hosting at least seven
political lectures and including meetings of the Huddersfield Primrose League,
in addition to a variety of social events.
In April the club had celebrated
“Primrose Day”
with a tea and meeting in the club rooms. About 100 members and
friends had attended with each wearing the “little blossom” and badge of the
Primrose League. An “excellent tea” was prepared by the ladies associated with
the club and was enjoyed by everyone.
The gathering then went into the billiard room for a more formal meeting
led by James Rowbottom. It was decided during the meeting that they
would hold a bazaar the following year to raise funds for the cause. The proceeds of the Primrose Day tea came to
£3.
At one of these meetings,
held in the club’s large billiard room, Mrs C. J. Brook of Harewood Lodge, Meltham addressed the meeting in May
1888 on
“Politics”
saying that the word politics had been defined as
“The
contests of party of power.”
Her speech underpinned the clubs aim for political
education but the opening of the Primrose League made it open to men and women. Mrs
Brooke stated
“that the Primrose league “brought together men and women of
different ranks and occupations and gave them opportunities of learning each
other’s thoughts and opinions.”
A lecture was given at under the auspices of
the club in the December by W Touchstone
of Manchester on the
“Political topics of the day.”
The meeting was held in the Old Schoolroom at
Berry Brow but I suspect that his message was far from popular as at the end of his lecture he invited questions and discussion by
the members
“but silence reigned supreme, notwithstanding that the majority of
the audience was made up of Radicals.”
However the club did
sometimes let its hair down and they held their first annual concert in
November 1888.
A “fair audience”
gathered in the National Schoolroom at Armitage Bridge for the occasion. Thomas Pearson Crosland, JP, presided
over proceedings. There was a variety of
entertainment including vocal and violin solos plus a “humourist and mimic”,
Harry Hines.
There are also many accounts
of the club participating in bowling matches, billiards and whist competitions
against other Conservative clubs in the area right from the date of the clubs
inception. Tournaments were held at the club and away at other sites. At the rear of the premises the club had its own bowling green.
Huddersfield Chronicle 24 January, 21 April, 12 May, 17
& 24 November & 22 December 1888.
At the annual meeting in 1892
the club president E. R. Wilson
reported that the club was in a very
“fair position”
and praised the members
for the
“energetic way”
they had assisted and supported the Conservative
candidate in the general election. Huddersfield
Chronicle 12 November 1892.
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| Armitage Bridge House. Kirklees Image Archive |
In 1909 the club held a
garden fete as a fund raiser in the grounds of Armitage Bridge House, which had
been loaned for the occasion by Lady Brooke (the wife of Sir Thomas Brooke, a Deputy Lieutenant
and Justice of the Peace).
Lady Brooke
was formerly Mary Priestley, the
daughter of James Priestley, club
president. She has married Thomas Brooke
in 1902 after the death of his wife, Amelia, nee Dewar, in 1901.
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| Archibald Boyd Carpenter |
The main speaker for the day
was Captain Archibald Boyd Carpenter,
who was the Unionist Candidate for the Colne Valley. Boyd Carpenter gave
“a vigorous speech”
which dealt with the government’s
budget proposals which he considered to be
“revolutionary, unjust and
unsupportable because they were not intended to meet present needs only but
placed burdens on certain classes who were already bearing a burden which was
intolerable.”
Sheffield Daily Telegraph 5 July 1909; Manchester Courier 5 July 1909
Apart from reports of a variety of bowling and
billiard matches there is little else to show of the club after 1909.
As far as we know the club was situated in
Stockwell Road, Armitage Bridge but it no longer exists. It is shown on OS maps of the early 1960s but
had been demolished by the 1970s.
