SEEN here in the 1960s, these premises, now occupied by Moghuls Indian restaurant, belonged to GH Atkinson’s, whose catchphrase was “The Quality Grocers”.

Between the two upstairs windows on the left is a carved plaque passed each day by thousands who never notice it: “Balmoral House: These buildings were erected by James Leach, Esq., greengrocer, and Sarah, his wife, of 31, Low Street, Keighley, 1869. Also our Sarah told me, James Leach, that she paid 480 points, for house and shop, 31 Low Street, Keighley, in 1840. She died August 19th, 1889. The premises were sold in October, 1889, for 1950 pounds, and was very cheap I think indeed”.

It is pointless trying to find any logic in this public display of business and matrimonial dealings, for there isn’t any. James Leach (1815-1893) was one of Keighley’s classic Victorian characters.

His elaborate tombstone in Utley Cemetery, prepared before his death, lists the positions he had held in local politics, to which he brought a blunt and sometimes aggressive personality.

One meeting of the Keighley Board of Guardians in 1882, rendered “very turbulent” by repeated interruptions from Leach, culminated in what newspapers called an “extraordinary scene”. Leach grasped the chairman “by the coat collar, whereupon the two closed together, and in the course of a short scuffle Mr Leach was thrown on his back on the floor by the chairman, much to the amusement of other members”.