SPRINGFIELD Mills in the right background, at the bottom of Oakworth Road, provides a context for this view of the demolition of Damside properties in 1958. The site was being prepared for the then “ultra-modern” flats of Westgate Gardens.
At a time of widespread local demolition this one became newsworthy due to the “siege” of 67-year-old William Lund and 57-year-old James Hardy, who refused to leave their single-room cellar-dwelling despite the houses being pulled down around them.
They clung on from May to September, with Towser the dog and Smokey the cat for company. Sympathisers gave them food and cigarettes, though offers of alternative accommodation failed.
At last, warned that their hovel would be demolished the next day, they trundled their few belongings by night in a hand-cart to another derelict house in nearby Farrar’s Yard.
The photograph has been supplied by Kevin Seaton, of Shann Lane, Keighley.
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