ONE of an army of local preachers who provided the mainstay of the smaller Victorian chapel, this was John Moore, a Saltaire draper.
For much of a generation John Moore and his brother Nathan, a farmer at Luddenden Dean, near Halifax, preached at the annual Scartop "charity", a popular anniversary held, weather permitting, in the open air at the Wesleyan chapel at Ponden. As many as 3,000 could attend.
This 1896 event was noted as being "the 21st time in succession that either one or both of the brothers Moore have preached the charity sermons, with the exception of one year." John preached in the afternoon and Nathan in the evening.
Alas, by 1897 John Moore had recently died, so Nathan conducted both afternoon and evening services. A hymn, One By One Our Friends Depart, was sung in John's memory.
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