THIS view from the cross along North Street in 1890 was probably taken by a member of the Keighley and District Photographic Association formed the previous year, one of whose objects was to record the changing face of the town.

Here we see North Street on the brink of being widened and rebuilt. Demolition has already started on the right-hand side, soon to be replaced by the handsome Burlington Buildings of 1891 and Court Buildings of 1894. Central Buildings would form an impressive corner on the left in 1898.

By 1894 fine premises for the Bradford District Bank and the Bradford Old Bank were vying with each other at opposite sides of Russell Street (then called Chapel Lane), and by the turn of the century the North Street Arcade was nearing completion.

The buildings especially along the left-hand side were to be festooned with ornamental stone-carving on their upper floors, mainly the work of sculptor Alex F Smith and his craftsmen. Responsible for most of Keighley's later Victorian and Edwardian decoration, Smith advertised as a creator of statuary, murals, memorials, chimney pieces, portrait busts and art metalwork. He could carve in stone, marble, alabaster, wood and cement. He remained active even after retiring in his eighties.

Notice in the roadway the tracks of horse trams introduced in 1889.