THIS was the view from the upper windows of the Craven Bank in North Street, a little after noon on a wet January day in 1900. Wooden shops and hoardings surround the corporation stone yard, destined to provide the site for a spacious Town Hall Square.
Factories have let their workers out half an hour early in order to watch an Active Service Contingent of the 3rd Volunteer Battalion of the Duke of Wellington's West Riding Regiment marching off on the first leg of their journey towards South Africa and the Boer War.
The Battalion band leads. Behind, distinguishable by their greatcoats and khaki-covered helmets, come the 36 men bound for the front.
Out of a Battalion strength of over 300, they had been chosen from an eager scramble of volunteers. The majority were from Keighley and Haworth, though Bingley, Skipton and Burley were also represented. Their colonel saw them off with a rousing speech, hoping "that if you have a chance you will make it a hot corner for a few Boers somewhere".
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