ALDERMAN Tom Broster, fifth from left, turns the key which officially opened a clubhouse for the Utley Veterans in November, 1938.

This was in Parker Lane, in a 230-year-old barn belonging to Keighley Corporation and renovated by the parks committee.

Some 50 Utley veterans attended the opening ceremony and were later treated to a pie supper provided by butcher Tom Bailey.

Making a speech, Alderman Broster observed that the clubhouse, in not being modern, was "in perfect harmony with the veteran stage of its members". In it, he said "those who had borne the stress of toil for over half a century could now serenely pass in review the times in which they had lived, happy in their reflections and companionships and in recreation suitable to their years."

Such sentiments seem far removed from our modern encouragement of an active retirement, but the faces of some of these old men suggest the hardness of the lives they have led.

The imposing black-clad figure third from the left is Charles Burrell, a well known character nicknamed 'the Mayor of Utley'.