FAMED local artist Stanley Boardman will be in the picture at the next meeting of Keighley and District Local History Society.

Members will be able to study some of the paintings by the late ‘1920s Boy’ that were contained in archives recently given to the society.

Stan’s daughter Jill Osborne donated 25 paintings along with sketches, stories, articles and paperwork relating to her father’s work as a sign writer and artist.

During the society’s upcoming meeting, committee member Tim Neal will talk fellow members through the items.

Spokesman Anne-Marie Dewhirst said: “They include examples of his pieces from the series 1920's Boy that were Stan's recollections of growing up in the Fell Lane area of Keighley in the 1920s.

“Along with the talk, some of the paintings will be brought along for attendees to see up close.”

The meeting will be held at The Knowle, the base of Cooperative Funeralcare, on Wednesday, June 14 at 7.30pm.

Members and non-members are welcome. There is a small entry charge to cover refreshments.

Jill Osborne last year asked the history society to look after professional signwriter Stan’s papers on behalf of the people of Keighley.

The Local History Society has catalogued the collection and put it into storage to ensure it remains together and does not leave Keighley, in keeping with Stan’s family’s wishes.

The full collection includes 24 oil paintings, four glass gildings, two wood carvings, five pencil and ink cartoons, and several articles written by Stan.

Stan’s cartoon-like pictures depicted many of the colourful characters well known in Keighley during the early part of the 20th century.

Stan was born in 1915 and spent most of his life living in Keighley and Silsden. He served in the army in the Second World War but was invalided out after contracting malaria.

Stan became a signwriter, then in the early 1970s was encouraged to paint his memories of the places and people in Keighley between the wars.

These local characters included Emily Matchbox, Jimmy Merry-legs and Freddy Gramophone, and several injured veterans of the Great War.

Stan became something of a celebrity, featuring in the press, on the radio and on television, including several appearances on the BBC’s Pebble Mill at One. He died in 1996.

Keighley youth theatre HYT dramatised the 1920s Boy exhibition in their 1976 musical Stan, after he spent a year of work producing the paintings.

Ron Broadbent made 1920s Boy, a film for Yorkshire Film Archive, which achieved the Best Amateur Movie award in 1978.