BEFORE the laying out of North Street in 1786, Cooke Lane (there has always been ambiguity about its spelling, with or without an ‘e’) served as Keighley’s main north-south thoroughfare.

This is the view from the Low Street corner in the early 1900s.

Premises along the left-hand side include the Old Brewery of Aaron King and Co, while beyond a funeral cortege stands outside William Harris’ livery stables. On the right are the imposing gas offices, with Stanley’s Stores in the foreground.

Highly respected Stanley’s Stores specialised in such treats as ‘Invalids’ Champagne and Stanley’s Golden-Glen Glenlivet, which carried the heartening encomium: “Where whiskey is needed as a medicine this is highly recommended by the medical faculty”.

This entire vista disappeared under Keighley’s 1960s shopping precinct.