These jolly ladies were employees of W Midgley and Sons Ltd, worsted spinners of Fleece and Dalton Mills.

They were about to set off on a 1960s works trip to Blackpool, and had gathered by the flowerbed at the end of the former ‘art deco’ bus station offices.

In the background is Keighley’s original shopping precinct, developed by the Murrayfield Real Estate Company Ltd, officially opened in 1968 and revamped as the Airedale Centre in 1986.

Just visible are the Olympic Coffee Bar on the left and the gas showrooms on the right.

This scheme to “revitalise” the town centre took many years to come to fruition.

As far back as 1944 the borough council had discussed radical plans which would have entailed relocating the library, post office, bus station, cinemas, market and town hall, and included both an inner ring road and a bypass. Understandably this was shelved because of its “magnitude”, but even so the Murrayfield scheme was initially criticised for tending to move Keighley’s centre of gravity away from North Street and Cavendish Street.

The photograph has been supplied by Mrs Joan Wiseman, of Ashbourne Road, Ingrow.