Knottingley & Ferrybridge Online

www.knottingley.org.uk

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Welcome to

Knottingley & Ferrybridge Online

Knottingley coat of arms

The West Yorkshire town of Knottingley, (including neighbouring Ferrybridge), has a rich history and fortunately much of this has been documented over more recent times and made available to you on the Knottingley and Ferrybridge Online website.

The Knottingley coat-of-arms, depicted above, symbolises aspects of both the town and the neighbouring district. The bridge with water flowing beneath, represents the ancient structure over the River Aire at Ferrybridge whilst the roses symbolise the county of Yorkshire. The Lacy knot was the badge of the de Lacy family to whom the manor of Knottingley was assigned following the Norman Conquest of 1066 while the raised bottle refers to the local glass industry which from 1871 became the principal industry within the town.

knottingley industry

INDUSTRIA DITAT

The motto 'INDUSTRIA DITAT' translates to 'Industry Enriches' and through the essays and articles featured on our website we hope to show how our local industries helped the town to establish, develop and prosper through the 20th century.

This website, initially constructed way back in May 2000 but now redesigned to facilitate viewing on various mobile devices, contains many pages of historical information, personal recollections and a number of archive photographs of Knottingley and Ferrybridge compiled over a period of more than a decade so please take some time to explore everything on offer to you.

Wartime Section

Aerial view of Ferrybridge A Power Station

The Unveiling of Knottingley War Memorial
Sunday 25th September 1921

Photograph from the private collection of Ron Gosney

A less visited section of the old style website, possibly due to my lack of understanding of web design and navigation, but one that I share with a great deal of fondness.

The wartime section was the idea of our dear friend and 'Digest Magazine' colleague Maurice Haigh. It was a project that he cared deeply about and one that he urged me to incorporate into the Knottingley website as well as into the Knottingley and Pontefract Digest magazines.

It may not be a large section but I know it is a collection of memories and articles that meant so much to Maurice.

...Wartime Memories Contents


Launch Day Photos

John Harker launch photos

A collection first begun a decade ago is now beginning to appear on the website.

The majority of the photos depict the days dignitaries and guests but there are also some spectacular launch images as the vessels enter the water. An occasion I am sure that will be remembered by many local schoolchildren of the day, myself included.

...John Harker Launch Day Photographs


Personal Memories

A section that has always proved extremely popular both here on the website and as part of the old Knottingley Digest magazine. Sadly since the demise of the magazine there has been no new additions to our memories section so it may be that you've already read all of them in one format or the other. However, if you haven't already seen them, or would like to revisit any of them, then our entire collection is available here.

Personal Memories

...Personal Memories


'Dakky' Street Photography

Our photo gallery contains a collection of photographs submitted by visitors to the website, many of which you will already be familiar with. However, one of my own personal favourite collections are the photographs taken during the 1930s by a local street photographer referred to by many in the town as 'Dakky', though few people appear to know anything about him.

Through his lens he captured community life in and around our streets and workplaces, recording scenes that would otherwise have been long since resigned to history.

Dakky Street Photography

It's been said that 'Dakky' used to have a small studio in the vicinity of the Bendles alongside the canal where he would develop his film. It's such a shame that we know little about him or have any idea of just how many images he managed to take through his time in the town. How many previously unseen photographs remain to be discovered? Our collection offers just a few.

...Dakky Street Photography


How it all began

The Knottingley website was created in May 2000 and in February 2002 it featured in the local Pontefract & Castleford Express as the 'Internet Guide to Knottingley'

Internet guide to Knottingley