12. The First Decade
The First Decade
Wilsden Village Society’s first decade had been a time of tremendous activity on many fronts.
Many
of its initial visions had become reality. A fine village hall was open
and well used, giving rise to new clubs and activities. The squash
club, in spite of teething troubles, was a popular addition to Wilsden
sports facilities. Planning applications, some with potentially major
impact on the appearance and future of the village, were being
successfully opposed or sometimes supported by the society, often with
cooperation from Bradford’s planners. Popular social events were taking
place - galas, dances, outings of various sorts.
Now
the society continued to operate but in a slightly lower key. For
reasons outlined, the great Aire Faires had ceased and the last gala to
be organised by the society took place in 1988.
The
Good Neighbours group took over some of the social care aspects
although the society continued to put on Christmas parties for senior
citizens. Other new organisations began to fill the calendar. The
twinning association, formed in 1981 as the result of a WVS initiative,
put on Burns Night dances in the village hall and the gardening
association formed in 1976 held at least one ceilidh. In terms of
generating more reasons to spend leisure time within the village, the
society had achieved its objective. Later, as the new Wilsden Band grew
in skill and confidence, they added to the local entertainment scene
with a series of band concerts in the village hall.
If
the social, gala and village hall committees had worked themselves out
of a job, that was far from the case for the society as a whole and
particularly for the planning committee.
In
1979 projected cuts in public spending were announced by the
Environment Minister Michael Heseltine. £5 million was to be cut from
Bradford’s public services. The leader of Bradford Metropolitan
District Council, Councilllor Brian Wommersley, pointed out to the
Government the damage such cuts could do. Wilsden Village Society
supported his view with a strongly worded letter from the predominantly
conservative community to the Minister and Prime Minister Margaret
Thatcher. Chairman Noel Bourke referred to conditions the village
society had observed. He wrote “ People who travel widely consider that
the roads in Bradford are among the worst in England. Wilsden Main
Street is by common consent one of the worst in Bradford. The roads and
pavements are never swept now. Many parts are completely covered with
sand and salt applied during the winter. In some cases the accumulation
is so bad that the drains have been blocked.” He went on to comment on
the poor bus service and increased fares, long waits for serious repairs
to council houses and more. He quoted from the official publication
Regional Statistics 1979, showing how the Yorkshire and Humberside
regions lag behind the rest of the country. He wrote “We venture to
suggest that in this region we have standards of public service which
would just not be tolerated in other parts of the country.” Local
newspapers the Telegraph and Argus and the Bingley Guardian concurred
with the letter’s sentiment that if cuts were necessary, they should
fall on areas best able to cope with the consequences.
[Reading
this in the village society’s records nearly 40 years since it was
written, it is hard to see that treatment of the north of England has
significantly changed.]
In
August 1980 a headline in the Bingley Guardian read ‘Wilsden street
saga ends.’ This hailed the end of three years during which Wilsden Main
Street presented an obstacle course on road and pavement. The gas,
electricity and Post Office telephone authorities all dug up parts of
Main Street, each repairing the surface after a fashion, just in time
for the next group to take it up again. Successive chairmen of the
village society and its planning committee chairman Rodney Harrison
contacted the statutory bodies and both district and county council many
times, possibly not making much difference to the speed of the outcome
but at least making local opinion very clear. After similar frustrating
encounters over another road issue, Rodney eventually got an assurance
that Wilsden and similar places on high ground would be placed first in
the gritting order if winter road surfaces became bad. It took two
years of repeated requests to get two additional litter bins for the
village and just as long to persuade the Central Electricity Generating
Board to fulfil their original commitment to plant trees to screen a
booster station at Harrop Lane. The society made its own contribution to
the environment by planting 40 new trees, a mixture of silver birch and
alder, around the village in 1982 and by adding to the daffodil bulbs.
In
1983 the society added its voice to protests by many villagers at plans
to re-open and extend Bank Top Quarry, leading to a decision by the
county council to instruct the applicants to seek an alternative site.
Councillor Pettit expressed delight and relief at the decision, saying
that the plan could have done untold harm to the communities of Harden
and Wilsden. Reporting on this victory, WVS chairman Ian Kirkbride added
a cautionary note, pointing out that the county council had not gone so
far as to place a definite ban on future development of the site.
Problems
with bus services cropped up regularly and the village society
organised meetings at which local views could be put and even succeeded
in getting the traffic manager of the West Yorkshire Road Car Company to
come to the village and admit that their service had been
unsatisfactory.