LETTER: Sad to see church close for the final time

It was sad to see another place of worship, St Barnabas Church in Liversedge, close recently.
St. Barnabas Church, Hightown, Liversedge

August 5th 1960St. Barnabas Church, Hightown, Liversedge

August 5th 1960
St. Barnabas Church, Hightown, Liversedge August 5th 1960

I remember being taken there each Sunday in 1942, when I was aged five.

The organ was then blown by hand, but an electric motor was installed soon afterwards.

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The congregation at that time was very small, but it built up well in the 1940s and 1950s.

For 25 years the organist was Mr Bert Firth, who had intended staying only for a short time.

Hightown has lost three Methodist churches, namely the Primitive Methodist, St John’s Methodist (known as the Wesleyans) and the Methodist Free Church (known as the Top Chapel).

St Barnabas was known locally as “t’Barnabas!”

Two of the chapels were demolished, the third converted to alternative use.

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The same goes for the three public houses also lost in Hightown; The Brown Cow, the Shoulder of Mutton and the British Oak.

Again, two demolished and the third was to become a restaurant.

The black and white paint print dates from August 15, 1960, by which time some of the old property in the vicinity of the church, including a row of single storey shops, had been demolished.

Philip Tordoff, Hightown Road, Cleckheaton

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