By Andy Hirst
A family and local history fair in Huddersfield will feature films dating back to the 1930s along with lots of information about graves at Lockwood Cemetery.
The event will be held at Cathedral House on St Thomas’ Road at Folly Hall near Huddersfield town centre on Saturday, October 15, from 10am to 4pm and costs just £3 to go in with children under 16 free.
From 12 noon Trevor Spencer from Huddersfield Film Makers Club will show local films from the 1930s onwards.
The fair has been organised by Huddersfield and District Family History Society which is launching its Lockwood Cemetery Project that began in May 2021 and has just finished.
The work saw volunteers photographing and transcribing the inscriptions on all graves in Lockwood Cemetery on Meltham Road. Lockwood Cemetery – also known as Woodfield Cemetery – is between Lockwood and Meltham and covers 23 acres.
This is an opportunity to find out more about ancestors buried there with help from volunteers who have been involved in the project. There are 18 World War One and 18 World War Two Commonwealth War Graves in the cemetery.
The first burial recorded was for Alfred Schofield who died on June 13, 1902, the son of Charles and Harriet of Deadwaters. Coincidentally, Deadwaters is the area of Folly Hall where Cathedral House was built, the venue for this year’s fair.
Lockwood Cemetery also has the fascinating grave extended by local eccentric, the late Jake Mangel Wurzel, in remembrance of homeless man Charley Atkinson, famously known to Huddersfield folk in the 1920s as Itchy Coo.
He padded himself with newspapers under his coat for warmth and lived in a First World War tank on Sparrow Park, otherwise known as Peel Park, on Upperhead Row near to where the bus station and multi-storey car park are now.
People can search the Huddersfield and District Family History Society database at the fair and will be able to view an image of gravestones and request an information pack at a small cost.
The fair will feature speakers and stands showcasing a wide range of exhibitors.
These include family history societies from surrounding areas, Holme Valley Civic Society, Kirklees Local Studies Library, Colne Valley Museum, Heritage Quay archive at Huddersfield University, Honley Civic Society, Huddersfield Local History Society, Yorkshire Archaeological and Historical Society and Huddersfield and District Archaeological Society.
For more information go to the Huddersfield and District Family History Society website at https://www.hdfhs.org.uk/ – further details on the day can be found below.
* Written by former Huddersfield Examiner Head of Content ANDY HIRST who runs his own Yorkshire freelance journalism agency AH! PR (https://ah-pr.com/) specialising in press releases, blogging and copywriting.
