Introduction:
Main Street as its name implies is the main highway of the village. It used to be part of the main road from Leeds to Skipton. In earlier days it had regular coach services and the Malt Shovel and the Red Lion were coaching inns. Virtually all the large buildings are along this road. A few snapshots follow, showing the variety of the street as we move generally east to west, sometimes looking back, sometimes dwelling on one building.

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    2. The Malt Shovel inn was still thatch roofed in the nineteenth century. The church of St. Mary’s, with its impressive spire, was erected in 1843, replacing a 17th century building, known as the Fairfax Chapel. The tree on the right is the famous Pudding Tree.

    4. This is Rayner’s blacksmith’s shop which was on the corner opposite the Malt Shovel. James Rayner, standing in the centre, came from a long line of blacksmiths. They had smithies in Burley, Woodhead and Ilkley. This smithy was used until the 1930s.
See also the "Mill Village - Burley Forge" and "Burley Woodhead - The Forge" entries in the HISTORY index.

5. One of the last thatched cottages in Main Street stood opposite the Wesleyan Chapel. It was burnt down in 1922 and rebuilt as part of the garage premises shown on the next photograph.

    6. The first garage in Burley was owned by the Warburton family, and used the old cottage opposite the Wesleyan Chapel. Note the overhead power lines for the trolley buses. The stone house and shop were knocked down to make way for the garage premises on the site at present.

    7. Looking west in 1910, on the left hand side are the wall, lodge and entrance to the Lawn. It was a gentleman’s residence in then. In 1959, the house was converted by Ilkley Urban District Council to provide sheltered accommodation, the walls were reduced and ten houses were built in the gardens.

    8. Looking east in 1939, the high wall of the Lawn is on the right. Belisha beacons mark the crossing at the junction of Main Street, Iron Row and Back Lane. Outside Harrison’s newsagent shop, posters tell of the sinking of HMS Royal Oak. Who was the lady standing under the awning?

    9. The Moody’s were in business as hardware merchants from the 1870s to 1930, selling a wide variety of household goods. The shop has since been used as an insurance and building society agency and more recently as an Estate Agency.

    10. The Lecture Hall, now the Queens Hall, was built by millowners, W. Fison and W.E. Forster, in 1868 to provide a concert hall, library, meeting place and school for Burley workers and their families. The ivy clad portion of the building was used by Greenholme Mills school until its closure in 1897.

11. The old Red Lion was a coaching inn and this is how it appeared until 1893 when it was rebuilt by Whitakers Brewery.

    12. Main Street looking east in 1891 after a snowstorm. The coal cart seems to be delivering fuel to John Lupton’s (butcher) house in Brumfitt Villas. Note the bell tower on the top of the Lecture Hall. It was removed about 40 years ago after a storm damaged it.

    13. Main Street further west in 1910. The Dividend Stores, advertising a guaranteed 3 shillings (15p) in the £ return on annual purchases, is now a Beauty Parlour. Note the two poplar trees dominating the front of the shops at the top of Peel Place. The bunting was probably for George V’s coronation. At that time a car could make a three-point turn in Main Street.