Social & Special Interest Groups
Unionist Club
Often referred to as The Con Club, this long established centrally situated watering hole is the ideal place to go for a quiet drink.
Its many assets include the following:
- A very welcoming and friendly club
- Drinks at very attractive prices
- Full-sized snooker table
- Pool table
- Darts and dominoes
- Free quiz nights every Wednesday and Friday
- Participation in local games and quiz leagues.
Applications for membership welcomed - Subscription only £5.00 a year
The club is open each evening from 8pm, and additionally on Sundays between 12 noon and 5pm.
For more information, and to apply for membership, contact the Club on 01943 864576, or just call in.
Early History
The first mention of the Burley-in-Wharfedale Unionist Club (as it is now called) appears in the Wharfedale and Airedale Observer of 11 June 1886 when the following report appeared:
FORMATION OF CONSTITUTIONAL CLUB
On Friday evening of last week (June 4th, 1886) a meeting of the Conservatives of Burley was held for the purpose of forming a Constitutional Club. The following officers were elected: President: Mr. Walter Bairstow; vice-presidents: Messrs. T. M. Horsfall, E. Ellis, J. Hodgson and H. Rouse. The honorary secretary is Mr. R. W. Fox and the treasurer is Mr. Walker, of Burley Woodhead. A committee of eight was also elected.
Subsequently, the 100 Years Ago column of the same newspaper dated 9th January 1987 carried the following report:
A new Constitutional Club was opened at Burley by Mr. Byron Reed, M.P. The building had been erected by the president, Mr. Walter Bairstow, on his own land and stood in the centre of the village facing the Lecture Hall. Addresses were given by Mr. Reed and Mr. Bairstow and also among the speakers were Mr. T. H. Bracken, Mr. T. C. Wilkinson, and Mrs. W. Fison, Mr. F. Fox, Mr. F. Willis and Mr. J. Gaunt.
The building referred to in the second report still exists and can be seen opposite the Queen’s Hall.
The Club subsequently moved to its present building, then known as Carr House, though it is not clear at exactly what date the move took place - the first reference to the building’s use as a Club appears in the deeds of the building on 10th October 1908.
On 3rd December 1927 a deed refers to the retirement of existing Trustees, William Henry Mitchell of Burley-in-Wharfedale and Francis Geoffrey Fison of Hurst Green Sussex; they handed over to William Henry Arnold Forster, manufacturer, William Guy Fison, spinner, Edward George Harper Mitchell, spinner and John Robert Curry, storekeeper.
The schedule to this deed refers to the building as being “occupied partly as a Constitutional Club, partly by the Bank of Liverpool and Martins Ltd.”
The first use of the name “Unionist Club” appears to date from 1927..