Bramham the Village in Times Past

Pictured with a copy of Bramham a Village In Times Past are left to right :-
David Machin , Mrs Patricia Machin, Bob Murphy and Mrs Doreen Dickson.

In the early 1990's , John and Doreen Dickson joined Patricia and David Machin in a project to collect and record photographs, postcards and reminiscences of old Bramham from residents and friends of the village. Over two years of amassing evidence, and then writing, resulted in the book which was published in August 1994. By that time the editorial team had been augmented by Bob Murphy of ElectroVellum Ltd. and Ruth Watson; they took responsibility, respectively, for layout and publishing and for all financial matters. Chris Shaw re-photographed the original photos and cards.

At the request of the Village Council, one of the book's sponsors, an exhibition of original materials, plus further offerings from villagers, was mounted in the Village Hall on Saturday 22 October 1994, attended by around 100 interested supporters.

Subsequently, the editorial team placed three volumes of photographs and articles into the safekeeping of Bramham Village Council. It is hoped that these precious and hard - earned materials will be kept available for the future benefit and enjoyment of the people of Bramham.This will be the only full set of papers and photographs from this iniative, though a further set of photographs will be in existence.

Included here are photographs taken in Summer 1994 by David Machin, who holds the negatives, reproducing scenes depicted in earlier days. Thus, in years to come, these records will provide evidence of the appearance of Bramham in both the early, and late, days of the 20 th Century.

DM 11.94

BRAMHAM is a village brimming with the history of rural England. and for the first time its rich and varied past has been recorded in a new picture book.
Entitled 'Bramham - The Village In Times Past' - the book takes he reader on a pictorial walk through the square, past the cottages lining the winding streets and out to the farms, the windmill and the former stately homes.

The authors, Patricia and David Machin and Doreen and John Dickson, all live in Bramham and were worried that too much of the village's history as dying with old residents.

So they spent much of the last two years talking to older villagers. collecting photographs, postcards and newspaper cuttings. And the result is an attractive, well laid out book which shows Bramham as it was and reveals how the village has kept its character throughout the 20th century. 

Buildings have come and gone, among them was the grand Bramham College, a prestigious public school for boys in the 1840s and 50s. But after its staff and pupils were killed off in a cholera epidemic in 1869, it closed and was dismantled brick by brick.

A newspaper cutting of 1944 reports how fire destroyed the village hall. And aerial pictures catalogue the spread of houses as transport links were improved.

And scattered among the pictures are anecdotes of history, snippets of people's memories which bring them alive. For example, details such as why the tradition of tolling the bell to signify a death came to an end during the Second World War - or what happened when the prisoner of war camp opened at Bramham Park. These give an insight into what everyday life was once like.

This book is not an in depth historical study of the village, nor does it try to be. It is a thoughtful and interesting book which the reader can dip into time and time again and relive Bramham's past.

Material used in the book was on show at an exhibition of Old Bramham in the village hall last Saturday 22 October 1994.

From Wetherby News 28 October 1994