Old Postcards of Garforth

For many years I saved images of old Garforth postcards from eBay so that I could expand the old Garforth photos section on the website. Recently having collected several years worth I sat down to sift through the images and realised at that point I would quite like to collect the actual postcards!

As such I am now trying to collect as many as I can, of course some quite rare ones have gone on eBay in the last few years so I am now frustrated with myself for not buying them. If you have any Garforth postcards to sell please let me know.

Most of the cards are used elsewhere on the site in the correct places however they are also laid out below by card series for anyone who is interested; I needed to do this to keep track for myself anyway. There are more than you think when you start to try and catalogue them given Garforth was only a small place.

Where possible I have noted the sequence numbers for the cards and presented them in order. Any card which starts NN means 'no number' i.e. I have assigned my own NN numbers just so I can keep track of them. Over time I may be able to give some of the NN cards their correct numbers.

Bramley
Frith
Garforth Community Association
Hobbies
Hoult
Laycocks
Lilywhite
Milton Woolstone
Parkinson & Roy
Phototype Co.
Richards
Unknown

Bramley

Bramley were a local Leeds company based in Cross Gates just up the road from Garforth. The company address is given as Bramley, Publisher, The Electric Press Printing Works, Cross Gates, Leeds

There are several Bramley cards without numbers, those which are sequenced are e.g. ‘B19’. Other cards are simply marked with ‘B’ in one corner or just the number. There are many gaps in the sequence here which could be of other places or missing Garforth cards.

The Bramley numbers do not seem to be unique for example different cards from different places may be marked ‘B19’, perhaps the numbers on the Garforth cards are therefore only for Garforth.

There are also colour versions of some cards which are tinted versions of the black and white ones. Postally the cards seem to be dated from around 1900–1920.

NN02
Garforth Station c.1905

NN05
Church Garforth c.1910

NN08
Garforth Barrowby Hall c.1910

NN09
Garforth Multiview c.1915

NN10
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.1919

NN11
Garforth St Marys Church c.1908

NN11TINT
Garforth St Marys Church 1908

NN14
Garforth Town End c.1910

NN17
Garforth Salisbury Terrace c.?

NN18
Garforth Town End c.?

NN19
Garforth Multiview c.1907

NN20
Garforth Parochial School 1910

NN21
Garforth Primitive Methodist Chapel c.1910

NN22
Garforth Multiview c.1913

NN23
Garforth Rectory c.1907

NN24
Garforth Station Road c.1910

NN25
Garforth Briggate unknown

B2
Garforth Town End Carnival c.?

B2ALT
Garforth St Marys Church c.1907

B2ALT1
Garforth Carnival 1920s?

B7
Garforth Briggate c.1907

B7TINT
Garforth Briggate c.1907

B8
Garforth Briggate c.1908

B8TINT
Garforth Briggate c.1908

B9
Garforth Briggate c.1906

B10
Garforth Town End c.1910

B14
Garforth Town End c.1910

B16
Garforth Station c.1905

B19
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1907

B19TINT
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1907

B20
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1910

B21
Garforth Gaping Goose c.1910

B22
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.1921

B24
Garforth Hilderthorpe Terrace c.1917

B26
Garforth Old George c.?

B29
Garforth Church Lane c.1912

B30
Garforth St Marys Church c.1910

B32
Garforth Isabella Pit c.?

B33
Garforth Sisters Pit c.1910

B34
Garforth Trench Pit c.1910

B36
Garforth Church Lane c.1906

Frith

The Frith company is still in existence today as Francis Frith who sell many items with their old images on as well as old maps etc.

Frith cards are marked with a place code (of their own devising) and a number. The place code for Garforth is GFH so all Frith cards for Garforth are marked e.g. ‘GFH3’. This sequence is also used for the Lilywhite cards (the owner of Lilywhite later ran Frith) however the cards in each series are not the same i.e. Lilywhite GFH2 is different to Frith GFH2.

There are 46 Garforth images in the Frith archive (51 including tints). Currently only a subset of those appear on the main Frith website for purchase. Historically not all Frith images of a given place were published as postcards so it's unknown how many of the 51 might physically exist other than those shown below.

The Frith cards are dated from either c.1955 (GFH1-19) or c.1965 (GFH20-46).

Not all Frith cards in the gallery below can be viewed at full size due to copyright restrictions, all Frith cards are copyright The Francis Frith Collection and those that can be viewed are used with permission.

GFH01
Garforth Barleyhill Road Recreation Ground c.1955 (disabled)

GFH02
Garforth Main Street c.1955 (disabled)

GFH03
Garforth Church And Oak Estate c.1951

GFH07
Garforth St Marys Church c.? (disabled)

GFH11
Garforth Barley Hill Road c.1955 (disabled)

GFH23
Garforth Main Street c.1964 (disabled)

GFH40
Garforth Main Street c.1967

GFH42
Garforth Church Lane c.1969

GFH44
Garforth Main Street c.1967

GFH46
Garforth Main Street c.1967

Garforth Community Association

Garforth Community Association still exists today and these cards must have been made by them perhaps for sale in local shops. Looking at the outfits I would say these cards are from the 1980s.

The printing quality of the original postcards is quite poor so sadly the images aren't very clear.

NN01
Garforth Station c.1985

NN02
Garforth Main Street c.1980s

NN03
Garforth St Marys Church c.1980s

Hobbies

I don't have any information on this company, there is only a single card but the back is marked ‘HOBBIES’ above postcard but without an address. There do not appear to be any sequence numbers and the card is an early one posted in 1905.

NN01
Garforth Old George c.1905

Hoult

This selection of cards were created by A. W. Hoult who ran Garforth Post Office. They were presumably created by him for sale from the post office itself and as such are solely of Garforth.

There are no sequence numbers with each card just being marked A. W. Hoult, Post Office, Garforth to the front and no further details being printed on the back. Postally the cards seem to be dated from around 1920s.

A. W. Hoult was a Mr. Alfred William Hoult who was born in Liverpool in January 1893 to an Irish father and an English mother. By 1901 the family had moved to Holbeck in Leeds and by the age of 18 Alfred was working as a billiard marker. In 1921 he married Mary Maude Galvin who had previously been working as a post office assistant. Around this time Alfred became Subpostmaster at Garforth Post Office (perhaps through some connection of Mary's) where he lived with his new wife and their children. Alfred remained in this post for several decades until he was tragically killed in a car accident in 1949 aged 56 on his way to his son's wedding in Uttoxeter (newspaper report).

NN01
Garforth Main Street c.1925

NN02
Garforth Church Lane c.1924

NN03
Garforth Station Fields c.?

NN04
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.?

NN05
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.?

Laycocks

The Laycocks cards are marked with ‘Laycock’s Real Photo Series’ but no other company details. There was an E.W. Laycock who had a newsagents in Church Lane, I believe these cards will have been created by him for sale from his shop. As such all of the Laycock’s cards are likely to be of Garforth.

There are several Laycock’s cards without numbers, those which are sequenced are numeric only e.g. ‘123’. There are many gaps in the sequence however the sequence runs into the thousands and I would not think that there will be that many card in existence.

Postally the cards seem to be dated from around 1900–1920.

NN01
Garforth Sisters Pit c.?

NN02
Garforth Station Fields c.?

NN03
Garforth Unknown c.?

NN04
Garforth The Grange c.?

NN05
Garforth The Rectory c.1912

483
Garforth Ninlands Lane c.?

484
Garforth Wesleyan Chapel c.?

487
Garforth Briggate c.?

491
Garforth Town End c.1913

492
Garforth St Marys Church 1914

494
Garforth Briggate c.1912

500
Garforth Station Road c.?

501
Garforth Station Fields c.?

629
Garforth Manor Farm c.?

632
Garforth St Marys Church c.1915

633
Garforth Station c.1915

702
Garforth Trench Pit c.?

706
Garforth Church Lane Corner c.?

1032
Garforth De Grey House c.?

1033
Garforth Isabella Pit unknown

1050
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1914

1051
Garforth Coupland Road c.?

1052
Garforth Barleyhill Road c.1905

Lilywhite

Lilywhite were a local company based in Halifax though they made cards for lots of places. The company was in operation from 1909–1931 so the cards cover this period.

Some Garforth cards seem to have been subcontracted by a local company so the back reads Published for E.W. Laycock, Church Lane, Garforth, near Leeds (see above).

The cards are sequenced the same as the Frith ones as noted above however there are a few which I am unsure of the number due to the size of the images available. Once again there must be many missing from this set as there are gaps in the sequence and they are all of Garforth.

GFH_U01
Garforth Bridge c.?

GFH_U03
Garforth Trench Pit c.?

GFH01
Garforth St Marys Church c.1920

GFH02
garforth dar villas c.1920

GFH03
Garforth Station Fields c.?

GFH04
Garforth St Marys Church c.?

GFH05
Garforth Church Lane c.1920

GFH06
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.1921

GFH07
Garforth Station Road c.1927

GFH08
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.1922

GFH09
Garforth Church Lane c.?

GFH15
Garforth Station Fields c.1915

GFH16
Garforth Briggate From South c.?

GFH17
Garforth Manor Farm c.1934

GFH18
Garforth Isabella Pit c.?

GFH20
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1924

GFH22
Garforth Manor Farm c.?

GFH23
Garforth West Garforth unknown

Milton Woolstone

The Milton cards seem to be a series by Woolstone Brothers, the cards read The Milton Series for Local Views, Woolstone Bros, London, EC1, Printed in Saxony on the back.

The cards are all unsequenced and are just printed with the name of the view on the front. Postally the cards seem to be dated from the 1930s.

NN01
Garforth Town End c.1935

NN02
Garforth Main Street c.1935

NN03
Garforth Bridge c.1930s

NN04
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1930

NN05
Garforth Coupland Road c.1937

NN06
Garforth St Marys Church c.1930s

Parkinson & Roy

Parkinson & Roy were a local Leeds company, the address is given as Parkinson and Roy, The Studios, Kelsall Street, Leeds and is printed on the front of the earlier cards. Later cards just say ‘P&R Leeds’ on the front.

There are several Parkinson & Roy cards without numbers, those which are sequenced are numeric e.g. ‘123’ and a few seem to be suffixed e.g. ‘41B’. There are many gaps in the sequence some of which are likely to be Garforth cards.

Postally the cards seem to be dated from around 1900–1930.

NN02
Garforth Station Road c.1910

NN03
Garforth Briggate c.1905

NN04
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1905

NN05
Garforth Station c.1905

NN06
Garforth Station c.?

NN07
Garforth Sturton Grange c.1904

NN09
Garforth Briggate c.?

NN10
Garforth Station Road c.1906

NN11
Garforth St Marys Church c.?

NN13
Garforth Town End c.?

NN14
Garforth Briggate c.?

NN15
Garforth St Marys Church c.1904

NN16
Garforth Church Lane c.1904

40
Garforth Church Lane c.1905

41A
Garforth Manor Farm unknown

41B
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

42
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

178
Garforth Station c.?

179A
Garforth Greens Nurseries c.?

385
Garforth Station Road c.1905

387
Garforth Sisters Pit c.1910

390
Garforth Station Road c.1925

433
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

435
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

437
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

438
Garforth Trench Pit c.1908

443
Garforth Lowther Road c.?

444
Garforth Beech Grove Avenue unknown

445
Garforth Church Lane c.1905

447
Garforth Paradise Sturton Lane unknown

461
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

463
Garforth Manor Farm c.1905

559
Garforth Briggate c.?

560
Garforth Coupland Road c.1907

562
Garforth Barrowby Hall c.1906

571
Garforth Manor Farm c.1909

Phototype Co.

The Phototype Company were a local Leeds company, the address is given as The Phototype Co., Ventnor St., Leeds.

The cards all seem to be sequenced with a four digit code e.g. ‘1817’ which I expect a lot of people would easily confuse with the year of the photograph. Several of these cards I have not seen the back of but expect they are by the same company as the lettering (which is distinctive) and sequencing on the front is the same. These seem to be uncommon so I have no idea how many Garforth cards they did. The cards seem to be from the early 1900s.

NN01
Garforth Barleyhill School c.?

NN02
East Garforth School c.?

NN03
Garforth Lidgett Lane c.1909

NN04
Garforth Primitive Methodist Chapel c.1909

NN06
Garforth Church Lane c.1909

NN07
Garforth St Marys Church c.1909

NN08
Garforth United Methodist Free Church c.1909

1867
Garforth Parochial School c.1910

1868
Garforth Paradise Sturton Lane c.1900

1873
Garforth Briggate c.1909

1876
Garforth Wesleyan Chapel c.1909

1878
Garforth Briggate c.1909

1879
Garforth Rectory c.?

1883
Garforth St Marys Church c.1910

1885
Garforth Wakefield Road c.1909

1886
Garforth Police Station c.?

1888
Garforth Station Road unknown

2076
Garforth Multi View c.1909

Richards

Richards were a York based company with the address given as Richards R.B. & E.D., Strensall, York.

There are not many cards from this company and I have guessed at a couple based on the lettering style on the front (specifically the writing of N^o with the super scripted o is common to them all). They all seem to be marked e.g. ‘N^o7’.

Postally the cards seem to be dated from around 1910–1930.