Canada Road 1960s

Deeds I have seen for a property on Canada Road show the name dates from the late 18th/early19th centuries. The houses were originally 'club' properties ie. built by a club of local people who helped each other build their own homes; a very early form of a local building society. Some had looms upstairs at a time when domestic cloth production was a very useful source of income in many parts of West Yorkshire. Just as there are several streets in Rawdon using the name Canada, there are three places in Canada called Rawdon. Browse the internet for more info. about them if you are interested. The shop/off licence is long gone, but was probably once very popular.

My mother moved from Larkfield Ave to one of the old weavers cottages near the bottom of Canada Road in 1970s.
In the attic there were still rows of wooden hooks where they would hang the wool and signs of the weaving industry carried out there. They are very warm well built cottages. As a child on Larkfield Avenue I would often go over to the off licence owned firstly by the Claughtons and then the lovely Mr May and daughter Stephanie. I used to buy icecream and "pop" mainly and we would take back the empties to get money back to spend on penny sweets. Loved that shop and the fish and chip shop (Dennisons) and the tiny little wooden lock up hut shop belonging to Mrs Flesher who lived in one of the semis opposite. Happy times bag of scraps from the fish shop and some penny sweets from Mrs Mays! Just remembered that there was a small cobblers too think he was Mr Smith

Mays shop used to be the the Laughtons. It was Most pleasant to see the may kids, we. All went to rl or. The town street school. [National]Those of us in the canda,s pouchers, woods, nevilles, womerslies, clarks, luty,s,elliots, chews, browns, yeadon,,s, [dorathy and sandra, harrisons, cowleeys, hardwicks, rhodes, both [ geffory and then janet and that large family, the schofieilds, palisters, hawkins, and a few more[ the friend of maureen clark-wiggins], down canada road. Pc jay and family, the callards, boltons,, next to the pouchers in the terrace,, midgerlys, The picture stephine has stirred my old bones? Thank you.

Two more familes, kids i knew from the canada,s daultons and the chews, and a girl and her sister, no name lived opposite the cowleys in canada road went to rl littlemoor, and benton

The commerical shops in canada road tp to bottom, kennie fleashers, sweety sunday d shop, next to it, old man Rhodes cobbler from batter lane, newbolds fish and chip shop, mays off licence formerly caughton or laughtons, [mixed my names up wiith mrs caughtons-habadashary batter lane next to mrs bartlett grociers?] then in canada road cowleys greengrocers with a van service, and finally hardwicks hardware store next to the stond trough, the zunday papers were by mr clarke of Canada crescent. The harrogate road sweeeper from appley brigdge to yeadon airport[micklefield lane, harrogate road and victoria avenuewas grandad sunderland, the clarks family granddad.

In the end terrace house on the cresce t mr bown an family did not live there[but in markham avenue]howevwe he keep his motor cycle an d side car in the garage, the house in the 50,s was occuppied by the maiilisons of which c both brothers started up the 17th airedale scout troup at rawdon st, peters,
. The later occupents were the chews. Mr chew was a full time fireman,but ived on the bell in his house,and could be seen off shift, the bell rings for a call out dashing down to rawdon firestation on his bicycle.