A Yorkshire Trinity

There was a sacred trinity that united many a West Yorkshire town - that of chapel, pub and bank. These were the buildings that sat at the heart of the community, both physically and spiritually. But whilst the names that adorned the chapel foundation stones and the list of directors of the local savings bank were so often the same - these were the names that shunned the public houses, and campaigned against the "demon drink". 

My photograph was taken on a sunny February day in Elland and shows the old bank premises at the corner of Northgate and Westgate. Just around the corner stands an old pub, the Rose and Crown, now sadly boarded up. At the bottom of the street stands a Chapel - the old Wesleyan Chapel - now being used as a stage school. And the old Halifax Joint Stock Bank premises featured in my photograph is now a bar and restaurant. Perhaps as you engage on a little contemplation over the meaning of life over a pint in the old bank premises you may just have discovered the West Yorkshire version of the three-in-one.