IlKLEY'S famous Victorian hydro at Ben Rhydding is the subject of a talk to Baildon local history society on Monday, January 19 at Baildon Library at 7.30pm.
Alex Cockshot, who lives in Ilkley, will present the talk on the Ben Rhydding spa which was founded by Hamer Stansfield, a former Mayor of Leeds who had been impressed by Gräfenberg Spa in Silesia.
He formed a small private company with some friends and built his own establishment in Ilkley at a cost of £30,000.
Discipline was very strict at the hydro and the Directory of Ben Rhydding noted that, 'The Scriptures are read in the drawing-room every morning after breakfast'.
Patients had private bathrooms and 'a "fresh air bath" consisting of a closed room into which moorland air was pumped.
Admission to Mr Cockshot's talk is £2.00 (children free).
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