Mrs Ryder has supplied this picture of a group of leaders and cadets of the wartime Girls' Training Corps, who appear to be outside the former United Methodist Free Church in Cavendish Street.

Keighley's was the 329th company to be formed in June of 1942, and within a few months it had recruited nearly a hundred members.

Sponsored by the Keighley Youth Council, the Girls' Training Corps was aimed at "the masses of girls who have not shared in the life of the community since they left school at the age of 14," and boasted an "all-pervading ideal of preparing the girls for the duties of Christian citizenship."

At a time when young women were liable to be conscripted into the armed forces or war work, however, there was an emphasis on pre-service training.

Some cadets attended special courses at Keighley Technical College, including one on preparation for joining the WAAF; others formed a knitting group in 1942, in aid of the Russians.

In 1943 their first anniversary was marked by a route march through Keighley, followed by displays of marching and drill. Mrs Margaret Kirk, chairman of their Administration Committee, made a public appeal for spare clothing coupons so that the girls could be supplied with woollen blouses for the winter.