Kenneth Arthur Ratcliffe was born on February 7, 1922, at Hoyle Syke, Oxenhope - died May 22, 1999.

He lived in Oxenhope for the whole of his life, moving in 1937 to Moorlands and then in the 80s to Moorhouse Lane - still only a few hundred yards from his birthplace.

Ken was educated at Oxenhope Board School, and then Keighley Boys Grammar School where he matriculated intending to pursue a career in textiles - his uncle Harold Feather was a director of William Midgleys in Keighley.

The war intervened and he spent his war time years in the Air Force maintaining aircraft and undergoing foreign service in Burma.

He remembered the trip back from Burma at the end of the war when the boat visited Hiroshima after the nuclear bomb fell.

The war was clearly important to him: his membership of the Burma Star Association shows that.

Ken came from local stock - the Ratcliffes were coal merchants in Ingrow, but his mother's side of the family had the well known Worth Valley names of Holmes, Binns and Feather.

After the war he was able to join Midgleys and he spent the whole of his working life there, initially working his way up through the mill and then becoming a director and latterly managing director.

Midgleys were worsted spinners making yarn for uniform cloths and hand knitting wools.

Ken went to night school - indeed he lectured at Keighley Technical College on textiles.

He gained the qualification of Associate of the Textile Institute and is a life member. He was a director of the Keighley Worsted Spinner's Federation.

Music was always an important part of Ken's life. In his early days he played the trumpet in a three-man dance band.

He sang in the church choir and was able to take up his interest again in later life when the Oxnop Singers were formed. Singing with them gave him great pleasure.

He was extremely interested in sport, in his younger days as a playing member of Oxenhope Cricket Club. Although he did not play club rugby, he had always been a member of Keighley Rugby Union Football Club, and he regularly attended matches and spent time with his friends at the club.

He was very much involved in village affairs. For many years he had been a trustee of the Oxenhope Nursing Association and of the Midgley Almshouses Trust.

He had a keen interest in local history and for many years went on Reg Hindley's local history walks around the village - indeed he was able to tell Reg more about village history than Reg could tell him!

Ken had always been an outdoor enthusiast. He loved walking and gardening consumed a huge amount of his time.

True to form, he never did anything by halves, and his chrysanthemums won prizes for many years at local flower shows.

Photography was a great hobby of his and again brought him awards - he had his own dark room and for many years took and developed his own photographs.

Although his mother was a Baptist, the family worshipped at Oxenhope Methodist Church at Lowertown and Ken gave years of service to the Church - at his death he was a Society Steward and had carried out just about all the possible duties in the Church both at society and at circuit level - he was Church Treasurer for very many years, a Circuit Steward and a Sunday School Teacher.

He got involved in the pantomimes at the Church and played a large part in the decision to demolish the old Church and Sunday School building and design the new Church which serves Methodists in Lowertown today.

Ken was founder member of Haworth Round Table when it was formed in the 60s and was one of its early Presidents.

He continued after his retirement from Round Table to be involved in the Forty Club and spent many years in the fundraising activities of Round Table.

A thoroughly outgoing person, always ready to help, with a strong commitment to service gained from his background of village and church life, characterised Ken.

And as a result he met, influenced and touched the lives of many many people, both in the Upper Worth Valley and beyond.

He leaves a widow Anne, two sons Tim and Mark and two grandsons.

Tribute by Anne Brown

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.