Mention a few weeks ago of a fruitless search a colleague and I made long ago for a tunnel reputed to lead from the cellar of an old shop in Barkerend Road to Bradford Cathedral brought back a childhood memory for Brian Depledge, of Gaisby Lane, Shipley.

"I lived in the Barkerend area when I was a boy and know it like the back of my hand," he writes. "At the junction of Mapperton Road and Barkerend Road was a narrow cul-de-sac which ran parallel to the main road. On the right-hand side was an old house which had mullioned windows and stone flags for a floor. It had been derelict for a long time. When my family left the area in 1952 it was still there as far as I know. However, it was probably demolished by 1970.

"There was also another house nearby, part of which had been turned into a chapel of rest for a funeral directors, called Apple Hall'.

"During the summer of 1943 I was walking up Barkerend Road with my father and a family friend who lived in Boldshay Hall' which is in Byron Street, about a quarter of a mile from Mapperton Road. During a conversation he mentioned that he had discovered an archway in the cellar of his house which had been bricked up but looked like the entrance to a tunnel.

"On the opposite side of Byron Street to his house is the old Hanson school, built in 1899. Boldshay Hall is much older. Behind the school is Myra Shay which took its name from the manor house which formerly occupied the playing fields where I spent many happy hours as a boy.

"It would make sense if there was a tunnel to connect Boldshay Hall with Myra Shay, a mere 200 yards away, or perhaps a tunnel down towards Mapperton Road a quarter of a mile away.

"Boldshay Hall is a very unusual house. It has a double front, with the main door in the centre, and is set at an angle to the rest of the road which gives the impression that it was probably built before any of the surrounding houses.

"Another unusual feature, according to our family friend, is the entrance to the cellar. This is located in the wall nearest to Byron Street and is outside the house. I know it's there because I've seen it."