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Huddersfield factory fire

1940s fires in the United Kingdom1940s in Yorkshire1941 disasters in the United Kingdom1941 fires1941 in England
Building and structure fires in EnglandDisasters in YorkshireFactory firesHuddersfieldOctober 1941 eventsUse British English from April 2018

The Huddersfield factory fire occurred on 31 October 1941 in the town of Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England, inside the H Booth & Son factory. The fire was caused by a smoker's pipe left alight inside a raincoat pocket when work had just commenced. It destroyed the building and killed 49, most of them women and young girls. Many were left trapped in the upper floors of the five storey building as it did not have a fire escape.In November 2012, a memorial was unveiled on the site to commemorate 71 years since the disaster.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Huddersfield factory fire (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors).

Huddersfield factory fire
John William Street, Kirklees Highfields

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N 53.6497 ° E -1.7834 °
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Chilli Lounge

John William Street 70
HD1 1EH Kirklees, Highfields
England, United Kingdom
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Lawrence Batley Theatre
Lawrence Batley Theatre

The Lawrence Batley Theatre is a theatre in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, England which offers drama, music, dance and comedy. The theatre is named after Lawrence Batley, a local entrepreneur and philanthropist, who founded a nationwide cash and carry chain. The building was originally built in 1819 as a Methodist chapel, called the Queen Street Chapel. The architect is unknown but the chief mason was Joseph Kaye, the man who was also responsible for Huddersfield station. It was opened on 9 July 1819 and the reporter in the Leeds Mercury described it as "one of the most handsome and commodious chapels in the kingdom; being capable of accommodating 3000 persons, and has been erected at an expense of from 8 to £10,000". The chapel became a mission in 1906 until a decline in numbers saw the mission move out of the building in 1970 to a new building in King Street. In 1973 the building was converted into an arts centre. However serious structural problems were discovered by Kirklees Metropolitan Council in 1975 and the Arts Centre was rehoused into Venn Street Arts Centre and the building remained vacant before being sublet to Novosquash Limited and converted to a squash club known as The Ridings. It also housed a restaurant and a The Catacombs Disco. In 1989 the Kirkless Theatre Trust was given the go ahead to save the building from deterioration and launch Huddersfield's newest theatre. Building work for the theatre started in September 1992 and took 4 years to complete.