The Harold Club, Huddersfield Road, Low Moor, Bradford, BD12 0UD
01274 677838
History
Historical information taken from The Harold Club Centenary -
The booklet was written in 1983 by the then club secretary, John Crick, to mark the club’s centenary.
...the club should serve as a working men’s club of the better sort and supercede the primitive institutes of that character that already exist in Low Moor...
Gathorne Hardy, founder of The Harold Club
In 1785 four gentlemen, the Reverend Joseph Dawson, Richard Hird, John Jarratt and John Hardy, purchased the land of the former Royd’s Hall Estate and founded the Low Moor Company in order to exploit the rich mineral deposits of coal and ironstone. The wrought iron products of the company were to become world renowned for their quality.
Almost 100 years later, Gathorne Hardy, grandson of the aforementioned John Hardy, purchased 1,845 square yards of land from the Low Moor Company to build the Harold Club. The club was opened on 9th June 1883. A flywheel from the steel works weighing over 30 tons stands opposite the club on New Works Road.
The Low Moor Company
Flywheel from the Low Moor Steel Works
The History of The Harold Club
The Harold Club was built by Gathorne Hardy, Earl of Cranbrook, in memory of his fourth son, Harold. Harold Hardy came to Bradford in 1872 after graduating from University College Oxford with a First in law and history, and entered the family business as director and managing partner. For nine years Harold lived and worked with the people of Low Moor and was loved and respected by all who worked with him. In the Spring of 1881 he fell ill, and died on 11th June of consumption.
Gathorne Hardy, wishing to perpetuate his son’s memory and being aware of Harold’s concern for the religious, social and moral tone of the working class, asked his agents to enquire about working men’s clubs in the locality. They found that there were several but they were inadequate premises and had few facilities to enable a man to relax after a day of toil. Following what he believed would have been his son’s wishes, Gathorne built the new club at a cost of approximately £2300.
Gathorne Hardy intended the club to serve as “a working men’s club of the better sort” and expected it “to supercede the primitive institutes of that character that already existed in Low Moor”.
The Harold Club