Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914 and life in Shipley and district was turned on its head. Men were mobilised, mills came to terms with new trading conditions, the community rallied to support those in need and there were concerns over possible food shortages, prices and hoarding.

The links below will take you week-by-week through some of the stories that appeared in the Shipley Times & Express exactly 100 years before. The headlines given only contain a few of the leading stories.

There are usually three pages, two of which will generally cover events and life in the Shipley district with the other one telling some of the stories of the men at the front.


- Shipley mobilises ready for war
- War already affecting local mills
- No time for honeymoon - duty calls

- Shipley Times & Express editorial
- Call for volunteers for distress committee
- Pastor - war and Christianity irreconcilible

- Tips on making economies
- War to disrupt City's pre-season training
- Concern over a son in Germany
- Concern about trade slump
- Pastor refuses to pray for peace
- Retired bobbies volunteer to fill the gaps
- Police swoop on Germans without papers
- Distress committee to ease the burden
- Hot and cold evidence in court
- First hand accounts of local people who were in Europe when war was declared
- Parents wait to hear from sons in Germany
- Women rally to the war effort
- Widow waits as family goes to war
- Price of boots increases
- Bumper fun at Co-op anniversary
- Patriotic picture shows
- Family of six left with only 7s a week
- Rough justice for young jelly thieves
- Idle vicar suspected of spying
- Shipley responds to cries for help
- Former Baildon band member reported dead
- Optimistic reports from the front
- Whitwam sets new batting record
- Spare land turned into allotments
- War Office seek sites for POW camps
- Bankers' wage rises 1914 style
- Alarm as clock goes on 'strike'
- First letters home from troops in the trenches
- Call for political truce in time of war

Shipley Times+100 Home Page