About eighteen months ago a friend telephoned me. She was rather annoyed that the local daily newspaper had once again 'got it wrong'. This time it was about Wibsey, a place she knew well; and this time Wibsey was being linked to one of Bradford's famous sons.

The journalist, it seems fair to say, had not really done his/her homework very thoroughly for s/he complemented Wibsey on naming a street after the author and playwright J B Priestley.

The street in question was Priestley Terrace on the north side of High Street. A quick look at a map of 1908 would have shown the existence then of Priestley Fold (changed to Terrace during the early decades of the 20th century). J B Priestley wasn't born until 1894 — in fact he attended Belle Vue High School for Boys at the same time as my father — and it is hardly likely that the Fold/Terrace would have been named after a young person of 14 or 15, yet to prove his worth, who also happened to live in the Duckworth Lane area of the city.

Priestley is not an uncommon name in Wibsey, and one may be tempted to think that a famous son of Wibsey had been celebrated in the naming of this Fold. Despite the high regard and respect in which Enoch Priestley was held by the public, I think it more likely that the builder's name may probably be a 'better bet'. Does anyone have more information to give?

Having said that, it is possible that Wibsey, as part of North Bierley, was well advanced in recognizing public duty and civic service and did honour Enoch with a street name; but if so, he was even more greatly honoured by his 'sainthood' in St Enoch's Road.

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