Gazette News
Photos reveal part of Ilkley mansion’s caring past
11:00am Thursday 16th February 2012
A family’s collection of photographs and postcards has offered a rare glimpse back in time at Ilkley’s heritage.
A member of the Wells family, of Middlesbrough, recently came across these photographs showing the old Railwaymen’s Convalescent Home in Ilkley.
Today converted into apartments and known as Thorpe Hall, the building, on Queens Drive, is known to many long-established residents of Ilkley as Ardenlea.
Ardenlea was built in 1881 as the elegant residence of Bradford draper George Thorpe. Set within its own leafy grounds, the house commands panoramic views across the valley.
In 1915, the building became the Railwaymen’s Convalescent Home. Sick or injured men who worked on the railways were brought to Ilkley for treatment and recuperation.
William Edward Wells, or Ted as he was best known, was one such railwayman sent there. Mr Wells, a fireman or engine driver, was in Middlesbrough Station in August 1942 when two German bombs struck, causing devastation and claiming several lives – including that of a member of the same family.
Mr Wells was not physically injured but was left in deep shock.
He was brought to Ilkley to recuperate, and saved these pictures as souvenirs of his time at the home, showing the expansive grounds, ward and luxurious communal areas.
Now a listed building, Ardenlea was bought by the Marie Curie Memorial Foundation in 1962 and became a hospice. It was converted to apartments in 2003, after the charity moved to a purpose-built hospice in Bradford.