Wakefield Based Professional Genealogist and the Curious Case of the Underground Passages
The search for Wakefield's 'secret tunnels' began right where I was standing to conduct my professional genealogy research, on Bread Street in the very heart of this ancient town which earned city status in 1888. Bread Street is now a somewhat dilapidated street running parallel to Cross Square and Little Westgate and is frequented by shoppers looking for easy access to Northgate, the Cathedral, or the shopping area of Kirkgate, or by those huddling by the backdoor of the Black Rock Pub, puffing on cigarettes. The street, in its current state, is somewhat uninviting and is desperately in need of a makeover. Disused, abandoned buildings retain their 19th century shop frontages but they are bereft of window displays, for the cracked and thin panes of glass show off grime and dirt and are framed by rotting wood tainted by the debris of crumbling brickwork. This place, however, was once a thriving street, with booths offering for sale bread from the Manorial Bakehouse, made wi...