ASPECTS of Esholt's history can be seen in these images which date back as far as 120 years ago.

The photograph which is possibly the oldest among them was taken by E E Slater in around 1900 and shows large crowds watching a motor cycle race in the village.

Ernest Ethelbert Slater was born in the Victorian era at a time when photography was in its infancy.

But the amateur enthusiast left a remarkable legacy of images capturing life in his hometown of Yeadon and the surrounding areas more than a century ago.

A founder member of Yeadon Camera Club, he left behind a vast collection of images showing people and places in the UK and overseas. The photographs give a remarkable insight into the lives of people over several decades in the 19th and 20th Centuries.

Another of the Aireborough Historical Society images also appears to be very old. It shows a man and dog at the entrance to Belmont Woods in Esholt Springs. This area of Esholt woods was known locally as Belmont or Beliburn wood.

Another, more modern, shot also show Esholt Woods. The group of people in the undated photograph may have been taking part in an Aireborough Historical Society guided walk.

Esholt Hall has played an important part in the life of the village for hundreds of years.

The Old Hall can be seen in an undated, but clearly very old, photograph which also features a little girl wearing what appears to be Victorian or Edwardian dress.

The Old Hall was the original Manor House for Esholt and dates back to the 16th Century. There is visual and archaeological evidence of a moat once encircling the structure.

The Manor House originally belonged to the De Wardes, and successive owners included Sir John Constable and Sir Richard Sherbourne (Shireburn).

The new hall was built in the early 18th Century on a site which was once the home of a medieval Cistercian nunnery.

Simon Warde had granted the estate of Esholt to the nuns of Syningthwaite Priory in the 12th Century. The nunnery continued in existence until the Dissolution of the Monasteries in 1540.

The new hall was bought by Robert Stansfield in 1755. His family live there for well over a century until it was sold to Bradford Council in 1904 under a compulsory purchase order. It later became the property of Yorkshire Water.

An undated wintry photograph shows the site of a lodge house at the entrance of the Coach Road to Esholt Hall.

One of the photographs, taken in 1980, shows a carriage used by the Esholt Estate.

A picture taken in 1997 shows an ancient clapper bridge - built by laying a slab of stone on stone piers for support. The name comes from the Latin "claperius" which means a pile of stones. Arnold Holdsworth is standing on the bridge.

Another picture shows The Commercial Inn which dates back to the 19th century when it was known as the Combers Arms. The pub found fame in the 20th century as the Woolpack in the television series Emmerdale.

Eventually filming moved to a replica village built on the Harewood estate. The hit TV service moved to the purpose-built set in 1998 after the sheer number of fans visiting Esholt, made filming difficult.

Bradford Council's conservation area assessment for Esholt says the village began life as an agricultural community.

It adds: "Esholt has a long industrial history and there is evidence that ironworks existed in the area during the sixteenth century.

"Esholt expanded during the eighteenth and nineteenth century as a result of the technical advances, which occasioned the construction of mills and the urbanisation of the population. The mills have since been lost.

"Despite the evident changes Esholt has undergone, it remains structurally what it was during the mid nineteenth century. It has not been subject to the massive development that has impacted many similar settlements in the district and as such it stands as a unique example of past living patterns.

"Some of the evidence of past thoroughfares through the region is still evident in the present street layout of the village."