I note that the access road to the new housing development on the former Middle School site in Ben Rhydding has been named “Stansfield Close”. If this name has been chosen to commemorate the man responsible for the building of the Ben Rhydding Hydropathic Hotel in the 1840s, then the council has an embarrassing typo on its hands. The gentleman concerned was Mr Hamer Stansfeld. On the other hand, an alternative explanation for the name may be forthcoming.

Prof Mike Dixon

Tarn Villas,

Ilkley