A walk through the decades
Photographs, stories, and moments from 50+ years of The Addy — assembled by the people who were there. Filter by category or just scroll. Every entry here is a piece of Knottingley history.
50+ years and still going
Over 2,000 children through our gates every year — and that's before you count the teenagers, parents, grandparents, and the Luncheon Club regulars. We've survived arson. Funding cuts. A pandemic. Every time, the Warwick Estate rebuilt us.
25 Year Refurb
Yvette Cooper cut the red ribbon at The Addy on 19th June — 25 years after she first opened the building. She's been a friend to this place for a quarter of a century. Our trustees, staff team, local businesses, and partner organisations joined us to mark the day. For over 50 years, The Addy has been a lifeline for families on the Warwick Estate. It's more than a building. It's home.
#SAVEOURADDY — the campaign that went viral
Grant funding was pulled. The Addy faced closure. The Warwick Estate responded the way it always does — loudly. The #SAVEOURADDY campaign spread across Knottingley and beyond, with thousands signing petitions and sharing stories of what The Addy meant to their families.
Food parcels and emergency support during COVID-19
When schools closed and families on the Warwick Estate had nowhere to turn, The Addy stepped up. Staff delivered food parcels, activity packs, and hot meals to hundreds of local children and elderly residents. A playground became a frontline service.
Official Building Opening
Local MP Yvette Cooper officially opens the first indoor community building at The Addy (Old Quarry Adventure Playground), establishing a permanent indoor hub for the site's free community play services.
Registered charity established
The playground formalised as a charity. The community's claim to the space was locked in — no developer, no council reshuffle, nobody could take it away. Still can't.
Warwick Adventure Playground founded
Mining families moved onto the new Warwick Estate. Kids gravitated toward the abandoned quarry — a dangerous, overgrown scar. Local parents and miners reclaimed it, transforming the site into a supervised adventure playground. Proper community effort — no council, no consultants, just people who cared.
Knottingley Old Hall demolished
An Elizabethan manor house torn down to get at the Magnesian Limestone underneath. The excavation left Town's Quarry — a deep, sheer-faced pit. Probably not what the quarrymen had in mind for its future.
Were you part of The Addy's story?
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