The mystery of this group of women off on a demonstration from Huddersfield just before the war has been solved.

Gemma Sandy from Penistone says it was single women demanding a fair deal financially and so answers the question posed by Huddersfield historian Vivien Teasdale about who they were.

She said: “I think it’s the National Spinsters’ Pension Association (NSPA) wanting “a fairer deal” for unmarried women receiving a pension. I think it was textile industry related.”

And, according to the Pensions Archive website, Gemma is spot on.

It states: “The National Spinsters’ Pensions Association, established in 1935, campaigned for State pensions to be provided to women at an earlier age on the basis that women had to give up work earlier than men. The NSPA, which was led by Florence White, had a membership of 150,000, mainly textile workers. The NSPA’s claims were investigated by a Parliamentary Committee which reported in 1938 and dismissed their demands.”