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Twenty five years ago the miners strike pitted ‘the Government against the People’ and David Peace’s novel ‘GB 84′ is an evocative and provocative thriller based on the events of that time. Peace recounts strong views surrounding Britain’s social and political past. Despite the events being a quarter of a century ago the tale is highly relevant and informative for today’s generation.

David Peace earned the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and some great reviews – ‘We will see much discussion of the strike this year… None will be more atmospheric, affecting, thought provoking and readable than GB84.’ Yorkshire Post; ‘A conspiracy thriller laced with apocalyptic poetry.’ Independent; ‘Haunting, seminal, bleak, iconic, furied’ Observer; ‘Quite simply this is one of the most forceful and relentless slabs of prose I’ve ever encountered – and although I may not have succeeded in making it sound like it, that’s a definite compliment’ Amazon customer review.

David Pearce also wrote the Red Riding Quartet filmed as a trilogy on DVD
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3 miles south of Barnsley, Worsbrough was noted in the Doomsday book for its Corn Mill. Now with a population under 10,000 it is a village over looking the Worsbrough Valley. At Worsbrough Country Park you can see the milling process in Worsbrough Mills 17th & 19th century buildings. From the grain arriving from the farm, the cleaning of the wheat, the actual grinding of the grain, through to the separation of white and wholemeal flour. And then the flour is available to purchase.
Go to Worsbrough Contry Park and watch, learn and ask questions about the traditional flour milling processes. Monday 4th May 2009, Monday 25th May 2009, Sunday 28th June 2009, Sunday 26th July 2009, Monday 31st August 2009, Sunday 27th September 2009 11am – 2.30pm FREE
Worsborough is the historic spelling in use when the milll was commercially active. The place name is usually spelt “Worsbrough” today.
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Doin’ the manch is the title and first song on a re-released album of songs from the pen and fertile mind of Keith Marsden. Hopefully this song is playing as a tribute to Keith who died in 1991. The Manch is Manchester Road in Bradford which contained a record number of pubs most of which get mentioned by Keith in his humorous manner. There was also a serious side to Keiths songs about social conditions in the Yorkshire mines and mills and Cockerdale still sing many of them on the 3 CD’s and in live performances. The live show entitled ‘Picking Sooty Blackberries ‘ is pure Keith but Cockersdale performed ‘Lest we Forget’ the songs of Rudyard Kipling and Peter Bellamy at the Whitby Festival 2008.

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Sights you see from the sites of Morrisons Car Parks -

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Kens Emporium Guiseley

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Not so little boxes on a hill side.

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It is 19th April and the top Yorkshire football teams are striving for Premiership football next season. Hull City AFC deserve to succeed after promotion last year and warming the cockles of so many hearts at the beginning of the season as they triumphed over complacent so called top teams. Unfortunately the great start faltered a bit in 2009 but I have every confidence that they will get the points to keep them up.
Sheffield United are in touch with an automatic promotion spot but have the play offs as a fall back position. Sadly Sheffield Wednesday can’t now get into a play off spot so ‘Come on The Blades the premiership needs you!’
Ten days ago it looked all over for Middlesborough but a doughty performance in the last couple of games gives them every chance of getting away from relegation. So my prediction is ’3 Yorkshire teams in the Premiership’ but even if it is none the supporters will remain loyal.

Now it is off to the cricket with Yorkshire threatening to demolish Durham this afternoon! Well sporting enthusiasts live in hope.

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The Ridings are still with us but a little support from Yorkshire folk will keep them fresh and in the minds of this and future generations. The ‘Yorkshire Ridings Society’ is doing just that from every angle of the Yorkshire Ridings (I tried to avoid saying corner). The society also created Yorkshire Day celebrated on 1st August every year and for those reasons and the £5 membership it seem worth joining. More information on the Society can be found on the web site and in the article below reproduced with their permission.

Yorkshire Ridings Society A Brief History

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At 4.8% abv this stout will make you stout if you don’t watchout. It is too late for me but I dream of inventing a slimming beer one day but not too soon eh?
‘Rich black stout containing chocolate malt mixed with oats and wheat. Stoodley Stout has a rich and creamy roasted flavour with aromas of orange, citrus and berry’ says the advertising puff from Little Valley Brewery in Cragg Vale Hebden Bridge. Well my last pint was a good taste and I didn’t get much of the promised yeasty sediment (what there was went in my slug traps so they drown happy).
Little Valley is one of the new micro breweries and there is not much spit and sawdust about in fact all the beers are that modern ‘Organic type’.

What is Stout

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The clever gardeners at Gardeners tips a Yorkshire based website have picked up on Alan Titchmarsh’s new ‘How to Garden’  books.  Of course the former Ilkley Parks gardener (who else planted all that heather on the moors), Alan has many more strings to his bow nowadays including classical music. He also writes books of fiction although some of his garden exploits will remain fiction to me.

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Now everyone is over Easter and the glut of ‘Hot Cross Buns’ I thought I would dust off an old chestnut ‘ Does a Yorkshire teacake contain currants?’  I am clear that a breadcake is plain usually flat and useful for lunchtime sarnies.  A teacake can also be, sans dried fruit, made into a savoury sandwich but is lighter and more cakey than bready. Many’s the ‘Drip Teacake’ I ate from the Ivegate pork butchers in the 1960′s when I was training.

A currant teacake is just that, a simple teacake with some currants, nothing more nothing less. A fruit teacake can have all manner of bits and pieces including my favourite sultanas. Both make a brilliant toasted teacake with lashings of butter.

A couple of years ago the Dalesman ran a discussion group on the subject and some contributions can be found here.

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Is this the horse that brought Dick Turpin to York? As a noted horse thief and highwayman it is probable that dastardly Dick had many other horses to get him to York and the trip from London to York in 16 hours is part of the legend that has built up around Dick Turpin. It is thought more likely that it was a Yorkshire highwayman John Nevison, “Swift Nick”, born and raised at Wortley village near Sheffield and also a well-known highwayman in the time of Charles II about 50 years before Turpin, who rode from Gad’s Hill Kent 190 miles to York in about 15 hours. However, to accomplish this feat, Nevison had to use more than one horse.

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