Cat and Mouse Inventions

Posted by brian in Our Yorkshire | Yorkshire Business and Money - (0 Comments)

little-nipper
Patent no. 1,342,255

Yorkshire is full of inventive and innovative characters and none more so than the Inventors and Entrepreneurs of the Little Nipper and Cats Eyes.

James Henry Atkinson was born in Leeds (1849-1942) filed applications for patents on several different inventions but the one he is most famous for is his mousetrap originally GB 13277 of 1899. After making several prototypes and versions he eventually came up with the trap he christened ‘The Little Nipper’ in 1909. ‘The Little Nipper’ is a simple device with a spring-loaded bar and a baited trip to release it. Cheese is the traditional bait but chocolate and peanut butter are said to work even better. The invention was successful because it did a job that needed doing in an effective manner and it had a brand that was licensed to a manufacturing company Procters who 100 years later are still selling Little Nippers.

If Little Nipper was the Mouse then on to the Cat and Percy Shaw of Halifax who was another long lived Yorkshire inventor (1890-1976). Percy’s ‘Cats Eyes’ were patented in 1935 and Reflecting Roadstuds Limited was founded in Halifax to manufacture them. The name Catseye was their trademark based on one of Percys (fanciful?) stories about a cat on a fence along the edge of a road that looked at the car, reflected his headlights back to him, allowing him to drive more safely. ‘In an interview with Alan Whicker he told a different story of being inspired on a foggy night to think of a way of moving the reflective studs on a road sign to the road surface. Further, local school children who were taken on visits to the factory in the late 1970s were told that the idea came from Shaw seeing light reflected from his car headlamps by tram tracks in the road on a foggy night. The tram tracks were polished by the passing of trams and by following the advancing reflection.’ wikipedia.
With media exposure and a world class product whose exports earned Percy Shaw the OBE he created one of Yorkshires most well known inventions.

Web Design for Yorkshire Terriers

Posted by brian in Our Yorkshire | Yorkshire Business and Money - (1 Comments)

Not exactly what you might have been imagined when you ‘clicked’ and sorry if you were expecting pictures of Yorkshire Terriers rather than these pot dogs.

If you are interested in ‘Yorkies’ or  related local breeds  such as, Airedale, Working, Waterside,  Biewer, or Bingley Terriers. Or if you want to know  about the first registered Broken-Haired Scotch Terrier  which was ‘the foundation for the Yorkshire Terrier‘  and was called Huddersfield Ben born in 1865  then web searches will help you build up your knowledge and data base. If you want a web site to record you own pets pictures or boast about your breeding successes you might want to consider a cheap web site of your own.

On the other hand many people want to make pin money or a business out of their passion and hobby. To excel in any field you need to be found and recognised and for that a web designer might be able to put your venture on the right track. Sheffield has many good web designer businesses and digital media is a local strength. The first web business below is an American site that gives you an idea of what can be achieved. The Sheffield links are just from a directory and other companies or local recommendation will help you get what you need.

Dog Website Design

Evoluted Graphic & Web Design www.evoluted.net-

2J Website Design – Sheffield www.2jdesign.co.

Contasta Website Design and Development www.contasta.co.

Website Designer Sheffieldwww.corporatewebsolutions.net

Web Design Sheffield from Castus www.castus.co.uk

Arkom Creative Technology www.arkom.co.uk

Aeon Design Web Solutions www.aeon-design.co.uk

Quba Web Design Sheffield www.quba.co.uk

Wizzy Design Ltd www.wizzy.co.uk

Norman Yardley’s Contribution to Music

Posted by brian in Yorkshire Arts & Music | Yorkshire Sport and Pastimes - (0 Comments)

cricket

Norman Yardley of Royston near Barnsley was ‘Cricketer of the the Year 1948′ and this is how it was reported in Wisden
In 1950 he led his country in the first three Tests against West Indies the second Test at Lord’s was lost giving the visitors their first victory on English soil. This led to the musical (?) contribution I referred to :-

VICTORY CALYPSO by Lord Beginner (born Egbert Moore)

Cricket lovely Cricket,
At Lord’s where I saw it;
Cricket lovely Cricket,
At Lord’s where I saw it;
Yardley tried his best
But Goddard won the test.
They gave the crowd plenty fun;
Second Test and West Indies won.

Chorus:
With those two little pals of mine
Ramadhin and Valentine.

The King was there well attired,
So they started with Rae and Stollmeyer;
Stolly was hitting balls around the boundary;
But Wardle stopped him at twenty.
Rae had confidence,
So he put up a strong defence;
He saw the King was waiting to see,
So he gave him a century.

Chorus:
With those two little pals of mine
Ramadhin and Valentine.

West Indies first innings total was three-twenty-six
Just as usual
When Bedser bowled Christiani
The whole thing collapsed quite easily;
England then went on,
And made one-hundred-fifty-one;
West Indies then had two-twenty lead
And Goddard said, “That’s nice indeed.”

Chorus:
With those two little pals of mine
Ramadhin and Valentine.

Yardley wasn’t broken-hearted
When the second innings started;
Jenkins was like a target
Getting the first five in his basket.
But Gomez broke him down,
While Walcott licked them around;
He was not out for one-hundred and sixty-eight,
Leaving Yardley to contemplate.

Chorus:
The bowling was superfine
Ramadhin and Valentine.

West Indies was feeling homely,
Their audience had them happy.
When Washbrook’s century had ended,
West Indies voices all blended.
Hats went in the air.
They jumped and shouted without fear;
So at Lord’s was the scenery
Bound to go down in history.

Chorus:
After all was said and done
Second Test and the West Indies won!

David Friths obituary of Norman Yardley is available as the ‘All round Skipper’ in the Yorkshire Cricket Archive.

Towton Moor Battle in Wars of the Roses

Posted by brian in Our Yorkshire | Yorkshire History and Heritage - (1 Comments)

Book Cover

Click to buy from Amazon

Ballad recording the fight between the Yorkists and the Lancastrians March 29 Palm Sunday 1461

    Oh, the red and white rose
    On Towton Moor grows
    And red and white it blows
    Upon the sward for evermore

    In memorial of the slaughter
    When red blood ran like water
    And the victors gave no quarter
    In the fight on Towton Moor.

The Battle
The Lancastrians occupied high ground with the Yorkists forced to advance uphill to attack them. The Yorkist archers had the wind behind them, and therefore outranged their Lancastrian opposite numbers, who were also blinded by the driving snow blowing in their faces.
When fighting at close-quarters began it was intense and lasted for several hours until John Howard, Duke of Norfolk arrived with reinforcements. The Lancastrians became outnumbered and outflanked, and the rout began.

The Rout

It is probable that more people lost their lives in the rout that followed the battle. Some Lancastrians tried to flee to Tadcaster but most of the Lancastrians were now pushed into Cock Beck where some of the worst slaughter was seen at Bloody Meadow.. The fleeing Lancastrians made easy targets for Yorkist horsemen and footsoldiers and despite a stand at Tadcaster they fled to York a beaten force.

Lord Dacre’s tomb is in Saxton All Saints Churchyard. The rumour he was buried standing upright alongside his horse was confirmed in the 19th Century when th e tomb was restored. Wars of the Roses site has details of 17 Battles including  Towton Moor where an estimated 76,000 troops fought only the day after Ferrybridge and upto 26,000 perished.

Even today, nearly 550 years later bodies are still being discovered around Saxton, Towton and Tadcaster – Bradford University has a   Towton Mass grave project There is a 5 mile Battlefield walk from Saxton to Towton and back

Classic Cars in Thirsk

Posted by brian in Photos | Yorkshire History and Heritage - (0 Comments)

thirsk-cars

These vehicles were parked in a garden in Thirsk some months ago and I hope they are now on their way to restoration. It is an expensive and time consuming hobby to restore a vehicle but I, like others, stop and stare at old cars on the road and it is great to see them loved and cared for. Keep up the good work in protecting our engineering heritage.

Our Yorkshire based badminton club’s annual trip in June took in the Daimler and Classic Car show at Ross on Wye ( Wye oh why did we leave Yorkshire I hear you ask). A similar garden was spotted along with some immaculate cars.

ross-garden

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Yorkshire Dales Walks – Bolton Abbey

Posted by tejvan in Yorkshire Dales - (2 Comments)

One of our favourite Yorkshire Dales walks is through the lower Wharfe valley between Bolton Abbey and Burnsall. The walk along the river is relatively easy and is surrounded by the dramatic high fells of Burnsall. Along the route there is much interest from the ruins of Bolton Priory to Barden Castle and the beautiful village of Burnsall.

Points of Interest along the way

  • Look out for the disused railway viaduct and disused railway
  • Valley of desolation near Cavendish pavillion
Wharfe Valley between Barden and Burnsall

Wharfe Valley between Barden and Burnsall

It is also worth taking a detour away from the river and climb, at least part of the fell to get a breathtaking view along the valley.

There is no shortage of cafes and pubs along the way for refreshments. The cafe at Burnsall offers an excellent array of traditional cafe fayre with home made cakes.

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Helmsley Walled Garden

Posted by brian in Yorkshire Trips and Places - (1 Comments)



A tranquil walled garden is nestled away behind the car parks at Helmsley. I do not know the size of most walled gardens but this seemed to be one of the largest walled areas I had come across at about 5 acres. With the wind blowing off the Hambledon hills it was probably a good thing to have a wall around your vegetables 250 years ago when the wall was built. Nowadays there is a fine selection of flowers, fruit and vegetables thriving in the sun trap that is Helmsleys walled garden.

Fruit at Helmsley
There are over 50 different Yorkshire Apple Trees planted in the garden. These heritage varieties are important resource for future breeding to say nothing of the eating. I did not realise a few miles away was a larger apple orchard at Ampleforth Abbey and College nor that there were so many orchards in Yorkshire. I list is available from ‘England in Particular Yorkshire’.

Walking around the garden at the end of June I was impressed by the size and quantity of Gooseberries on the bushes on the south wall. I was wondering who got the opportunity to eat them when I saw gooseberry crumble on the menu at the busy vegetarian cafe. Sharp and tasty crumble followed Pea soup, I put back any calories used in walking around but Mmmm.

Grape vines including Victorian dessert varieties were grown in neat rows and I am considering growing my own vine in my garden after seeing how simple they made it look.

Environmentally Friendly.
The garden tries to be organic and only struggles to avoid chemicals when it comes to treating the paths. The many volunteers were weeding and tidying as I walked around and you can imagine why so many gardeners were needed in the past when there was little or no mechanisation or specialist tools. I noticed for mulching new plantings they use ‘Strulch’ a shredded straw based mulch for organic gardening.

A special group of eco-friendly volunteeers calling themselves the ‘The North Yorkshire Rotters’ are compost crazy. In addition to 4 or 5 large traditional compost bins there is a collection of more modern plastic affairs aimed at encouraging us to compost in our garden.

Sustainability of walled gardens are the aspiration of the Walled Gardens Network which is a group of national organisations with interest in walled gardens

Danger from Cows in Field

Posted by tejvan in Photos | Yorkshire Dales - (0 Comments)

cows

This shot of Yorkshire cows is taken in the Wharfe Valley between Grassington and Burnsall. Generally speaking cows are placid animals who will happily co-exist with humans. However, there are occasions when cows and bulls can present a danger to walkers and ramblers. For anyone who enjoys walking in the countryside it is important to be aware of these potential problems.

cows

When Cows Are Potentially Dangerous to Walkers

Firstly, cows do not look upon humans as a threat. However, they may see dogs as a threat, it harks back to the time when wolfs would attack cows and their calves. Therefore, it is a walker with a dog who is most under threat.
Secondly, the most dangerous time is after new calves are born and the cows feel protective towards their young.

If they see a walker with a dog approaching they may become defensive and attack the person with the dog.

If this was ever to happen, the most important thing is to let go of the dog. Your dog will easily be able to run faster than cows. If the dog runs away from you, the cows will lose interest in you. THe only danger comes when the walker won’t let go of their dogs and so gives the cows a reason to attack. Unfortunately, on very rare occasions tragic incidents of cows trampling over people can occur. However, if you take care to follow basic principles there is no need to fear cows in field

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Whitelocks Turks Head Yard

Posted by brian in Food and Drink | Yorkshire History and Heritage - (0 Comments)

whitelocks

Leeds Pubs hide there light under a bushel or in a back yard in the case of Whitelocks. Run by the Whitelock family for 90 years during the 19th century Whitelocks was renamed from the original ‘Turks Head’ but the long narrow passage way where it is located is now named Turks Head Yard. And a ‘Yard of Ale’ is what you can expect or several yards of copper bar with numerous hand pulled and beer engine pumps to serve you a great selection of ales real and chilled. Beer at its best served in the old style. Whitelocks is worth a visit for the mirrors and polished copper alone but they have a long reputation as a luncheon bar and serve good Yorkshire grub. I remember being fascinated 40 years ago that part of a pub had white linen tablecloths and there were 8 tables similarly adorned at lunchtime last week. If you don’t want food with your drink go in an evening or drink outside in the long thin passage way that leads from Briggate to Trinity Street (back of M&S to people in the Man Creche).

I ventured in to Whitelocks last week as I remembered they had a toilet out in the yard only to find it locked and accessible only through the bar so I felt I must enter. With the drink I then consumed I put in more than I took out so to speak!

046

Other Reviews
Whitelocks is Leeds’ oldest pub (1715) hidden in the depths of one of the city’s more obscure alleyways. Bizarrely, despite tourists and legless students alike struggling to find it, the pissed OAPs seem to locate their place at the bar every time……. the itchy guide goes on in similar fashion but it is aimed at the drinking student class (or is that skipping class).

A man walks into a bar! – ‘Ouch’
A dyslexic walks into a bra!
A ham sandwich walks into a bar and asks for a pint and a pickled egg – ‘Sorry we don’t serve food!’
A man walks into a bar with a lump of tarmac under his arm and says: “Pint please, and one for the road.”
Descartes walks into a bar and is asked “Would you like a beer?” Descartes replies “I think not” and woosh! he vanishes.
A Black Sheep walks into a bar. The bartender says, “We have a beer named after you.” The Black Sheep says, “Bob?”

Idle Entrepreneurs

Posted by brian in Villages, Towns and Cities | Wit and Humour - (0 Comments)

idle-008

Idle Working Mens Club is an oxymoron that has raised a smile or two in it’s time. Since opening in 1926 the rugged building has been extended not only in size but in membership which is now open to Idle working women.
As the title suggests it also comprises some Idle Entrepreneurs who have latched on to the clubs name to help raise funds for the Candlelighters Charity. They are selling an honorary membership to the Idle Working Mens Club for £10. Amongst these honorary members are Roger Moore, Lester Piggott, Michael Jackson, Uri Geller, Mohammed Al Fayed, Tom O’Connor, and Paul Gascoigne – so that is a Saint on a horse who thrillingly bends spoons from a posh shop in a way that is so funny that it makes you cry.

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