2009 August | Yorkshire - God's Own County

Wakefield Tattoos

When you go to the barbers in Wakefield you may get more than a haircut. This was the second tattoo parlour I had seen within 300 yards and I was nearly tempted to have a piercing (of my own self-importance?). Instead I opted for a tattoo in invisible ink.

Last weekend was the Tattoojam at Doncaster Race Course. For more information and so you don’t miss other events try the Tattoo Club of Great Britain

‘Lasers have expanded the clinician’s ability to treat decorative, cosmetic and traumatic tattoos without scarring. Previous methods of gross tissue removal with resultant scarring have been replaced by highly selective removal of tattoo pigment with minimal changes in skin texture or pigmentation’. According to Hair & Beauty World in Mytholmroyd but at a heafty cost per square inch.

Tattoos from Cartwright Hall

A history of Military Tattoos is available from militarytattoo.org web site including this definition tattoo noun (pl. tattoos) 1. an evening drum or bugle signal recalling soldiers to their quarters. 2. a military display consisting of music, marching, and exercises. [from Dutch taptoe, shutting off of taps, signalling the closing of taverns at the end of the day]. From my experience Wakefield is very late in turning off the beer taps and closing the taverns

Pylons at Kirkstall Road

Posted by brian in Wit and Humour - (0 Comments)

Yorkshire Electric sent a man to read our gas and electric meter at the same time. YE came I don’t know. I guess it saves some energy although he wasn’t impressed when I said he could read the water meter at the same time. I have just found out I can be delighted if I do not pay the bill!

I don’t want to ‘Pylon the agony too much but here are a couple of bright sparks from Monty Pylons Flying Circuits telling jokes.

The last Yorkshire man to be executed in the electric chair was Fred Watt. His obituary writer wanted to put on the best face so he wrote :-
“Fred Watt occupied a chair of applied electronics at an important American government institution, he was attached to his position by the strongest of ties, and his death came as a great shock.”

Why did the lights go out?
Because they liked each other.

A vacuum salesman appeared at the door of an old lady’s cottage and, without allowing the woman to speak, rushed into the living room and threw a large bag of dirt all over her clean carpet. He said, “If this new vacuum doesn’t pick up every bit of dirt then I’ll eat all the dirt.”

The woman, who by this time was losing her patience, said, “Sir, if I had enough money to buy that thing, I would have paid my electricity bill before they cut it off. Now, what would you prefer, a spoon or a knife and fork?” jokes4all.net/

If that didn’t shock you you may be interested in joining the Pylon Appreciation Society.

Beryl Burton OBE Cyclist Extraordinaire 1937-1996

Posted by brian in Yorkshire Sport and Pastimes - (2 Comments)

This Leeds lady won no less than seven World Championship gold medals for cycling. Beryl Burton also beat the Men’s record for 12 hour time trialing covering 277 miles at an average speed in excess of 23 mph.
In 1972 she competed with her daughter Denise when they were both selected for the British team in the World Championships. In 1976 Denise beat her mum into second place in the British Cycling Road Race Championships.

There is a fuller biography of this top Yorkshire cyclist on Cycling Info called Great Moments of Cycling

As the Daily Peleton puts it ‘DETERMINED in her aims, but modest in her claims of success…’ which sums up the qualities of Yorkshire folk.

Cycling the Dales

The 2008, British Cycling Road Race championships were held in Duncombe Park North Yorkshire. Nicole Cooke won her ninth consecutive National Women’s Road title in North Yorkshire but she needs many more wins to catch up with Beryl Burton. Rob Hayles won the Men’s race.

Pickering Day Out with Murals

Posted by brian in Villages, Towns and Cities | Yorkshire Trips and Places - (0 Comments)

Pickering takes its name from ‘the settlement of Picer and his people’ or Piceringas. Arriving in Pickering by the old North Yorkshire Steam train or by road, you will see the church spire of St Peter and St Paul atop a small hill in the town centre. (There is reasonable parking by Pickering Beck.)

Famous Church Murals
The main body of the church is hidden by a cluster of cottages, shops and the Liberal club below. You can access the church grounds by one of three flights of stone steps that cut through the surrounding buildings. The 15th century wall paintings, some of ‘the most extensive and valuable examples not only in Yorkshire but England’, were hidden by limewash and over the centuries forgotten. In 1852, when work on the interior revealed these treasures many visitors came, only for the murals to be rewhite washed by Vicar Ponsonby three days later and so it remained until 1937. Entering the church from the south door the huge figure of St Christopher is the mural you see on the north wall a favourite position for this painting. It is thought that to look at St Christopher gave protection for the day from sudden death (fast drivers may not benefit). There are many other murals including St George, St John the Baptist, St Catherine of Alexandria and the Decent in to Hades. These murals were originally intended for education as well as devotion and may have been based on wood-cuts from travelling artists.

If you are interested in murals there are other fine examples at St Agatha’s, Easby near Easby Abbey close to Richmond.

Pickering Castle like so many other castles is now a ruin. In the 16th century large quantites of stone were taken to improve Sir Richard Cholmeley’s own home (the duck house of that political era). The earthworks are a good example of early Norman with a large motte and around this are two baileys. King Henry II began the process of rebuilding the former wooden castle in stone, with a wall around the inner bailey in 1180.

For retail therapy the main street has a fair complement of local shops, pubs, charity shops and clubs. There is a quirky secondhand book shop with an even quirkier owner opposite the railway station. Pickering is a good base for visiting the North Yorkshire Moors and the Hambledon Hills.

Dry Stone Wall Pictures

Posted by tejvan in Our Yorkshire - (1 Comments)

yorkshire

Dry Stone Wall between Grassington and Kettlewell

yorkshire

Dry stone wall near Grassington

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Rombalds Revels 2009

Posted by brian in Yorkshire Trips and Places - (0 Comments)

Olicana History Society and Friends of the Manor House are currently running a ‘Rombalds Revels’ event. With roots in the Middle Ages the theme will include music, street circus and dance with a big event on August 22nd 2009. Medieval music by Steven Tyler and his Hurdgy Gurdy will feature and a sample can be heard on myspace Steven is also playing at The Royal Armouries Leeds for 3 days over August bank holiday weekend.
At Ilkley, jugglers,stilt walkers, fire eaters, magic and the rocks, that are the remnants of Giant Rombald’s walk over the moors, will be on display. Funding has largely been provided by the Big Lottery Fund so most events will be free.

Ilkley Heritage Guided Walks

Throughout the year there are guided walks organised covering the many historical aspects of Ilkley. The balance of the August 2009 programme is outlined below.

Wed 12th Aug Roman Ilkley starts 2.00 p.m.

Ilkley 1859 Darwin’s Visit starts 7.00 p.m.

Wed 19th Aug Prehistoric Rombalds Moor starts 2.00 p.m.

Villas of West Ilkley starts 7.00 p.m.

Sun 23rd Aug Ilkley Cemetery starts 2.00 p.m.
Wed 26th Aug Ilkley 1859 What Darwin saw starts 2.00 p.m.

Organised by Bradford Council

Top Yorkshire Fiction

Posted by brian in Books & Literary Work - (0 Comments)

The Harrowing by Robert Dinsdale – ‘January, 1916, and the rooftops of Leeds creak with the weight of the winter’s snows. William Redmond, soon to join the Chapeltown Rifles, wanders with his younger brother Samuel through the old haunts of their childhood – and, there, at the top of the Moor across which they are forbidden to walk, Samuel, for too long trapped in his brother’s shadow, stoves William’s head in with a stone’ so this book is described. The reviews I have read are very much in favour of this book and I think I will give it a try. Powerful and Atmospheric this is a highly promising first novel ‘Daily Telegraph’ and ‘Slow Start Turns Into An Unputdownable Read’ Amazon

D I Charlie Priest is the sort of Yorkshire detective I like to read. The books have that underlying Yorkshire humour that can be detected by the sledgehammer in the titles of other books in the series such as ‘Grief Encounters’ and ‘Judas Sheep’. There are 8 books so far and the Yorkshire author Stuart Pawson is worth following if you like a bit of escapism close to home in Yorkshire.

I bought Ballad of a One Legged Man at Waterstones remainders sale and I could have saved 99 pence. Set around Leeds at the retirement of a unexceptional ‘Copper’ the story is his reflections of times and friends past. Focusing on the hot summer of 1976 the pressures on a trainee bobby and the situations faced by all our police proves to be an interesting tale. Quick to read there is no plot to speak of and the characters could be drawn more sharply but the book has some simple charm. Also by Colin Campbell are Through the Ruins of Midnight and Darkwater Towers.

Dry Stone Walls and Walling

Posted by brian in Our Yorkshire - (1 Comments)

Yorkshire has more miles of Dry Stone Wall than any other county and these walls are an outstanding feature of the Dales. It is quite a craft to build such a wall and the techniques have been passed down for generations. This is just a superficial guide to whet your dry stone appetite.

The way dry stone walling works is to make the weight of the outside lean inward to the core structure of the wall, each stone is carefully selected jig-saw like to create a near flush contact area between each stone to prevent slipping or wobble. Walls are usually 5-7 feet high and traditional measures are used such as a Rood (quarter of an acre or 40 perches) which equals a furlongs times a rod which is itself a quarter of a chain or 22 yards. (There will be a test at the end).

Gather and sort the stone by size in a type that complements and harmonises with the landscape such as limestone, grit stone or sandstone. Make foundations level and about a yard wide. Large stones go at the bottom butting against each other. All other stones must make contact with others and have the weight back into the wall and the face facing (Mmmm). With each layer of stone fill in void spaces with smaller stones to ‘bind’ the wall. The wall should taper like a flat topped ‘ A’, this slope is called the batter. ‘Throughs’ are the large heavy stones laid across the wall at intervals for extra strength. Topping stones as the name suggests are the icing on the cake also called coping, cap or comb stones. Cheeks or Heads are the end stones. A Cripple hole is a rectangular opening at the base of a wall built to permit the passage of sheep. Also known as a hogg hole, lonky or lunky hole, sheep run, sheep smoose, smout hole, thawl or thirl hole. Smoot hole is to allow Rabbits and Hare to move through or even small streams.

Click on book to buy from Amazon.

The Dry Stone Walling Association of Great Britain is registered as a charity and offers training and has several branches in Yorkshire.

The Yorkshire Dry Stone Walling Guild recently featured an arch bridge and an article from the Yorkshire Post on their web site.

Harewood House Highlights

Posted by brian in Our Yorkshire | Yorkshire Trips and Places - (0 Comments)

Harewood House, completed in 1771, is a significant English stately home with gardens by Capability Brown, interior design by Robert Adam and furniture by Thomas Chippendale. The rooms appear bright and well lit even on a gloomy Yorkshire day and that isn’t only down to the crystal chandelier in the green drawing room. The ceilings bear further inspection before inspecting the paintings on the walls and the Aubusson carpets. Painters featured include works by Titian, Thomas Gainsborough, John Singer Sargent and Joshua Reynolds.

The children can help the Bird Garden keepers to feed the penguins or adopt a bird under the conservation scheme. Red Kites were released on the Estate ten years ago as part of a UK conservation initiative. The bird garden has many species of Pheasant and they (the keepers not the birds) are active members of the World Pheasant Association. A variety of bird baths and drinking vessels are on show in the large cages.

The ‘Proms Spectacular’ on Saturday 5th September 2009 is a chance to crack open the champagne, watch a World War ll Spitfire fly through its paces and see the culmination of a grand fireworks display. Tickets and more information.

Sculptures of soldiers in armour currently adorn parts of the gardens and there is a sense of something going on in most sections of Harewood House/

Folly of Harlow Carr

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

It isn’t a folly to link sculpture with a classic garden like the Royal Horticultural Society ‘s Harlow Carr. The former Doric columns were part of the entrance to Harrogate’s Cheltenham Pump Room and later the Spa Concert Hall. Now as salvage, or recycling in the modern manner, these columns are tucked in a sunny glade in the woods. The six giant columns, with the two lions keeping guard at the base, are one of the many attractions that draw children away from looking at plants to appreciate the many features Harlow Carr has to offer.

Originally Harlow Carr once vied with Harrogate as a spa with a hotel and hydropathic centre with sulphur springs and Chalybeate (Iron) waters. In the 17th Century it was said

‘These waters youth in age renew
Strength to the weak and sickly add
Give the pale cheek a rosy hue
And cheerful spirits to the sad.’

That is cheering of spirits and creation of a healthy glow is now the job of the flowers, walks and gardens of Harlow Carr.

Harlow Carr was the trial grounds for the Northern Horticultural Society since 1949 with extra land added in 1955 and 1958. Since the RHS amalgamated with the Northern Horticultural Society there has been an ongoing investment programme and there is much to see and do on the site. Bird hides, bee keeping, fruit growing demonstrations and a library currently housed in the former suite of baths built in 1844 are just a few of the activities. Spot the sculptures as you go around the gardens or see them on Gardeners Tips The woven willow structures are part of the living sculpture series first introduced by Mathew Wilson.

It would be Folly not to take a trip to look at Harlow Carr with its historic links, great gardens and new features like the Alpine House, Bettys Tea Rooms and the learning centre currently being developed.