Author Archives: Hortoris

Fanny Adams Bitter Sweet

Do the proprietors of this shop in Halifax know the story of the original Fanny Adams? ‘Lest we forget’ here are some of the gruesome details. Eight-year-old Fanny Adams was brutally murdered and dismembered in August 1867. The head, eyes and ears were scattered and this notorious murder of young Fanny Adams made sensational national headlines, creating a wave of horror, revulsion and pity. A solicitor’s clerk was arrested and tried for Fanny’s murder and despite ‘it was my family upbringing defense, after only 15 minutes the jury returned a guilty verdict and Frederick Baker was hanged before a crowd of 5000 in front of Winchester County Prison on Christmas Eve 1867.

When the Royal Navy were served tins of mutton as the latest shipboard fast food in 1869, sailors gloomily declared that the butchered contents must surely be ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’. Thus “Fanny Adams” became slang for mutton or stew and then for anything worthless. Gradually accepted throughout the armed services as a euphemism for ‘sweet nothing’ it has passed into common usage as Sweet F. A.
That seems to be what is on offer in the shop window, certainly not the 1974 record ‘Sweet Fanny Adams’ by the glam rockers The Sweet but inside you may find Sweet Fanny Adams knickers from New Zealand. None of these seem to be great tributes to a murder victim despite the catchy name.

Old Books abound about Fanny Adams. Keep a look out in secondhand shops for ‘Unhand Me, Squire Or Much Ado About Sweet Fanny Adams by Richard Tydeman’ or the compendium ‘The Love, Joy, and Distress, of the Beautiful & Virtuous Miss Fanny Adams; That Was Trapan’d in a False Marriage to Lord Whatley’ and ‘Sweet FA: The true story of sweet Fanny Adams’ by Peter Cansfield.

Night Out in Halifax

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The Victoria Theater in Halifax usually has some event or show that suits me or the family but not always both. Still a good night out can be arranged irrespective of the programme if it is combined with a meal and drink. The bus is the way to get into town but a taxi or sober chauffeur is needed to get home.
In 1956 Joe Brown formed The Spacemen skiffle group and was on TV over 50 years ago but he will be performing at the Victoria on 16th October 2009. The next evening there will be Paul Jones (the former singer with Manfred Mann) and other members of The Blues Band Dave Kelly Tom McGuiness, Rob Townsend and Gary Fletcher will be on stage from 7.30pm. According to the Theater ‘you will not leave with the blues!’

The following four Saturdays have the Festival of Dance XIII, then the ‘chuckle therapy’ of Barry Cryer, the stage version of Skellig ‘ sophisticated theater with real emotional pull and Oliver by the Halifax Light Opera Society. To save space here why not get on the mailing list for future information or buy tickets by calling 01422 351156.
The Unthanks are at the Parish Church on 24th with a new line up to support the Geordie Folk Rachel & Becky Unthank.
Halifax has a rich and diverse choice of entertainment and a pre-evening Pizza at a local ‘Italian’ makes for a good evening.

If you are still ‘up for it’ after your trip to the theater try some Liquid refreshment and a bit of lively clubbing. ‘Liquid presents an unrivaled clubbing experience with state of the art sound & lighting systems’. Mind you if like me you remember Joe Brown and Paul Jones in their hey days you will probably not be up for a 3.00 am stint at the club.

Drink Ingleton Dry

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Ingleton is a lively place to visit for a weekend or short holiday. We chose the folk festival time when the fields were full of campers and the streets full of crows. There are some very good pubs in the heart of the village, plus the Marton Arms at Thornton in Lonsdale or the Old Hill Inn a couple of miles out on the road towards Ribblehead. From what I remember consuming they all serve good home cooked food and a sparkling selection of beers. All the pubs and a couple of clubs were full to overflowing when the singing started and harmonising is thirsty work.

The view from our guest house bedroom window on Main Street showed the most recognisable of the Three Peaks – Ingleborough. The back garden was at the confluence of the two fast flowing rivers the Twiss and the Doe where they become the river Greta. The rivers had already been inspected at closer quarters as we took the Waterfall Trail through Peca and Swilla Glens to Thornton Force and back via Beezley Falls and the aptly named Snow Falls.

Ingleton has a summer walking weekend at the end of May each year but every weekend should be a walking or caving weekend.
2009′s highlight event was probably Operation Home Guard a 1940′s memorial event with performances from the Ovaltiney’s, Gracie lands, a George Formby impersonator, Dancing with the Starlight swing Orchestra and 40′s disco. They take over the town centre, the street is closed to traffic, and is full of military personnel, civilians, cars, trucks and jeeps, from the war time period. Sunday military parade on 5th July 2009 with the NWW11 association 51st Highland division Black watch pipes and drums. Afternoon tea dance, military road run, military vehicles and classic cars, re-enactors, remote controlled battle tanks, trade stalls and spirited fun.

Day Trip to York

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What is the capital of Yorkshire?

‘Y’ at least according to the old playground joke. Obviously a trip to York will dispel any thoughts of York being a joke and I wondered how to report on our great County town. If you Google York you get 808 million hits so that gives you some idea of the vast range of reasons for celebrating York. On that basis I have selected just one or two that took my fancy on last weekends visit.

‘York Minster is one of the great cathedrals of the world. We invite you to enjoy its vast spaces, filled with music and revealing the human imagination at work on glass, stone, and other fabrics.’ And thinking about fabrics you can buy a handmade Archbishop of York Christmas tree decoration, produced using traditional cloth techniques from the Minster shop or the web site by clicking the photograph below.

An ‘Ouse Cruise’ when the river is not flooding may appeal to some but a drop of booze by Lendal Bridge was my eye-opener on a Saturday morning. The Maltings’ great atmosphere (enhanced by the woman who spilt a bottle of vinegar) was provided my a mix of locals, visiting sports enthusiasts and day trippers like us. Formerly Yorkshire pub of the year it deserved the Camra accolades it has received and to top it all is the chip butty.

Then it was on to the Wall for a walk around the city or at least to the next stop. Depending which direction you take from The Maltings it is either 2.5 miles around the wall or 0.1 mile to the next watering hole. There are 4 very old bars in York – Micklegate Bar, Monk Bar, Bootham Bar and Walmgate Bar. After all my drinking it is a good job the railway station is so convenient for the journey back home.

Dance Yorkshire

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Whilst this book features Dancing in the East Riding there is a lot more going off in Yorkshire. I am always surprised at nthe number of dance venues still functioning for classes, medals and competitions. Undoubtedly a healthy pastime for a great many people it is good to feel a resurgence for dance.

Dancing as a Sport
The Yorkshire Dance Festival took place in Sheffield earlier in September. There were 28 classes of ballroom and latin and details can be found on Dance Info Sports that boasts ‘Everything you wanted to know about competitive dance world and dancesport.’
The 2012 Olympics created the idea of a 2012 dancers getting fit by dancing in city centres. A more traditional programme of dance events is on Dance Yorkshires web site.

Dancing as a Career
Yorkshire Dance in Leeds is a charity based operation that offers training courses and more dance related activities. It has just received more funding from The Arts Council for a Lift project to develop the work and careers of a selected group of talented dance practitioners. There will be an expert career mentoring programme and support for artists. The Riley Theatre is based at the Northern School of Contemporary Dance and runs an edgy programme and various courses.

Dance Humour
The Russians have the kosack, the Spanish the flamenco. If Yorkshire had a dance of its own, it’d involve swilling a pint of Tetley’s to and fro in front of the football while shouting ‘Leeds! Leeds! Leeds!’. Thankfully they don’t teach you the ins and outs of that dazzling composition, but you could learn some more credible forms of groove — street, jazz, tap and ballet are just a few of the jigs that you could be mastering here. Jangle that spangle, girlfriend. according to the Itchy guide.

The Butchers Dance

A guy has spent many years travelling all around the world making a documentary on Native dances. He thinks he has every single native dance of every indigenous culture in the world on film. He winds up in a pub in Sheffield where he hears about the seldom seen and sacred “Butcher Dance.”

The guy’s a bit confused and says, “Butcher Dance? What’s that, I thought I knew all the worlds great dances?” After a great deal of persuasion he gets an invite to the local dance hall. With great excitement because he believes he has uncovered a great new dance format he turns up at the appointed time.

A deathly hush descends over performers and spectators. The guy is becoming caught up in the fervour of the moment himself. This is it. He is about to witness the ultimate performance of rhythm and movement ever conceived by mankind. From somewhere the rhythmic pounding of drums booms out and locals begin to sway to the stirring rhythm.

Then he hears “You butch yer right arm in. You butch yer right arm out. You butch yer right arm in and you shake it all about…..

Get a special calender to record your dancing activity.

Enjoy Enjoy Enjoy

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The Guardian are asking web authors for ‘three’ things to ‘enjoy’ about England. Well readers of Gods Own County will know that is an easy question to resolve.

Yorkshire! Yorkshire! Yorkshire!

Whilst my opening may now stop the Guardian from linking to this post due to their Lancashire roots, I will continue developing the theme of three things to Enjoy in England. They will be Ridings, Dales and Pastimes.

Yorkshire Ridings
In truth the use of ‘three’ by the Guardian is obviously aimed at our Ridings. We don’t have much truck with South Yorkshire the sorry excuse for a local government reorganisation of 1974, preferring to keep to The West Riding, East Riding and North Riding and the old county boundaries. Maps published with facsimiles of the Domesday Book show that significant parts of Lancashire were formerly a part of Yorkshire but that is a story for another day.
We support, with tongues in cheeks, the Yorkshire Independence Movement and the busy new Yorkshire search engine www.Goole.com.

Three Dales

Choosing only three Dales is a ‘hard ask’ (what ever that is) when just one Dale from 16 in the Yorkshire Dales National Park could provide a life time of enjoyment. However this is our choice for the Guardians with a phot of Burnsall in Wharfedale.

Wensleydale is full of riches amongst the towns and villages including Hawes, Askrigg, Leyburn and Middleham. From fast flowing falls on the river Ure at Aysgarth and Hardraw to local markets, auctions and racehorse training. That is to say nothing about local beer and cheese.
Wharfedale is the home of the Dalesway from Ilkley to the watershed at Oughtershaw. Wending its way through whirlpools at Bolton Abbey and limestone escarpements it is just the Dale for taking a long walk, having a good pub drink or enjoying a relaxing weekend break.
Swaledale is a land that time forgot since it gave its name to the hardy sheep with the captivating black faces. Swaledale Sheep even have there own website. Not without culture there is the renown Swaledale Music Festival plus the villages, with names like Muker, Gunnerside and Reeth, which cater for walkers on the coast to coast walk.

Three Pastimes

Folk Music can be heard in at least 3 great festival venues Whitby Folk, Otley Folk and in October at Ingleton Folk Fest. There is more Yo-Ho-Ho at the annual Sea Shanty maritime music festival at Hull. Traditional music is played in pubs and clubs throughout Yorkshire particularly up the East coast in Robin Hoods Bay. Lots more info is printed in Tykes News with details of hundreds of folk club events.

Hobbies

At Gods Own County we are still collecting reports about hobbies and pastimes with a national interest but a local flavour. Trig Spotting on Baildon Moor lead to links to great web sites and exploits of those who bag trigs in the same spirit of the Munro climbers. The smaller society with more items to view is the Pylon Appreciation Society and you could also join theRag Ruggers.

Humour

The Yorkshire reputation for taking the micturition out of our financial prudence was exemplified by the Yorkshire Supermarket special offer ‘Buy One – Get One’.

Shop sign Cakes 66p – Upside down cakes 99p.’ Nothing half baked about Yorkshire. Three cakes, Pontefract cakes, Havercakes and Cake ‘oles.

A Yorkshireman shopping in London was asked ‘What is Sirs pleasure?’ He replied Whippets and Rugby League if it’s owt to do wi’ thee but reight nah I’d like a new shirt.

The last word goes to a Yorkshire woman ‘A man’s a lump of clay- a woman teks ‘im an’ meks ‘im into a mug.’

More humourous slogans

The Grand Steve Earl

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Leeds Grand Theater is hosting a Steve Earl concert on Tuesday 3rd November 2009 and it sounds as though it will be a great event. After an outstanding performance at The End of the Road Festival this last weekend Steve is continuing his tour with songs penned by his late friend and song writer Townes Van Zandt. Mixing songs from the album ‘Townes’ with some of Steve’s more raunchy rock numbers worked at the festival and we can expect more of the same when he comes to ‘The Grand’.

Buy ‘Townes’ which ‘is essentially a country album and if you know Steve Earle’s other stuff don’t expect too much rock but do expect some great ballads – there are no duff songs here’ according to Pete Williams, record reviewer. Steve has a reputation for his political views, trouble with the law, drug addiction and his uncompromising viewpoints, so a bit like other Country stars from the old mould then!

If you miss Steve Earl at the Leeds Grand he moves on to the Barbican in London and you could catch him there but I recommend you get your Leeds ticket now. See you at The Grand.

Other Steve Earl recordings from Amazon

Weather Forecast – Forecasters will get it Wrong

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The weather forecasters have been getting crossed wires this summer but that isn’t news, I guess. The day I took this photograph of these power cables crossing the moor near Bolton Abbey it was supposed to be cloudy and rainy. Well those sort of clouds I can put up with!

If you are interested in Local weather stations there are 3 in Yorkshire at Ribblehead, Upper Wharfedale and Lower Wharfedale under the brand ‘my local weather’. Their interesting little web site complements the data gathering and shows real time wind direction and strength together with barometric pressure and a host of other features. This is the link for Lower Wharefdale

There are other weather monitoring web sites with data from Yorkshire and elsewhere. Try weather monitoring for Melton East Yorkshire, Hatfield South Yorkshire and Sowerby Bridge West Yorkshire amongst others plus sites in the larger cities. Select your locality and compare how you are doing against other areas North Featherstone for example has gone 5 days without rain and the temperature as I write is 15.2°C. (Sorry they don’t do temperature in Fahrenheit and I don’t know how the rest of Featherstone are getting on for weather)

Dales Barns Survival

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Not all the wonderful barns of the Yorkshire Dales have been converted in to holiday lets or cottage homes. These distinctive, rustic almost run-down but utilitarian structures still abound. Originally erected in 18th and 19th centuries many of these barns were built, to store hay near the point of use and were called Laithes, or as Hogg Houses (Hoggs are young sheep) to overwinter the sheep. Tudor Tythe barns still exist at Riddlesden Hall Keighley and Botton Abbey.

The Yorkshire National Park Authority’s Planning Committee have approved the temporary use of a free-standing ‘eco-pod’ inside an isolated barn on the Bolton Abbey estate near Skipton. Yorkshire Forward are supporting this and other conservation measures to protect the 2000 odd barns that are suffering from dereliction.
The National Trust owns Town Head Barn Malham and this 18th century barn has been restored it to its original condition when it would have been used to house overwintering cattle and hay to feed them. It is located on the edge of the village next to its farm and is therefore a rare survival. Most village barns in the Dales have been sold off for house conversions.

Book Cover

Barns of the Yorkshire Dales by Andy Singleton & David Joy is prefaced by Bill Bryson “‘Many of the best of England’s barns are in the Dales. So it is wonderful to see a book celebrating, with wit and affection and penetrating historical insight, the Dales barn in all its undersung glory. This truly is a delightful and valuable book – almost as good, in fact, as the barns themselves.’ ”

Mark Banks Dales Barn series
Main photograph at hardwick House looking towards Nesfield and Beamsley Beacon.

Passing By Burneston

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How often have you driven through a village without pausing to look at what is happening or consider its history? I was tempted to stop at the church in Burneston by the archway over the gate. I am glad I did stop and look around this village of about 250 people which serves a wider area in many different ways.
The Woodman Inn at Burneston dates back to the late 1600′s and is a traditional country inn with cask beers and excellent food which is locally sourced. Every Wednesday night Burneston Folk Club meet here at 8.30pm. It’s a lively club with a mix of traditional, acoustic and contemporary music. Everyone is welcome, whether it is to play, sing or just listen. they do not book guests, charge an entrance fee or hold a raffle they just enjoy the music.

The church of ST. Lambert consists of a chancel with a north vestry and a square west tower. The nave probably contains the stones of the 13th century or earlier but much of the internal masonry is of early 14th-15th century. In 1086 Burneston belonged to Count Alan. At the Dissolution in 1591 Queen Elizabeth granted this manor to Sir Richard Theakston. Theakston village is less than one mile away (although the family breweries are in Masham 5 miles or so distant).

To the north-west of the church are the Robinson Almshouses, founded in 1680 by Matthew Robinson, vicar of Burneston. They form a picturesque block two stories in height, and are built of red brick. The windows are stone mullioned and of two lights