The glens of Scotland and the Moors of Yorkshire were covered with purple flowering heather. This picture was taken above Dick Hudsons on Ilkley Moor. The route is part of the Dales Way Bradford Link and the Leeds Link also traverses Ilkley moor to get to the start of the Dales Way proper. According to the Yorkshire Dales National Parks Authority ‘The dry heaths of the National Park are usually dominated by heather particularly on intensively managed grouse moors.’

There is an interesting and amusing History of Heather on Gardener’s tips

Types of Heather

• Bell heather also known as Erica cinerea has dark pink or purple flowers and generally flowers first in late July.
• Cross leaved heath has leaves arranged in crosses of four on its stems. It has pale pink flowers and can often be found in boggy areas.
• Ling Calluna vulgaris is the most common type of heather found on the North York Moors. It has very tiny pink flowers and generally flowers in mid to late August

Uses of Heather.

• The Moorland Association, whose members manage about 90% of England’s heather moorland host thousands of bee hives. Pollen from heather makes excellent honey and the scent is excellent.
• Heather moorland is one of the rarest habitats in the world. Ilkley moor is crucial for ground nesting birds.
• Red grouse eat young heather shoots but they like to shelter and build their nests in taller, older heather. Gamekeepers therefore have to make sure there are some patches of young heather and some patches of old heather on the moors if they want to have enough grouse to shoot.
• Local people used to use heather to make a type of broom called a besom to sweep their cottage floors.
• Heather is available in many varieties and they contribute to ornamental or specialist gardens.
• White Heather is said to be lucky but count yourself lucky if you can walk through a purple flowering moorland Yorkshire landscape.

This photo shows two of the twelve Apostle Stones, 1260 feet above sea level, on Ilkley moor looking towards Yeadon and the airport. The planes were flying higher than the horseflies but not by all that much. There is a specialist web site for Stone Circle visitors here and a more comprehensive article by David Raven.  For comments about heather on the uplands 15,000 years ago look at The Moorland Association site

See Walks around Ilkley

That is not to say that the other tracts of moorland and heather in Yorkshire are not in great condition. I particularly like the area around Goathland.

Leeds is home to the oldest museum in the UK, the Royal Armouries. Britain’s national museum of arms and armour is an international attraction. There are over 8,500 objects on display in five galleries: War; Tournament; Oriental; Self Defence and Hunting.

It is an exceptional opportunity to see a great historic display in a modern building. Clarence Dock is worth the short walk from the city center.

2. Abbey House Museum – Kirkstall Abbey

Visit the Victorian Streets in the old Abbey House. There are lots of interactive activities for the young children and the older ones amongst us will remember many of the exhibits at our homes or those of our grandparents.

3. Leeds City Museum
The old Civic Theatre has been converted into an exciting new museum in the heart of Leeds. Out of Africa, Ancient Worlds, The Leeds Story and Life on Earth are just some of the galleries to explore.
Relax on the Leeds Arena balcony which overlooks the giant map and enjoy the rolling films suspended from the ceiling – showcasing iconic images and famous landmarks in the city.

4. Leeds Industrial Museum Armley Mills

Based in what was once the world’s largest woollen mill, Leeds Industrial Museum houses a wealth of gems in a beautiful canal and riverside location. Armley Mills contains exhibits from the 18th century to the present day and tells the history of manufacturing in Leeds, including textiles, clothing, printing and engineering.

5. Thwaite Mills Watermill Museum

Visit the fully-restored working watermill which is nestled on an island location between the River Aire and the Aire & Calder Navigation. There are good local walks and it is only a couple of miles from the city center.
See ‘Scotch Derrick’ the working steam crane, two waterwheels and ‘Titian’ the historic tractor in action.

Links to Leeds Museums

Kirkstall Lane End

• The Kirkstall Lane end is the part of Yorkshire County Cricket ground where Fred Trueman, Mathew Hoggard and other famous Yorkshire bowlers started their run-up to bowl.
• Now the ground is named by sponsors the Headingley Carnegie. Through   subsidy and sponsorship the Kirhstall lane  stand  with a futuristic exterior has been rebuilt. Let us hope our cricket teams build and on  improve the recent performances or it is back to school or college for the lot of them..
• Cricket is played at the Kirkstall Lane end of the ground whilst Rugby League is played at St Micheal’s lane side of the ground.
• From the Kirkstall Lane end you can easily walk to or from Headingley railway station.

Kirkstall Abbey’s Deli Market.

• Opened 11.52
• Closed 15.39
• Oh! sorry that should be completed in 1152 by Cistercian monks and closed by Henry VIII in 1539.
• Eight minutes to twelve until twenty to four are the busy times for the local quality food from Yorkshires that is on offer in the Deli market. This market make good use of the great surroundings of Kirkstall Abbey.
• The next dates for 2011 deli markets are 30th July, 27th August, 24th September and 29th October. (Actual opening times are 12.00-15.00).
• You can enquire about your own stall on 0113 230 5492

Kirkstall Abbey House Museum

• A museum of old shopping streets that seems to captivate the hordes of young children visiting. The space allocation shows kids to be one of the target markets for the museum.
• There are lots of staff around, and I mean lots! The entrance cost of circa £3 can’t be paying for everyone and the abbey across the road has free entrance, so well done Leeds Council.
• Flash photos were quickly prohibited, I guess this protects the colouring of the Victorian memorabilia. No problem from me but I can’t say the same about every visitor.
• The cafe was smart and the books on sale in the museum shop included an eclectic mix of titles that gave me ideas for birthday gifts.

Memory Lane Kirkstall

• The old Streets and lanes of Leeds are recreated in the Abbey Museum.
• Do you remember when sugar and butter was sold loose and big brands didn’t dominate. Imagine how much we pay for packaging and branding over our life time.
• Drink in the views at Hark to Rover the recreated pub.
• Embrace the warm comfortable home of the successful pawnbroker with the chilling premises of the undertakers. (Nothing changes)

Return to Headingly.

part of the impressive Len Hutton Gates are at the main entrance at Kirkstall Lane are shown below.

Let’s hope for a Yorkshire win and if not let us hope for rain.

BROWN MUFF & Co

Brown Muff was a department store in Bradford where my father worked after Busby’s closed.

Brown and Muff’s could trace its history back to 1814 when a  shop was set up in Market Street, Bradford, by Elizabeth Brown. Her son married Betsy Muff and the name changed to Brown Muff although some called it the Harrods of the north.

Brown, Muff & Co was taken over by Rackhams in 1978 and closed in 1995.

Military Service

Five members of the family were decorated during the world wars but one Victoria Cross stands out.

Thomas Harold Broadbent Maufe was awarded the Victoria Cross. The VC is the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be given to British and Commonwealth forces.

He was 19 years old, and a second lieutenant in the 124th Siege Battery, Royal Garrison Artillery during the First World War.

‘On 4 June 1917 at Feuchy, France, Second Lieutenant Maufe, on his own initiative and under intense artillery fire repaired, unaided, the telephone wire between the forward and rear positions, thereby enabling his battery to open fire on the enemy. He also saved what could have been a disastrous occurrence by extinguishing a fire in an advanced ammunition dump caused by a heavy explosion, regardless of the risk he ran from the effects of gas shells in the dump.’

By the end of the war he had achieved the rank of major, one of the youngest to hold that rank. After the war Maufe completed his interrupted education at Clare College, Cambridge and the Royal School of Mines.

Maufe served in the Home Guard as a volunteer during World War II in 28th West Riding (Otley) Bn. He was killed in an accident with a misfiring trench mortar during training at the age of 43 on 28 March 1942 near Ilkley.
He is buried in Ilkley Cemetery.’

Muff to Maufe

As the business and family prospered they left Bradford for the more upmarket Ilkley and changed their name to Maufe. This action inspired the local satirical ditty:
“In Bradford ’tis good enoof
To be known as Mrs Muff
But in Ilkley by the river Wharfe
‘Tis better to be known as Mrs Maufe!”

The business remained as Brown and Muff’s

Sources

Bradford Timeline

Wikipedia

Woven cloth needs fulling to raise a nap and Teasels were and still are used in this process. The peak consumption was in the 1830′s but Teasels are still used to create a pile on some products including tennis balls, stockings and billiard tables.

Teasels in History

• Greeks helped provide the original name ‘Dipsacus‘ meaning ‘to thirst’. This is believed to refer to the way rainwater collects at the base of leaves where the leaf and the stem together form a little bowl.
• Romans called it ‘Venus’s basin’ and early Christians in Ireland called it Mary’s basin’.
• In the 12th century good traditional cloth relied on teasels from York, Beverley, Selby and Wakefield.
• Leeds became a centre for dye and tenterers in the 14th century and Teasel growers and dealers were common in the area.
• Between 1727 and 1820 the demand for broadcloth grew 11 fold and so did the need for teasels.
• In 1812 Luddites attacked John Wood, Cropper and Oatland mill owner as he sought to mechanise fulling.

Teasel names and Equipment

• Teasels are botanically called Dipsacus fullonum
• The second part of its botanical name ‘fullonum‘ is derived from the term ‘a fuller’. Fuller is the old name for someone who used teasel to comb out wool.
• In some places teasel is also known by the name ‘brush and comb’.
• The Irish name Lus an Fhucadora translates as ‘Fuller’s Herb’.
• Teasels are also called ‘Johnny-prick-the-finger’ because of the sharp spikes.
• A ‘Stav’ is a 2’9″ cylindrical pack of teasels available for sale. A ‘Gleaning is 10 teasel stems and 30 make a stav and there are 45 stavs in a pack
• A ‘Preem’ was a spiked tool and a ‘Spitter’ is a tool used to cut the tap root whilst ‘Spudding’ is weeding with a hoe.
• ‘Ellum’ was a hut use for drying

<em>Sources

The Clothworkers
Watsonia
Gardeners Tips
Textile manufacturers in early England
Photo by Jim Champion on flickr under creative commons license

Now a year old the Hull History Centre is home for nearly 2 miles of archives. It is well worth a visit.

Key exhibits and archives include

• The charter of 1299 which marks the birth of Hull as a strategic port.
• The most extensive range of WW2 records nationally
• The personal letters of pioneering aviator Amy Johnson,
• The personal papers of Philip Larkin and author Winifred Holtby
• Archives relating to anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce,
• National Council for Civil Liberties now named Liberty’s historical archives are maintained by the University of Hull but accessed through the Hull History Centre.
• Whaling logs, crew lists and a wealth of local history and maritime records.

Family History

• Family history and records are a key asset for the Hull history centre
• The East Riding of Yorkshire Family History Society will be able to help you with researching your surname.
• The Genealogical Research Directory is published annually and contains lists of names being researched.
• The Guild of One Name Studies (GOONS) and the Society of Genealogists also maintain lists.
• ‘There’s no point spending hours going through old records if your gran can tell you it all anyway.’ HHC

Facilities at Hull History Centre<

• Computer and microfilm zone including the Yorkshire Film archive online.
• Conservation room and the ability to donate and deposit your records for preservation.
• Lecture theatre for various events
• library and search room
• Inner and outer arcades including cafe and exhibition space.

South Riding audio CD from the East Riding Feminist Winifred Holtby

As Queen Victoria ascended the throne, British agriculture was entering a renaissance period. The landed gentry were investing heavily in what was becomming a growth industry. The great and good of Yorkshire were not to be out done as they met in The Black Swan York in October 1837. This event led to the formation of the Yorkshire Agricultural Society.

The Yorkshire Agricultural Society’s objectives were to arrange, at varying venues, ‘an annual meeting for the exhibition of farming stock, implements, etc, and for the promotion of agriculture’. (164 years later how do you think they are doing?)
The society’s first president and an active livestock breeder was Earl Spencer formerly Viscount Althorp (the titles sound familiar from somewhere). He was the Queens cousin and the show has enjoyed significant Royal patronage over the years. On Earl Spenser’s retirement it was said ‘he thereafter kept company with the creatures he most respected – his shorthorns, his sheep and the farming community’.
Other leading figures and families joined the Society including the Lane Fox’s of Bramhope Park and George Hudson Alderman of Your and Railway magnate.

Belted Galloways at the Show

The first show in 1838 was held at the Barrack Yard of the 5th Dragoon in York. It was so popular that scuffles broke out to gain entry and soldiers and police had to restore order. As a result of this show the societies membership grew to 800.
It was always intended that the show would move around the county and 1839 was held in Leeds followed by Northallerton and Hull then back to York in 1842.
1843 saw the show acclaimed for the first time as The Great Yorkshire Show.
For 1848 the Yorkshire Agricultural Society joined with the Royal Agricultural Society as a one-off extravaganza in Bootham Stray York. This large area was laid out with railway tracks reaching directly into the show ground. Prince Albert’s attendance drew massive crowds and the implement displays were one of the defining features.

Pontefract held the show once in 1860, Ripon in 1855 and by agreement the show moved annual between the North Riding, the Northern half of the West Riding, the East Riding and the Southern half of the West Riding.
In 1874 Sheffield hosted one of the best attended shows attracting 64,111 paying visitors but during the 1870′s there was a slump in agriculture and bad weather saw the Driffield show of 1875 only attract 27,149 attendees.
Bradford, not what I thought of as the heart of agriculture, held the show in 1901 and 1914 where the highest attendance was achieved until it was exceeded in 1956.

Halifax Agricultural Show

Sources
Richard Sunderland, on Flickr
Belted Galloways by Jeheme
‘Great Yorkshire a Celebration of 150 Shows ED. David Joy.

‘Published to mark the 150th Great Yorkshire Show in July 2008, this book is a celebration of a unique institution. ‘Great’ in every sense of the word, the Show captures the essence of Yorkshire by providing the perfect arena for farming and rural life as well as an unforgettable day out for the family…..’from amazon

Walking is one of the best ways to get close up to history.
You will get the time to consider how things you see came into being and how they relate to the then society.
Researching your walk will often tell you quite a bit about the surrounding area and what you can expect to see whilst walking around.
A restful drink at the end of the walk will give you further time to ponder on the decades, centuries and millennia that have gone before.

Red Tower York

I did too little research for my recent walk around the walls of York but the Red Tower had ample information boards and information was easy to obtain.
The only section of old York which does not have a wall is between Peaseholme Green and the Red Tower where in medieval times there was a huge fishpond . Called the Kings fish pond this formed part of the water defences of the city. The pool silted up in the 17th century and became part of the marshy land called Foss Islands.
The tower looks short and stumpy now because the foundations and lower stone work has been sunk below soil level.
Interestingly for lavatorially minded kids you can still see the Guarderobe or toilet projecting from the rest of the wall.
The Tower is built of red brick and was the cause or a rift between the stone masons guild and that of the builders. In 1492 two masons were implicated in the murder of builder John Patrick but were later acquitted.
The tower has been used for the manufacture of gunpowder, keeping it away from the rest of the city buildings. At that time it was called Brimstone House.

“Historic Walks in North Yorkshire” by Jim Rubery, who has only lived in Yorkshire since 1975, has a good selection of walks. He started writing for the climbing press in the early 1990s, but has had a regular walking column in Yorkshire Life magazine since 1995, entitled ‘Rambling with Rubery’.

Historic Walks in North Yorkshire attempts to ‘reveal some of the splendours of this land of the broad acres. Accompanied by OS mapping and illustrated with colour photographs, the series of walks combine landscape with architecture, natural beauty with history, and our heritage with our diverse and complex culture. By approaching these historic sites on foot, a greater appreciation of their being, purpose and geographical setting are gained, along with the satisfaction of reaching the place under your own steam, watching its contours and outline unfold, as well as sharing an experience common to the ancient and ancestral people who once developed, built and inhabited them.’
The walks take you from open moorland and exposed sections of hillside and cliff to the more sheltered dales and the streets of York.
This collection of 21 historic walks have both a scenic and historical appeal giving a flavour of some of the outstanding countryside and rich historical heritage of North Yorkshire. Available from amazon

Other walking in Yorkshire books are available from Amazon

Beeston has a couple of old grave yards that are sadly being damaged as head stones fall or are vandalised.
From St Mary’s churchyard go down Wesley Street and follow the grave yard contour to walk along an old right of way crossing Sunnyview Gardens to Beggars Hill.
Turn right down Noster Terrace (of Pater Noster fame) following along and round the wall of Holbeck cemetery.
At the entrance go up to the war memorial then towards the imposing gates and lodgehouse.

Just past these gates is a large tomb and Grade II listed monument of the Marsden family. Henry Rowland Marsden was born in ‘Holbeck, Leeds in 1823 of poor parents, and began to work in a local mill at the age of 10, becoming an engineering apprentice at 15.
In 1848 H R Marsden emigrated to the USA where he made a successful career in mechanical engineering and returned a wealthy man. In 1862 he set up a factory for patent stone-crushing machinery to take advantage of the demand at that time for road building. He received numerous medals and honours for this and other inventions, is credited with founding the Leeds Music Festival in 1874 and was Mayor of Leeds 1874-5.’ He died at what we now think of as the young age of 53.

On the wall furthest from Beeston there are serried ranks of similar grave stones that mark the communal graves of paupers from the late 19th and early 20th century.

There are several fine old trees that give a sense or permanence to the grave yard and memorials. After this less than cheerful stroll, cross the Beeston Road and walk through the 44 acres of Cross Flatts. (The houses are back to backs not flats. ed.)

Source Footpaths of Leeds Hilary & Peter Dyson and wikipedia

A trip to Dentdale and a drink in the local hostelries of Dent wont make much of a dent in your bank balance. Fresh air in this valley is free and that should appeal to all Yorkshire folk.

In addition to the Sun Inn shown above I can recommend the George & Dragon or the Sportsmans Inn at near by Cowgill. Both serve good beer and have bed and breakfast accommodation that I have tested several times. When I was walking through Dent on a dalesway trek I was put up in the old Vicarage and very nice and welcoming it was too.

St Andrews church was built in the 12th century and has flagstones of locally quarried black marble once a famous export.

If you want to learn more about the social conditions and customs of the dale call in at the Dent Village Heritage Centre a and learn about the ‘Terrible Knitters of Dent’.
Men, women and children knitted massive amounts of woollen knitwear for sale in distant towns and cities. Taught from childhood, the residents of Dent and Dentdale soon gained a reputation because of their incredible speed and productivity. It seemed that every spare minute was spent knitting – but it was a much needed supplement to the meager family incomes of farmers and lead-miners alike.
The knitters held a rough looking knitting stick under their arm pit so as to keep one hand free for ‘what ever’. They are reputed to keep knitting unless asleep or at Church!
This ancient tradition still survives, beside the Village Green in Dent you can find Sophies Wild Woollens, producing exquisite quality designer knitwear.

Home of Yorkshire Geology

• The village was also the birthplace of acclaimed Victorian geologist Adam Sedgwick.
• He cut his teeth on the geological fossil treasures in the area before becomming a Cambridge University don.
• You can tread in his footsteps via the Sedgwick Geological Trail along the River Clough in Garsdale.
• There is a monument to Adam Sedgwick on the cobbles of the main street which must be one of Dents most photographed sites.
• Adam Sedgwick founded the system for the classification of Cambrian rocks and worked out the order of the Carboniferous and underlying Devonian strata.

Read more on Sedgwick

Tea room at Dent to refresh the parts other drinks have not had chance to reach.

Read about Yorkshires Rag Rugs and ragging or stick to the Knitting.