Author Archives: Hortoris
Contemporary Art from New School House Gallery York
New School House Gallery is a contemporary object and art gallery in York. Through regular exhibitions it shows ‘the best in contemporary art, studio ceramics and the decorative arts’. Paula Jackson and Robert Teed the founders are also active on … Continue reading
Alan Bennett Facts not Fiction in a Van
What do Ladies in Vans, Smut and Talking Heads have in common? They are works by Alan Bennett, Lady in the Van being his latest DVD to be released. Alan Bennett mini Biography Bennett was born 1934 in Armley the … Continue reading
Yorkshire Influences Authors
Riveaux Abbey DSCF0011 by ¬nick CC BY-NC 2.0 J R R Tolkien was inspired by the Dales limestone landscape to write the Lord of the Rings after visiting in the 1940’s. Does his fictional Middle Earth look like Malhamdale? A … Continue reading
Captain Cook Museums & Monuments
There are 3 good memorials in North Yorkshire that can give an insight to the early and working life of the explorer Captain Cook. There are six or seven towns worldwide that are named Whitby but dozens of places named … Continue reading
Comic Postcards in Holmfirth
Holmfirth was the birthplace of Bamforth & Co Ltd and the saucy seaside postcard. The beginnings date back to 1860’s when a family of painters and decorators started to supply painted backgrounds for laternslide shows and subsequently the lanternslides themselves. … Continue reading
Charabanc or Charabang
1914 Ford Model ‘T’ Charabanc by kenjonbro (Celebrating 60 Years 1952-2012), CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 The term Charabanc (not Charabang as I thought) comes from the French char-a-bancs, for a “carriage with wooden benches.” The simple design included rows of seats … Continue reading
Wath-upon-Dearne Yorkshire
The performer Les Barker whilst not from Wath was reading poems at a festival in 2009. This ditty he wrote and performed stayed with me: It was a calm, still day in Flamborough, The channel clear and wide, As the … Continue reading
Walking Around Ilkley
Holiday in Ilkley like the Victorians used to do using Shanks’s Pony. You do not have to walk all of the Dales Way to have a good holiday with fresh air and exercise. The River Wharfe runs through the town … Continue reading
Facts about Keighley BD21
Keighley has two claims to fame, the first being the pronunciation of it’s name Keeth-lee. The second item amused me when Bill Bryson asked why the Army used beautiful countryside for munition target practice, rather than a place like Keighley. … Continue reading
Sheffield Murders and More?
The Chinese Laundry Murder of 1922. Sing Lee had carried on a laundry business living above the shop at 231 Crookes, Sheffield in 1922. Lee Doon entered his employment only a few days earlier (don’t you just love these Chinese … Continue reading