More to Yorkshire Than Pudding – Food for Gods

Posted on June 18, 2012 by Hortoris

When thinking of gourmet food and Yorkshire it is natural to put our Pudding at the top of the list. Do not be fooled there are many other edible delicacies to tempt the hungry Tyke and visitor to God’s Own County.
Here is just a small selection:-

Duke of Wellington
Havercakes
Give a thought to the Duke of Wellington’s Yorkshire regiment. Not only did he lend his name to a well known, but inedible footwear, he also encouraged the eating of Havercakes. Not for nothing were the regiment known as the ‘Havercake Boys’ and of course the havercakes were carried in a haversack.

chips and mushy peas
Mushy Peas
There is something missing from this picture of Mushy Peas and I do not mean the Pie or even the Fish. Good old Yorkshire mushy peas need some mint sauce to set them off a treat. Some folk even like mushy peas with their mint sauce instead of the other way around.

Yorkshire Fat Rascals
Fat Betty and Fat Rascals
Fat Bettys from Tockwith are not to be confused with Fat Rascals from Bettys. The first is a savoury ‘organic cheesey nibble’ the other is a fruit and nut scone, come biscuit, come bun with emphasis on the Fat.

Lest we Forget Yorkshire Pudding International Cuisine – You Can’t Have too Many Yorkshire Puddings


Photo Credits
Duke of Wellington by s_vatev CC BY-NC-SA 2.0
chips and mushy peas by quite peculiar CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Yorkshire Fat Rascals by French Tart CC BY-ND 2.0

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Joanne Harris’s Blueeyedboy is All Alone

Posted on June 17, 2012 by Hortoris

If you fail to get on the same wave length and tune into the Blueeyedboy at an early stage you are not alone. After a few chapters I had to go back and assess what I thought was going on.
Reading some other reviews set me straight and while I was looking at Joanne Harris’s Malbry as a Yorkshire context I should have realised the internet is omni-locational.

Book Cover
Blueeyedboy paperback by Joanne Harris

As in Gentlemen & Players by Joanne Harris we are back in the fictional Yorkshire town of Malbry. This time we are in the company of a lonely young man whose internet behaviour seems to verge on the sociopathic.
After my false start I got through the book, which was thoughtful and creative until the end. It just about repaid the effort to understand unlovable characters and an untrustworthy narrator which keeps the reader a bit on an edge.
There were some good intelligent references to ‘the world at large’ despite most of the action takes place on a keyboard in a bedroom. In someways the thoughts were so obviously the authors, not the narrators, that it added to my dissonance.

Fans of Joanne will already have lapped up this book and moved on to her latest offerings Runelight and Peaches for Monsieur le Curé (Chocolat 3).
For me I resort to this photo of a blue-eyed-oldboy.

Derived from ‘Day 83 – To Infinity And Beyond!!! by Menage a Moi’ CC BY-SA 2.0

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Kate Shackleton Mystery Books

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Hortoris

Book Cover

‘Dying in the Wool’ is a mystery for fictional amateur sleuth Kate Shackleton set in a quiet Yorkshire village. Why not a lively, thriving, bustling even noisy Yorkshire village I do not know but that is artistic license for you! At least there is a working mill in this fictional village of Bridgestead, something you don’t see every day nowadays.

Plenty of West Riding social and local history has been used in researching this book and it flows along at a brisk pace.

The author Frances Brody is a pseudonym for Frances McNeil, scriptwriter, playwright, author of four novels and winner of the Elizabeth Elgin Award for best new saga of the millennium. If you have already read Dying in the Wool try another in the Kate Shackleton series.

Book Cover

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Sorry Harrogate You Smell but Your Flowers Do Not!

Posted on June 16, 2012 by Hortoris

As an infrequent visitor to Harrogate I had not previously been caught by the noxious pong or town centre smell until last Saturday that is.
I pooh-poohed my wife’s idea that it was farmers muck spreading and wanted to blame the sewage plant and or the drains. You can tell we both thought it was a sweet smell (not) if it combined all three. The locals without pegs on their noses said it was from the underground wells that provide the Spa water, another reason to feel sorry for the Victorians.

Harrogate Victoria sq

Whilst on the theme of Queen Victoria, she would not be amused by the present state of her flower beds around her jubilee memorial.
Not what I expected from a Britain in Bloom contender but perhaps the smell killed the flowers off.

Harrogate june dead bed

Although it was mid June the roses showed no colour but that I would be willing to blame on the unusual Harrogate weather. I am lucky that my garden has many roses in full flush.
So I moved back to the Railway station thinking things may be a bit better on the concourse to welcome the tourists. Well yes if they like empty planters and dead primroses in rotting barrels. Better nothing than dead tat unless the powers that be believe is distracting folk from the aroma!

Harrogate Station planter

Weeds between the tracks and taller than the walls were one thing. Only one out of three ‘box shrubs in tubs’ on the Leeds bound platform was still alive. The idea of low maintenance shrubs in tubs was good but it is the wrong sort of gardener on the Harrogate tracks.

Harrogate station

Did I say ‘Sorry Harrogate You Smell’ and I am also informed your spa water is undrinkable.
Sorry Harrogate but your flowers do not smell although by mid June they should!!

Harrogate june wallflowers

A couple of Years ago I wrote Welcome to Harrogate HG1 and you should read this for a more balanced view. I was thinking of calling this You’re Welcome to Harrogate but thought better of it due to a really well run library and the forthcoming Crime and Thriller Book Writing Festival.

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Prial of Great Yorkshire Actresses

Posted on June 14, 2012 by Hortoris

Lovely Judi

Dame Judi Dench, CH, DBE, FRSA

Judith Olivia Dench was born in York in 1934 (sorry to give away a Ladies age!)
Is she Lady Macbeth, M or Queen Victoria? Well that depends on how she is cast as all challenges seem to accepted and dealt with. Versatile and hardworking should be her middle names.
In 1989, she was cast as Pru Forrest, the long-time silent wife of Tom Forrest, in the BBC soap opera The Archers on its 10,000th edition. A strange role for the lead in the west-end musical Cabaret and a member of the RSC.
Her TV comedy As Time Goes By is regularly repeated on TV as a tribute to Judi’s timeless appeal that is enhanced by her more recent role in Cranford.
Iris, the film in which she took the lead role of Iris Murdoch is my personal favourite from a large list of film credits, closely followed by The Last of the Blonde Bombshells.

Book Cover

Stephanie Turner

Fascinated from the age of 10 by visits to the pantomime at the Alhambra Bradford, Stephanie was always intent on becoming an actress (‘Oh! no she wasn’t’ ‘Oh! yes she was’).
Best known for her appearances on TV as Inspector Jean Darblay in the police series Juliet Bravo which won her BBC personality of the year. Stephanie Turner also featured in other cop shows including The Sweeney, A Touch of Frost and Z Cars.
Stephanie has played leading roles in most repertory companies and worked closely with Alan Ayckbourn. She played Terry in ‘How the Other Half Loves’, Blanche in ‘Streetcar Named Desire’ and the lead in the west-end ‘Say Goodnight to Grandma’ back in 1973.

Happy Days (In Performance)

Billie Whitelaw CBE

Arriving in Bradford during the war Billie had to over come her stutter through amateur theatricals. (Working at Busbys department store also helped).
It was at Bradford Playhouse, run at the time by J B Priestley and Esme Church, that she was spotted by the BBC. She featured in the TV dramatisation of The Secret Garden back in 1950 and has numerous film credits to her name.
She won a BFA award for her portrayal of a disgruntled ex-wife in Albert Finney’s Charlie Bubbles. Billie Whitelaw’s next screen assignment was as the smothering “monster mommy” of vicious mob leaders in The Krays and the ill fated nanny in The Omen.
As a stage actress, Billie Whitelaw was acclaimed for performances in Samuel Beckett plays with whom she worked for 25 years.

Photo and other Credits
Lovely Judi by lewishamdreamer CC BY-NC 2.0
Happy Days (In Performance) by BBC Radio 4 CC BY-NC 2.0 ‘Happy Days (In Performance)
06/07/1979 © BBC
Picture shows – Billie Whitelaw who stars as Winnie, buried to her waist in a sandy mound, struggling to get through her day, in ‘Happy Days’, Samuel Becketts classic of modern theatre. This television presentation, specially produced for ‘In Performance’ can be seen on BBC2, Saturday October 1979.

Footnote
A prial is a term for three of a kind. Here are 3 different actresses that are each great in their own way, with links to Yorkshire God’s Own County.

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Chelsea Wives and Leeds United

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Hortoris

‘Footballers wives’ this book definitely isn’t despite our weak link to the chairman of Leeds United.
Anna-Lou Weatherley, former acting editor of Smash hits, has previously written a couple of romantic fiction titles, ‘Ibiza Summer’ and ‘The Wrong Boy’. Chelsea Wives moves up a gear and focuses on ‘The Ladies that Lunch’.

Book Cover
Chelsea Wives by Anna-Lou Weatherley the latest hot off the press paperback and kindle (if Kindles can be hot off the press).

Quotes and Cover Comments on Chelsea Wives

‘A fun, romp of a read, the perfect poolside companion’ Grazia
‘Revenge has a high price and the men are about to pay’. cover
‘This is Desperate Housewives meets First Wives Club set in the glamorous borough of Chelsea.’ amazon

The Plot

Characters set in ‘exotic locations of designer boutiques and London’s high society scene are these Chelsea Wives, Imogen, the beautiful ex-model, Calgary, the glamorous, former fashion editor, and Yasmin, the feisty ex-party girl.
But life isn’t all champagne and canapés in Chelsea. Plagued by personal tragedy and united by failing marriages, Imogen, Calgary and Yasmin mastermind a shocking plan to get the ultimate revenge on their husbands.’

The Critics View

One to consider for an afternoon when the other half is at Elland Road Leeds watching the football.
Doubtless Chelsea Wives will be heavily promoted as a holiday read for the under 40’s.
Books are cheap entertainment so what have you got to loose with Chelsea Wives? With Leeds United you may loose!

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Yorkshire Fathers Day Top Ten Songs

Posted on June 12, 2012 by Hortoris

Go on sing him a song for this Fathers Day! It is cheap and may be cheerful and certainly noisy!

  1. Don’t Jump off the Roof Dad – Tommy Cooper
  2. Dads Army Song You Tube
  3. Father & Son – Cat Stevens You Tube
  4. Oh My Papa – Eddie Fisher You Tube
  5. Daddy Cool – Boney M You Tube
  6. Hello Mudder Hello Father – Alan Sherman You Tube
  7. Sonny Boy – Al Jolson You Tube
  8. Boy Named Sue – Johnny Cash You Tube
  9. Dad Life Dad Rap – Dad Life You Tube
  10. Daddy Come and get me – Dolly Parton

A book by Alan Titchmarsh may be a titchy present for the Yorkshire gardening father.
Audio Books for a Dales Father’s Day include novels, sporting and biographic themes

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Practical Self-help in Book Format

Posted on June 10, 2012 by Hortoris

Self-help and practical improvement books come and go like planes at Heathrow. That might be why they are so popular at airports for the executive class to read or look like they are reading something worthy.
The desire to achieve your ambitions and goals can be helped in a practical manner if you ‘have a mind to’ take the lessons on board. This is so even if you already know most of the tricks of the trade intuitively or as a matter of commonsense.

One such book with 365 mini lessons (one a day to be taken before, after or during meals) is shown below.

Book Cover


‘Achieve Anything In Just One Year: Be Inspired Daily to Live Your Dreams and Accomplish Your Goals’ need not cost you any money as the Kindle edition is available for £0.00 although amazon and Jason Harvey charge £12.95 for a paperback.
Jason Harvey, the author, is a Certified Life Coach and founder of the Limitless Institute, a non-profit organization (I have had one of those; none-profit that is!)

This practical ‘improvement text’ picks the brains of some of the world’s most respected minds, such as Mark Twain, Goethe, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Albert Einstein and many more.
Give the daily lessons a chance to work on your own modus operandi and you will have the opportunity to change for the better. All in all, if it is sometime since you went the self-help route this book is definitely worth a whirl.

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Audio Books for a Dales Father’s Day

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Hortoris

Is your Dad struggling to see well enough to read small or LCD print? If so, then rather than a traditional book or kindle, you may want to consider an audio book for father’s day.
If your Dad is too young to be loosing his sight he might appreciate an audio book to listen to in the car when he’s stuck on the motorway or at some road works.

Book Cover

Mr ‘erriot is good for a smile or two as he takes you through his entertaining reminiscences about his life as a Dales vet. There are 8 audio books in the series including the above The Lord God Made Them All which is read by Christopher Timothy.
On this site you can read more about James Herriot of Askrigg and Thirsk

Book Cover
In ‘Up and Down in the Dales’ Gervase Phinn reads his own work. His other titles The Other Side of the Dale, Over Hill and Dale and Head Over Heels in the Dales have already been read on radio 4 but an audio book can be slotted into the player at any time.

Alternative Father’s Day Presents

Sit your Dad down and ask him what life was like when he was your age. He probably wont tell you but secretly he will be pleased to have been asked.
Offer to wash up to save him a job (a job that he probably delegates anyway.)
Send him a birthday card (suitably modified and cheeky) – it is what I often get as a multipurpose offering that can cover Christmas, anniversaries and other occasions.
I know Clintons and Birthdays have just gone under despite the high price of greetings which some of us can now get American style. So opt for a n’then Dad are you going to take us to the pub?

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War Years to CND a Good Yorkshire Book Companion

Posted on June 8, 2012 by Hortoris

IMG_1301

Preface to Yorkshire Book Club (B2)

Something a bit different this time about one of Yorkshire’s famous literary sons John Boynton Priestley (JBP).
It is hard to know what is JBP’s most abiding legacy. ‘An Inspector Calls’ and the West Riding farce ‘When We are Married’ are plays that are regularly performed as are ‘Dangerous Corner’ and his ‘Time’ plays.
‘The Good Companions’ may be out of print but there is many a copy nestling on book lovers shelves up and down the country.
There is a special anniversary edition of ‘An English Journey’ linked to an earlier story on God’s Own County. However this time we are concerned with JBP’s wartime exploits.

Book Cover
Priestley’s War Years by J.B. Priestley with contributions from his sons Tom Priestley and Nicholas Hawkes, with editing and collation by Neil Hanson with illustration by David Burrill.

Yorkshire God’s Own County Book Club Comments

I vaguely knew that JBP was a founder member of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament (CND) but I had no inkling as to why. He started work as a clerk in Swan Arcade Bradford but quickly joined up in the infantry during the first World War where he was badly gassed in the trenches. Doubtless this influenced his feelings about ‘weapons of mass destruction’.
JBP’s famous quote “I came out of the war with a chip on my shoulder . . . probably some friend’s thigh-bone.” seems very poignant.
Returning from France he went to Cambridge University and became a writer, journalist and critic.
As one of the founders of the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament he went on the famous Aldermaston march in 1958 and was a friend of Tony Benn and Michael Foot (he stood as an independent parliamentary candidate of Oxford failing to get in).

Footnotes

I haven’t read this particular work but may get the Kindle version when I get sometime for serious reading.
JBP interests me as a complex character who stood apart from some accepted norms but captured the spirit and ‘spoke for the common sense of the common man’.
Photo Credit for J B Priestley statue image IMG_1301 by riotcitygirl, CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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