Hockney Rebel

Posted on August 9, 2016 by Hortoris

If you are a Cockney Rebel when you come from London are you a Bradfordney Rebel or Yorkney Rebel from Yorkshire? naw tha’s just normal.
Book Cover

‘Hockney’s Pictures’ is a retrospective of one of the most popular pop artist in the world today. Covering all media and presented thematically it shows David Hockney’s prolific paintings, drawings, watercolours, prints and photography.

From Hockney’s early years as an Art world rebel to acknowledged innovator, communicator and preeminent artist of world class.

Book Cover

Conversations with Paul Joyce entitled ‘Hockney on Art’ contains musings and insights, interspersed with works by the artists who have inspired David Hockney.

These books and many more with insights into David Hockney as the ‘enfant terrible’ are available from Amazon

Read about David Hockney his large tree painting and brief history on Gods Own County

Posted in Books Club & Literary Work, Yorkshire Arts & Music | Tagged | 1 Comment

Butterfly Conservation in Yorkshire

Posted on August 8, 2016 by Hortoris

The Butterfly Isles: A Summer in Search of Our Emperors and Admirals by Patrick Barkham from Amazon
Book Cover

The Yorkshire Branch of the Butterfly Conservation charity is advocating we use our gardens to help butterflies.
There are many simple tactics that can help including planting food plants and nectar giving plants like nasturtiums and buddleia without spoiling our gardens. Even a pot of oregano or lavender will help. Read more at ‘Get Butterflies in your Garden’ from Gardeners Tips

Yorkshire Naturalists’ Union works with the Butterfly Conservation Society and promotes the recording scheme known as ‘ButterflyNet Yorkshire’.

As an alternative visit one of Yorkshires Tropical World of Butterfly houses. Wander among free- flying tropical butterflies and exotic birds in a rainforest setting at butterflyhouse.co.uk Sheffield or see between 30 and 40 varieties of butterfly in a mature environment of flowering exotic plants and Citrus trees. The types of butterfly change regularly so there’s always something new to spot. Some of the specimens are bred here from pupae, which is also displayed at Tropical World Roundhay Park Leeds.

butterfly, butterfly

Resources

These pages from the Yorkshire butterfly site offer a guide to the most common micro and macro moths found month by month in the county of Yorkshire. A-Z of British Butterflies

Butterfly seed mixture from Thompson & Morgan or Plant collections

Get Butterflies in your Garden from Gardeners Tips

Top photo by Lindsay Sorenson, second photo by Sophiea on flickr under creative commons license.

Yorkshire Butterflies.org

Posted in Yorkshire Sport and Pastimes | Comments Off on Butterfly Conservation in Yorkshire

Visit Rodley Nature Reserve

Posted on August 7, 2016 by Hortoris

Rodley lake

Set in an oxbow on the river Aire near Leeds is Rodley Nature Reserve. Close by is a section of the Leeds Liverpool canal and these two waterways attract wildfowl and waders in great profusion. Created on a floodplain this makes a natural ‘flyway’ for migrating birds.

Inside the many bird hides are chalkboards recording the species recently spotted and many RSPB information panels. We spent time in half a dozen hides some wooden but a couple of new metal versions installed after vandals set fire to their predecessors.

The main lake or ‘Lagoon’ is home to little grebes and tufted ducks but you may also spot Oystercatchers, Pochard and Gooseander. The shallow duck marsh for dabbling ducks such as Gadwall, Snipe and Shovelers. The ground is well maintained with areas left as wet grassland, flower meadow, Reedbeds and a willow coppice. One areas is renown for it’s ‘Farming for Birds’.

reedbed

On a hot spring day (yes I said hot and spring in the same sentence) I was most grateful for the visitors centre which provided chocices at 30p and a cup of tea for a donation. The display tank full of pondlife included beetles and snails of many varieties and childern were give pond dipping lessons and the loan of equipment.

Several small ponds have been grouped together to attract a large variety of Damselfly, Skimmers and Dragonflies. For more information and a club to join check out Yorkshire Dragonfly the local branch of the British Dragonfly Society

In June at  Rodley Nature Reserves events including pond dipping, moth trapping, small mammal trapping, a bug hunt, bird and botany walks and other activities take place.

Insect home
Continue reading →

Posted in Yorkshire Sport and Pastimes, Yorkshire Trips and Places | Tagged | 1 Comment

Clapham Gate Way to the North

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover
The Dalesman History in Clapham

The Dalesman or the Yorkshire Dalesman was founded in March 1939 by the Leeds journalist Harry  Scott. It was produced in his home until 1955 when it finally outgrew his home, at Fellside, Clapham. New offices were opened elsewhere in the village where it remained  until 2000. Now a thriving publisher it is operating from Broughton Hall in nearby Skipton.

Clapham Gateway to the North

Peter Sellers had an amusing song ‘Balham Gateway to the South’. One line spoken in his bluebottle voice said  ‘ hon my porch I carve the holes in the top of toothbrushes manually or every year’.
Peter Sellers would not have suffered from his angst if he had spent more time in the Yorkshire Dales. Clapham claims to be the ‘Doorway to the Dales’ and I am not going to argue.

What has Clapham got to Offer

  • Well unlike the man on the Clapham omnibus there are no buses.
  • The Old Manor House  a fabulous historic mullioned farmhouse built in 1640 is now a bunkbarn
  • There is a stream or beck, Clapham Beck running through the middle of this dales village.
  • Brokken bridge and Mafeking bridge straddle the beck which enters the village via a waterfall.
  • St James’ church is at the head of the village with a complex millennium stone display.
  • The  Bethel chapel is across Cross Haw Lane.
  • Reginald Farrer who introduced Viburnum, Gentian, Buddleia and Geranium species to the UK & the Ingleborough estate.
  • There is a bee bole alongside the beck. This is a cavity or alcove in a wall in which to put Skeps or bee hives.
  • A nature trail, Trow Gill, Gaping Gill and the paths to the top if Ingleborough.
  • Green lane down to the old railway station.

Places to stay include;

  • New Inn Hotel 18th Century Coaching Inn, with 18 bedrooms, restaurant and 2 bars with open fires.
  • Primrose Cottage Cosy well appointed cottage, traditional features with log burning stove & private patio area with barbeque. Self catering. Country walks straight from the door.
  • Brook House Guest House & Restaurant Clapham’s little secret! Open all year round. Restaurant saturday evenings. Local produce, booking advisable.
  • Old Manor House  Spacious and homely 18th Century self-catering cottage – 4 bedrooms sleeps up to 9 people. Open fires, lounge, dining room, garden room and secluded garden
    Croft Café  Delightful setting overlooking river,
  • Dalesbridge Centre  Outdoor accommodation base, eight bunkhouses, campsite, B&B, s/c house, function bar & event rooms. Outdoor activity instruction can be arranged.
  • Halsteads Barn Accommodation
  • Witherspoons  Home of Witherspoon’s Emporium and Bunkhouse Accommodation. A kaleidoscope of original locally made arts & crafts including local wines, preserves etc.

Sources

Welcome to Clapham North Yorkshire

 

 

Posted in Our Yorkshire, Yorkshire Trips and Places | Comments Off on Clapham Gate Way to the North

Beer that is Gluten Free and from Yorkshire

Posted on August 6, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Gluten is a protein found in products made from wheat, barley, rye or malts . In severe cases of Coeliac disease and wheat allergy a gluten-free diet is the only medically accepted treatment.

The Gluten Free Kitchen began in Aysgarth in 2005 when Sue Powell, a qualified chef, became aware of the problems encountered by people with Coeliac Disease in sourcing quality gluten free food. You can now get pork pies, sausage rolls and even Yorkshire Puddings that are gluten free.

 

Pracitise Safe Beer

Against the Grain, from Wold Top Brewery, is gluten free beer that has been voted the most liked beer of all of the gluten free and low gluten beers in taste tests.

Slurp are bottling beers from 30 other Yorkshire breweries but in 2005, ‘Hambleton Ales Gluten and Wheat Free Ale’ (GFA) was launched. It claims to be the first British brewed beer of its type, providing the full flavour and satisfaction expected from a beer but in a gluten free formulation. There is now a sister product, GFL – a gluten free lager. In 2015 their Gluten Free Ale won the title of the UK’s and Europe’s Best Speciality Gluten Free Beer at the World Beer Awards.

Gluten-free beer was developed so that people with coeliac disease – an autoimmune disorder which makes it hard for the body to digest gluten and can result in stomach pains and severe cramps – could enjoy beer. Instead of wheat and barley gluten free grains and grasses such as millet, rice, corn, buckwheat or sorghum are used with abondant hops.

Sign up for the Gluten Free Kitchen newsletter

Recipe for Gluten Free Yorkshire Pudding or buy the Great Book of Yorkshire Pudding £5.99. Or buy Phil Vickery’s book in association with the Coelica society £10.59 from amazon

Posted in Food and Drink & Yorkshire Products | Comments Off on Beer that is Gluten Free and from Yorkshire

Skipton’s Other Ecological Building Society

Posted on August 5, 2016 by Hortoris

skipton

Yorkshire folk have always been canny with their brass, so it is no surprise we have started some of the greatest building societies in the country.
Building societies can be traced back to the industrial revolution, when they were set up as small local organisations whose members pooled funds to allow them to purchase land and build houses.

Some are no longer with us but this is a few of the financial institutions we have created; Skipton, Leeds Permanent, Halifax, Huddersfield & Bradford, West Yorkshire, Yorkshire, Leeds & Holbeck, Bradford Equitable, Bingley Permanent, Bradford & Bingley, Scarborough, National Provincial.

Skipton formed its own society originally called The Skipton and District Permanent Benefit Building Society in 1853. It was founded by George Kendall and the Craven Herald reported “This Society differs from the old building societies, in this, that it is not established for the express purpose of building a certain street or row of houses, but what is much superior, it enables a man to build what he likes, where he likes, and as he likes; or, if a member prefers to buy a house, he can do so, and the Society, if they think the purchase a good one, will advance the money.”

So what of the other Skipton Society?

Well in fact it has its headquarters a few miles down the road at Steeton. The Ecological Building Society had a vision to set up a building society that specialised in properties that conveyed an ecological benefit in terms of construction, use of land or lifestyle. The idea was sparked at a Green Party Conference, following the experience of a Yorkshire solicitor, David Pedley. He had great difficulty in finding anyone willing to give him a mortgage on a property needing extensive renovation.

Someone asked the question “Why don’t we start a building society?” In those days it was possible to start one with just £5,000. Ten people clubbed together, put in £500 each and the Society was registered in December 1980, commencing trading in March 1981 from a tiny upstairs office in Cross Hills, West Yorkshire.
Read more

Posted in Yorkshire Business and Money | Comments Off on Skipton’s Other Ecological Building Society

Beverley Festival of Folk

Posted on August 4, 2016 by Hortoris

dutch 199
The Beverley Folk Festival 16 – 18 June 2017 is set to be another rip roaring success.
There is a long list of performers already booked to appear. As with other folk fests you also get ‘Pub Stuff’ in various hostelries around the town.

Beverley’s Folk Festival Pubs

  • The White Horse, or ‘Nellie’s’ to the locals, dates back to the 16th century and was the birthplace of the festival. I am told that the pub still uses the original gas lamps but that the beer is definitely not too gassy.
  • The Sun Inn as usual is a strong supporter of live music and fine beer. Cor shine a light.
  • Tiger Inn will be a roaring success.
  • The Forrestors Arms, Durham Ox, The Monks Walk, Hodgsons and down in the Westwood The Woolpack are all on hand for a good pint or three.
  • The Wold Top bar at the festival village will obviously feature the local brew.

 

After all this why not take a coach home. This Beverley bus was spotted in Volendam in the Netherlands at the week end. I hope all the trippers make it back home for the festival.

 

Some of the Artists who have appeared in recent festivals performances include:

Bernard Wrigley
Buzzcocks
Chumbawamba
Eleanor McEvoy
John Shuttleworth with ‘It’s Nice Up North’
Barbara Dickson
Ben Lawes
Blazin’ Fiddles
Bowie, Bliss & Cockerham
Charlie Dore & the Hula Valley Orchestra
Dave Burland
Dervish
Eddi Reader
Barbara Dickson,
Bootleg Beatles
Ralph McTell,
Wizz Jones

Continue reading →

Posted in Yorkshire Arts & Music | 1 Comment

Miscellany in Yorkshire

Posted on August 3, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

We at Gods Own County have 400 pages of miscellaneous rubbish, pithy comment plus ideas on where to go and what to do when you get there.
On a good day we get that many readers but can cope with many more so link in your friends (or enemies we’re not proud).
For those wishing to extend their knowledge of Yorkshire from an armchair we can point you to :-

Answers to the following type of question?

  • What is a Yorkshire Fat Rascal?
  • Why has a song about hats and moors become the Yorkshire Anthem?
  • Where can you find Booze, Crackpot and the Land of Nod?
  • How did the white rose become Yorkshire’s emblem?
  • Which three Prime Ministers were born in Yorkshire?
  • Who are Yorkshire’s real Calendar Girls?
  • When is Yorkshire Day? (shame on you if you do not know go to the bottom of the class or Lancashire)

The answers are all in A Yorkshire Miscellany by Tom Holman

  • In the amazon blurb they claim it is an  ‘entertaining guide to this much-loved part of England and a celebration of its people, places, history and quirks.
  • Learn the lingo of Yorkshire dialect and how to cook specialities like Yorkshire Pudding, Parkin and Curd Tart.
  • Discover the secrets of building a dry stone wall and uncover the Yorkshire locations of famous films and TV shows.
  • Understand the history of famous Yorkshire icons like the flat cap and the Yorkshire terrier, and read about the lives of the greatest ever Yorkshiremen and women.
  • A Yorkshire Miscellany is crammed with intriguing facts and figures- a fascinating treasure trove to delight Yorkshire natives and visitors alike.

All available from amazon for less than £6.00

 

As a viable alternative wait until Gods Own County turns it’s attention on these miscellaneous subjects in future posts.

Posted in Books Club & Literary Work | 1 Comment

Buckden Yorkshire Dales

Posted on August 2, 2016 by tejvan

Cycling Yorkshire Dales

Fork in the road in Buckden. To the right, Leyburn. To the left, a tough climb over Fleet Moss to Hawes

Cycling Yorkshire Dales

A Date with History

A Classic car driving through Buckden.
Although the village of Buckden was founded in Norman times, the village lies on the route of the roman road from Ilkley (Olicana) to Bainbridge (Virosidum) where the Romans had a fort.
The bridleway known as Buckden Rake follows the path of the roman road, heading up through Rakes Wood towards Cray and then over Stake Moss.
Following a visit in 1650 from George Fox the founder of the Quaker movement nearby Hubberholme became a Quaker meeting House
There is a Quaker burial ground adjacent to Scar House cottage.
Lead mining was an early local industry.

Continue reading →

Posted in Photos, Yorkshire Dales | Comments Off on Buckden Yorkshire Dales

West Riding Centre of the Teasel Trade

Posted on August 2, 2016 by Hortoris

Teasels

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

 

Sources
Watsonia teasel teazel or teazle
Gardeners Tips

Photo by Jim Champion on flickr under creative commons license

Posted in Yorkshire History and Heritage | 1 Comment