Interesting Facts about Lancashire

Posted on February 13, 2016 by tejvan

Lancashire_rose.svgLancashire is a county in North West England.

  • The emblem of Lancashire is the Red Rose of the House of Lancaster.
  • Lancashire towns (e.g. Oldham, Manchester, Burnley) played a key role in the industrial revolution, though 80% of the county area is classed as rural.
  • In 1971, before the break up of Lancashire, Lancashire had a population of 5,129,416 – the highest outside London. Post ’74, boundary changes – without Manchester and Liverpool – the population is 1,171,600. (2011 census)
  • Lancashire did not exist in the 1086 Doomsday survey, it was one of the youngest counties to be created in the comparatively late year of 1182.
  • Lancashire Day is held on 27th November. In 1295, 27th Nov, Lancashire sent its first representatives to King Edward I’s ‘Model Parliament’.
  • In the 1974 boundary reforms, Lancashire lost some of its area to Cumbria, Merseyside and Greater Manchester. It was controversially given a small part of Yorkshire around Barnoldswick.
  • The Lancashire dialect (Lanky) has been officially recognised by authors of the English dialect. Common Lancashire dialect includes  using “tha” or “t'” (thou) and “thi” (thee) instead of “you”.
  • For example  This is mine an’ that’s thine!” “Hast ta geet a fiver tha con lend me?”
  • The Lancashire dialect is strongest in old colliery towns, such as Wigan, Leigh and Radcliffe.
  • Despite many fine points, Lancashire has often struggled to escape the shadow of its more illustrious neighbour  – Yorkshire.

Transport

preston-bypass

  • The first motorway in Britain was built as the 8.5 mile Preston bypass (opened 1958); this would become the M6 which travels from London up to Carlisle and Scotland
sankey-viaduct-old

Sankey Viaduct built by George Stephenson 1828-30 on Liverpool-Manchester railway.

The world’s first intercity railway was built by George Stephenson between Liverpool and Manchester. Opening in 1830, it was the first railway to rely on steam power, the first to have double track and the first to be properly signalled and timetabled. It heralded the age of the railways, and was a very profitable enterprise.

bridgewater-canal-manchester

Photo: Bridgewater Canal, Paul

The Bridgewater canal was considered to be the first proper canal in Britain. It ran between Leigh and Manchester and later linked up with Liverpool. It included an aqueduct to cross the River Irwell. Continue reading →

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Scenic Railway Journeys Yorkshire

Posted on February 12, 2016 by tejvan

I am sure you never doubted that Yorkshire has some of the most scenic railway settings in Europe. Here is just a selection of some old but still working railways that arrange journeys into a steam driven past.

Ribblehead Viaduct

Ribblehead Viaduct

Ribblehead Viaduct by Joe Dunckley

Ribblehead viaduct on the scenic Settle-Carlisle line. Ribblehead viaduct was built in 1870-74 and contributed to the Settle-Carlisle line becoming one of most expensive lines in the UK. The rural line was threatened with closure during the 1960s and 1980s, but, with an active campaign it was saved.

Steam train crossing Ribblehead viaduct

Crossing Ribblehead Viaduct, with Ingleborough in the background. Continue reading →

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Facts about James Herriot Yorkshire Author & Vet

Posted on February 12, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Christopher Timothy was one of three actors to play Alf Wight the real James Herriot. This picture was taken in the garden of Alf’s Thirsk house and surgery that is now a gem of a museum and testament to Veterinary surgery and  James Herriot memorabilia.   Link to buy the DVD or books from Amazon.

  • James Herriot books were printed in over 20 languages and spawned feature films and the long running TV series set in the Yorkshire Dales. Filmed largely around Askrigg the real vets practice was in Thirsk but it was the Yorkshire farmers and families that provided the stories that made the series so popular. Alf’s real son Jim Wight has written an affectionate and illuminating biography of his father The Real James Herriot ‘A thoroughly entertaining book, well written by the man who knew “James Herriot” best, his son.It brings to life the man behind the stories and his son has described with love and affection the man who was his father.’ from a review by K E Beckett.
  • Askrigg in Wensleydale was the home of Skeldale House for the TV series, where vet James Herriot lived. The Kings Arms made many appearances as the Drover’s Arms as did the village’s tall houses and narrow, cobbled streets that are centred around the 13th centuary St Oswald’s Church. Askrigg was noted for hand knitting and clock making and there is an ancient bull-baiting ring still set in the village square next to the market cross and stone pump. Both Thirsk and Askrigg are well worth a trip or weekend away.


Mrs Pumphrey and Tricky Woo from The World of James Herriot.


Lotions and potions from the dispensary at The World of James Herriot in Thirsk.

Continue reading →

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Addingham The Swan for Swanning About

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Hortoris

The Ilkley-Addingham stretch of the Dalesway returning over Addingham Moorside is a fine walk of about 8 miles. Even better is to start or break your walk at a hostelry renown for it’s real ales and welcoming atmosphere. The Swan in Addingham caters for Yorkshire drinkers, walkers and eaters with good appetites (so that is most of us)..

Passing Addingham’s Saxon church on a bright morning I looked up and saw it was already afternoon by a smidgin and thus lunch time.

I headed for the Swan at a leisurely pace. ”’Olicana’ was my first beer of choice followed by a sampler of a southern beer (when will I learn). Continue reading →

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Hannah Hauxwell Daleswoman

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Hannah Hauxwell (1 August, 1926 – 30 January, 2018) Daleswoman and farmer. Hannah was born in  Baldersdale, North Yorkshire on Low Birk Hall Farm – which her parents owned. After a happy but frugal life at Low Birk Hatt Farm Baldersdale famous for being without electricity or running water Hannah has passed away in a nursing home near her cottage at Cotherstone.

By the time, she was 35, both her parents passed away, leaving her responsible for the farm and the 80 cattle. She could have gone to a factory job in Durham, but preferred to stay on the farm, despite the hard life. She managed the farm all by herself, despite the fact that in the 1970s, women were not allowed to attend cattle auctions, and she had to get a male farmer to take her cattle to market.

Too Long a winter

It is hard to believe that it was in 1970 that the Yorkshire Post ran a story that outed a new Star. After the newspaper article Yorkshire TV screened a documentary ‘Too Long a Winter’ about a middle aged, female, Yorkshire Dales Farmer. It was entitled “How to be happy on £170 a year”. In fact Hannah managed on around £250 a year, at a time when average UK salaries were £2,000. Her cottage, where she lived alone had no running water or electricity.

During winter, she could often go 10 days without seeing another person.

Hannah Hauxwell was to capture the hearts of a watching audience as she recounted her life that could have existed in the 18th or 19th centuries but was actually being lived in the late Twentieth Century. In her remote 78 acre hill farm in Baldersdale, without running water or electricity, Hannah Huaxwell became an author and soft spoken TV hit.

After the documentary, she began to received many letters of appreciation and a local business helped fund-raise to bring electricity to Low Birk Hatt Farm.

Follow up 20 years later

A follow up documentary programme almost 20 years later showed Hannah still in the farm with the odd extra cows but  with her strength failing. A ‘Winter Too Many’ told of the decision to move into a cottage in Cotherstone where Hannah at 82 still lives today. Hannah spoke fondly about the TV presenter, Barry Cockroft who was instrumental in producing the shows. “I was lucky he came, Mr Cockcroft, and I was lucky that he was who he was,”

Favourite Quotes from Hannah

Yorkshire-Dales

Yorkshire Dales, Photo: Tejvan

Hannah on Life

“there’s a lot to be grateful for, good friends and good neighbours.”

“I have a system to keep expenditure down to the bare essentials. I try to economise.”

What keeps you here?

“Attachment because my family lived here. The Lovely countryside. It’s a lovely walk. If I have no money in my pocket no one can rob me of it.”

Hannah comments on being a ‘celebrity‘

‘Don’t be daft, I’m just a plain Daleswoman. I’m just as I am. I don’t think of myself as anything special – if I did, I’m sure someone would give me a good shaking.’

‘Ooh, that was all a while ago. I shouldn’t think anyone will remember me now. I certainly wouldn’t go to the end of the village to see me…’

Commenting on the reality of farm life and a winter that lasted until May.

‘In summer I live in winter I exist’.

‘It would have been nice to have a bit more money, but I’ve always cut according to my cloth,’

‘Once, I went for a whole three weeks without seeing anybody, and another time, for two and a half weeks. Of course, I missed people.’

cotherstone

Cotherstone Cottage. By Mark Santa Ana CC

On moving in to a cottage in Cotherstone 1988

‘You can’t live somewhere all your life and have all those memories and walk away without being distressed – there’s chains that bind.’

‘I miss the trees the space and the water’

On being asked about her new washing machine –

‘I don’t know if it works, because I’ve never tried it. I do it by hand. It’s not one of my favourite jobs, but that’s how I’ve always done it.’

On a visit to Buckingham Palace where she was served dainty cakes

“There were little pancakes and tiny cakes. Which, for the occasion, I suppose was quite nice, but if you’d been doing half a hard day’s work, it would have left quite a gap.”

Continue reading →

Posted in Our Yorkshire, Yorkshire Folk | Tagged | 12 Comments

Facts about Thirsk – YO7

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Hortoris

Thirsk is a fine old fashioned market town in North Yorkshire with market days on Mondays and Saturdays.

Thirsk

Thirsk by Damion

Reasons To Visit Thirsk

  1. The cobbled Market Place dates from medieval times and there are quaint named streets to walk around including Cod Beck, Millgate and Finkle Street as well as Castlegate and Westgate
  2. Thirsk is nationally famous for its race course, make a note of Ladies day in September
  3. St Mary’s is a beautiful old Church, according to Arthur Mee   ‘Set on the green bank of one of the willow-bordered streams, it is a magnificent tribute to those who built it in the first half of the 15th century.’
  4. Thirsk Market is held on cobbles in the square  ringed by several pubs and eateries best days are Mondays and Saturdays.
  5. Pubs include the Black….., Swan, Lion, Bull or Smith. The three Tuns and Ye Olde three Tuns by these publicans know a good name when they have had a bevvy or two.
  6. Thirsk is also the Darrowby of the late James Herriot (Alf Wight), famous vet and author. Thirsk and near by village Sowerby are set in the centre of “Herriot Country” Gateway to the Yorkshire Dales National Park to the west and the North York Moors National Park to the east.’
  7. James Herriot left not only the legacy of Vet books but created a small industry in Thirsk including the museum dedicated to him and Veterinary work ‘The World of James Herriot.’
  8. Zillah Bell Gallery is having a Yorkshire Gateways exhibition of Paintings, Etchings, Jewellery, Ceramics from 25th June to 17th July but the shop on Kirkgate always has something of interest.

Continue reading →

Posted in Our Yorkshire, Villages, Towns and Cities | Tagged | 1 Comment

Bring Back Heartbeat

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Yorkshire has been the location and produced the material for some great television series.

  • The latest series is Happy Valley staring  Last Tango in Halifax actress Sarah Lancashire.
  • All Creatures Great and Small based on the vet books of James Herriot set in the 1940’s and 1950’s.
  • Emmerdale which had and perhaps still has a farming theme.
  • Detectives, Dalziel and Pasco is set and shot in Yorkshire, whilst Frost’s Denton may be in the Midlands or  even Oxford but it was shot by YTV in and around Wakefield and Pontefract.

However the number one Cop show in our house was the 1960’s based Heartbeat. The moorland farms, quiet roads and North Yorkshire Moors railway gave the film crews a great location for this long running series. (the DVD’s of series 1 & 2 can be bought from Amazon by clicking on the picture).

Questions that need Answers from ITV

  • Why has production stopped?
  • Why has the ITV website for this show been frozen in aspic then deleted?
  • Why haven’t we seen some more spin off shows if the writers have got writers cop block?
  • When can we have our show back?

This is not a petition to the commissioning section at ITV but adding a comment to our post will show the extent of public feelings. Continue reading →

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Old Barry Cryer’s Support for Hernias

Posted on February 10, 2016 by Hortoris

Book CoverLeeds born and educated, up to a point, Barry Cryer’s book now called The Chronicles of Hernia is a newly packaged comedy classic, first published in 1998 under the title ‘You Won’t Believe This But….’ Purchase from Amazon here
‘Still Alive’ is the name of his touring show and it is worth making special effort to see Barry perform although he excels on valve radio where he is ‘the cats whiskers’.
Barry will be 81 this next month and so I have picked out one or two lines with an ageist theme

“Stannah have got a new, faster stairlift. It gets you up the stairs before you’ve forgotten why you went.”

“Right now I’m having amnesia and deja vu at the same time. I think I’ve forgotten this before.”

From the new Uxbridge dictioery of alternative meanings for English words Platypus – to give your cat pigtails, Flemish – rather like snot, or Celtic -a prison for fleas.

If I go under a bus I don’t want any displays of loyalty.” Continue reading →

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Roughing It Around Yorkshire

Posted on February 9, 2016 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Sometimes you have to take the rough with the smooth!
And this is just what you get from the Rough guides.

Roughly What to Expect

  • The introduction gives you a light touch feel for our Yorkshire.
  • Each section or chapter has a mini contents starting with the Basics of travel essentials.
  • The Guide chapters cover the many attractions including great stately homes, cathedrals, churches and monastic ruins. Not forgotten are the steam railways, world-class seaside resorts and industrial museums.
  • Sections include accommodation details are based on regions of South Yorkshire, West Yorkshire, The Vale of York. Yorkshire Dales, North York Moors and The East Riding
  • Context is the last but most informative section covering History, Geology and Wildlife of Yorkshire.

Examples of Yorkshire Trivia

  • In what the guide roughs out as Calendar Girl country they highlight where the film of that name was made. Film location included Burnsall, Kettlewell, Settle and Kilnsey and all feature in the rough guide. Those in the know realise you can find some good walks and great Yorkshire food in Cracoe and Rylstone where the Calendar girls originally came from.
  • The York Archaeological Trust owns and runs Jorvik Viking Centre, Barley Hall, Dig and the Micklegate museum.
  • Wainhouse Tower south of Halifax is possibly the worlds tallest folly. Intended to be a dye works chimney it was never finished as such. It is 275 feet high and has 403 steps that visitors can climb on bank holidays (If you have nothing better to do).
  • After a trip to Doncaster market (or while the wife is shopping) treat yourself to a pint or two at the White Swan, Black Bull or Hare and Tortoise (all creatures great and small serve beer in Donnie).
  • Hull museums are many and various. From the Artic Corsair, Wilberfore House and the Maritime museum you are bound to find something to your liking

Book Cover
Calendar Girls by Tim Frith

The Rough Guide to Yorkshire is available at about half price from Amazon
Calendar Girls by Tim Frith is also available from Amazon

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Site for Sore Eyes Yorkshire Dales National Park

Posted on February 8, 2016 by Hortoris

Yorkshire Dales in the Snow

The Yorkshire Dales National Park was established in 1954, and covers an area of 1, 680 square miles straddling the central Pennines through to Cumbria. It is 50 miles north east of Manchester; Leeds and Bradford lie to the south, while Kendal is to the west and Darlington to the east.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is an independent body within the local government structure, created by the Environment Act (1995). This is the local planning authority for new buildings and also has a responsibility for the maintenance of rights of way in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Yorkshire’s National Park is a special place that has outstanding scenery, a range of wildlife habitats and a rich cultural heritage. It is a fantastic outdoor arena for recreation, holidays, day trips and peaceful relaxation whilst at the same time remaining a haven for wildlife.

 

Geology of the National Park

  • The Three Peaks are Millstone Grit-capped to over 2,300ft whilst the rivers have cut deep valleys called dales. There are over 20 named examples each distinctive in character and atmosphere.
  • The south of the National Park displays one of the best examples in Britain of classic limestone (Karst) scenery, with its crags, pavements and extensive cave systems for which the Dales are rightly world famous.

Linton Grassington

  • The area’s northern landscape with distinctive stepped profiles show the product of differential weathering of the Yoredale Series. There is then the ever present and extensive moorland plateaux.
  • The Howgills and around Sedbergh contains a series of grassy rounded hills with deep ravines that result from different geology and contrast markedly in appearance from the rest of the National Park.

sedbergh
Howgills

  • The landscape has been shaped by ice, with significant glacial and post-glacial landforms and features, notably drumlin fields such as that at Ribblehead, erratics including those at Norber, moraines and post-glacial lakes of Semerwater and Malham Tarn.
  • Hardraw Force with its 90ft  single drop is one of the spectacular waterfalls. The famous series of Aysgarth Falls, Cautley Spout with a broken drop of 600ft and  Thornton Force at Ingleton with its geological uncomformity, and numerous cascading streams are all worth a special trip.

Linton Grassington

 

Biodiversity in the National Park

  • In terms of species there are nationally important populations of breeding waders, Black Grouse, Yellow Wagtail and Skylark.

Continue reading →

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