God's Own County

This is not a feature on tree trunks outer covering. Dogs are involved but barking is not obligatory. In fact barking at the ducks and wildfowl is to be discouraged.
‘Bark in the Park’ is an annual fund raising event for St Gemma’s hospice in Leeds which provides specialist medical and nursing care for people with life threatening illnesses, predominantly cancer, along with support for their families.

What and When of Bark in the Park

The event will be held on Sunday Sunday 28th February 2016 in Golden Acre Park, and Temple Newsam Leeds. Registration is at 9.00am.
The Sponsored Dog Walk will take you around the picturesque lake, woodland and gardens of Golden Acre Park in Leeds.
There is a choice of a one, three and six mile walk, so you can choose whichever route is most suitable for you and your four legged friend!
The event is a fun family day suitable for dogs and owners of all ages and abilities.
Entrance to the walk is free, all we ask is that you and your dog raise as much as you can in sponsorship money.
All participants must register in advance of the walk. Once you have registered we will send out a sponsorship pack, which includes further details about the event.
A special prize will be awarded to the dog that has raised the most money bu 1st April 2012 (No April fools jokes, hospice funding is a serious business.)
Details and registration pack here
On completion of the walk every dog will receive a certificate and goodie bag!

‘Barking up the wrong tree’

Barking mad this derivation is just a neat 1980s joke at the expense of Margaret Thatcher. She was known by those who disliked her as ‘Daggers’ Thatcher – not from a reputation for stabbing colleagues in the back, but because she was said to be ‘three stops past Barking’. [Dagenham is three stations beyond Barking on the London Underground]

Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
The Japanese don’t care to, the Chinese wouldn’t dare to,
Hindus and Argentines sleep firmly from twelve to one,
But Englishmen detest a siesta,
In the Philippines there are lovely screens,
to protect you from the glare,
In the Malay states there are hats like plates,
which the Britishers won’t wear,
At twelve noon the natives swoon, and
no further work is done –
But Mad Dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
(Noel Coward)

The White Rose Forest organises working parties from a wide range of organisations who collaborate to identify, develop and deliver “on the ground ” projects.
One initiative of the forest campaign is to allow individuals to be able to mark special occasions with a donation to ‘Trees for Yorkshire’. £10 buys two trees planted in either Scammonden Water or Dalton Bank. Once the tree has been planted you will receive a personalised Certificate of Dedication with a map showing where the site is plus a photograph of the planted areaand an invite to a ‘walk and talk’ event.

Partners in the White Rose Forest

• Bradford

Bradford District has thirty six public parks, over one hundred recreation grounds, more than one hundred and forty play areas and large areas of woodlands,

• Calderdale

Calderdale has a contrasting landscape ranging from the urban areas around Halifax and Brighouse to the high moorlands of the South Pennines in the west of the district. This includes Hardcastle Craggs and Broadhead Clough and Cromwell Bottom nature reserve.

• Leeds

The aim of thier part of the White Rose Forest is to integrate trees and woodland, together with associated habitats, with the urban, urban fringe and rural environments. Hetchell Wood includes area managed as coppice and contains areas of managed limestone grassland whilst  Adel Dam is a bird paradise.

• Kirklees

The National Trust owned Marsden Moor Estate cover the high Pennine moors above Marsden, Meltham and Holmfirth, while to the north and east the landscape becomes gentler with fields and woodlands. Honley woods are privately owned ancient semi-natural woodland, with public access.

• Wakefield

New Miller dam country park covers 94.33 acres of woodland and water. It is a designated an area that is a Site of Scientific Interest. Haw Park Wood is a 73 hectare ancient replanted woodland

• Harrogate , Barnsley and Craven are devolping their input to the White Rose Forest web site.

Wood Fuel and Yorwoods

 
White Rose Forest also actively promotes wood fuel and can answer questions such as; Where do I buy woodfuel, How much does woodfuel cost compared to fossil fuels? Why is woodfuel carbon lean? How much space will a tonne of woodchip need?
What is the calorific value of wood pellets? and What is the Renewable Heat Incentive?
Yorkshire Woodfuels Ltd is a not for profit company of woodland owners and woodfuel suppliers. The scheme is run throughout the Yorkshire and Humber region. The main propose is to create a group of private and public sector timber growers, and forestry and arboricultural contractors with long term forest and tree management interests with the specific intention of supplying small round wood and other wood products for woodfuel.

YORWOODS are a public funded woodland initiative working in partnership with the Forestry Commission and local authorities.
Yorwoods chairs the Working Woodlands Group, whose focus is to help enable the sustainable management of woodlands in West Yorkshire
Yorwoods organises a ‘Moorland Burning Workshop’ to be run by the National Gamekeepers Organisation and is designed for those who already have some training or experience in burning practices. It is followed by an equipment demonstration. The training day is scheduled for 24th February 2012. Link

Biomass Energy Centre is a partner in the White Rose Forest initiative they say ‘There are many different forms of biomass fuel obtainable from trees, but they are all categorized as virgin wood provided they have not been used for another purpose.’

Brodsworth Hall Oak

Interesting Christmas Traditions

• Victorians were very nostalgic and thought Christmases just weren’t what they used to be.
• Victorians were known to complain Christmas was becoming too commercialised (where have we heard that before?)
• Bringing in the Yule log and Kissing the bough were pre-Victorian customs. Kissing the bough was popular in Yorkshire where a ball of evergreens with candles and mistletoe was used as a home decoration.
• Christmas Day became a public holiday in 1834. In 1871 Boxing Day became a holiday to reflect the time when staff and tradesmen were given a ‘Christmas Box.
• Good King Wenceslas and Once in Royal David City are two Christmas Carols that were written in Victorian times. Many other traditional carols were revived as the Christmas festivities grew in social importance.

Otley Victorian Fayre 6th December 2015

Preparations are in full swing for the 30th Otley Victorian Fayre. More stalls than ever will be groaning with Christmas goodies for you to buy and eat. Traditional street organs will play their catchy music, dance troupes will perform for your enjoyment, local schools and adult choirs will sing carols on the stage.

The children can enjoy Punch and Judy shows, traditional fairground rides as well as visit the Lion’s Santa’s grotto in the market place. Every year more and more people join in the fun by dressing in Victorian costumes.

As darkness falls there will be a fabulous lantern parade through the town organised and run by Otley Courthouse.

Kirkgate Examiner York

The Castle Museum York generally celebrates Christmas with several seasonal exhibits and an interesting issue of an eight page newspaper highlighting ‘a taste of Victorian Christmas’.
New Years Eve and New Years Day were the key times for family get togethers, celebration and for present giving. It was the Victorians that helped reinvent Christmas and replace New Years Day with Christmas Day in the affections of the British families.
From the 1700’s Germany had used trees as a focal point and Christmas decoration but it wasn’t until 1848 that Prince Albert brought the tradition to England. He actively promoted the shaped tree with its fir like branches called in German a Tanne or Spindlebaum.

Christmas Decoration Traditions

• Using Evergreens like Holly and Ivy are traditions that date back to pagan times.
• Mistletoe has fertility and love connotations and was used to decorate Victorian houses and provide a place for a Christmas kiss.
• Glue paper chains and twists of coloured crepe paper were introduced by Victorians
• Candles were eventually replaced with electric light bulbs and now we have leds and other bright lights.
• Holly wreaths are said by the york Kirkgate Examiner ‘to be a charming transatlantic custom’ imported from America.

Christmas Cards History

In the 18th Century visiting cards were in common use by the middle and upper classes. On new Years day visits were more frequent and the cards were passed around freely. Valentines cards were also in use and both formed a base for the Christmas card as we know it today. As Christmas Day was popularised by the Victorians they started to develop early designs of Christmas cards based on Valentine designs with Christmasy messages. These designs may have included pets or seaside scenes which would now seem unseasonal but Robins featured in early designs.
The first official Christmas card was created in 1843 and by 1880 the custom had become so popular that the post office asked people to ‘post early for Christmas’ for the first time. postmen wore red jackets and were nicknamed Robins and new cards often showed Robins on cards being delivered by red clothed postmen.

Yorkshire Expats Virtual Christmas Card can be viewed here

Christmas Food History

• Old fashioned communal Christmas eating and drinking was much admired by Victorians. Food was provided by the squire or local land owners and was part of the seasonal activity.
• Roast Turkey features in Mrs Beetons Cookery book of 1859 as a staple for the middle class Christmas.
• Plum pudding of dried fruit improved by a soaking in spirit was another Victorian favourite. It also included suet, grated bread, sugar and candied peel along side the rasins and currants.
• The earliest recipe for Yorkshire Christmas Pies dates from the eighteenth century, but they are probably much older. They were always stuffed to the gunnels with game and boned birds and frequently required a bushel of flour to make the crust. They were frequently sent as gifts. See Harewood house Victorian recipe for Yorkshire Pie
• Roast goose with the classic sage and onion stuffing featured in a Victorian Christmas meat feast.