Historic Battles on Yorkshire Battlegrounds

Posted on July 26, 2015 by Hortoris

Monument to Battle of Stamford Bridge

Stamford Bridge September 1066
King Harald’s army had just suffered heavy losses at Gate Fulford but were reinforced by Tostig’s troops and the Norwegian army were in celebratory mood. With fast marching and impulsive action King Harold marched part of his army from Tadcaster to Stamford bridge and caught his foes unprepared.
The memorial in the village reads ‘The Battle of Stamford Bridge – King Harold of England defeated his brother Tostig and King (Harald Sigurdsson) Hardraada of Norway here on 25th September 1066′.

The road from York through domesday village Gate Helmsley towards Stamford Bridge is the Roman road the English army marched down to the battlefield.
The village of Stamford bridge has been created since the battle and is now a tourist spot. The Swordsman inn celebrates an incident in the battle when one Viking is thought to have held the bridge over the river Derwent.


Battle of the Standard Northallerton August 1138 Continue reading →

Posted in Seven Wonders of Yorkshire, Yorkshire History and Heritage | 1 Comment

Yorkshire Female Detective Series A6

Posted on July 25, 2015 by Hortoris

There are now 5 books in the series featuring West Yorkshire Detective Karen Sharpe. All are available on kindle and most on the old fashioned media.

Book Cover
Falling by John Connor

 

The literary review said of Falling ‘The writing is skilled and the West Yorkshire background described with authority in a plot based on racial tensions and their explosive repercussions… not a comfortable reading but a gripping one’.
Other reviewers have been impressed with the characters, attention to detail and the obvious knowledge of the law.
A almost plausible story line in The Playroom features the daughter of a Bradford judge who is kidnapped

John Connor is the author of the Detective Constable Karen Sharpe series. He recently left his job as a barrister to write full time so he should know about the law. During the fifteen years of his legal career he prosecuted numerous homicide cases in West Yorkshire and we seem to have more than our fair share thanks to the Yorkshire Ripper and the Sheffield murderers to name just a few.

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Tea Rooms in Yorkshire Gardens

Posted on July 24, 2015 by tejvan

Eucryphia growing above a hedge at Parcevall Hall North Yorkshire. The grounds contain several acid loving plants and the under planting included several Hydrangeas. Whilst the gardens are nearly 1000 feet above sea level the shelter of the dales hills and damp conditions suit the Eucryphia down to the ground (Oops)

Parcevall Hall gardens lie on a steep hillside with steps and uneven paths throughout. The topography and aspect add to the beauty of the gardens. ‘Within the grounds, visitors will find many facets of the garden, including, woodland walks, formal, south facing terraces, a bedrock limestone rock garden and a beautiful rose garden where it is a pleasure to sit and relax. All set against the stunning back-drop of the Yorkshire Dales.’ Parcevall Hall Tea Rooms

Newby Hall & Garden

“Newby Hall and Garden is well known in the gardening fraternity as an impressive example of well designed and extensive range of garden features, expertly decorated with a diverse range of plants. The truly magnificent herbaceous borders are the central feature of the gardens but are by no means the only feature of quality. Garden rooms and themed planting provide a range of style’s that can easily be incorporated into most gardens large or small. Of particular value is the work on plant conservation and Newby boasts the best collection of the genus Cornus in the Country.” I would also add the acid lovers Azaleas, Camellias, Rhododendrons and Magnolias so recommend visiting in April or May.

Enjoyable cafe looking towards the river but can be busy at weekends.

Burnby Hall Garden

Burnby Hall Pocklington

Two magnificent lakes hold a national collection of Water Lilies. Watch the numerous fish, walk through the Secret garden and rockeries or follow the woodland walk. Open march- 9th October 2011.
OK for a bun fight and coffee.

York Gate Garden

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Public Parks Past & Present

Posted on July 23, 2015 by Hortoris

 

History of Public Parks & Gardens

The West Riding was at the forefront of 19th Century Park development. Growing towns no longer had access to common land and the working class needed a recreational outlet. Pleasure resorts were developed in Harrogate, Ilkley and down south in Bath but it was in Bradford where early Park development really took hold.  During a temporary work shortage in the wool trade the Woolsorters set too to create a Park based on subscription for relaxation. They even received a £100 subscription from Queen Victoria towards the cost. In 1850 Peel Park was opened as the 20th park in England followed by Leeds Woodhouse Moor in 1857 and Bingley Prince of Wales Park in 1865.

Samuel Cunliffe Lister the owner of the biggest silk mill in the world known as Manningham Mill gave his name to Lister Park and Roundhay Park Leeds was opened 2 years later in 1872. After ‘The Great War’ the massed displays of flowers were progressively replaced by ‘cleansweep planting’ creating great swards of grass.  The trend away from horticulture began and the Parks movement came to represent less what was happening within society as funding became a competative sport. Nevertheless in 1926 (Joseph Bentley local Publishing)  visitor numbers to Peel park included 214,000 playing bowls, 28,000 boating and 100,046 visiting the conservatories.

Parks near you in the 21st Century

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Zetland – Lifeboat Race

Posted on July 22, 2015 by Hortoris

Book Cover


Redcar Lifeboat
The Zetland is the ‘ Oldest Lifeboat in the World’ built in 1802 and still on display in Redcar. over 200 years ago Zetland was built by a Yorkshireman, Henry Greathead, from Richmond who set up as a boat builder and made the first lifeboat Original. The 11th lifeboat operated by the Teesbay Lifeboat and Shipwreck Society, she was christened Zetland in honour of the Lord of the Manor from Shetland. The Zetland remained in service until 1880 saving over 500 lives. In 1864 the RNLI took over the when a new boat Crossley was launched at Redcar. Zetland was hauled to the beach and ordered destroyed. However the townfolk so strongly resented this and it was hurriedly arranged that Redcar could keep the boat as long as she did not compete with the Crossley. For many years the work continued culminating in the rescue of the brig LUNA in 1880 when three lifeboats were required for the rescue.

Bibliography & References
Robinson, Vera, The Zetland Lifeboat Sullivan, Dick, 1978, Old Ships, Boats and Maritime Museums, pp. 18, Coracle Books
Phillipson, David, 1994, All her Glories Past: The Zetland Lifeboat, Smith Settle Ltd
Osler, A G, 2000, Mr Greathead’s Lifeboat: The creation of the first shore-to-ship rescue boat, Mariitme Life and Traditions, Vol. 5, pp. 16-29
Age of Sail Volume 2 by Chrysalis Books. Poem The Zetland
http://nationalhistoricships.org.uk/index.cfm/event/getVessel/vref/627

Old Hotels
Zetland Hotel was built after 1861 when the Stockton & Darlington Railway came to Saltburn. With a platform at the rear of the hotel it was one of the first railway hotels. There are many interesting pictures of Saltburn on the history web site.

Country Pursuits
‘The Zetland Hunt Country straddles the Durham / North Yorkshire border and covers about 400 square miles. Bounded by the River Wear in the North, The River Swale to the South, and Darlington to the East; the Western boundary is not defined as the land rises to the grouse moors which are not hunted.

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Summer Drizzle in Whitby 1930

Posted on July 21, 2015 by Hortoris

Reports about  Global Warming and the next Ice Age are used to fill the media but let’s look back 80 years or so.

Imagine you were setting off for your summer holiday in Whitby on the 21st July 1930. You think our poor summer weather is bad well you aint seen nowt.  Poor isn’t how you spell it ‘Pour’ is what it did for four days solid with 5.2 inches in Danby and a massive 11.9 inches in Castleton.

Imagine calling out the life boats for a flood – 2 miles inland – that is what happened in Ruswarp on 23 July 1930 as converging floods threatened Whitby and all around. The Whitby Gazzette called it ‘a thrilling rescue’ but with wind driving at gale force and the inky blackness creating another onslaught of rain in an already saturated area consternation siezed people in their houses.  Rain had been general over all the area, the Esk and Barnby Beck were full, the Ruswarp and Carrs covered in 2 feet of water. At Briggswath the bridge and road were swept away and a steam tug in the bay broke from its moorings. In the words of Bill Foggit the old  weather recorder,  ‘ the awesome power of the flood was more than matched by the indomitable spirit of the Whitby lifeboatmen. Up the raging Esk they came to rescue marooned families…..’

Book Cover

So when we bemoan our bad weather spare a thought for others who have been through storm and tempest without all the modern facilities we now enjoy.

 

Near Hull docks a ship carrying red paint crashed into another ship carrying blue paint – all the sailors survived but were marooned.

Who cares about apathy?

 

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Wallace Arnold Old Coach Holidays

Posted on July 20, 2015 by Hortoris

Wallace Arnold VUB396H

Do you collect ‘Nobbies’, in the red livery of Norbert Dentressangle or ‘Stobbies’, in the green livery of Eddie Stobart on long road Journeys? It can keep me and children amused for miles and miles spotting and counting the lorries. What a shame that we can’t also collect ‘Wallies’ in the distinctive yellow coaching livery. Wallace Arnold has succumbed to corporate rebranding since 2007 by the new owners Shearings Holidays.

History of Wallace Arnold

Founded in 1912 by Wallace Cunningham and Arnold Crowe the holiday coach tour business developed until it merged in 1926 with an established charabanc operator R Barr (Leeds) Ltd. From 1930 Wallace Arnold ran daily coach services to Blackpool and even started its European tours to Germany. Such coach travel was still expensive and somewhat exclusive until it opened up after the Second World War. By 1948 Wallace Arnold had offices in 10 northern towns and must have run millions of people on mystery tours or trips to the seaside.
In 1959 the company expanded by buying the Kippax & District bus company and brought in double decker buses. By the end of the 1970’s coach holidays were loosing customers to cheap air package holidays and Wallace Arnold tried various diversifications including a venture with P&O called Coach & Cruise. With the opening of the Channel Tunnel in 1994 many more European tours were put into the brochures and good quality coaches were operated.
So bearing this and lots of happy memories in mind perhaps it would not be appropriate to be calling out ‘there is a Wally’.

 

Dates for your Diary
August 2nd 2015 is the Trans-Pennine Run for pre December 1989 buses and coaches from Birch Services, M62, Middleton to The Stray, Harrogate (no part of the route is on motorway).

You can see more replica models of Wallace Arnold coaches by clicking on the photograph above.

Wallace Arnold VUB396H by Pimlico Badger CC BY-SA 2.0

Posted in Our Yorkshire, Transport and Travel | 1 Comment

Runswick Bay and East Coast Legends

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Time and tide wait for no man and clinging to the cliffs on the East coast can also be a precarious pastime.  This book traces the activity around Runswick Bay. see also  The Natural History of Runswick Bay.

In 1682 the whole cliff face at Runswick Bay collapsed into the sea taking all the village with it save for one cottage. A disaster fund helped build a new village that we know today as a picturesque fishing village and holiday spot still clinging to the cliff. Another landslide in 1858 destroyed a small iron-smelting works and the run off from the moors and the exposure to the sea regularly test the coastal defenses.

Runswick Bay has been inhabited since before Roman times as burial mounds found on the moors behind the village attest. How many Yorkshire ancestors landed in Runswick Bay with the Danes and Vikings en-route to York and places West?  In the 17th and 18th centuries we know smuggling was rife but it is also clear the village revolved around the fishing industry from whaling to herring.
The life boat sadly moved to Staithes in 1978 but a rescue service still runs. There was also one occasion in 1901 when the old lifeboat had been manned entirely by women when their men in the ‘Cobles’ (local boats) were caught in a freak squall. (Perhaps I should have said womanned not manned).  The old thatched Coastguard’s Cottage still stands at the edge of the village with the life-boat house and boat park virtually on the beach.

Witchcraft and Omens

  • Runswick Bay had strange superstitions including one that led to death by drowning. The Reverend Cooper of Filey discovered ‘a perfectly horrible superstition’ Continue reading →
Posted in Villages, Towns and Cities, Yorkshire Trips and Places | 3 Comments

Dry Stone Walls Man Made Wonders of Yorkshire

Posted on July 19, 2015 by Hortoris

Yorkshire has more miles of Dry Stone Wall than any other county and these walls are an outstanding feature of the Dales. It is quite a craft to build such a wall and the techniques have been passed down for generations.

dry-stone-wall

dry-stone-wall by Dave_S. CC BY 2.0

When first considering the list of the man made wonders of Yorkshire I failed to think back to the efforts of our predecessors. So I apologise to those who thought I was ignoring the efforts of farmers and stone masons who have created an enduring feature of our Yorkshire landscape. Our dry stone walls.

stone-walls-malham

photo: Tejvan

One of the attractions of dry stone walls are the rural form. Some straight lines, but mostly free form, twisting across the country.

In recent years, farmers have strengthened stone walls with ordinary wire fence. But, some grants have been made available to keep dry stone walls because of their cultural significance.

 

Dry Stone Walls and The Enclosure Acts

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Dallas or Doncaster?

Posted on July 18, 2015 by Hortoris

After the return of the 1980’s TV series ‘Dallas’ I thought it worth comparing Dallas to our own Doncaster.
Texas sees its self as an American version of Yorkshire. Well I suppose ‘Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ but surely Dallas can’t hold a candle to ‘Donny’ or Doncaster.

Doncaster was built as a fort by the Romans during the first century around 71 A.D. at a crossing point on the river Don. Caester is Old English for military camp. Dallas was founded in 1841 as part of the Republic of Texas but what is 18 centuries between friends?

Book Cover

The New Dallas TV Channel 5

In the Ewing family they may have (Linda Gray) or Sue Ellen but Donny has (Diana Rigg) or Emma Peel in the The Avengers and the bond-girl in ‘On Her Majesty’s Secret Service’. I know who would win that cat fight or come out top when acting.
Dallas may have endless oil but Doncaster has coal, rail and a trolley bus museum.
Dallas has a 12 year history followed by 20 years of absence on our TV screens. Doncaster once featured in an Emmerdale episode with a plane crash.
JR may be a tough cookie but we have our own Larry Hagman in the form of our elected Mayor – Peter Davis.

Dallas skyline
Dallas skyline by dherrera_96 CC BY 2.0

Odd and Interesting Facts

Dallas has the ‘Cowboys’ ‘Mavericks’ and ‘Stars’ (American football, Basketball and Ice Hockey respectively) whilst Doncaster has the Rovers.
The Doncaster Gold Cup was first run in 1766 and is the oldest regulated horse race in the world and the St Leger is the oldest classic horse race.
For those with a sweet tooth, Doncaster was the home of Butterscotch, Nuttalls Mintoes and Murray Mints

Doncaster Station
Doncaster Station by mattingham CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Is Everything bigger in USA

Dallas airport has a similar number of passengers to Doncaster Robin Hood at circa 3.7m per annum. That is with poetic license and if we ignore Dallas-Fort Worth airport which has 27.1m passenger movements and George Bush ‘Huston airport’ another 19.5m. (I put Huston in because like Robin Hood it was named for a folk hero?)
Texas may look on its self as God’s Own American State but we know Yorkshire is God’s Own County!

Posted in Villages, Towns and Cities, Wit and Humour | 1 Comment