York Railway Station History

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Hortoris

This weekend it was the 150 year celebration of the opening of the railway at Otley in West Yorkshire. Unfortunately it was also exactly 50 years since Dr Beeching took an axe to the line.

Still York retains its facilities and is the focus of our national pride in our predominantly Victorian railways.

History, York and Railways go together almost like fish, chips and mushy peas. Well the Railway station designed by Thomas Prosser and William Peachey in yellow stock brick with tone dressings, in a classical Italianate style must have been food for thought when it was opened in 1877.

At that time it was the Largest Railway Station in the World with 13 platforms and the marvelous glazed arching roof. All the platforms except 9/10/11 are under the large, curved, glass and iron roof. This North Eastern Railway building was the third station to be built in York as the first was opened in 1839 by the York and North Midland Railway on land previously occupied by a Hospital for Poor Women. Then it was developed by a second station built within the shell of the first by George Townsend Andrews in 1840 almost in time to coincide with the new postage stamp.

Another world first for York Railway station was the incorporation of a hotel within the buildings. Royal Station Hotel was named after Queen Victoria who reputedly had lunched there on her way by train to her Scottish estate at Balmoral Castle. The arrivals platform had a refreshment stand and there was an office for George Hudson.

Vision Of George Hudson – Railway King

 

Book Cover

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Posted in Yorkshire Facts - Interesting and Unusual, Yorkshire Folk, Yorkshire History and Heritage | 6 Comments

Clogs Get Morris Dancing in Otley

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Hortoris

The Buttercross Belles will likely be performing at the Otley Folk Festival 17th – 20th Septermber in Otley. Dust off your clogs or better still pop down and support your local side. There will be several sides from as far afield as Abredeen and Exeter. Below is a look at the local Otley based action.

Flag cracker

Flash Company
Flash company famous for border, molly, appalachian and clog dancing, the Flash Company were formed 12 years ago from musicians and dancers from all walks of life. ‘Many had danced traditional Morris for many years and wanted to update the tradition to bring it to a new audience in a manner that people could relate to.
In order to do this, we have taken some ‘traditional’ dances and also written several of our own but perform them to more modern music, such as blues, jazz and rock and roll.
In no way is this meant to detract from the traditional teams that exist all over the world.’

Buttercross Belles
The Buttercross Belles from Otley are a well recognised womens North West Morris Dancing side.
They were established back in ‘1992 and have been practicing traditional North West Morris Dancing all over the UK and Europe since then. North West Morris originated in the Lancashire Mills during the Industrial Revolution and this is reflected in the figures of the dances and the use of the milling bobbins. We also dance with garlands and hankies which comes from the Cotswold style of dance.’ The buttercrossbelles

Buttercross Belles
The Kitchen Taps
The Kitchen Taps also come from Otley and perform traditional Appalachian Dance to authentic Bluegrass and Mountain music.
They are well know for their lively and intricate routines, and have performed at festivals up and down the country for over 15 years. ‘The dancers are backed by their 4 piece band who play a range of bluegrass and old time music on traditional instruments. They are rightly proud of their complex, foot tapping tunes.’

Wharfedale Wayzgoose
Wharfedale Wayzgoose ‘Otley’s one and only mixed Border Morris side was founded in 1993 and first burst onto the public stage on May 1st 1994. Since then the side has grown in numbers and they have attended many major folk festivals throughout England, dancing with sides from all over England and the USA, Australia, Romania and France.
The side have traveled widely and been hailed as “true ambassadors of Morris” by the Open Morris (but the committee were drunk at the time!).
From dancing in a cellar, never far from a barrel of beer, the side grew and a bigger venue was needed, not to mention a bigger barrel of beer.’

Drum
Drum up some enthusiasm for this typical Yorkshire pastime.

see also Yorkshire Morris

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Barbara Hepworth 1903-1975 and An Eternal Triangle

Posted on July 16, 2015 by Hortoris

Hot on the heels of the announcement of a sculpture triangle in Yorkshire I revisited a post from 6 years ago to find it still as appropriate now. ‘Celebrate 200 of the World’s greatest artists at four leading venues.’ some triangle but what can you expect from a sculptor!! Henry Moore Institute Leeds art gallery and the two better facilities reviewed below make up the

Book Cover

Barbara Hepworth sculptress and artist was a Wakefield lass attending the local Girls High School and then studying at the Leeds School of Art from 1920. She rattled through that course and then won a County scholarship to the Royal College of Art and studied there from 1921. A grant from the West Riding allowed her to study in Italy where she she married fellow artist John Skeaping.

Hepworth was in frequent contact with Henry Moore with whom she had been a student both at Leeds and at the Royal College. The two sculptors had vacations together where in 1937 she met Ben Nicholson and whent to live with him (over ‘t brush). They were later married from 1938 to 1951.
She was made a Dame in 1965, ten years before her death during a fire in her St Ives studio in Cornwall, aged seventy-two

Barbara Hepworth is best known for creating beautiful, flowing and rhythmic sculptures with holes. The materials used included wood, marble or bronze and the piece was often influenced by the organic shapes and contours of nature. There is a permanent outdoor exhibition at Yorkshire Sculpture Park in West Bretton near Wakefield. The Hepworth museum as part of the Tate in St Ives contains sculptures in bronze, stone and wood along with paintings, drawings and archive material.

A quotation by Barbara Hepworth resonates with me when I post short pages to the Gods Own County site, ‘Halfway through any work, one is often tempted to go off on a tangent. Once you have yielded, you will be tempted to yield again and again… Finally, you would only produce something hybrid.’

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Funny and Comic T Shirts Slogans

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Hortoris

There’s a little riverside town name York that is noted for T shirts and fun – here are about 100 slogans and comic quips for your next T Shirt.

Slogans

Who put the wet in Wetwang

Who put the naff in Nafferton

Who put the dint in Dent

Who put the or in Orgreave

Who put the Hor in Hornsea

It is a good job Scunthorpe is outside Yorkshire for this purpose.

At this seasonal time it is easy to reflect on the truism ‘there is no room at the bin’.

If you get a knock on the door by someone selling vacuums are they Jo Hoovers Witnesses.

Slogans

For more slogans click the pictures to enlarge.

Unusual and interesting Yorkshire

‘I Never Knew That About Yorkshire’ from amazon

North Yorkshire Deliciously Moorish T shirt offer

Posted in Wit and Humour | 1 Comment

Yorkshires Top Ten Driver Problems

Posted on July 15, 2015 by Hortoris

Aston Martin Bad Parking

A couple of years ago we reported about our Yorkshire Roads Top Ten Problems. Nothing much has changed and the list remains pretty much the same with maintenance, speed bumps and minor niggles well to the fore.
Now is the time to look at Driver inflicted problems

Top Ten Complaints About Drivers

  1. Poor and late signaling particularly prevalent at roundabouts.
  2. Breaking the law by using mobile phones, texting or other distractions
  3. Tail gating especially to try crash through traffic lights or to get the driver in front to speed up.
  4. Inconsiderate parking near road junctions or adrift from the kerb.
  5. Inconsiderate parking taking up two spaces.
  6. Overtaking too close by lorries and buses
  7. Not giving cyclists enough room or consideration.
  8. Speeding and driving too fast for the local conditions.
  9. Turning unannounced or pulling out wide for a turn.
  10. Pushing-in rather than the Yorkshire way of waiting your turn and filtering alternately.

Cutting into lane, ala bad driving skills
Photo Credits
Cutting into lane, ala bad driving skills by byte CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Aston Martin Bad Parking by sarflondondunc CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
I couldn’t find bad Yorkshire Drivers it must be all me.

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Yorkshire Roads Top Ten Problems

Posted on July 14, 2015 by Hortoris

Now the biggest road problem is abandoned yellow ‘Tour’ bikes it is time to get more serious.

Manningham road

Sometime ago the Yorkshire Post was reporting that ‘More than two-thirds (68%) of AA members using the region’s roads believed they have got worse over the past 10 years’. Seven thousand members reckoned road surfaces were much worse and I don’t think anything has improved.

Top Ten Complaints

  1. Speed bumps that are poorly maintained and damage your tyres.
  2. Road works  that  last too long and are badly organised. Have you been north on the A1 recently?
  3. Street furniture that is badly placed, badly maintained or badly in need of replacement. (eg the traffic light control panel above)
  4. Pot holes ( and I do not mean caves like Ingelton ….  Mmmm I’m not so sure now).
  5. Utility road works that haven’t been reinstated correctly. ( some drivers swerve to avoid the patch work on roads).
  6. Excess road markings in some areas and worn out markings where needed. (I have got my cats eyes on this one).
  7. Minor infringements that are not policed, no lights on skips left at the side of roads, double parking causing obstructions, abuse of bus lanes etc.
  8. Increase in the number of road closures to help construction when planning would keep them open.
  9. Standing water and poor drainage during our summer rain (and in winter snow come to that).
  10. Corrugated and badly surfaced roads, loose chippings and unintended skid pans.

The modern equivalent of the Cone Hot Line is  Fix my Street. com where you can put in your postcode and leave a complaint.

Take a lump of Tarmac into your pub and have a stiff drink plus one for the road.

Now read Top ten complaints about drivers

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Waiting For Lizzie Armistead Biography

Posted on July 13, 2015 by Hortoris

The younger the start the earlier the biography (or autobiography penned by a ghost)

In the world of female cycling the wheels are moving faster than ever before. Otley’s own Lizzie Armistead has come up to the wheel of Victoria Pendleton just at the right time to take over the cape of cycling success, injury permitting.
However we will be waiting a while before Lizzy can write an autobiography with the compulsion of Between the Lines the Autobiography by Victoria Pendelton and Donald McRae.

Book Cover

As with much of cycling, Victoria’s book is a team effort with Donald McRae helping tell this compelling tale in a manner of Victoria’s choosing. Also given significant credit in the book is the support of Dr Steve Peters the British Cycling psychiatrist from Sheffield University. Little acknowledgment of David Brailsford and the male mafia in cycling is forthcomming.

Even without the 2012 Olympics and Victoria’s latest venture on Strictly Come Dancing there was more than enough material to produce an emotive record of one of our best female sports stars. From an era of self doubt leading to self harm, to falling in love with her coach causing him to lose his job and Victoria’s ostracism it is all there warts and all. The glamour work and photo shoots may seem at odds with a personality who did much to change the views of the male dominated sporting fraternity.

Already an MBE it remains to be seen whether there are more national honours to be bestowed but a book award is probably due.

Lizzie Armistead

We have high hopes for Lizzie on the female road racing circuit. With her feet firmly planted on the ground (we mean cleats) she will probably not hit the same problems nor Olympic heights as Victoria but we wish her every success.
Come on Lizzie we are waiting for you to excel and then look forward to your similarly inspiring autobiography in due course.

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Morris Dancing Teams in Yorkshire

Posted on July 12, 2015 by Hortoris

Otley folk 020

What are the following or what do they have in common?  Lizzie Dripping, Yorkshire Chandelier, Gift Rapper, Slubbin Billy’s, T’Gradely Lasses, Rhubarb Tarts, Goatland Ploughstots, Betty Lupton’s Ladle Laikers , Flag Crackers of Craven, Kitchen Taps, Inclognito, Lord Conyers Morris Men and I could go on with lots more. From Rotherham, Green Ginger, Richmond and Otley there is a local Folk Dance troupe ‘or side’ near you. For a full list and contact points you could do worse than start with Yorkshire Folk Arts. Patrons are two female folk legends Norma Waterson and Kate Rusby.

The Dances

Folk dance including Maypole dancing and Clog dancing take many forms and if you want to be amazed at the variety try ‘The Day of Dance’ at Saltaire in May each year.  Below are some notes on a couple of dance routines popular in Yorkshire. Yes I said popular, it is not just a minority participation activity it draws the crowds when Ale and dancing come together at festivals.

The Long Sword Dance of Yorkshire and the rapper sword tradition was traditionally performed in the mining villages. The dance involves five people (often accompanied by two Tommy and Betty characters) connected by short two-handled flexible swords, called rappers, forming an unbroken chain. There are many variations of this dance creating different patterns with the swords. 16 colleges run folk dance courses in Yorkshire And Humberside as well as numerous private clubs.

Otley folk 012

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Yorkshire Miners not all Cloth Caps & Whippets

Posted on July 11, 2015 by Hortoris

Book Cover

Thirty years ago the miners strike pitted ‘the Government against the People’ and David Peace’s novel ‘GB 84’ is an evocative and provocative thriller based on the events of that time. Peace recounts strong views surrounding Britain’s social and political past. Despite the events being a quarter of a century ago the tale is highly relevant and informative for today’s generation.

David Peace earned the James Tait Black Memorial Prize and some great reviews – ‘We will see much discussion of the strike this year… None will be more atmospheric, affecting, thought provoking and readable than GB84.’ Yorkshire Post; ‘A conspiracy thriller laced with apocalyptic poetry.’ Independent; ‘Haunting, seminal, bleak, iconic, furied’ Observer; ‘Quite simply this is one of the most forceful and relentless slabs of prose I’ve ever encountered – and although I may not have succeeded in making it sound like it, that’s a definite compliment’ Amazon customer review.

David Pearce also wrote the Red Riding Quartet filmed as a trilogy on DVD
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Harry Ramsden’s Fish & Chip History

Posted on July 10, 2015 by Hortoris

On relection

Caught in Whitby, fried at Guiseley and eaten out of newspaper our Yorkshire fish and chips, mushy peas and all were part of our staple diet. The real Harry Ramsden’s of our youth is no more, no longer a chandeliered temple, no longer a unique experience but a ‘brand a plastic food emporia‘ with no queues and little ambiance. Who cares that there are 170 outlets all over the world from Jedda to Edinburgh or that you can buy tinned mushy peas and a Morphy Richards fish fryer packaged under Harry Ramsden’s name. We just want great value Fish ‘n F’nurks in a gradely plaice ( I mean place).

The food is OK, the chandeliers are still there in Guiseley and it has had a lick o’paint but the happy consumers have so many other chippy choices and the whole Ramsdens experience is diminished. It is best summed up by Sir Findo Gask ‘ I avoid Harry Ramsden’s like the plague. The name remains but all that was outstanding about the original Guiseley chippie has long, long gone.’
So regrettably I have little more to say about the current state of affairs but will offer my view of when things started to go wrong.

Book Cover

Battered History

The business was started by Harry Ramsden in 1928 in a wooden hut at White Cross, Guiseley. Continue reading →

Posted in Food and Drink & Yorkshire Products, Our Yorkshire, Yorkshire Business and Money, Yorkshire History and Heritage | 4 Comments