Spring 2019 news

We would like to thank all the many readers for expressing their delight in the contents and the look of the annual publication of the Yorkshire Journal. Many of you though were disappointed that you would have to wait a year between issues. So, welcome to the first edition of the Yorkshire Review This will published in Spring, Summer  and Autumn with readers’ photographs, short stories, poems and one or two articles to  supplement the annual journal. We would like to encourage writers and photographers, amateur and professionals, to submit their work for inclusion in the annual journal or the review.

  In this Spring review are two articles that we hope you will find interesting, and as always we welcome your comments, the first one is by John A. White, on a tribute to A. J. Brown’s life and literary works as a devoted advocate for the Dales. A. J. Brown has been commemorated by a blue plaque at the Hermit Inn in Burley Woodhead. We stay in the area for our second article by Jeremy Clark, he examines a Prehistoric Cup and Ring Carved Rock from Rombalds Moor that was situated near the former Keighley bus station and is now in Cliff Castle Museum,  Keighley. Before these two articles there is a short note to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1968 publication of the literary classic ‘A kestrel for a knave’.

Although we are proud of our journal we recognise that there is much excellent material with a Yorkshire content which is freely available on the internet.  The problem of course is finding it among all the material available.  I will be happy to recommend one or two sites each quarter – and would be most interested to hear which sites you rate most highly.

This quarter’s recommendation is the site of the Northern Antiquarian (TNA), an amateur educational group which engages people of all social backgrounds on the rich diversity of prehistoric and early Christian remains in the British Isles, from Mesolithic times (c.7000 BC) until the coming of the written word in the Dark Ages (5th -15th century).  While the site covers the whole country there are over 500 entries for Yorkshire, which can easily be isolated using the regional selection menu.  The link including Yorkshire  is https://megalithix.wordpress.com/category/brigantia-northern-england/

The Hole of  Horcum panorama (Easter 2018 K. Heywood)

Diligent readers may remember that there is a parallel project to spotlight Pennine Magazine, one of our illustrious predecessors.  24 selected articles from Volume 3 and 4, covering 1981/82/83 have just been uploaded to https://penninemagazine.wordpress.com/volume-3/  and https://penninemagazine.wordpress.com/volume-4/

Hopefully you will find much of interest to read in the evenings before the clocks go forward and in the days of spring when it is too damp and cool to get out and about.

The 2018 issue is out, our biggest and best

. This year the Yorkshire Journal has evolved into an annual publication. You will have the opportunity to download individual articles for the first time or the complete journal can be downloaded as a PDF from our website.

By moving to an annual publication several of our readers are experiencing severe withdrawal symptoms so therefore in future, in addition to the annual journal, there will be a Yorkshire Review which will be available to download from our website published in Spring, Summer and Autumn. This will include readers’ photographs, comments and one or two more detailed articles to supplement the annual journal.  Our journal is completely free, without any advertising (except on the website, a small inconvenience for free web-hosting from WordPress), and we do not accept any financial donations – but we would very much value your contributions no matter how small: we even welcome negative comments, as they help us to improve our content.

As you will note the layout of the journal has been revised and I hope you will welcome this.  The work has been undertaken by Brian Wade who has worked extensively as a graphic designer for many periodicals and journals.  You may also note some changes to the website.  Principally these involve the menu structure.  The previous system of slide out menus and sub-menus worked really well for PC’s and laptops, but unfortunately the same cannot be said for tablets and smartphones, which displayed every single menu and sub-menu choice, leading to much scrolling.  The new menus are therefore single level, the pages returned by “The Journals” and “Links” include links to the items you are looking for – for example you can always download the latest issue of the journal from a link at the top of “The Journals” page.

We have also included details of the printed issues of our predecessor “Yorkshire Journal”, which was published from 1993 to 2004.  Unfortunately we cannot make the content of the articles available on the website for copyright reasons, but we are displaying the covers and index of articles for each issue.  Printed copies are still occasionally available from second-hand book dealers and book fairs and are well worth seeking out.  If any readers have specific queries or comments about any article please do get in touch.

THE HALIFAX PIECE HALL, The 2017 refurbishment and History By John Stuart

The Halifax Piece Hall built in 1779 is a rare surviving example of a purpose-built cloth hall. It has recently undergone a £19 million refurbishment which has brought the Piece Hall into the 21st century and is a fitting tribute to both its historical and architecture importance. In February 2018 the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall unveiled a plaque to mark its official opening. John’s comprehensive article includes a detailed history of the building, the people involved and its place in the production of the textile industry in West Yorkshire.

THE HALIFAX GIBBET, An early English version of the guillotine By Christopher Jennings

It is believed that the Halifax Gibbet was first put in place to protect the local cloth trade. Thieves found it easy to steal cloth exposed outside and unattended. In the 18th century stealing cloth was a very serious crime so executing thieves was thought to be a justifiable punishment, although it is not known when the Halifax Gibbet was first introduced. Christopher has carried out a full investigation on its history which is detailed in his comprehensive article and includes the Gibbet Law, trial, method of execution and the names of people known to have been beheaded. Also the site and discovery of the stone platform, and the reconstruction of the Halifax Gibbet.

EMILY BRONTË’S BI-CENTENARY By Margaret Mills

Emily Brontë was the most enigmatic member of the Brontë family and is best known for her one and only published novel Wuthering Heights. This year has seen her bi-centenary anniversary, which has been celebrated by various events at the Brontë Parsonage Museum and elsewhere. Margaret gives an insight into her life and her love for the moors adjacent to Haworth Parsonage where she lived for most of her life. She describes how brutal Emily could be when disciplining her dog, Keeper, and in her novel Wuthering Heights with a discussion of the real Wuthering Heights.

SCARBOROUGH RAILWAY SEASIDE HOLIDAY POSTERS Including a brief history of Scarborough hrough the posters By Stephen Riley

The series on railway seaside holiday posters began in the Winter issue 2016 with the development of Hornsea and Withernsea as holiday resorts. Since then Stephen has continued to cover the East Yorkshire coast and now arrives in Scarborough from Flamborough, where some stunning posters can be seen showing elegance and socializing. Stephen gives a description of the many facilities illustrated in the railway posters, which include the Spa, swimming pools, hotels, and the beaches in relation to the history of Scarborough.

BRIDLINGTON’S OLDEST SHOP By Paul Williams

Marshall and Son Shoe Store in Bridlington served customers for 123 years before closing down to trade online. Sadly it is just one of many independent and family run shops in Yorkshire that are closing down due to the decline in trade. The business was established in 1895 as Marshalls Boot Store with proprietor Fred Marshall selling boots and wellingtons to local farmers from a shop which formed part of his living room. Paul recalls visiting Marshall’s Shoe Store with his parents on summer holidays to Bridlington when growing up in the 1960s and 70s and traces the history of the store from its beginnings to the sad death of Herbert Marshall who joined the business in 1945

WASSAND HALL AND GARDENS, EAST YORKSHIRE By Janet Stevens and Rupert Russell

Wassand Hall and gardens are situated in beautiful tranquil surroundings between Seaton and Hornsea. The Hall has been in the same family for over 400 years and has a fascinating history. It contains a fine collection of 18/19th century paintings, porcelain and furniture. The well-kept gardens are full of colour with a variety of plants and flowers. The grounds also have two walks, with the Woodland Walk ending in the recently extended arboretum. From the lawns on the eastern side of the Hall there is an extensive view of Hornsea Mere. In Janet Stevens and Rupert Russell’s detailed article they outline the layout of the gardens and give a brief history of the hall.

To download the complete issue please click The Yorkshire Journal 2018, Alternatively you can download individual articles by clicking on the title of the appropriate article(s).

If, like me you are still looking round for last minute Christmas presents then one of our “ancestors”, Pennine Magazine is making all copies of their entire print run available on a USB Memory Drive for the bargain price of £10.   The will even be room on the usb drive to add all the issues of The Yorkshire Journal – who could wish for a better Christmas present?

 

A happy Christmas to all our readers

The Winter 2017 issue is available to download

The good news is that the winter issue has now been published, the snowy scene on the cover being quite topical considering the weather of late.  The bad news is that it will be the last issue for 12 months.

There is an obvious demand and interest in Yorkshire’s heritage, past and present, for us to continue publication. However, over the past few years some of our members and authors have sadly passed away leaving only a few of us to try and continue regular publication. At times this has proved most difficult for us. So after this winter issue it has been decided to publish an annual issue of the Yorkshire e-Journal which will be published each December.

We hope that our quarterly e-journal has brought pleasure to our readers through the articles and features that have appeared, and that our annual publication will see more new authors with their work in print. We would also like to take this opportunity to thank all those readers of The Yorkshire Journal who kindly sent us messages of encouragement expressing their view that the Yorkshire e-Journal is one of those publications which is read and re-read, kept on the computer, copied and sent to relatives, friends and neighbours but never deleted! For our new readers who would like to see what has gone before, it is easy to download back issues of the journal from our website. Each issue contains fascinating articles about the people and the places that make Yorkshire unique.

All the staff at The Yorkshire Journal would like to wish our readers a very merry Christmas and a happy New Year.

For our first feature Jeremy Clark visits The Three Nuns Public House near Mirfield which has lost its Historical Name. Jeremy’s article includes a full history of the original Three Nuns Pub which dates back to the 14th century.

Stephen Riley continues his fascinating story of Yorkshire’s railway seaside holiday posters. In this issue he takes us to North Landing at Flamborough which has always been a popular area for tourists. The few railway posters that were produced show the small bay, spectacular chalk cliffs and boats commonly known as Yorkshire cobles. He also explains why Victorian and Edwardian visitors were attracted to Flamborough

Margaret Mills takes a look at Norton Conyers near Ripon which may have a connection with Charlotte Brontë’s novel “Jane Eyre”. Margaret explains that Charlotte visited Norton Conyers in 1839 and it is believed she heard the story of a mad woman locked in the attic in the previous century.
This may have given Charlotte the idea for the unfortunate Mrs Rochester in Jane Eyre, which was published in 1847.

Sarah Harrison and Jeremy Clark visit the site of Kirklees Priory and the Gatehouse which is under construction converting it into a two bedroom house. Their comprehensive article includes all aspects of the Priory, the Nuns Graves the site of Robin Hood’s Grave and the history of the Gatehouse.

To download this issue please click The Yorkshire Journal Winter 2017

Special City of Culture edition of the Yorkshire journal

Now that the long dark evenings are returning and we spend more time indoors the good news is that the Autumn 2017 issue of the Yorkshire journal has just been published,  This issue is focussed on Hull, City of Culture 2017, and reveals some lesser known features of the city, as well as illuminating the more familiar aspects

Click on the cover picture above for details of contents or click here to download the publication

If you enjoy the magazine tell your friends about it – if there is something you would like to see in a future issue tell us about it.

Happy reading

The Summer 2017 issue has just been published

We hope that you enjoyed the brief Yorkshire summer weather last week.  Unfortunately the rains have returned and the temperatures have plummeted – and the smug weather forecasters say it will stay that way for quite a while.  Every cloud has a silver lining though, so make yourself a pot of Yorkshire tea and download and enjoy the Summer 2017 issue.

In this issue we feature five interesting and captivating articles that look back in time.

For our first feature Claire Mason visits the birthplace of the famous Brontë children at Thornton in Bradford. In Claire’s article she explains how Patrick Brontë first met his wife Maria Branwell and moved to the parsonage at Thornton where Charlotte, Branwell, Emily and Anne were born. The original font in which the Brontë children were baptized can be seen in a new St James Church at Thornton. Following the Brontës’ departure to Haworth the ‘old parsonage’ has undergone several changes. An additional shop frontage was built in 1898 and in the late 1990s it opened as a museum. Today the old parsonage is a café and visitors can see the fireplace in the drawing room in front of which the four children were born.

In our next feature Diana Parsons gives an account of the lives of William and Alice Ellis, two dedicated Quakers. Both were Quaker ministers and married in 1688. As a travelling minster William roamed widely, not only in Yorkshire but also nationally and internationally. Following his return to Airton he resumed attendance at the Settle Monthly Meetings where his wife Alice continued her ministerial duties. William died at Airton in 1709 and eleven years later in 1720 Alice also died. Both were interred in the burial ground attached to the Meeting House next door to their cottage. Before their deaths both conveyed their home and its land to the Friends to provide accommodation for apprentices and travelling ministers. Their Meeting House in Airton is still used for its original purpose.

Then Stephen Riley continues his fascinating story of Yorkshire’s railway seaside holiday posters. In this issue he explores Filey’s Railway Seaside Holiday Posters and the development of the seaside town. He includes Butlin’s Holiday Camp, Filey which closed in 1983 and a visit to the Filey Museum.

 

Hornsea Museum Volunteers have submitted a detailed article on Hornsea Museum, which is located on Newbegin, the main street in Hornsea. It is housed in a farmhouse and associated buildings dating from the 16th to the 21st century. It is essentially a folk museum with Victorian period rooms and displays village crafts, local history, farming and Hornsea Pottery.

For our last feature Daniel Theyer remembers Pennine Magazine and gives a full report of its rise and fall. Just another casualty in the publication of Yorkshire magazines.

But there is much more to these articles, please read and enjoy them. We welcome your comments, and even more we welcome new authors – so please share your interests with us.

To download this issue please click Summer 2017

 

Spring 2017 issue published

We hope that you all enjoyed a first taste of Spring during the superb sunny and warm weekend.  The weaqther didn’t last of course – but then we knew that would happen didn’t we.  No matter, download a spring sized helping of sunny articles in our latest issue.

The Parish Church of St Oswald, Leathley

The Spring edition features six more interesting and captivating articles.
The first feature is the Withernsea Lighthouse Museum in East Yorkshire by Tony Simpson. The most unusual feature of this lighthouse is that it is approximately a quarter of a mile inland from the sea. At the end of June 1976 the lighthouse was decommissioned and today is a museum of memorabilia concerning the RNLI, Coastguards and local history. Part of the museum is also dedicated to actress Kay Kendall who was born on the same street as the Withernsea lighthouse.

Then Margaret Mills looks into another aspect of the life of the Brontës and gives an account of the life of Martha Brown who was a servant and friend of the Brontë family. Martha Brown was born in Haworth in 1828 and was the eldest of the 6 daughters of John and Mary Brown of Haworth. John was a stonemason by trade, who also fulfilled the role of church sexton. Although from very humble roots, Martha was a vital link in the Brontë story, so much so that the famous novelist Elizabeth Gaskell sought her help when writing her best-selling biography The Life of Charlotte Brontë.

Stephen Riley continues his fascinating story of Yorkshire’s railway seaside holiday posters. Bridlington is the next seaside resort on the east coast after Hornsea and Withernsea and once the railways arrived in 1846 it soon became a popular resort. Stephen explains how Bridlington developed into a holiday resort with the success and sad demise of the numerous posters that appeared on railway billboards from the end of Victoria’s reign right up to modern times.

For our next story Julian Giles visits Holy Trinity Church, Wensley in North Yorkshire which is noted for its magnificent art work in wood carvings and brass memorial plaques. The church also displays two interesting fragments of medieval wall paintings on the north wall of the nave. They depicted two separate scenes ‘The Three Living and The Three Dead’ and ‘A legend in the Life of Saint Eloi’. Julian who has researched these medieval wall paintings reports on them in full detail including a history of the church.

Also in Holy Trinity Church, Wensley are several Anglo-Saxon stone carvings, of which two have inscriptions. Jeremy Clark has studied these carved stones and an Anglo-Saxon burial of a man with a sword found in the Wensley churchyard and gives a comprehensive description of them.

For our last feature Margaret Mills reviews the BBC drama production To Walk Invisible which expresses the story of the Brontë sisters’ rise to literary fame and publication against all odds. Brian Wade visits the film locations at Haworth, Shibden Hall, Halifax and Micklegate in York. A full-sized replica of the Brontë Parsonage and its surrounding was built on Penistone Hill above Haworth in order for it to look the same way it did when the Brontës lived there. This purpose built production set has since been dismantled.

But there is much more to these articles, please read and enjoy them. We welcome your comments.

To download please click  Spring 2017

The Winter 2016 issue has been published

If you need a break from all the Chrismas preparations the good news is that the winter 2016 issue of the Yorkshire journal has just been published, so put you feet up and enjoy it.

Click on the cover picture above for details of contents or click here to download the publication

If you enjoy the magazine tell your friends about it – if there is something you would like to see in a future issue tell us about it, or, even better, draft an article for us.

All the very best for 2017

Read the new Autumn issue

Now that the long dark evenings are returning and we spend more time indoors the good news is that the autumn 2016 issue of the Yorkshire journal has just been published

Click on the cover picture above for details of contents or click here to download the publication

If you enjoy the magazine tell your friends about it – if there is something you would like to see in a future issue tell us about it.

Happy reading

Good news on a wet June evening

The summer 2016 issue of the Yorkshire journal has just been published

Click on the cover picture above for details of contents or click here to download the publication

If you enjoy the magazine tell your friends about it – if there is something you would like to see in a future issue tell us about it.

Happy reading

 

The Spring 2016 issue is now available to download

The staff of The Yorkshire Journal would like to wish all our readers a very happyEaster.  We are delighted to announce publication of the Spring 2016 issue which includes the usual wide selection of interesting articles for our readers, brief details below. 

Some friends and acquaintances of the Brontë family’ by Margaret Mills.
Most people will be familiar with at least some of the background story of the Brontë family. In Margaret’s article she gives an account of some friends and acquaintances who, at different times and in varying situations, touched the lives of the literary Bronte family, and were influential in their story.
In Xanadu… A Subterranean Pleasure Dome in Scarborough
Over the years Scarborough has sadly lost many of its attractions so well-known to generations of summer visitors.  Probably the saddest loss to Scarborough was its subterranean entertainment hall, known latterly as Gala Land. In Peter Wellburn’s article he outlines the history of Scarborough as a seaside resort and, in particular, recalls the fascinating history of Gala Land and some of its mystical atmosphere. By the late 1950s it was in decline and in 1967 it was demolished to make way for an underground car park.

The Yorkshire bat: information, rescue, care and release
Geoff and Mary Wilson inform us about the significance of bats in Yorkshire and dispel some of the myths that have created negativity around these fascinating mammals. Their detailed article describes the different species living within the county and the environment in which each of these is usually found. In their article they look at the life cycle of a bat throughout the year and explain what to do if you find a bat.
A Mysterious Medieval Effigy and Grave Slabs at All Saints Church, Batley, West Yorkshire

A Mysterious Medieval Effigy and Grave Slabs at All Saints Church, Batley, West Yorkshire
For our last story Jeremy Clark visits All Saints Church, Batley in West Yorkshire to unravel a story of a mysterious medieval effigy and grave slabs built into the external walls of the church. In his fascinating article he explains that the Batley effigy is very special because the broad flat ‘sword’ that he is wearing is probably a ‘weaving sword’ rather than a weapon. This indicates that the Batley effigy belonged to a successful man in the mediaeval textile business and probably dates to the late 14th century.

But there is much more to these articles, please read and enjoy them – and then tell your friends about them. We welcome your comments and contributions.

To download please click  The Yorkshire Journal Spring 2016

If you are a fan of Scarborough (and who isn’t?) then you will be interested in a new website dedicated to memories of the famous old seaside town – Stories from Scarborough