Bronte Media

Bronte Radio

2012-01-26T17:30:00.001Z

Bronte Media has launched the online radio station Bronte Radio to complement our Voice of the Valleys site and newspaper.
Together they offer an unrivalled service to readers and advertisers across the Aire and Worth Valleys and we look forward to our community becoming involved in all aspects of this media first.
Listen to Bronte Radio's opening feature about the plaque dedication to Private Martin Bell G.M. at www.bronteradio.com . This was a fitting community occasion at the Worth Valley Contact Point in Haworth. Online you can hear speeches from Martin's mother, Elaine, and senior councillors and clergy who attended the poignant occasion at the Contact Point where Martin worked as a Police Community Support Officer.

Haworth 1940's weekend

2012-01-13T12:55:00.001Z

It is sad to read that the mainstay volunteers behind the Haworth 1940's weekend are pulling out, primarily due to the constraints imposed by Bradford Council.
This blog has been critical of both parties in the past. Because of the shambolic traffic management chaos of 2011 and because of the council's demand for a feasibility study as to whether the World War aircraft may crash on the crowds, a touch of Health and Safety gone mad.
We take our hat off to anyone who can attract 20,000 visitors to Haworth. They should be encouraged and supported by the local authority, and others, to do what they have done under such constraints.
Linda Presley and Pamela Howarth have been the mainstays but countless others have done their bit. So what happens now?
The event is advertised for the weekend of May 19th and 20th and you can bet your life that thousands will turn up whether or not there is an organising body. Without proper management there will be chaos on an unbelievable scale, almost as much as if an aeroplane dropped out of the sky.
Let us hope that someone comes forward to take over what is after all the village's most successful event in the calendar.
They will still have to tussle with the Home Guard of Bradford Council, but surely a little bit of Dunkirk spirit will get them through that.

Housing concerns

2012-01-02T16:17:00.004Z

Major concern is now mounting over proposals to build a huge number of houses in and around Haworth. The story is attracting major media attention, much of which can be seen on www.votv.co.uk

Haworth Church

2011-12-31T21:34:00.002Z

A massive effort is needed to support the Haworth Church match funding bid and here at Bronte Media and Voice of the Valleys we will be right behind them.
Your fund-raising ideas immediately please to us at voiceofthevalleys@gmail.com
See www.votv.co.uk for the full story.

Oxenhope

2011-12-04T20:06:00.001Z

There did appear here a link to a national newspaper story involving a person from Oxenhope.
During the last few days the person has conducted a personal attack on Voice of the Valleys and other media sources to an extent that we have removed the story, which was initially supportive of the person. We quite simply do not need the aggravation.
We did not write the story, we did not instigate the writing of the story, but the abuse, insinuation and threats which have followed have led to our course of action.
We are sure that many newsworthy and pleasant events and people emanate from Oxenhope. We look forward to supporting them.
www.votv.co.uk

Houses for Haworth

2011-11-21T21:30:00.001Z

The plans for a staggering number of new houses for Haworth in the next few years are very disturbing.

PC nonsense hits Haworth

2011-11-19T15:44:00.001Z

'Tis the season for Bradford Council to be silly.
Last weekend they expressed concern that the Scroggling the Holly event could be dangerous. Someone might prick themselves on the holly and have a reaction and those sweets they give to children may contain nuts!
Well the nuts were out again this weekend before the Christmas markets. Thousands of parking cones were put by the roadside up to the Penistone Hill area where you'd be hard pushed to park a mountain goat never mind a car.
Suspicious eyes were cast over anyone selling mulled wine on the Main Street. Good God people might be enjoying themselves before Christmas and we can't have that can we?
Stop that Santa Claus laughing so loudly it might be a noise nuisance. Has that fairy been soliciting for business on Main Street? Clean up after that reindeer and turkeys may not be stuffed this year because it's a contravention of the International Court of Humans Rights rules about stuffing birds for pleasure.

Jimmy Savile

2011-10-29T20:24:00.001+01:00

RIP Sir Jimmy Savile.
http://www.voiceofthevalleys.net/off-the-beaten-track.html

Voice of the Valleys

2011-10-23T20:00:00.007+01:00

Voice of the Valleys is fast becoming established as the Aire and Worth Valleys favourite community newspaper. We are gathering followers from far beyond the valleys which tells us that people will always respond positively to a "good read".
All of this has been achieved despite behind the scenes moves by less than reputable sources to damage us before we even began.
We are a community venture by the community for the community and we feel sure that the community will deal appropriately with those who use dubious tactics to damage us.
Visit our new and flourishing web site at www.votv.co.uk and let us hear your voice across the valleys.

Support

2011-10-16T19:18:00.003+01:00

Bronte Media launched the Voice of the Valleys newspaper and community media project without even referring to other publications in the region. We know they are there but are confident we can stand on our own feet.
The vitriolic and unprecedented attack and dirty dealings from one quarter in the last few days shows they are worried. They should be now, for when it comes to professional journalism and a quality product we will leave them standing.
I don't think we need to name them. The community which they claim to have served for the past few years will take care of that.

2011-10-13T10:12:00.004+01:00

The second edition of Voice of the Valleys, the only community newspaper serving the Worth and Aire Valleys is HERE

Autumn is here

2011-10-08T20:26:00.004+01:00

Definitely an autumn day in Haworth today. Is it really only a week since we were basking in 28C temperatures?

Central Park

2011-10-07T20:45:00.004+01:00

It's ridiculous that the flower beds in Haworth Central Park have been cleared. They were still in excellent bloom. Which Bradford Met person ordered that?

Central Park bandstand

2011-09-18T17:01:00.001+01:00

The base of the new media bandstand in Haworth Central Park was opened today by Parish Council chairman, Councillor John Huxley, and a good crowd of people enjoyed hearing Haworth Brass Band and a performance from local poet and author Ledger de la Bald.

Coun John Huxley

Ledger de la Bald

Voice of the Valleys first edition

2011-09-10T20:08:00.001+01:00

I have been really pleased at the reaction to the first edition of The Voice of the Valleys community newspaper. It arrived just yesterday and we have been busy getting it to the heart of the community it seeks to serve. Without exception you have been generous with your praise of the concept and the content.
The Aire and Worth valleys are rich in talent and creative ability and I want that to be at the heart of my newspaper.
Now that the task of putting out the first one is over I'll be blogging more often! Where does time go?
Voice of the Valleys is not just a newspaper. It's a community resource in the style of newspapers I grew up with. I want you all to be part of it, contribute to it and enjoy it.
My attentions turn now to building its web prescence through http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/ , Twitter and Facebook, the modern tools of social media which I know can blend easily with a good old fashioned newspaper.

We want to hear your voices.

2011-08-20T16:02:00.000+01:00

As the launch edition of Voice of the Valleys comes together the response from local people has been pleasing. We have several columns and special features we know you will enjoy. After our launch edition is out they will appear on the web site through http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/
To advertise at rates which will leave others in the shade e-mail us at voiceofthevalleys@gmail.com
We're LOCAL, we are a real newspaper, not an advertising sheet, and we want you to be part of the project.

Voice of the Valleys

2011-08-10T17:24:00.000+01:00

It's been a busy time preparing to launch the Voice of the Valleys, the Aire and Worth Valleys' first community newspaper. See the link to all at http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/
Our first edition will be out in September and will be using some old newspaper traditions, community correspondents and be primarily LOCAL and independent.
We are looking for writers and correspondents from every corner of the valleys. Please e-mail voiceofthevalleys@gmail.com for full details.
There will be regular blogs here now keeping you informed of our progress and what YOU can do to have your voice heard in the valleys.

Oxenhope Village Fete

2011-07-16T20:08:00.000+01:00

Thoroughly enjoyed Oxenhope Village Fete today. This is what villages should be all about. Haworth take note!

Peace, love and flower power

2011-06-18T15:36:00.000+01:00

Day one of the Haworth 1960's weekend brought a rash of colour to the village.

Everybody's doing it, but we don't know what it is.

Where's my free love then?

Dr Who opened the new bandstand!

Scooters and free love on the grass

These cobbles aren't doing a thing for my bladder

Everybody shout now

I can still do the locomotion, but I get steamed up!

Village Association folds

2011-06-03T13:27:00.000+01:00

Haworth Village Association has folded. The full story is HERE
Perhaps people who care about the village as a whole may now step forward and save the events which came under the association umbrella. There is surely scope for smaller and more frequent events in the village, and beyond Main Street, to boost the area's attraction.

Haworth In Bloom

2011-05-29T20:37:00.000+01:00

The spring judging for Haworth in Bloom brought us wonderful comments.
Now Central Park has been cleared of plants ready for the summer show, which should be with us soon.
Could this be the year when we go gold?

Goodbye Kathy Kirby

2011-05-20T15:35:00.001+01:00

The sound of applause is delicious
And it's a thrill to have the world at your feet
The praise of the crowd, it's exciting
But I've learned that's not what makes a life complete
There's one thing you can do for the rest of your days
That's worth more than applause
The screaming crowd, the bouquets...
Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
Make just one heart the heart you sing to
One smile that cheers you
One face that lights when it nears you
One man you're ev'rything to
Fame if you win it
Comes and goes in a minute
Where's the real stuff in life to cling to
Love is the answer
Someone to love is the answer
Once you've found him, build your world around him
Make someone happy
Make just one someone happy
And you will be happy, too

Thank you for the music and friendship Kathy. Only you and I know what is behind that song lyric.

My Thanks To You

From Graham and Suzi

Interesting comments

2011-05-19T10:08:00.000+01:00

Some interesting comments HERE from the Telegraph and Argus.

Salute to the Forties

2011-05-15T16:41:00.004+01:00

To prepare for the invasion of visitors to Haworth for the 1940's weekend residents of Sun Street were ordered by the Village Association's stormtroopers to move their vehicles off the street by 7-30am on the Saturday morning.
Fortunately several members of the Sun Street Resistance Group, who were just pissing by the door, protested because there had been no prior consultation as the village stormtroopers had been instructed to do by Bradford Council High Command (Highways).
Most residents dug in defiantly despite the Traffic Management Land Army booby trapping the whole street with no parking cones in the quiet of Friday evening.
The village stormtroopers, led by a particularly feisty female oberleutnant who sells sweeties, expected the invading masses to use a farmer's field half a mile away from the village centre, but Rene of the Resistance knew this would not happen.
The village stormtroopers had levied a £5 charge to park there so visitors soon began to work out that if they threw the no parking cones over the wall, or took them home, or ignored them as if they were unexploded bombs the Sun Street Resistance would capitulate.
The street was swamped by visiting cars which an army of Fokkers couldn't have moved and at the height of the invasion the official car park had just 15 cars on it.
Despite the bollards, and there's been a lot of that talked recently, no one did anything to ticket the offending visitors nor did the traffic management company led by this man.

At the height of the invasion Rene and his freedom fighters feared that the local chip shop may be demolished and the prized painting of The Madonna With The Big Boobies destroyed.

Meanwhile the village Main Street was awash with the hordes of illegal parkers but our spies tell us that no parking tickets were issued all weekend although 250 bollards went missing.

Here is the street at the height of the invasion.

.....and the official car park as designated by the stormtroopers...

By the end of Sunday Rene and his faithful followers realised that they had been duped by the invading hordes but their real enemy had been the village stormtroopers who couldn't organise a parachute in a Messerschmitt.

The Sun Street Resistance will fight on and asked me to send this message to the village stormtroopers.

The Forties Weekend

2011-05-14T20:10:00.000+01:00

Nice to see another good turn out for the annual Forties Weekend. It is heartening to know that so many people visit for this amazing event, they are the ones who make it what it is.
It does have to be said that the traffic management, especially on Sun Street, was shambolic. By 3pm many no parking bollards had disappeared and there were just as many visiting cars there as usual. Asking residents to park elsewhere on the eve of the event, without prior consultation, is a joke and locals were rightly annoyed at the Village Association expecting them to "roll over" and accept such short notice.
However one must be careful of who one criticises in blogs or elsewhere for it often comes back to bite you in the most unexpected way!

Central Park

2011-05-10T12:28:00.000+01:00

A few pictures of Haworth Central Park looking at its best in the sunshine:-

Moorland fires

2011-05-01T11:27:00.001+01:00

I could see huge palls of smoke coming from a moorland fire above Bingley yesterday. After the driest April on record these fires are going to be a huge hazard especially with gusty winds which are prevailing at the moment.
To all walkers who enjoy our area we plead with them to take care.

Freedom of speech 1940's style

2011-04-14T19:40:00.001+01:00

The Keighley News today published a piece about my opinion on The Haworth Village Association's minuted decision to charge a £1 admission charge to the village's Main Street during the 1940's weekend.
I, and by far the majority of people I have spoken to, think it is wrong.
An association member seems to think I should ask his permission before voicing an opinion and another churlish member has banned from from viewing the sparsely attended Facebook page of the association because I dared to express an opinion on there.
To both I say this. The Forties Weekend is a celebration of a time which changed the direction of not just this country but the world. One thing it brought about, in this country certainly, was freedom of speech without recrimination...but not if you cross the might of The Haworth Village Association.
Or to quote Corporal Jones of Dad's Army, "They don't like it up 'em Sir."

Who says ageism isn't rife?

2011-04-11T12:37:00.000+01:00

I don't usually repeat a blog but this is worth reading. HERE

The oicks running broadcasting may refer to the "tea and wee" brigade but walking along the street yesterday I was followed by a youth and his girlfriend. He thought it insanely amusing to break wind very loudly and his overweight, pimply companion agreed.

I told him he was an ignorant pig. He seemed to have trouble understanding the three syllable word.

Voice over

2011-04-10T20:01:00.000+01:00

I have just thoroughly enjoyed doing the voice over work for a local lady's project on the fascinating subject of hedge-laying.
Voice over work is one of Bronte Media's specialities. If you would like something special for your web site or in house audio please contact us on brontemediaservices@gmail.com . We discount for local businesses and repeat business.

Haworth Villagers' Association

2011-04-08T21:32:00.000+01:00

We're pleased to invite applications for FREE membership of The Haworth Villagers' Association. The primary aim will be to provide functions and events which benefit the village as a whole and are spread right through the year.
One of our first ideas is to launch a Haworth Carnival, probably in August of each year, and focussed in Central Park.
E-mail us at brontemediaservices@gmail.com or call 07866 626090.

Haworth In Bloom

2011-04-07T21:06:00.000+01:00

Had a great day with the judges for Haworth In Bloom today. The village is just short of reaching its Spring splendour but there was plenty of colour and great efforts have been made, particularly by Haworth Primary School and the Bradford Parks Department in Central Park.
Now we need a great push and community effort for the summer judging in July. Let's see everyone making a supreme effort, even if it's only a window box or planter outside your home.

I have been banned!

2011-04-06T21:36:00.000+01:00

I've now had it confirmed by the Haworth Village Association, most of whose members are there to promote their trade, that I have been barred from their Facebook page. What did I do wrong? Criticised them, and I dared to promote my business on their page without paying the £100 membership fee. Good heavens.
These are the people who are dictating who does what, where, why and at what cost in the village of Haworth. Such a shame. The real villagers and people with its best intentions at heart should be given a chance...but don't dare hold an opinion unless you've asked permission.

Media studies and journalism

2011-04-06T14:46:00.000+01:00

Bronte Media is pleased to offer professional media studies, journalism, creative writing, social media and public relations training courses to individuals and groups in Keighley and the Worth Valley from the heart of Haworth.
All courses and material are provided by a qualified journalist. We can cater for groups on a regular or one off basis.
For full details call us on 07866 626090 or e-mail brontemediaservices@gmail.com

My Twitter column from a UK magazine

2011-04-05T17:28:00.000+01:00

A load of rhubarb

As a proud Yorkshireman I think the European Commission spouts a load of rhubarb and should be covered in manure similar to that used to cultivate the stuff.
These are the people who tried to take the wind out of Brussel sprouts, straighten bananas and standardise carrots.
Now the Yorkshire Rhubarb Triangle, yes it does exist, has been awarded Protected Designation of Origin (PDO) by these mentally unbalanced individuals who sit in judgement upon us. This means that the pink vegetable now ranks alongside champagne and Parma ham on a list of specially protected food and drink.
The Yorkshire Triangle from whence comes this weird vegetable is bounded by Leeds,Bradford and Wakefield. It’s like the Bermuda Triangle where aeroplanes and ships mysteriously disappear, but, as far as I know, the only things which have disappeared in the Yorkshire version have been a few pigeons and a motorised pudding last seen heading over Ilkley Moor.
The word “rhubarb” derives from the Latin rheum barbarum, meaning the barbarian from the banks of the river Rha (Volga), but the large leaved Siberian native was a welcome immigrant to the Yorkshire Dales.
Local farmers, and there are only 12 left, developed secret methods to produce the tender and sweet version of the rhubarb which has fans world-wide. I can reveal exclusively that the closely guarded techniques involve an upturned bucket and lots of manure, just like the European Commission.
Rhubarb was a secret weapon in schools in the 1950s. It has remarkable laxative properties and if your mother didn’t get a dose of castor oil down you the school dinner lady would get you with rhubarb and custard. This is why many children of the 50’s spent an unhealthy amount of time in the bathroom and I think that giving the damned stuff special status is a direct threat to human rights.
West Yorkshire once produced 90 per cent of the world’s forced winter rhubarb from the forcing sheds which were common across the region. That distinction now rests with honorary members of the Houses of Parliament and European Commission who produce enough rhubarb to feed the world’s population for the next 10 years.
Product designation means that all producers must not only be in the designated area but will be extensively audited to maintain standards.
Doesn’t it make you proud to be British?

Fat chance of beating obesity

Despite less visits to the gym and a love of high fat foods people in the 1960s were slimmer simply because they were more active, a new government report says.
Makes sense to me. We have become a nation of couch potatoes thanks to technological advance and the Internet age, and is it getting any better for all the hype about it? I think not.
Rates of obesity in adults have risen from 1-2% in the 1960s to around 26% today. Now that is one heck of a jump, but I think hardly surprising. There’s many a young mum today that thinks food grows in packets. Their idea of a balanced diet is walking down the street with a can in one hand and a fat hamburger in the other while you’re trying to plug your iPhone into every bodily orifice. Do kids sit at tables any more?
The figures say that in the 60s we walked more, did more housework and used the car less. In 1967 66% of those surveyed said they wanted to loose a stone compared to just 46% now. Which to me just shows that many of them couldn’t care less what they look like, and some even think they look attractive lugging around an extra four stone.
The supermarkets scream at us to have five portions of fruit and veg a day. Fine, I’m all for that, so why don’t they stop packing everything in plastic and making it look so unappealing?
Bring back brown paper bags I say, and in some cases not just for the veg. Oh, and if that doesn’t work revert to rhubarb in schools.

Try talking to your back

Don’t scientists talk some tosh?
The latest ramblings say that group “talking therapy” is better for a bad back than medicines and painkillers. Oh yes?
I suggest this particular boffin has never had a good dose of sciatica as yours truly has. It was four years ago and I tried talking to it in very strong terms, still do. I can’t describe the language in detail in a family magazine, but it’s similar to that heard at a Premier League soccer match every weekend. And, do you know, it didn’t listen?
Whether it was because I was talking on my own I don’t know, but I can’t think it would have made much difference with another half a dozen sufferers there.
There are various types of back pain. Disc trouble, sciatica, bone disease and muscular problems. None, I suspect, respond much to being spoken to. For a start, have you ever tried turning around and talking to your back? You could do yourself a mischief and then you would need therapy!

Barking up the wrong tree

There is to be a large, and no doubt barkingly expensive, government consultation about introducing competency tests for potential dog owners.
I think it’s rabid. There cannot be few subjects left upon which those who must be obeyed haven’t done a consultation.
The old dog licence, which had remained at 7s 6d in real money for years, was scrapped because it was costing them more to collect it than was gained in revenue. But competency tests, oh give over!
There is a problem in this country with irresponsible dog owners and dangerous dogs, it is a source of great annoyance to me as a dog owner.
I suggest the problem lies with the corrupt breeders of dangerous dogs, the idiots who keep them as status symbols and the authorities who turn a blind eye unless a pit bull bites them on the rear.
Compulsory micro-chipping is suggested, we all now trot around with doggy dropping bags and about the only place you can go in peace with a dog is into the countryside. I suggest the owners and breeders are given the treatment.
Microchip all owners found to be keeping dangerous dogs. By doing so if they ever acquired another dog the chip would alert the police who should go round with the largest police dog they can find and allow it to chew the owner’s differentials, slowly.
If that doesn’t work slap a collar on the owner with a large bell and a sign saying: “I am a half wit”.
They wouldn’t do it again.

Our forums are open

2011-04-04T10:51:00.000+01:00

Our Bronte Media Forums are HERE and open for your comments and discussions.

Big hearts in the Big 10K

2011-04-03T21:33:00.003+01:00

I am very privileged at the moment to be spending some time working on marketing and promotion at the Sue Ryder Hospice at Manorlands in Oxenhope.

Today I watched several hundred people take part in the Keighley Big10K run and between them they have raised in excess of £25,000 for that very worthy cause which nestles in the heart of our beautiful countryside and gives, and I stress gives, much needed care to people from a very wide area in their hours of greatest need.
Young, middle aged, old and even the odd family dog ran, walked and dragged themselves around the course. It was a selfless display of what the generosity of this country is all about even in times of recession and financial hardship.
(The smile of the young lady above left epitomises what it was all about)
The event is organised by a dedicated band of fund-raisers at Manorlands whose efforts often go unsung. They, like all the participants in today's run, are always prepared to go the extra mile to make sure that the hospice has the much needed money to carry on its inspirational work.
I felt almost ashamed as the backmarker of the runners arrived the the point where I was marshalling. A lady certainly in her seventies was completely undaunted by the fact she was bringing up the rear. She was graciously grateful for the bottle of water which I gave her and ran on steadily to do her bit for those less fortunate than herself. I was out of breath through carrying the water packs.
I salute each and every one of the runners and organisers of the event. We may be short of money and experiencing hard times in this country but we are still big at heart.

The Forties Weekend

2011-04-03T20:49:00.002+01:00

Many thanks to Jonny Pulter of The Old Hall for his comments. Let me say any villager or trader is welcome here whether they agree with me or not!
I have been attending the Forties Weekend for longer than I have lived here in Haworth. It is the jewel in the events calendar of the village and I reiterate that I am of the opinion that they way the proposed charge/donation has come across to people could be to the determinent of the event's future.
However, I've had my say on that, but could I suggest that there is scope for many more smaller events throughout the spring and summer which would swell the Village Association coffers. I'm sure if these were to take place many true villagers, who do not necessarily trade on Main Street, would welcome it and become a part of the organisation.
There is tremendous scope for regular, if not weekly, weekend markets which would attract many visitors and regular traders would benefit from them. At the moment we only see them at Christmas time, by which time we are hearing the all too familiar complaints that half the Main Street is closed too often. Trade has gone, the word has spread, and coupled with our happy clampers reputation visitor numbers dwindle.
Whatever happened to Haworth Carnival? Surely a village setting such as ours is perfect for an August procession and even culminating in Central Park, where visitors would be a happy to pay a fair entrance fee to a properly organised and marshalled event with stalls and attractions. (Don't panic traders, they would still walk up Main Street!)
There should certainly be a Haworth Literary Festival on a par with Ilkley, probably in September, and I for one would wholheartedly participate in bringing some recognised names to the village to celebrate our literary heritage. I'll probably get my head in my hands again here, but some of The Parsonage stuff is a bit fringe. The majority of people today are more Alan Titchmarsh than Emily Bronte, although I'm sure there's room for both.

Sun Street fire debate

2011-03-30T19:30:00.000+01:00

There seems to be a bit of a flame war in the comments section HERE
This was a very serious incident and Nick has a valid point about the local fire crew.
It is little wonder someone wasn't killed or injured, so this is not a topic for scoring cheap points in a newspaper comment section.
We would have thouht that sympathy for the victim/s was more in order than ill thought criticism.

Getting my facts straight

2011-03-29T19:14:00.000+01:00

I was challenged today about my comments over charging for entry to Haworth Main Street for this year's 40s weekend. No, actually I was shouted at by the Village Association vice-chairman over his back gate.
"What are you up to?" he enquired at some volume. I invited him to turn the volume down. He invited me to get my facts straight over comments I was invited to make to the Keighley News. That's before he stormed off in a huff because apparently as a freelance journalist with his own blog I am supposed to check with him before speaking and giving a personal opinion. I'll pass on that thanks, I believe in a free press and the freedom of speech.
I have "got my facts straight" on the Village Association's Facebook site with this comment after inferences about Chinese whispers.
Not Chinese whispers at all. Let me quote again from the association's own minutes. "Some members voiced their concerns that charging (not donating) did not sit comfortably with the ethos of the event. ..It was agreed that residents will receive free tickets for themselves and a set number of visitors....The change to charging for entry was discussed and in particular how it will affect Main Street residents." So every other street resident in Haworth pays? "All booked coaches have been informed it will apply to adults only." Donations don't "apply" they are voluntary. So what you say is that the few Main Street residents which there are, shopkeepers apart, will not be "charged", the rest of Haworth and all visitors will be. "the consideration of charging had been discussed with Yorkshire Tourism. It was agreed that a charge could be made."...Not Chinese whispers, but your own minutes. You can't have it all ways I'm afraid. Your vice-chairman invited me, quite vociferously, today to "get my facts straight". Thanks to your widely distributed Village Association minutes I have done so.

Statistics

2011-03-29T12:29:00.000+01:00

It's good to see from the statistics that the blog has a steady and growing readership. It is my intention to publicise it much more soon and I'd be pleased to hear from anywone who would like to contribute or comment.
There will also be major developments at our web site http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/

Forties Weekend

2011-03-23T20:31:00.001Z

Has Haworth Village Association taken leave of its senses? They plan to charge all visitors to the Forties Weekend this year £1 for the privilege of walking up Main Street!
Last year there were over 10,000 people there over two days and marshalling was non-existent. I understand that Bradford Council is clamping down on this year's events and demanding proper precautions...quite right too.
Charging people £1 to walk up a street which is half closed for half the week during the rest of the year is a brilliant idea. It will probably halve the numbers who go up the street this year and halve the attendance again next year.
When will they learn that spreading several events through the spring and summer would be much more beneficial than trying to grab £10,000 from visitors in just one weekend?
Only a very small percentage of actual villagers ever use the Main Street and I'm beginning to see why. Many shops up there don't cater for them or care about them and a closed shop of event organisers, and other factors, have led to a gradual downturn of visitors over a long period..
Make Haworth LOCAL for the locals and the locals would welcome the chance to lift the village's flagging reputation.
Oh, by the way, what is the Association going to do if locals refuse to pay £1 to walk up their own Main Street during the Forties Weekend? Clamp them?

Van explosion rocks Sun Street

2011-03-19T12:55:00.001Z

Residents had a lucky escape when a camper van exploded causing devastation on Sun Street, Haworth.
The Keighley News report is HERE
These exclusive pictures are from Bronte Media:-

Dick Turpin rides again!

2011-03-11T16:56:00.000Z

Love him or loathe him you have to take notice of Ted Evans, our local traffic management entrepreneur.
From this week's Keighley News, and note the comments. HERE
His comments about traders are spot on although I suspect his maths is a little out on car clamping numbers.
Perhaps we could invite Ted to serve on a "Save Our Tourism" action group. He could give free car stickers to all his customers.

Haworth and Worth Valley Community Media Project

2011-03-03T17:09:00.001Z

After waiting for two months for a decision on just £1500 worth of funding for The Haworth and Worth Valley Media Project we have been turned down.
The funders say there is no "social need" for the project and were dismissive in a particularly uninformed way of what we are trying to achieve.
OK. The project goes on without funding. The only thing that the Haworth area will not get for the moment is a newspaper of quality with real informative editorial content. No problem there, it hasn't got one now, in fact it never has had.
What it will get is under wraps until we launch it, and launch it we will.
Watch this space, as they say, and in the meantime shed loads of money will be thrown at projects which, in our humble opinion, are not worth it.

World of Difference

2011-03-02T10:20:00.000Z

In March and April I am undertaking a project with Sue Ryder's Manorlands Hospice for the Vodafone Foundation's World of Difference programme.
It's difficult to make a "world" of difference in two months but we have things moving already. One thing I want to do is establish a support group for the hospice, which provides palliative care for those with life threatening conditions. The group will be from Haworth and the surrounding area but there are no boundaries to this cause which serves communities over a vast area extending up into North Yorkshire.
What could you do? I'm open to all enquiries and suggestions. Contact me on brontemediaservices@gmail.com or 07866626090.
See the project blog HERE

Gritting

2011-02-19T19:13:00.000Z

Nice to see the gritters out in Haworth. The speed they were going at I should imagine most of the salt landed in Oakworth. No doubt they'll slow down outside the clown hall.

Central Park

2011-02-18T20:16:00.003Z

Nice to see that work has begun on the new media bandstand in Haworth's Central Park, but what a waste for all the shrubs in the centre of the area to be torn up along with recently added plants. And why has an enormous section of wall near Butt Lane been demolished to make way for bulldozers when all they had to do was unlock and remove the metal post in the middle of the entrance?
I'll give it 24 hours before some clown is joy riding around the park in a car.

Harsh words

2011-02-09T13:21:00.000Z

Juliet Barker, perhaps the Bronte's most respected biographer, doesn't seem to like modern Haworth. In her book The Brontes she doesn't mince her words:

"Haworth itself has become a monument to the grosser excesses of the tourism industry: the village, surrounded by a sea of car parks, is choked with coaches and cars; the shops, with a few honourable exceptions serving the people who live there, are full of tat, prostituting the Bronte name. It is the power of the legend, not the reality that continues to lure visitors to Haworth".

Usage of the Bronte name hasn't done her so bad though!

When will they ever learn?

2011-02-03T17:47:00.001Z

Despite a lifetime in the media this was one story I was never going to tell-I thought. Now it seems appropriate.
Today young Martin Bell, a West Yorkshire soldier has been repatriated to the UK after being killed in Afghanistan. He disobeyed a direct order not to help a comrade who had been fatally injured by an explosive device and in doing so lost his own life.
He was two years older than a young soldier who on September 25th 1944, as a proud Yorkshire sergeant, carefully led his men through a minefield in Venlo, Holland. Part of the Allies thrust forward to defeat Hitler during The Second World War.
In those days there were not the sophisticated devices of today to help detect these lethal weapons of war, still used today, 77 years later.
You prodded carefully with your foot or your bayonet and prayed. Or you prayed first and then carefully prodded with your foot or your bayonet.
A Welsh sergeant sensed danger and ordered the men to stop. The Yorkshire sergeant went a few steps further, hoping to get the troops through this potential field of death. The Welsh sergeant went in front of him and trod on a land mine. He died instantly. The Yorkshire sergeant was partially shielded from the blast and lost his lower left leg and was peppered with shrapnel. He had married in the March of the same year and the next time his wife saw him he was critically wounded and lying in a Worcester hospital.
The parallels between that incident and the one which claimed the life of Martin Bell have haunted me since Martin died. Martin once walked the hills and streets of Haworth as a police community support officer. In his life as a soldier he made a selfless gesture which cost his life. The same could so easily have happened to the Yorkshire soldier of 77 years ago, who lived on until he was just 77.
His son now walks the streets and hills of Haworth with memories of how he could so easily have never been here but for a soldier's bravery.
Thanks Dad, and rest in peace Martin.

Martin Bell comes home today

2011-02-03T12:01:00.000Z

Bradford soldier Martin Bell comes home today...for the last time.
BBC coverage of the event is HERE

From Haworth to Helmand

2011-01-27T09:56:00.000Z

This young man was a Community Police Officer in Haworth.

Colleagues of the 350th British soldier to die in Afghanistan since 2001 have paid tribute to his "exceptional valour".

Private Martin Bell died in an explosion after disobeying a direct order and going to the aid of another wounded soldier.
The Ministry of Defence said the 24-year-old from Bradford was killed on Tuesday in Helmand province.
He was serving with 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment.
'He knew the risks'
His commanding officer, Lt Col Andrew Harrison, said he "disobeyed a direct order in order to render life-saving first aid".
Pte Bell had ignored his own safety to help a friend "in the most dangerous combat circumstances imaginable".
"He knew the risks all too well, twice in the minutes before his death he had witnessed at first-hand the devastating human impact of IEDs (improvised explosive devices)," he said.
"The term 'hero' is overused in contemporary commentary; take a moment to reflect on Pte Martin Bell.
"For his exceptional valour he paid the ultimate price."
In a statement, his relatives said he was proud to be serving his country with the Parachute Regiment, having joined up after three years as a Police Community Support Officer with West Yorkshire Police.
"He had a wicked and infectious sense of humour that would have served him well in difficult times," they said.
"He made us all very proud and he will leave behind a hole in all of our hearts that will never be replaced.
"He was our best friend too. We are a very close-knit family and although we are grieving for his loss, we hope that all the other soldiers keep safe."
Pte Bell leaves behind his parents, Simon and Elaine, and brothers Oliver and Philip.
The MoD said Pte Bell had been deployed to Afghanistan on 14 October and had been due to come home for rest on 14 February.
It said that at the time of his death he and his unit had been engaged in action against insurgents who intimidated the local population and attacked the Afghan National Army.
In tributes on the MoD website, colleagues said he was a key member of the platoon who would often put himself in harm's way to help others.
They described him as a "legend", an "awesome bloke" and a "soldier of the highest calibre".
Defence Secretary Liam Fox also paid tribute to Pte Bell and offered his condolences to his family.
"It is clear by his actions and from the high praise of his colleagues in 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment that he was an immensely brave, selfless and highly professional soldier," he said.
Of the 350 UK military fatalities since 2001, 309 were due to hostile action.
The remaining 41 died as a result of accidents, illness, or non-combat injuries, or have not yet officially been assigned a cause of death.

Happy New Year

2011-01-01T13:33:00.000Z

A very Happy New Year to all. Let's hope that 2011 gives us lots of positive things to involve ourselves with in Haworth and the Worth Valley.

The real big freeze

2010-12-01T17:01:00.001Z

OK we've had about six inches of snow but I am sick of hearing the radio listing schools closed. In 1962, the real "Big Freeze", we had three feet and I never had a day off school. The only concession was that we could wear long trousers for the cold. We took sledges, with only bread and dripping for our dinner and were allowed to skate down the playground hill without hordes of Health and Safety twits descending on us.
If you went to the outside toilets you came back with icicles down your trousers which the teacher would gently bathe with a Brillo pad.

'Twas the Night Before Christmas..in legalese

2010-11-30T20:54:00.002Z

Twas the nocturnal segment of the diurnal period preceding the annual Yuletide celebration, and throughout our place of residence, kinetic activity was not in evidence among the possessors of this potential, including the species of domestic rodent known as Mus Musculus.
Hosiery was meticulously suspended from the forward edge of the wood burning caloric apparatus pursuant to our anticipatory pleasure regarding an imminent visitation from an eccentric philanthropist among whose folkloric appellations is the honorific title of Saint Nicholas.
The prepubescent siblings, comfortably ensconced in their respective accommodations of repose, were experiencing subconscious visual hallucinations of variegated fruit confections moving rhythmically through their cerebrums.
My conjugal partner and I, attired in our nocturnal head coverings were about to take slumberous advantage of the hibernal darkness when upon the exterior portion of the grounds there ascended such a cacophony of dissonance that I felt compelled to arise with alacrity from my place of repose for the purpose of ascertaining the precise source thereof.
Hastening to the casement, I forthwith opened the barriers sealing this fenestration. Noting hereupon that the lunar brilliance without, reflected as it was on the surface of a recent crystalline precipitation, might be said to rival that of the solar meridian itself. Thus permitting my incredulous optical sensory organs to behold a miniature airborne runnered conveyance, drawn by eight diminutive specimens of the genus Rangifer.
Piloted by a minuscule aged chauffer so ebullient and nimble that it became instantly apparent to me that he was indeed our anticipated caller.
With his ungulate motive power traveling at what may have been more vertiginous velocity than patriotic alar predators, he vociferated loudly, expelled breath musically through contracted labia, and addressed each of the octet by his or her respective cognomen: "Now Dasher, now Dancer", et al..
Guiding them to the uppermost exterior level of our abode, through which structure I could readily distinguish the concatenations of each of the 32 cloven pedal extremities. As I retracted my cranium from its erstwhile location, and was performing a 180 degree pivot, our distinguished visitant achieved -- with utmost celerity and via a downward leap -- entry by the way of the smoke passage.
He was clad entirely in animal pelts soiled by the ebon residue from oxidations of carboniferous fuels which had accumulated on the walls thereof. His resemblance to a street vendor I attributed largely to the plethora of assorted playthings which he bore dorsally in a commodious cloth receptacle. His orbs were scintillating with reflected luminosity, while his submaxillary dermal indentations gave every evidence of engaging amiability.
The capillaries of his molar regions and nasal protuberance were engorged with blood which suffused in subcutaneous layers, the former approximating the coloration of Albion's floral emblem, the later that of the Prunus Avium, or Sweet Cherry.
His amusing sub- and supra-labials resembled nothing so much as a common loop knot, and their ambient hirsute facial adornment appeared like small tabular and columnar crystals being.
Clenched firmly between his incisors was a smoking piece whose gray fumes, forming a tenuous ellipse about his occiput, were suggestive of a decorative seasonal circlet of holly.
His visage was wider than it was high, and when he waxed audibly mirthful, his corpulent abdominal region undulated in the manner of pectinous fruit syrup in a hemispherical container.
He was, in short, neither more or less than obese, jocund, multigenarian gnome, the optical perception of whom rendered me visibly frolicsome despite every effort to refrain from so being.
By rapidly lowering and then elevating one eyelid and rotating his head to one side he indicated that trepidation on my part was groundless.
Without utterance and with dispatch, he commenced filling the afore-mentioned hosiery with various of the afore-mentioned articles of merchandise extracted from his afore-mentioned previously dorsally transported cloth receptacle.
Upon completion of his task, he executed an abrupt about face, placed a singular manual digit in lateral juxtaposition to his olfactory organ, inclined his cranium forward in a gesture of leave-taking, and forthwith effected his egress by renegotiating, in reverse, the smoke passage.
He propelled himself in short vector onto his conveyance, directed a musical expulsion of air through his contracted oral sphincter to the antlered quadrupeds of burden, and proceeded to soar aloft in a movement hitherto observable chiefly among the seed-bearing portions of a common weed.
But I overheard his parting exclamation, audibly immediately prior to his vehiculation beyond the limits of visibility:
"Ecstatic Yuletide to the planetary constituency, and to that self-same assemblage, my sincerest wishes for a salubriously beneficial and gratifyingly pleasurable period between sunset and dawn!"

Confused? You may know it better as this:-

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house

Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.
The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her ‘kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.
When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.
The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.
With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!
"Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!"
As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St Nicholas too.
And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.
He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.
His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard on his chin was as white as the snow.
The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!
He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.
He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!
He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!"

Snow joke

2010-11-30T20:15:00.000Z

This morning four Bradford Council workers did a dedicated snow shift down Main Street in Haworth, plenty of grit outside the right frontages, were treated to tea and coffee by a friendly trader, and then beggared off.
Bradford Council take note. There are council tax payers on every other street of the village, can they have the same treatment please? People actually walk on these streets as well, or try to.

The letter The Keighley News didn't publish.....yet

2010-11-27T21:03:00.000Z

Time to clamp down on Haworth's demise?

I congratulate Ted Evans on having the most successful business in Haworth (The Changegate Car Park). Anyone who can make £75, less wages and expenses of course, by slapping a wheel clamp on a car, within the boundaries of the law, is to be admired, but may I invite him to take a look at the wider implications of what his business is doing to the village, and what he could do to change it?
He is the only local businessman I know of who has been the subject of a TV documentary, and numerous news items.On special days he trots out his old Rolls-Royce and proudly poses with it, and his published books, on the Changegate car park, safe in the knowledge that by the end of the day he will be several hundreds, if not thousands of pounds, richer thanks to his staff's efforts at clamping the poor beggars who came to see us in the first place!
Well done Ted, I'm not being sarcastic, I wish I'd thought of it first!
However, other business people and traders in the village do not have the same income, not for want of trying, and I wonder if, having achieved a surely substantial bank balance from your entrepreneurial acumen, you might like to consider giving something back?
Your notoriety means that some traders post notices in their shops warning unsuspecting visitors about your car park. I perhaps don't blame them, but on the other hand am not uncritical about the way a minority of traders have manipulated the state of the village into what it is today. Devoid of visitors for most of the time and busy only when the same traders choose to put on events to suit themselves and milk the financial rewards.
Mr Evans operates seven days a week, and even on a bad day won't worry too much about where his next drop of profit is coming from. Messages from people who have fallen foul of his legitimate operation are legion, I have had several, and I must say that a drop of compassion might not go amiss sometimes.
I believe he has recently applied to become a member of The Haworth Village Association, which I am not, but his application was not exactly received with enthusiasm. The same association is not without its own critics, justifiably.
Apart from at weekends and on special occasions, usually organised by The Village Asssociation, Haworth is becoming almost as much a cultural and commercial graveyard as the one fronting The Parsonage. This weekend we had the Victorian Christmas markets, organised by the association of course, which have brought much needed trade into the village. I suggest that a regular weekend market would be a tremendous boost to the village, and is much needed. The bottom of Main Street would be an ideal spot for it, and perhaps overseen by a drop of new blood on the commercial and community front. Never mind the obvious bleats which would come from higher up the street, this village needs a shot in the arm, if not somewhere else. There are locals here as well as tourists and I am sure they would welcome the opportunity to be a part of it.
Ted, you're as famous as The Brontes and might even be making as much money! You've earned a handsome income and become almost as famous, or infamous, as them, why not consider putting something back and becoming part of a real effort to revive the village which has given you a good living? A founder member of Haworth Chamber of Trade perhaps? You're not on the bench now so perhaps you have a little spare time.
If you or someone doesn't, you might find yourself clamping the Bradford Council van that comes to turn the lights out when everyone has left.

A common soldier

2010-11-26T19:08:00.001Z

He was getting old and paunchy
And his hair was falling fast,
And he sat around the Legion,
Telling stories of the past.

Of a war that he once fought in
And the deeds that he had done,
In his exploits with his buddies;
They were heroes, every one.

And 'tho sometimes to his neighbors
His tales became a joke,
All his buddies listened quietly
For they knew whereof he spoke.

But we'll hear his tales no longer,
For old Bob has passed away,
And the world's a little poorer
For a soldier died today.

He won't be mourned by many,
Just his children and his wife.
For he lived an ordinary,very quiet sort of life.
He held a job and raised a family,going quietly on his way;
And the world won't note his passing, 'tho a soldier died today.

When politicians leave this earth,
Their bodies lie in state,
While thousands note their passing,
And proclaim that they were great.

Papers tell of their life stories
From the time that they were young
But the passing of a soldier
Goes unnoticed, and unsung.

Is the greatest contribution
To the welfare of our land,
Someone who breaks his promise
And cons his fellow man?

Or the ordinary fellow
Who in times of war and strife,
Goes off to serve his country
And offers up his life?

The politician's stipend and the style in which he lives,
Are often disproportionate, to the service that he gives.
While the ordinary soldier, who offered up his all,
Is paid off with a medal and perhaps a pension, small.

It is not the politicians with their compromise and ploys,
Who won for us the freedom that our country now enjoys.
Should you find yourself in danger, with your enemies at hand,
Would you really want some cop-out, with his ever waffling stand?

Or would you want a soldier—
His home, his country, his kin,
Just a common soldier,
Who would fight until the end?

He was just a common soldier,
And his ranks are growing thin,
But his presence should remind us
We may need his like again.

For when countries are in conflict, we find the soldier's part
Is to clean up all the troubles that the politicians start.
If we cannot do him honour while he's here to hear the praise,
Then at least let's give him homage at the ending of his days.

Perhaps just a simple headline in the paper that might say:
"OUR COUNTRY IS IN MOURNING, A SOLDIER DIED TODAY."

Victorian markets

2010-11-21T17:39:00.000Z

A great weekend of trade thanks only to the fact that we had open Victorian markets in Haworth. The thing now is to have more of the same, and under the control of someone totally independent of all local traders.
It makes no sense not to maximise the popularity of such markets in our village and recognise that it could be the saviour of local trade, not, as some think, the end of it.

The deserted village

2010-11-18T11:54:00.001Z

Even now the devastation is begun,

And half the business of destruction done;

Even now, methinks, as pondering here I stand,

I see the rural virtues leave the land.

From Oliver Goldsmith's poem "The Deserted Village". How apt!

When are they open?

2010-11-06T20:10:00.000Z

A question I am sick of answering about various shops in the village. The short answer is usually when they feel like it and not necessarily when customers would like them to be.
Can I just remind readers that there is life at the bottom of Main Street and some of the best quality goods in the village.
I'm having maps printed!

Time to be counted

2010-11-05T20:43:00.000Z

OK, I've kept quiet for long enough.

Nearly three months of trading on Haworth Main Street and I'm disgusted at the traders' attitude.
They open when they feel like it, expect everyone to flock to join The Village Association, think they own the place, but are offering no reason for tourists to come back again and the locals might as well not exist.

Couple this with our notorious clampers' car park (most lucrative business in the village by the way), zero encouragement from local or central government and I wonder why I am bothering, but I am.

I suspect that from next week the traders will all come alive, expect to earn a fortune in a short time and then go comatose again until March. That is no way to run a business or a village.

Haworth deserves better. Who, apart from me, is going to give it? Come on, shape your bloody selves.

Meeting jobsworths

2010-11-03T21:06:00.000Z

Just been to a meeting about the Haworth Parish Plan.Nonsense.

Paid Bradford Council officials running a kindergarten style session where we had to break up into small groups and write on large sheets with large pens and answer their nonsensical questions.

I dared to raise two realistic issues which affect the village and was not well received by those running it. As Tony Blair said, "Am I bovvered?"

No more meetings for me thank you. I prefer real to surreal.

Bakers

2010-10-30T20:53:00.002+01:00

I'm looking for home bakers to sell their wares in my shop. Any takers?

Harrogate Hitler

2010-10-22T21:27:00.000+01:00

I love this story.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-york-north-yorkshire-11609438

I believe Martin Bormann is taking over as leader until a suitable replacement can be found.
Whatever happened to a sense of humour?

Five a day

2010-10-22T21:24:00.000+01:00

Lady came in and bought some wooden fruit today. She said it was her answer to five a day! Hope she has good teeth.

Old friends and buying from a gypsy

2010-10-19T21:02:00.000+01:00

A strange day in the shop. For the first time in years a "traveller" came to see me.
"Will you buy from a gypsy today?" she asked. Not being particularly superstitious I bantered with her and eventually bought a yard of lace because I don't need bad luck at the moment!
Then, half an hour later, in came a couple I had not seen for over 25 years. I used to write about his footballing exploits when I was a junior newspaper reporter. Damned good he was too.
David and Barbara Wilson from Barnoldswick, it was lovely to see you. It's great to wipe away the years on a grey Tuesday afternoon. Give my love to "Barlick".

Magic mushrooms!

2010-10-16T20:14:00.001+01:00

I now have so many wooden mushrooms in my shop I'm thinking of renaming it The Magic Mushroom!

I'll swear they multiply overnight.

Dogging

2010-09-30T21:44:00.000+01:00

I've just read the following on an Internet forum. This is the administrator, what chance have the guests got? I will have to go to the bathroom!

"Have you heard of Dogging? I had not heard this term before. When I was at my mum's the other day she was telling me that they are going to close the cafe and picnic area on the Hogs Back on the A31 in Surrey. My sister uses the Hogs Back to go to work in Guildford. Couples are parking there and using the fields off the lay-by for sexual activity night and day. Apparently they call the people who do this Doggers, and the practice is known as Dogging. The council is thinking of closing the cafe and the picnic area and putting some bulls in the fields instead. I think they should put cameras and get the people's car number plates and publish them in the newspapers and shame them. It seems a shame and grossly unfair to close the cafe and picnic area because of these people."

I bet the bulls are delighted. Hahahahaha.

Oils

2010-09-27T21:05:00.004+01:00

Crusty old Geordie man passed the shop today and remarked: "£200 for a f---*!* painting, I 'ad our lounge done for less than that."
"In oils?" I asked.
"No, he filled the oils in before he painted," came the reply.

Jam shop

2010-09-26T21:49:00.003+01:00

Woman to child outside my shop today: "Come here it's only a jam shop."
After three weeks building up an art gallery, crafts, jewellery, books, speciality foods etc, it's only a "jam shop".
Mothers are now banned for their own safety.

Coach driver chaos

2010-09-23T21:44:00.000+01:00

To the lady coach driver who went up our cobbled Main Street yesterday, congratulations. There is a large sign at the bottom saying "No Coaches", but I did notice she was from Wales! Well done, and no reports of shop fronts being demolished!

Bronte Media Services

2010-09-14T10:08:00.000+01:00

It seems natural that all we do at Bronte Media Services is integrated into our Village Shop, so we will be offering all our publishing and writing services, poster design, CV writing, and much more, in the shop.
Local news, views, perhaps even small classified ads, will be going on line in the blog.
Let's see how Haworth's own media centre evolves, I'm sure there is much we can do to extend the services of our shop beyond the shop door!

The shop

2010-09-09T21:25:00.000+01:00

Well, we have opened, and been inundated with interest. Thank you.
The shop web site will be updated as soon as possible, it is HERE
I have been amazed at the artistic talent which has come forward. Don't forget, we are a shop for the village and the tourists who are so much a part of the village.

The Haworth Village Shop

2010-09-07T21:02:00.000+01:00

At last we have a base in the village. The Village Shop at 19 Main Street will double as a visible base for Bronte Media Services and a traditional shop where locals and tourists can find all things, Yorkshire, nostalgic, artistic, creative and a few other things as well!
I've met a lot of people so far and it's been a pleasure. As I've always said, the media and publishing business is the people business. Without you we would not exist.
I look forward to seeing many more of you in the coming months and years.

The accused replies

2010-08-19T14:30:00.000+01:00

The builder accused in connection with the Ebor Mill fire, Mr Brian Verity, has replied through the columns of the Keighley News HERE

The Ebor mill site

2010-08-17T21:22:00.001+01:00

There is a welter of innuendo and accusation flying around about the Ebor Mill fire, some of it, on You Tube, is actionable, but that's what you get on You Tube.
Setting all that aside let's see some support for the future of the site now we have lost a historic building. Perhaps the cash heavy National Lottery, and others, might like to dig deep to give us a heritage site for Haworth celebrating the mill industry and more, things which were special to our heritage.
If someone does step in and try and build there let permission include the condition that all the properties should be in the style of mill cottages or weavers' cottages, with an appropriate commemorative monument to what used to be there.

Ebor Mill fire

2010-08-15T19:42:00.002+01:00

The largest fire seen in Haworth for years has destroyed Ebor Mill. See HERE
This morning the entire village was covered in ash.
More pictures on the Haworth Village News site HERE
And it has made You Tube HERE along with some very dodgy comments about a certain property company which I won't name!

The Village Shop

2010-08-12T21:35:00.000+01:00

Yes, we are opening a shop in the village. And we're having a web site too, HERE

Yorkshire Day

2010-08-01T20:32:00.000+01:00

I was hoping to post something of substance about Haworth's contribution to Yorkshire Day.
Unfortunately, apart from a scattering of stalls from traders, all I saw was a dingy tea towel, with a white rose on it, fluttering from an upstairs window.
One laminated A4 sign at the bottom of Main Street announced the "Haworth Village Association" were doing things for the day, not much it has to be said, and the advance publicity was non-existent.
Come on people, this is your village, and life exists beyond the Main Street traders. Let's show them what the residents can do. It is OUR village!

Creative writing classes

2010-07-29T10:50:00.000+01:00

Take a look at our web site http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/ for details of the creative writing classes, both online and one to one, which we are offering.
It seems a natural progression to offer our forty years experience in the writing and publishing business to those just starting out. There are no upper or lower age limits for those wishing to enroll and no costly commitment often found with other companies.

Under age drinking and vandalism

2010-07-17T11:39:00.000+01:00

I was in Central Park and was disgusted to see another incident of under age drinking. A young yob of around 12 years of age deliberately smashed his empty beer bottle within yards of the small children's play area.
The lager bottle was made of green glass so many of the pieces will remain invisible on the grass.
If he is doing that at 12 what will he be like at 18?

Bronte Radio

2010-07-14T12:17:00.000+01:00

It's coming soon to a computer near you.....Bronte Radio, and I am looking out for volunteers to do programmes of interest within the Worth Valley and beyond.

Water shortage!

2010-07-14T09:43:00.000+01:00

Isn't it marvellous? A few weeks of dry weather after a horrendous winter and now THIS

Heritage comments are hysterical says Parish Council chairman

2010-07-12T11:29:00.000+01:00

Comments made by the Heritage Council about Haworth's heritage have been labelled "hysterical" by our Parish Council chairman, Coun John Huxley.
See HERE
Exactly. Now let's see a few of the knockers pulling together to see just what can be achieved.

Wall of Art

2010-07-11T20:24:00.000+01:00

Well done to everyone who has contributed to Haworth's magnificent Wall of Art on Main Street. It's a credit to the talent of the village.

Very bad!

2010-07-09T09:50:00.000+01:00

I've now had the time to study the in depth report of English Heritage on Haworth's at risk status.
It must have taken them ages to get it together. It says: "Condition. Very bad. Expected to show some improvement." That's it!
Has someone been paid to compile that?
Very bad what?
Where do we need to improve?
Should we apply for a Lottery grant?
Would English Heritage have the courtesy to talk to to a few local residents? I rather think they would get more than seven words.

A wake up call for the village?

2010-07-08T10:08:00.003+01:00

It's been quite depressing to hear the BBC's accounts of how tourism is dying in Haworth due to a mixture of decay in the fabric of the village and a proliferation of signs on the Main Street.
The emotive line used is "The Brontes wouldn't recognise the Haworth of today".
I hope not. In their day the Main Street was running with untreated sewage, now you're lucky if you find a trickle of tourists before lunchtime because half the traders are not open.
Some traders were interviewed by BBC Radio Leeds and gave a very negative account of the village today. Do they know they may be part of the reason?
Admittedly it would have been nice if the BBC had given similar coverage to the hugely successful Forties weekend, but they didn't give it a shot or a sentence, but then that's good news.
Yes, the place does need livening up and tidying up but much of the answer lies in the hands of those who seem to want everything their own way or not at all.

Here is a selection of comments from today's Telegraph and Argus, not encouraging reading I'm afraid.

I think the place is a complete dump -as far as the main street goes. Grotty shops, cafes where the meaning of customer service is non-existant. Were it not for the excellent railway and the museum plus the church and the walk out to Top Withins, I cannot understand why anyone would want to visit the place - it has all the hallmarks of Keighley which is worse but only because it is larger. Why is it that Hebden Bridge is so good and this place so bad?

Newswatcher, shipley says...

5:03pm Wed 7 Jul 10

Haworth relies on it's famous past with little thought to the future.
Then there is the damage done by "that car park".
I can't see while people still want to visit.
It is a great pity as there is so much that could be done.
A good start would be making visitors welcome.
Maybe free parking?

NOTSOCOMMENSENSE, BINGLEY says...

5:41pm Wed 7 Jul 10

Who cares any more overpriced shops Dick Turpin was at it again today clamped a minibus of old folk with the excuse that it was a coach and should have paid as a coach not as a normal minibus

Apollo, Queensbury says...

7:39am Thu 8 Jul 10
The car parking situation and in particular the clamping by the crooks who run it have done enormous damage to the reputaton of the place.
The completely unregulated and unrestricted signage evident in the high street gives the place the look of a Third World bazaar rather than a Heritage site.
It would be good to think that the Council could tackle both of the problems - the car park a the state of the high street. Unfortunately this is Bradford Council we are talking about so we know what will happen.

Lord Mayor attends Cystic Fibrosis Fun Day

2010-06-28T11:52:00.000+01:00

Lord Mayor of Bradford, Coun Peter Hill and Lady Mayoress, Mrs Gillian Hill, attended the successful Fun Day for Cystic Fibrosis held in Central Park, Haworth. A full report and picture appears HERE on the village web site

The swinging Sixties

2010-06-23T20:21:00.003+01:00

A selection of pictures from the Haworth 1960's weekend!

Anyone want a hot dog?

Flowers for your hair...

...if you have any! A friend of mine from way back then.

Yes we had passion.

What happened to Nancy Sinatra?

Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!

Is it Christine Keeler?

Mandy?

Get back to Brighton!

World Cup Willy. We need him now.

He's behind you!

I was there! Still am.

There's a guy comes in our cake shop says he's Elvis.

Peace

Tea, cakes and joss sticks.

Is that a hair guitar?

Well done to all these brave people, and animals, who took us back in time!

The Haworth 60's Weekend

2010-06-19T12:41:00.001+01:00

The Haworth 1960's weekend begins today. We'll be out photographing the sights and the pictures will be on line as we have them.

Fair in Tents

2010-06-19T12:08:00.000+01:00

Watch out for Bronte Media Services at the Eco Fair on the Bronte Meadow on September 11th and 12th. We will be talking about our new creative writing courses which are available online or one to one for local residents.
More details at http://www.brontemediaservices.co.uk/

The Coffee House

2010-06-10T20:34:00.000+01:00

Paid my first visit to No 10 The Coffee House today and I cannot praise it enough. What a joy to taste real coffee, delicious cake and be made genuinely welcome.
I'm a coffee lover and this is the first time I have tasted the continental flavour of coffee, which I love, in my own country.
Well done Claire. I'll be back.....often.

Jenny Agutter's visit to the village

2010-06-08T11:15:00.001+01:00

Jenny Agutter, star of The Railway Children, will be in the village lending her support to the Cystic Fibrosis Fun Day and sponsored walk on Sunday June 27th.
It will be particularly poignant for everyone, and Jenny, to see her back in Haworth during the fortieth anniversary year of the making of the classic film.
Here's a happy memory from last year!

Drunken children

2010-06-04T20:58:00.001+01:00

I walked down Main Street at 6pm today and was confronted by around 10 kids, all well under 18, swinging bottles, and a few were obviously drunk.
Various passers by commented on it but when is someone going to do something about it? Who is selling them the stuff, and where are the police?

Businesses for sale

2010-05-31T11:11:00.000+01:00

Such a shame to see so many businesses and premises for sale in the village at the moment. It is hardly the time when people are making large investments so the long term future of trade is likely to be affected.

The clampers

2010-05-28T10:24:00.000+01:00

Our clamping car park is certainly getting publicity. Ted Evans and his notorious Changegate business featured on TV last night. You've got to hand something to him, but I don't know what!

Bus stops

2010-05-25T20:01:00.000+01:00

Have you seen the new bus stops at the junction of Main Street and Sun Street? Much higher and they could land a helicopter on them!

White Cliffs of Dover

2010-05-20T14:02:00.000+01:00

I see £1.6m of Lottery cash is going towards preserving the White Cliffs of Dover.
Could we please have a drop of cash here in Haworth for the cobbles on our Main Street to be relaid?

Car parking

2010-05-18T20:36:00.000+01:00

Why do we have this fixation with car parking in the village?
The clampers are almost as famous as the Bronte sisters and every day seems to bring a new story of unpleasantness involving someone?