The third annual Civic Societies Week was launched in the elegant surroundings of the Prince Regent’s Room at the Royal Hotel, Scarborough on Tuesday, 25 th May. In front of an audience of over 60 people from Societies across the region with a good contingent from co- hosts Scarborough and District Civic Society, YHACS Vice Chairman Kevin Trickett urged societies to reach out to parts of the community who all too often had no idea about what civic societies do. Kevin said “Civic societies are not just for retired people who have sorted out their lives and were able to turn their attention outwards to matters of wider concern – they are for everyone of all ages, backgrounds and races. The quality of the public realm and the impact it can have on making all our lives better – or worse – is something that every member of society should be concerned with and civic societies offer an ideal channel for members of a community to put forward their views and to influence the debate about the shape of their public spaces.” But, Kevin added, it is for civic societies themselves to take the lead by reaching out to those parts of the community that don’t usually take an interest. “All too often, people only take notice of their public realm when it is under threat, such as when a planning application goes in to demolish a much-loved building – or even when the bulldozers move in to actually start the demolition. Yet by then, it is often too late to influence outcomes. Being a member of an active civic society means that there is someone there for you watching over all planning applications, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.” Kevin pointed out that members of his committee at Wakefield Civic Society, where Kevin is the President, collectively put in somewhere between 2-3000 hours per year of volunteer effort scrutinising planning applications, attending meetings, writing letters and doing all the other things that made the Society successful. However, this effort isn’t come by easily, It requires committed and dedicated volunteers to form the committee and help run events, host meetings and do the hard work. All societies need to be constantly on the lookout for new members and willing volunteers. Civic Societies Week was an ideal way for societies across Yorkshire and Humber to raise their profile and to attract fresh interest from residents and local business people who could provide a rich source of new members and even committee members. Guest speakers at the launch included the Mayor of Scarborough Borough Council, Councillor Mrs Hazel Lynskey,(above), YHACS President, Peter Spawforth, Royal Hotel General Manager, David Hull and writer, broadcaster and architectural historian, John Grundy. In welcoming John, (right) Kevin reminded members that John had helped YHACS to launch the first-ever Civic Societies Week (cont Page 2) Registered Charity No. 1112290 www.yhacs.org.uk Volume 6, Issue 2 TIME FOR CIVIC SOCIETIES TIME FOR CIVIC SOCIETIES TO REACH OUT! TO REACH OUT! Summer 2010 I I NSIGHT NSIGHT S S OCIETY OCIETY INSIDE PAGES..... View from the Chair 2 St Wilfred’s 3 YHACS Members 4 CIL 5 Civic Society Week 2010; “Love local” 6 Society News from Wakefield, Howden, Ossett, Bradford, York 7-11
Transcript
The third annual Civic Societies Week was launched in the elegant surroundings of the Prince Regent’s Room at the Royal Hotel, Scarborough on Tuesday, 25th May. In front of an audience of over 60 people from Societies across the region with a good contingent from co-hosts Scarborough and District Civic Society, YHACS Vice Chairman Kevin Trickett urged societies to reach out to parts of the community who all too often had no idea about what civic societies do.
Kevin said “Civic societies are not just for retired people who have sorted out their lives and were able to turn their attention outwards to matters of wider concern – they are for everyone of all ages, backgrounds and races. The quality of the public realm and the impact it can have on making all our lives better – or worse – is something that every member of society should be concerned with and civic societies offer an ideal channel for members of a community to put forward their views and to influence the debate about the shape of their public spaces.” But, Kevin added, it is for civic societies themselves to take the lead by reaching out to those parts of the community that don’t usually take an interest. “All too often, people only take notice of their public realm when it is under threat, such as when a planning application goes in to demolish a much-loved building – or even when the bulldozers move in to actually start the demolition. Yet by then, it is often too late to influence outcomes. Being a member of an active civic
society means that there is someone there for you watching over all planning applications, 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year.” Kevin pointed out that members of his committee at Wakefield Civic Society, where Kevin is the President, collectively put in somewhere between 2-3000 hours per year of volunteer effort scrutinising planning applications, attending meetings, writing letters and doing all the other things that made the Society successful. However, this effort isn’t come by easily, It requires committed and dedicated volunteers to form the committee and help run events, host meetings and do the hard work. All societies need to be constantly on the lookout for new members and willing volunteers. Civic Societies Week was an ideal way for societies across Yorkshire and Humber to raise their profile and to attract fresh interest from residents and local business people who could provide a rich source of new members and even committee members.
Guest speakers at the launch included the Mayor of Scarborough Borough Council, Councillor Mrs Hazel Lynskey,(above), YHACS President, Peter Spawforth, Royal Hotel General Manager, David Hull and writer, broadcaster and architectural historian, John Grundy. In welcoming John, (right) Kevin reminded members that John had helped YHACS to launch the first-ever Civic Societies Week (cont Page 2)
Registered Charity No. 1112290 www.yhacs.org.uk
Volume 6 , Issue 2
TIME FOR CIVIC SOCIETIES TIME FOR CIVIC SOCIETIES
TO REACH OUT!TO REACH OUT!
Summer 2010
IINSIGHTNSIGHT SSOCIETYOCIETY
INSIDE PAGES.....
View from the
Chair 2
St Wilfred’s 3
YHACS Members 4
CIL 5
Civic Society
Week 2010;
“Love local” 6
Society News
from Wakefield,
Howden, Ossett, Bradford,
York 7-11
Page 2 Volume 6 , Issue 2
VV I EWIEW FROMFROM T T HEHE C C HAIRHAIR PP ETERETER C C OOPEROOPER
Since it was founded in 1999, YHACS has operated with a Labour government in power. Under the new coali t ion government we are now seeing radical changes. On 27th May the new Secretary of State for
Communities and Local Government wrote to council leaders to highlight the commitment to abolish regional strategies and return decision making powers to local councils. Consequently decisions on housing supply will rest with local planning authorities without the framework of regional numbers and plans. As I write, we know of at least one authority that has stopped working on its Local Development Framework; we may be in for a chaotic time. We also understand that there have been immediate cuts to funding for English Heritage and CABE. As the regional body representing Yorkshire and Humber civic societies we will try to follow this developing story. With a period of austerity coming I believe strong civic societies are needed more than ever to champion the importance of our built environment
I am very pleased to report that membership of YHACS has now reached 38 societies. And the volume of contacts that we have with members seems to be growing steadily via post, email or through the website. We are always glad to hear from you and if you have a neighbouring society, who is not with us yet, please encourage them to join!
We had a very productive afternoon at York in April when attendees thrashed out how they would like us to use our resources to best help our societies. Kevin Trickett is working with other committee members to formulate a plan from the debate. We were very pleased to have Ian Harvey from the newly launched Civic Voice at the meeting, YHACS has joined Civic Voice as a member and we look forward to working with them. And what a cracking event we had at Scarborough. YHACS is very grateful to Scarborough & District Civic Society who put in a tremendous amount of work to help us make the occasion a success.
We look forward to seeing members of your society at our next meeting at Bridlington, when our guest speaker will be Graham Bell, Director of the North of England Civic Trust.
(cont from Page 1)
in Barnsley in 2008. For his part, John Grundy (below) told the audience
how much he liked Scarborough and that it held many happy memories for him. He said he had visited a number of times and even done some filming there,
including one memorable occasion when he had to strip off and run into a rather cold sea.
Warming to his theme, however, John said that Scarborough was a fine example of a northern town with many wonderful old buildings, often mixing Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian buildings side by side. This, he said, was what made exploring northern towns and cities such a delight, although he did point out that many town and city centres were ruined by poor quality, sub-standard modern developments.
He was not, he pointed out, against modern develop-ment, but he urged developers to adopt the very best design standards. Looking around Scarborough, today’s generation could look at buildings dating back 200-300 years. What, he asked would future generations in 2300 say of our time – that we built some rather nice super-markets? We must do better, he said, and he urged civic societies to maintain the pressure for better standards. After the official launch, everyone was invited across the road to the Town Hall (above) to have a look at the Mayor’s Parlour, where tea and coffee was served, rounding off a very enjoyable occasion.
Kevin Trickett Photos courtesy of C Oliver, K Trickett & D A Moss
Last year a planning application was submitted to build an electricity primary station in the grounds of St Wilfrid’s Church at Harrogate. The station is a substantial building, 30 metres long, 8 metres high and 8 metres wide. It is understood that the church will receive much needed revenue from the electric-ity company if the development goes ahead. In an article about the application, Private Eye magazine said that St Wilfrid’s was a ‘magnificent church designed in 1903 by Temple Lushing-ton Moore and completed by his son-in-law Leslie Moore and that John Betjeman considered Temple Moore to be one of the greatest of Victorian and Edwardian church architects and St Wilfrid’s one of his finest works’. St Wilfrid’s is the only grade 1 listed building in Harrogate. Sir Nikolaus Pevsner thought that St Wilfrid’s was ‘easily the most valuable of the many churches of Harrogate’. Harrogate Civic Society has objected to the appli-cation as has the Victorian Society. There is a web-site to look at: www.save-stwilfrids-harrogate.com
There is obviously a pressing need for the electricity station but are the grounds of a grade 1 listed church the right place for it to be sited?
YHACS does not normally comment on planning ap-plications, we do not have the resources to build up the necessary knowledge, but this application affects a grade 1 listed building and we have a remit to support our member societies. When framing our response we took into account PPS 5,
Planning for the Historic Environment, which has replaced PPG15, and we also consulted the English Heritage document ‘Conservation Principles, Policies and Guidance’. Our conclusion was that, owing to its scale and proximity, the proposed development would cause substantial harm to the setting of a grade 1 listed building. We noted the statement in
PPS 5, Policy HE 9.1: ‘Significance can be harmed or lost through alteration or destruction of the heritage asset or development within its setting’. So we also considered that, owing to its scale and proximity, the proposed development would cause harm to the significance of the listed building.
In summary, we considered that the public benefit derived from having the
electricity primary station in this location would be outweighed by the harm that would be caused to a nationally-significant listed building and we urged that every effort be made to find an alter-native site for what is obviously a necessary item of infrastructure. We have objected to the proposal.
It is to be noted that, in this case, we are at variance with English Heritage who, in their guidance to Harrogate Borough Council, have advised that ‘the proposed electricity station will not lead to substan-tial harm to the church or conservation area’. We understand that the electricity company is trying to find an alternative site but that this is proving difficult.
Peter Cooper
Page 3
CAN YOU HELP?CAN YOU HELP?
Is your Society involved in the restoration of an old watermill?
Or are you planning to install micro-hydropower for the generation of electricity (<100kW)?
Or do you know of any projects where this work is planned?
A PhD researcher at the University of Sheffield would be interested to hear any details.
East Riding of Yorkshire/Humberside Beverley and District Civic Society Bridlington and District Civic Society Hornsea and District Civic Society Howden Civic Society Hull Civic Society Market Weighton Civic Society
North Yorkshire Allertonshire Civic Society Forest of Galtres Society
Harrogate Civic Society Pickering & District Civic Society Richmond and District Civic Society Ripon Civic Society
Scalby Village Trust Scarborough and District Civic Society Selby Civic Society Skipton in Craven Civic Society
Thirsk and Sowerby Civic Society Whitby Civic Society York Civic Trust
Northeast Lincolnshire Grimsby Cleethorpes & District Civic Society
South Yorkshire Rotherham Civic Society
West Yorkshire Addingham Civic Society Bradford Civic Society Brighouse Civic Trust Castleford & District Civic Trust Halifax Civic Trust Honley Civic Society Horbury Civic Society Horsforth Civic Society Huddersfield Civic Society
Ilkley Civic Society
Leeds Civic Trust
Ossett Civic Trust
Pontefract Civic Society
Pudsey Civic Society
Saddleworth Civic Trust
Wakefield Civic Society
Wetherby Civic Society
At the time of writing YHACS has 38 member societies, representing about 7000 individual members, and more are joining all the time. But the more the better! 28 societies have joined Civic Voice and YHACS has joined as an association. The member societies underlined have a website.
THANKS FOR A JOB WELL DONE
YHACS would like to thank Green Communications, a Wakefield based public relations and marketing consultancy, for handling press liaison for Civic Societies Week 2010.
Director Andy Green said:
“Green Communications is pleased to support Civic Societies week.”
“We have a longstanding relationship with the Wakefield Civic Society as Gold Corporate Members and believe that Civic Societies have an important role to play in shaping the future of our towns and helping local communities take pride in their surroundings.”
“Many Civic Societies do not get the recognition they deserve for the valuable voluntary work they do in their communities so we are pleased to be helping the Yorkshire and Humber Association of Civic Societies publicise Civic Societies Week.”
Page 5
CCOMMUNITYOMMUNITY I INFRASTRUCTURENFRASTRUCTURE
LLEVYEVY (CIL) (CIL)
There is much good work taking place in our region and we thought it might be good to highlight some examples. If you would like to bring our attention to something good that’s happened in your patch please let us know, preferably with an emailable photograph, and we’ll try and put it in. To start the ball rolling here are a couple of examples in Scar-borough.
On 20th May Her Majesty the Queen opened the newly refurbished Open Air Theatre in front of 6000 people. The theatre was originally created in the 1930s under the watch of Scarborough’s re-markable Borough Engineer, Harry Smith. By the 1980s it was no longer fashionable but £3.5M has been spent to bring it back to life.
Scarborough’s Cliff Bridge, originally built in 1827, has recently been re-decked by North Yorkshire County Council at a cost of £700,000. Particular care has been taken with repainting the railings and the resultant job prompted a letter of commenda-tion from the local Civic Society.
After a couple of years of consultation and debate this new levy is due to be implemented over the coming months (Coalitions willing), and will run in parallel to the Section 106 scheme which authorities have used for a variety of infrastructure and other developments. It is described as ‘a flexible, new, hypothecated local levy which local authorities in England and Wales can choose to levy on most new developments in their area in order to secure funding for vital local and sub-regional infrastructure. It is a pro-development tool, aimed at providing valuable top-up funding for the infrastructure necessary to unlock housing and economic growth, be that roads, public transport, schools, health facilities, flood defences or sports facilities.’ A summary of what the scheme is expected to achieve is in-cluded in a downloadable document: Community Infrastructure Levy: An overview. Published 25 March 2010. www.communities.gov.uk/planningandbuilding/planning/planningpolicyimplementation/reformplanningsystem/planningbill/communityinfrastructurelevy/ Societies should ideally look at all of it but may wish to note an extract from Section 13, particularly if they are aware of local need for key community services and facilities: ‘The Planning Act 2008 provides a wide definition of the infra-structure which can be funded by CIL, including transport, flood defences, schools, hospitals, and other health and social care facilities. This definition allows CIL to be used to fund a very broad range of facilities such as play areas, parks and green spaces, cultural and sports facilities, district heating schemes and police stations and other community safety facilities. This gives local communities flexibility to choose what infrastructure they need to deliver their development plan.’ The provision appears to be discretionary as clear guidance on how authorities can apply funds is not evident in the public domain. Certainly Section 106 is used in a variety of ways, some more transparent than others.
People involved directly in the Local Development Frameworks and Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) may be able to provide details as to how each authority is intending to apply it to their areas, and whether civic societies and similar bodies are in-volved in the discussions. There is meant to be community consul-tation on the charges themselves which societies need to note. One potential issue is any impact on new community buildings and premises of over 100 sq m (gross internal floor space). Sec-tion 51 ff on Charity and Social Housing Relief refers to full and discretionary relief options but agencies will need to be careful about separating charitable and non charitable activity for the 7 years following completion. There is further information, including helpful explanations and discussion, on the Planning Advisory Services website at http://www.pas.gov.uk/pas/core/page.do?pageId=122677 and www.pas.gov.uk/pas/forum/thread-maint.do?topicId=506148 It would be useful to collate this information for local exchange and to inform Civic Voice and the Funding Advice Worker Net-works in the region. Feedback or offers of expert input on this topic would therefore be much appreciated. Charlotte Hursey Howden Civic Society [email protected]
GGOODOOD W WORKORK
Volume 6 , Issue 2 Page 6
CIVIC SOCIETIES WEEK 2010CIVIC SOCIETIES WEEK 2010 SSOCIETIESOCIETIES COMPETECOMPETE FORFOR THETHE C CIVICIVIC S SOCIETIESOCIETIES W WEEKEEK PRIZEPRIZE
Societies are now submitting details of their events for Civic Societies Week 2010. Activities include the usual range of specially arranged guided walks, exhibitions and meetings. As ever, societies taking part will be considered for the annual prize – the award of the coveted Peter Spawforth Trophy for Excellence and Achievement (right), won by Skipton in Craven in 2008 and Scarborough and District in 2009, and a cash prize of £250 provided by YHACS. This year, the results of the judges’ deliberations will be presented at the Autumn YHACS meeting to be held in Selby Town Hall on Saturday the 6th Novem-ber. K Trickett
CIVIC VOICE’ CIVIC VOICE’SS “L “LOVEOVE L LOCALOCAL” C” CAMPAIGNAMPAIGN
Photo courtesy of K Trickett
The first results of Civic Voice’s Love Local campaign, based on a survey of 250 local civic volunteers, re-veals the top 5 things that people love about where they live as:
1. Lots of open space and gardens
2. Having a natural setting and views
3. A friendly and spirited community
4. Well cared for historic buildings
5. A range of cultural and community activities
People in the survey are most fearful they will lose historic buildings and street patterns, green fields and open spaces and the independent shops and markets that they love about their area.
Civic Voice is now asking everyone to join the Love Local campaign to see if they agree with these results and to inform its campaign priorities.
Tony Burton, Director of Civic Voice said, “Everyone has the right to live somewhere they can be proud of. The civic movement should be in the driving seat of a
new politics which responds to the pride people have in the place where they live. Civic Voice will
campaign nationally and work locally to protect the local places we can be proud of and to
improve those which should offer more to their
communities.”
Paula Ridley, the new Chair of Civic Voice said, “We now recognise that local communities are ready to take a much stronger role in shaping the future of their area. The civic movement has so much to offer and it is both an honour and a chal-lenge to lead Civic Voice in developing a new role in promoting civic pride. As the first results of the Love Local campaign show – people have a
passion and pride for their local place and a
concern for its future. We want to
extend this passion to others.”
Abstracted from the Civic Voice
website www. civicvoice.org.uk
from where you can obtain more information about the campaign, and add your views.
Page 7
WWAKEFIELDAKEFIELD HOD HODSS ANDAND THETHE A ARTRT OFOF B BARBARAARBARA H HEPWORTHEPWORTH
This year, Wakefield Civic Society will be kicking off its Heritage Open Days activities with a special showing of The Art of Barbara Hepworth, a 50-minute film on the life and work of the Wakefield-born sculptor. The film will be shown on the evening of 9th September and is open to all. To book places, please contact Kevin Trickett by email at [email protected] This special showing is a joint venture between Wakefield Civic Society and The Friends of Wakefield Art Galleries and Museums. It has been made possible through the producers of the film, Illuminations Media, who have given permission for the film to be shown. Members of the Society and the Friends also have the option of a guided walk before the film to look at some of the sculptor’s work that is on display in the city centre and at the city’s Girls’ High School. K Trickett
NEXT YHACS MEETINGNEXT YHACS MEETING
SATURDAY 24SATURDAY 24THTH JULY 2010 JULY 2010 ATAT
EEMMANUELMMANUEL C CHURCHHURCH BRIDLINGTONBRIDLINGTON
OUR GUEST SPEAKER OUR GUEST SPEAKER --
GGRAHAMRAHAM B BELLELL, D, DIRECTORIRECTOR OFOF THETHE N NORTHORTH OFOF E ENGLANDNGLAND CIVICCIVIC TRUSTTRUST
Howden Civic Society/The Church of the Sacred Heart
Victoria County History - East Riding of Yorkshire jointly present
“Changes in Religious Belief & Practice in Howdenshire” By Dr Sue Parkinson
Religion in Howdenshire has undergone huge changes from medieval Catholicism in the Minster and parish churches, through the enforced and sometimes unwelcome changes of the Reformation, and the arrival of various religious groups in Howden and its nearby villages during the following centuries.
“Yorkshire Connections of the Catholic Architect JOSEPH HANSOM
1803-1882” By Penelope Harris
Joseph Aloysius Hansom, born in York, became an important Victorian architect and designer. He was responsible for the Church of the Sacred Heart at Howden, opened on 3 July 1851, as well as the more famous Birmingham Town Hall and the Hansom Cab!
Wednesday, 7 July 2010 7.30 pm
Church of the Sacred Heart, Knedlington Road, Howden, DN14 7DG
All Welcome - Light Refreshments available. Entrance: £2
The annual Ossett Gala is to be held in the precinct, for the 21st year, on Saturday, July 10th. The Gala is an annual summer festival, which raises money for local charities. As always this will be a fun day out for all the family with dozens of craft stalls, entertainment, music, food and fun. A safe day out for the whole family. Wakefield Geranium and Fuchia Society 31st Annual Show is to be held in the Town Hall itself. After last year’s success in selling the “I’m an Ossett Shopper” shopping bags, Ossett Civic Trust will once again be having a stall.
Photo from Ossett Gala Website Amongst other things we will be campaigning to have the ugly recycling skips outside the Maypole pub moved to a more suitable place, out of the Town Centre – they do not belong in the middle of Ossett! Ossett has an excellent recycling timetable – collection of paper and cardboard, garden waste, bottles and cans and finally, all other household waste. Why do we need skips in the centre of town for paper, cardboard and bottles when these are all regularly collected from our homes? Come along to our stall at the Gala and give your support. Angela Taylor
HOWDEN CIVIC SOCIETYHOWDEN CIVIC SOCIETY 77THTH J JULYULY M MEETINGEETING A ANNOUNCEMENTNNOUNCEMENT
Anthony Mann, who had been our Chair for a num-ber of years, decided to step down from this posi-tion to concentrate on his business interests and Alan Hall, previously the Vice-Chair, was elected as Chair at the Society’s AGM, held on 10th May. This means that the Society’s contact details have changed (see below.)
It was decided at the AGM that the Society’s main task will continue to be that of a “critical friend” to Bradford Council. Thus we will support those aspects of the Council’s regeneration strategy which seek to enhance Bradford’s unique heritage, such as the cur-rent improvements being made to city centre pedes-trian areas. At the same time the Society will con-tinue to try and persuade the Council to take a lead on such things as the building of a cross-rail link – which recently seems to have attracted the support of prominent local politicians and business leaders. And the Society will continue to urge the Council to re-think some of its decisions; for example we con-tinue to be opposed to the demolition of the former Odeon cinema.
Meanwhile the political scene in Bradford has changed. The Bradford Centre Regeneration quango has recently ceased to exist and the whole regen-eration agenda has now been taken back “in-house” by Bradford Council, which has itself changed com-plexion, with Labour now the dominant party.
The Society has recently learned the following:
• The Council is to set up a workshop to test the idea of a cross-rail link (as proposed by the Society in its booklet Common Sense Regeneration). A report is to be published later this year.
• A forthcoming Bradford District Regeneration Summit is to focus on the whole issue of transport (something many Society members have felt is long overdue).
• The Council has secured government funding for a mid-term project to develop the Bradford canal route between the city centre and Shipley, as an Ur-ban Eco-Settlement. Although this does not necessar-ily mean re-opening the canal itself, this proposal concurs with some of the ideas put forward in Com-mon Sense Regeneration.
Bradford has 6,400 listed buildings of which about 1,000 are not dwellings. The Council is to look at some of these to see what might be done to encour-age their redevelopment. Again, this is something the Society proposed in Common Sense Regeneration.
Interesting times ahead.
Please note that the Society’s postal address is now
SOME DEVELOPMENTS AT BRADFORD CIVIC SOCIETYSOME DEVELOPMENTS AT BRADFORD CIVIC SOCIETY
EENGLISHNGLISH HERITAGEHERITAGE NEWSNEWS
PLACES OF WORSHIP AT RISK
English Heritage are expected to launch their Places of Worship at Risk initiative on July 1st. They intend carrying out a research project in various places throughout England, in our region the Bradford area has been chosen and Historic Environment Champions, conservation officers and amenity societies will be in-vited to a public meeting. English Heritage has given over £3M grants to the region’s cathedrals since 1991. £15M has been pledged for repairs to 89 Grade I and II* Places of Worship since 2002 and £8M found for 61 Grade II buildings. But how many of the 1360 listed places of worship in the region need support? EH need help with research, you can register by visiting the English Heritage website.
UNDERSTANDING PLACE – HISTORIC AREA ASSESSMENTS
We have just heard about a new publication, titled as above. It looks to be a very useful document, cop-ies are available from EH, quote product code 51604. Ring 0970 333 1181 or email [email protected]
Page 10 Volume 6 , Issue 2
Unlocking the wardrobe of Georgian York’s upper classes, Fairfax House latest exhibition of costume, “Dress to Impress”, throws a spotlight on the clothes and accessories worn by members of ‘polite society’.
“Dress to Impress”, which runs from Saturday 19th June to Sunday, 21st November, is the first of its kind in York and reveals the sumptuous fabrics, skilled craftsmanship and elegant embroidered detail of costume from the mid-eighteenth century, 1730 to 1780. It explores the fashions and changing styles of this extravagant period and looks at how fashion was conveyed to the provinces.
Drawing upon collections from around Yorkshire including York Castle Museum, The Bowes Museum and Leeds Museums & Galleries, this exhibition brings together a range of superb men’s and women’s fashions including corsetry, shoes, exquisite fans and even headwear.
The exhibition showcases the elements of dress typically worn by the upper echelons of society, and using documentary evidence specifically reveals the clothing worn by the original inhabitants of Fairfax House, Viscount Fairfax and his daughter, during the 1760s.
On display throughout Fairfax House and in the museum’s special exhibition space, “Dress to Impress” leads the visitor through the house and offers the rare opportunity for these costumes to be viewed in their contextual setting.
Fairfax House Director, Hannah Phillip, explains: “As the northern centre for Georgian ‘polite society’ and social arena for members of the aristocracy and gentry, York played host during the winter season to a round of operas, balls, assemblies and private
YORK CIVIC TRUST YORK CIVIC TRUST
“DRESS TO IMPRESS”“DRESS TO IMPRESS” RREVEALINGEVEALING G GEORGIANEORGIAN F FASHIONASHION: 1730 : 1730 –– 1780 1780
parties. Dressing to impress one’s neighbours, friends and peers at such social gatherings was a necessity not an option.
The detailing and craftsmanship of this period is second to none. As curator of this exhibition, it has been a privilege to be working with these costumes and to have the opportunity to bring them to the attention of our visitors. It is such an evocative period, pre-French revolution and the introduction of the simplified empire line style of dress, when fashion was about rococo splendour, exquisite silks, ornamentation, intricate detailing and above all else creating the right shape. In some ways it was also quite a daring period with very low cut décolletage being the fashion of the day.”
“Dress to Impress” presents another facet to Georgian domestic life in a townhouse previously unexplored at Fairfax House. Admission to the museum also includes entry to the exhibition and costs £6.00 (concessions £5.00). Please visit www.fairfaxhouse.co.uk for more
information on “Dress to Impress” and associated special events.
I am not sure that many people in Ossett will know that we are the proud owners of a Pinfold. Pin-folds were originally built to hold animals which were found straying from their owners’ land or that were found grazing on the common without common rights. The ani-mals would not be re-leased until a fine had been paid to the ‘pinder’ who was an officer of the Lord of the Manor and who looked after the Pin-fold. Breaking into the pinfold to release the animals was an offence punishable by a fine and possible imprisonment. Pinfolds were also used by drovers taking their stock to market. For a small fee they were al-lowed to pen their ani-mals overnight.
Pinfolds are known to date from the medieval period. By the 16th cen-tury most villages and townships would have had a pinfold. Most Pin-folds that remain today will probably date from the 16th and 17th centuries. However, the Pinfold here in Ossett dates only from 1871. I am led to believe that the original medieval Pinfold was somewhere in the area of Dale street, opposite the Co-operative Supermarket.
On April 17th, 1871, the local Board of Health (forerunner of Ossett Borough Council) resolved to exchange the original Pinfold of 144 square yards with a Mr Gartside, for a plot adjacent to the West Well (120 square yards). Gartside was to pay £50 and was to build a new Pinfold with pitch faced walls 3 yards high.
Our ‘new’ 140 year old Pinfold, here in Ossett, is on West Wells Road, opposite the bottom of Headlands Road. However not many people know that over 12 months ago one of the walls was demolished,
courtesy of a joyrider! Wakefield Council originally refused to take responsibility for the Pinfold, saying they have no records of ownership. Several searches have been done and this appears to be true – so far
we can find no record of reg-istration of ownership. How-ever, as the Pinfold is in Os-sett, at the side of the road and has a 3 feet drop, the Highways Department said that they would rebuild the wall for us. I contacted English Heritage who kindly came out to look at the damage. They offered to have the Pinfold ‘listed’ and sent us the specifi-cations to restore the wall back to its former glory. The Highways Department prom-ised to follow the specifica-tions carefully. In the middle of May work began well - the men rebuilding the wall ap-peared to know exactly what they were doing (the specifi-cations were very complex). I was disappointed to visit the wall, after they had finished, to find a mish-mash of colours of mortar, the hearting stones
had been taken away and replaced by cement and the finish was inappropriate. However, we would like to thank Wakefield Council for taking on the repair, even though they say they are not responsible – they are looking into the problems.
We are determined to see this project through to a satisfactory and proper finish – we want the Pinfold back to its original state - the flagstones are to be re-moved, the ground grassed and a new gate is to be put in place. It may take some time, but we will get there in the end. Our heritage is important to us in Os-sett and we will fight to preserve it. When it is all fin-ished we then hope to have an Interpretive Panel in place to educate our visitors. If anyone feels that they could help us in any way, please get in touch: Angela Taylor 01924 270729
Angela Taylor
E X E C U T I V E O F F I C E R S & C O M M I T T E E
Thursday July 1st Launch of Places of Worship at Risk Campaign Sat 24th July 1.00pm YHACS MEETING at BRIDLINGTON Guest Speaker: Graham Bell, Director, North of
England Civic Trust. 9th– 12th September Heritage Open Days Sat 6th November YHACS MEETING at SELBY, including the presenta-
tion of awards for Civic Societies Week
Page 12 Volume 6 , Issue 2
F O R T H C O M I N G E V E N T S / D A T E S
Reg. Charity No. 1112290
www.yhacs.org.uk
Please send any article submissions, comments, letters or questions to the editor: David Moss Editor Tel: 01757 268 418
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