Harrogate, Skipton, Grassington, Hebden and Pateley Bridge all claim Stump Cross Caverns as their own. That will give you a clue as to where you can find Stump Cross; in the middle of nowhere on Greenhow Hill.
Do not be put off from making a visit as the B6265 was conveniently built to run passed the caves and Grimworth Reservoir.

To me they are called caves but to many it is Stump Cross Caverns. Under the limestone there are 4 miles or more of caves, one mile of which have been open to the public for many years. The cave system was discovered in 1860 by lead miners William and Mark Newbould. Stump Cross became a must visit tourist attraction in the 1960′s and 70′s then four Reindeer fossils and animal bones were discovered in Reindeer Cave and this was opened to the public in 2000.

A range of stalactites, stalagmites and unusual rock formations are illuminated along level pathways that make a descent into the caves an unforgettable experience for people of all ages. Sparkling stalactites (tights go down as I was taught) and stalagmites (growing upward) add an extra ingredient to the water sculpted rock walls of the cave. Some of the stalagmites at Stump Cross Caverns are known to be at least 170,000 years old and caves themselves must be very much older.
Many have been given special names like the ‘Butchers block’ which is lit in bloody red lighting.

Whatelse Can Stump Cross Offer

There are good tea rooms offering a robust sandwich and a good cuppa. The lecture theatre displays a 20 minute video detailing the history of the caves and the local area. Useful for the school parties who find a surprise in the all year round even temperature in the caves.
The obligatory gift shop stocks a wide variety of geological pieces including minerals, fossils and crystals.
Locally there are walks over the hills or around Grimwith reservoir and all the towns near by offer accommodation and food.
Locally it is a good area for birds such as Eurasian Wigeon, Teal, Geese and at various times Ringed Plover, Lapwing, Common Redshank, Curlew, Reed Bunting, Lesser Redpoll, Whinchat and Sedge Warbler have all been spotted.

Credits
Stump cross cave pano by vapour trail CC BY-NC-ND 2.0
Stump Cross Caverns by spli CC BY-SA 2.0
Stump Cross Caverns by Jez B CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

The Band of Hope started in 1847 when Ann Jane Carlile a temperance pioneer was invited to Leeds to speak at some children’s meetings. She was convinced that children suffered because of the ready availability of ‘strong drink’. Hope UK still works as a children’s charity ‘enabling children to make drug free choices’. ‘First you take a drink, then the drink takes a drink, then the drink takes you’ Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald.

After exposure to the Band of Hope William Booth and his wife Catherine opened The Christian Revival Society renamed in 1878 The Salvation Army. There are many icons associated with The Salvation Army including  The Citadels, The War Cry, the Red Shield and the slogan “Blood and Fire”. (Representing the Blood which was shed by Jesus for our sins and the Fire of the Holy Spirit).

The good works of the Salvation Army include

3,000,000 meals served every year at community and residential centres
79,000 prisoners visited each year in 134 prisons
3,200 homeless people given food and shelter every night in 57 centres
709 local church and community centres
636 elderly people accommodated every night in 17 residential centres
300 youth clubs providing a caring environment for young people
120 drop-in centres offering support and help for people in need
70 day centres for elderly and disabled people
50 nurseries and playgroups
30 Red Shield support centres for military personnel in the UK, Germany and the Falkland Islands
10 people reunited every working day with their families through the Family Tracing Service

Perhaps the most obvious icon is the Salvation Army Band that is one of the activities that supports the necessary fund raising activities.

‘Eleven pence halfpenny more to make a bob’ fund raising slogan.

Photo credit
Salvation Armys Hope in the City Breakfast presented by Rogers Wireless photos by CIBC-PacBluePrinting and RonSombilonGallery-109.jpg by RON SOMBILON MEDIA, ART and PHOTOGRAPHY, CC BY-ND 2.0

20 mph speed limit - Pateley Bridge

20 mph zones are becoming increasingly popular with local residents because statistics seem to suggest 20mph zones are effective in reducing fatalaties. It also makes for a more pleasing environment with parents happier to let children play on the roads. York and Sheffield are amongst Yorkshire towns and cities that treat 20mph speed zones as the default speed limit in built-up areas.

Background to Speed Zones

Evidence suggests that if people are hit by a car at 20mph only 1 in 10 will die as a result. If the speed is 30mph it jumps to 5 in 10. At 40mph most die.

20 mph speed limits also encourage more environmentally friendly methods of transport such as cycling and walking.

20 mph speed limits are not always popular with motorists who argue it is unnecessarily strict to keep speed down to 20mph. Also, the difficulty of 20 mph speed limit zones is that most drivers ignore them anyway. To be effective 20mph speed limits need to be enforced with speed cameras or road calming methods introduced – such as narrowing roads.

Evidence on 20mph Speed Zones

• 20mph zones have made a major contribution to London’s road
safety record. In areas where zones have been introduced there has
been a 42 per cent reduction in casualties.
• The estimated benefit to London from casualty reductions in its
400 existing 20mph zones has a value of at least £20 million per
year.
• There is some evidence to suggest 20mph limits may make a
positive contribution to encouraging walking and cycling,
improving traffic flow and reducing emissions but insufficient
research has been done on these potential wider effects.

20 mph speed limits at DFT

Campaigner Myths against 20 MPH Speed Zones

The safety organisations 20 is Plenty and Environmental Transport Association ask “Why we can’t” rather than explore “How we can” when it comes to 20′s Plenty. Here are some false road blocks which may be put in your way :-

Speed Bumps

You can’t put in 20 mph without physical traffic calming. That is both unpopular and expensive. No-one will want it. NOT CORRECT

Slower journeys

If you slow traffic down to 20 mph then it is obvious that journeys will take 50% longer. This will cause delays and is not acceptable. NOT CORRECT

Police won’t enforce it.

The police will not enforce 20 mph. Therefore it will be ignored by motorists. NOT CORRECT

It increases Pollution

If you put in speed bumps and drivers accelerate between them, then this constant acceleration and braking does increase fuel usage. But where 20mph limits are put in place then this encourages steadier driving using less fuel with less pollution. It also encourages people to walk or cycle and therefore reducing their car-created pollution entirely. Hence it is NOT CORRECT that 20mph limits increase pollution.

All of these are myths which can be shown to be false. Click on the buttons on the left to see why they are false and the argument against them.

Support your local campaign for 20 mph speed zones – it makes sense!

Oliver Onions was a contemporary of J B Priestley both were born in Bradford and both authors of significant talent. Oliver Onions wrote some of the finest Ghost stories of the time and his tales of the supernatural are still worthy of being read.

In his early life he was schooled in Bradford living in Undercliffe, Manchester Road and Little Horton. He became a pupil at Bradford Grammar School and as a student attended evening classes at Technical college (as many folk use to do).
After time at the National Art Training School, Oliver was apprenticed to a printer where he illustrated books and acted as a printers draughtsman.
As a war artist during the South African War he turned to journalism and then writing his first novel.

Specialist Subject The Novels of Oliver Onions

Many of Oliver Onions books were of interest to the people of the West Riding as they embodied autobiographical detail and memories from the end of the 19th century.
Oliver Onions oeuvre of 40 novels may not all be in print but a selection of his work is available via amazon
Widdershins (illustrated above) is a collection of short ghost stories Widdershins means “contrary to the course of the Sun”
Oliver Onions was a man of care and detail and this is demonstrated in his stories such as Back o’ the Moon and Ghosts in Daylight.

‘Oliver Onions is unique in the realms of ghost story writers in that his tales are so far ranging in their background and substance that they are not easily categorised. His stories are powerfully charged explorations of psychical violence, their effects heightened by detailed character studies graced with a powerful poetic elegance. In simple terms Oliver Onions goes for the cerebral rather than the jugular. However, make no mistake, his ghost stories achieve the desired effect. They draw you in, enmeshing you in their unnerving and disturbing narratives. This collection contains such masterpieces as The Rosewood Door, The Ascending Dream, The Painted Face and The Beckoning Fair One’ by David Stuart Davies.

Oliver died in 1961 at the age of 87 and I wonder if he is now taking part in some of his own tales of the supernatural or may be he is a genuine ghost and not having to fictionalise his writing.

The original wooden castle keep in York was destroyed by fire in 1069 by locals unhappy with William the Conqueror but it was rebuilt again also in wood.

A more bloody event took place 100 years later. According to the inscription on a commemorative tablet:-
‘On the night of Friday 16 March 1190 some 150 Jews and Jewesses of York having sought protection in the Royal Castle on this site from a mob incited by Richard Malebisse and others chose to die at each other’s hands rather than renounce their faith.’ As the few survivors exited the keep the following day they were set upon and killed by the besiegers and angry mob that they had feared. The protection the Jews had had from Henry ll was dramatically diminished under Richard l for whom they had to contribute ransom money.

In the thirteenth century the keep was rebuilt in stone and later became known as Clifford’s Tower after Roger de Clifford, who was executed by Edward II for treason in 1322. Clifford was reputedly hanged in chains from the walls of the tower until dead. Enough to create a ghastly ghost.

If you take one of the several ghost walks available then you will be regaled by further tales of the walls running red with blood on certain anniversaries. Charred wooden beams have been recovered from deep in the ground as evidence of the early death by fire and this also contributes to the ghost tellers tales. For 5 more ghost tales read Ghosts of York

The History of the Castle of York from Its Foundation to the Present Day, with an Account of the Building of Clifford’s Tower by Thomas Parso Cooper

This is a reproduction of a book published before 1923 and that seems to becoming a norm for republishing old books by digitisation,. There are many other books about ghosts at Clifford’s Castle and The Diaries of Lady Anne Clifford on amazon.

The Bradford League produced some great cricketers and employed others like Sir Leary Constantine. The top star on many peoples list would be Jim Laker 1922-86 who was born in Frizinghall and attended Salt’s school. Jim played at Roberts Park for Saltaire Cricket Club from the age of 16.
Like many Yorkshire lads Jim Laker nursed ambitions to play for ‘Gods Own County’ but after an invitation to perform in the nets at Headingley Jim slipped through Yorkshires fingers when they turned him down. Obviously disappointed but recognising his need to improve Jim focused on developing his spin bowling.
In 1946 Jim Laker signed on special registration for Surrey where he was to enjoy a successful career. Even though on occasion Yorkshire would have like to tempt him back Jim remained loyal to his second county.

Jim Laker Playing for England and MCC

During a test trial for England against the Rest of the World in 1950 Jim recorded the most remarkable bowling figures of 8 wickets for 2 runs in 14 overs. Fittingly this was at a Yorkshire ground, Park Avenue back in Jim’s own home town.
1956 was Jim Lakers year and ‘Lakers Match’ was the test match that made Jim a national hero. Selected to plat against Australia at Old Trafford Jim bowled his socks off and the Aussie out. Over the two innings Jim took 19 wickets for just 90 runs!
Jim played 46 times for England or the MCC side between 1946-1959. He took 193 wickets at an average of 21.24 and scored 676 runs in 63 innings.

It’s Kennington Oval on Saturday 15 August 1953. Hassett (left) won the toss and decided to bat first. The series was in the balance and, for that reason, six days had been allotted to this, the final test. But they were not needed. The match was finished in mid-afternoon on the fourth day with an easy victory for England. The Ashes had been won.’
The England team including three Yorkshiremen was Len Hutton, Bill Edrich, Peter May, Denis Compton, Tom Graveney, Trevor Bailey, Godfrey Evans, Jim Laker, Tony Lock, Fred Trueman and Alec Bedser.

So Jim Laker gave Yorkshire ‘the slip’ or more accurately Yorkshire slipped when they allowed Jim to develop his talent at Surrey. After retiring Jim made a short comeback playing for Essex. Jim Laker then developed ‘new spin’ as a journalist and commentator for radio and television.

Slipless in Settle

Slipless In Settle: A Slow Turn Around Northern Cricket by Harry Pearson is a book on Yorkshire village and League cricket that will give you a wry smile or three. At times tender then bawdy, Pearson’s prose is none the less as steady and measured as a glob of gravy running down the side of a Yorkshire pudding. For anyone wishing to sample ‘cricket with the crusts on’.
‘Slipless in Settle is well worth the detour’ Sunday Telegraph
‘Packed with comic tales to delight the cricket aficionado and non-fan alike’ Daily Mirror
We would recommend this to every sports lover if we were still in business’ Yorkshire Sports 1900 – 1981 (t’pink un.)

Photo Credits
Saltaire Cricket by dmx_leeds CC BY-NC 2.0
Lindsay Hassett and Len Hutton by pandrcutts CC BY 2.0