Issue 41— Winter 2023/2024 Seasons Greetings & Best Wishes for 2024 Find out where this spooky character came from, meet our newest councillors, read about the latest news and updates from your Parish Council and note some festive dates for the village. Halloween Stone at Crooke Lane
2 New Councillors We are pleased to welcome two new councillors. Here are some details of their backgrounds and interests to introduce them. Susan Scott I was elected on to Wilsden Parish Council in May of this year. I am also a member of the Wilsden Village Hall Management Committee as a Parish Council representative and of The Green Spaces Committee. My husband Philip and I moved to Wilsden from Monk Fryston near Selby on 1st July, 2022, having lived there for 24 years and before that we were born and bred in Leeds. We decided to move to be nearer our daughter, son-in-law and two grandchildren who live in Cullingworth. We love our cottage and have settled in really well. The countryside around here is so beautiful and the community spirit of the village is second to none. I am also on the Neighbourhood Planning Working Group which is very important for the village's future I believe. I volunteer at the Wilsden Community Post Office one afternoon a week and also at the Sue Ryder Charity Shop in Bingley. I enjoy keeping fit, walking, eating out, going to the Theatre, holidays and looking after our grandchildren when I can. All of the above keep me very busy and are helping me to get to know lots of people in the village. Ian Cartwright I was born in 1945 in Manningham and lived in Bradford until 1974, with breaks at Oxford and Huddersfield to acquire an MA and a Graduate Certificate in Education. In 1974 I married and moved to Wilsden and have lived here on the Main Street ever since. I have worked in education most of that time, mostly at Bradford College until retirement. I was a founder member of the Gardening Association and have long been a member of the Parent Group at the Wilsden Medical Practice. I am interested in gardening (as a hobby) and in health issues (as of necessity).
3 November- December Parish Councillor Surgeries in the Post Office Message from the Chair - Lucy Golton I really hope you all enjoyed the 'Crooke Lane' display this year? A new 'nickname' would be greatly appreciated; some know it as 'The arch', 'Sammy's corner', or shall we just leave it as 'the thing at Crooke Lane'!? Suggestions are welcome. It was something different for Wilsden and the Parish Council always enjoys bringing the residents that 'something' to smile about. Wonder what will happen at Christmas? After many years, long discussions, and many negotiations, you will be pleased to hear the Bus Shelter, and land adjoining, have finally been taken over by the parish council on a long-term lease. We are currently working on a renovation programme, much to many people's relief! With the forthcoming D-Day event in 2024, discussions are being held to see what Wilsden can do to celebrate this event. Proposals are for lighting a Beacon at the highest point for all to see, but this will need planning and plenty of volunteers, Any ideas or volunteering to make this event happen please get in touch as your input is vital. Finally, Christmas will be soon upon us, and We wish you a very Merry Christmas and New Year! Chair of Wilsden Parish Council Lucy Golton Ian Cartwright Tuesday Tuesday Tuesday 5 th December 12th December 19th December 9 – 10 a.m. 9 – 10 a.m. 9 – 10 a.m. Post Office Post Office Post Office Peter Ketley Tuesday 28th November 9 – 10 a.m. Post Office Susan Scott Thursday Thursday 23rd November 7 th December 2 - 3 p.m. 2 - 3 p.m. Post Office Post Office
4
5
6 Yorkshire In Bloom 2023 Result Christine Schreck, Lindsay Horsley and Catherine Wossick represented Wilsden in Bloom at the 2023 Yorkshire in Bloom awards in September. This year we took a big leap forward by entering the whole village in the 'Small Town' category (RHS designation based on population). We are delighted to have received a Silver Gilt award and also to be announced as the Category Winner. As a self funded group, the Bloom team would like to thank everyone that has supported us in our fundraising efforts throughout the year including all the volunteers that have worked exceptionally hard weeding, gardening, litterpicking etc. to make our village a beautiful place to live. We are also grateful to the team at New Coley Nurseries for their quality plants. Congratulations also go to Wilsden Primary School who received a well deserved Silver Award in the Harrogate Flower Show Young People category. Teachers, pupils, parents, Wilsden Walling Group and WiB pulled together to support their first entry in Yorkshire in Bloom. Let's keep the support going. Around the village During 2023 you will have seen several projects around the village - the Coronation Crown, the long planter at the Suite Centre, barrels around the village, large planters both at the Cricket Club and in the Park. Our fundraising events have given us the funds for seasonal planting of annuals, perennials and bulbs throughout the year. Remembrance Sunday we placed our poppies on the lampposts and tidied the Cenotaph bedding. We are very grateful to the volunteers who have knitted/crocheted poppies for us and thanks to a very generous donation from a couple in the village we will be able to purchase more poppies from the Royal British Legion and increase the number of poppies on lampposts next year. December sees the return of our Christmas Wreath Workshops which have proved so popular we have expanded to two dates : Sunday 3rd December and Monday 4th December. There may be a small number of places still available - please check with Sue Griffin via our email: wilsdeninbloom@outlook.com Throughout 2024 we will continue to work on new projects and support the volunteers in the Park and Closed Cemetery with their plans. Any volunteers who would like to join our small, friendly team would be most welcome. Thank you again for all your support, Christine, Sue, Lindsay, Dawn and Catherine - Wilsden In Bloom
7 Bilberry Bank It is over a year since Bilberry Bank was purchased on behalf of the community and the Parish Council has spent the time considering what, if any, management actions needed to be taken. Bilberry Bank has changed significantly over the last 50-75 years from predominantly heathland with some mature trees to predominantly woodland. One of the results of this change is that the bilberry, from which the area got its name, is struggling. Birch trees have taken over much of the area so the shade, they create is preventing bilberry thriving. Many of the self-seeded birch are so close together that they are thin and spindly. There are also areas where bracken is reducing the biodiversity of the area, especially under the power cable that cuts through the area. In addition to the nature recovery work that is needed we also know that some the footpaths that many of us use are not registered as public rights of way. We felt that it was important that the community ownership of the area should be recognised by signs at the main entrance points to the area. When planning what work was required, we believed it is important that the cost of the work should not result in significant increases to the precept. We can report on some success in this objective. Firstly, we have been successful in obtaining a grant of £7,000 from the West Yorkshire Mayor’s Climate Community Grants Scheme to carry out some selective thinning of birch. We propose that the installation of signs at the entrances to Bilberry Bank will be paid from our Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) fund. All housing developments pay a CIL levy which funds new infrastructure and the Parish Council receives share of this. The Parish Council can use it to fund new capital projects. The work on limiting the spread of bracken will largely be done by volunteers. We have also identified that now we own Bilberry Bank, establishing new Public Rights of Way is much simpler and less bureaucratic. Councillor Peter Allison
8 Inspired by Bilberry Bank John Nicholson, The Airedale Poet, enjoyed the equivalent of his ’15 minutes of fame’ in the first half of the 19th century. Much of his work is in a style unlikely to appeal to 21st century taste, such as his best-selling Airedale, which ranges geographically from Malham to Leeds and historically from ancient Britons to the 1820s (and goes on for 25 pages in my edition.) Readers may be wondering what this very dead poet is doing in the Wilsdener. Well, he is not just the Airedale Poet, but to some extent our poet. For a few years from 1822 he lived at Harden Beck and then at Hewenden. Both these locations provided inspiration for some of his poems, particularly the shorter works with rather beautiful descriptions of the natural world in such works as Lines Written at Goit Stock, The Return of the Swallow, Evening in April. Nicholson worked intermittently as a wool sorter or wool comber in various mills but much preferred to wander and seek inspiration in nature. Several 19th century local historians and biographers tell of Nicholson’s habit of rising early, sometimes as early as 4am in summer, and spending hours on a large flat rock on Wilsden Bank, gazing down on the beautiful valley of Harden Beck, or sitting on the rock composing and writing his work, not only the shorter poems but also the marathon Airedale. On Wilsden Bank, better known now as Bilberry Bank, there is a large flat rock, well known a generation or two ago as the orange rock. Here our poet might have sat, although according to one account, a rock close by was known as Nicholson’s seat. From here his view of the valley would have been unimpeded by decades of untended trees. He would have been able to see and sample the bilberries, which even in living memory were plentiful until swamped by bracken and the pretty but all-enveloping alien balsam. We are not quite finished linking our poet to our village. A dramatic and gripping poem The Poacher is based on the exploits of two real local men, one the son of a mother well known for her illicit whisky still at Harecroft. It is interesting that, although the poachers come to a bad end, the poet challenges the morality of the times when he asks who are most to blame, the poachers or their “respectable” customers. In 1824 Nicholson wrote a rather fanciful work On the New Church at Wilsden which opened in 1826. His final piece of writing in our midst is his signature in the register of Wilsden Temperance Society in 1835, a pledge sincerely meant but not long kept. Astrid Hansen
9 News from the Green Spaces Committee It has been a challenging summer in the park, following the unexpected trenching of one of the principal beds alongside the Main Street entrance by Northern Powergrid laying power to the new electrical vehicle charging stations in the adjacent carpark. Despite the parish council having a service level agreement Bradford Council failed to inform us and many plants – which could have been saved with prior consultation – were destroyed, to the understandable upset of the volunteers who care for the bed. Eventually a decent job of restitution was made and helped by a combination of rain, sun and financial compensation, the restored bed looks better than ever. In the last Wilsdener I mentioned that the two weeping ash trees in the park would have to be removed, due to suspected ash dieback. Since then, contrary opinions on the state of the health of the trees have been received and no firm decision has yet been taken. August saw the unveiling, under leaden skies, of the information board in the closed churchyard. The board provides information about the now demolished St Matthew’s church and the wildflowers that can now be seen in the churchyard. Some good news. Our aim for Wilsden Park has always been to deliver an improved visual impact with planting that offers a wide range of seasonal variation in flowering coupled with an enhanced sensory impact. The Royd House Trust have given us a grant to enable continuation of the renewal of the shrub bed that borders the Bowling Green. This will be done in the next few months. The summer planting displays have now been taken down and work is in hand to ensure that spring is welcomed with a good display of daffodils and crocuses. Green Spaces Committee members and Friends of Wilsden Park volunteers have planted over 100 kilograms of spring flowering bulbs in the Park to give a proper welcome to Spring. Peter Ketley, Chair of the Green Spaces Committee
10 Wilsden Calendar 2024 Another wonderful collection of entries for the Wilsden Photography competition this year resulting in a very difficult task of selecting the winning 12 photos for the Wilsden Calendar 2024. Yet again a fantastic calendar has been created which will make lovely Christmas gifts for loved ones. These are now on sale at Wilsden Community Post Office so buy soon to avoid disappointment! We have kept the price at £8 so that as many villagers as possible can purchase these and help to support our Post Office and also Wilsden Village Hall. Thank you to everyone who entered the competition and also the 12 local businesses who sponsored the project as the fees from both helped towards the printing costs and without which we would not be able to produce these amazing calendars. Wilsden Postcards The Community Post Office has received a number of requests for postcards showing views of Wilsden from both visitors and residents. As we have seen from the popularity of the Wilsden Calendar over the last few years there is a ready audience for views of our village and the countryside around us and we looked at ways to meet this demand. We have a large number of expert amateur photographers in our village so decided to run a competition to select images that could become postcards that would be sold in the Post Office. The images had to be taken in the Wilsden Parish Council area, showed the character of the area and was clearly identifiable as Wilsden. From the many entries eight images were selected and the postcards are on sale in the Post Office for 70p.
11 Festive Dates Sat 2nd Dec Senior Christmas Party 2pm- 4pm at the village hall Sun 3rd Dec Christmas Lights Switch On 6pm start in Wilsden Park (Carols followed by light switch on at about 6:20pm) Sun 10th Dec Christmas Market 10am- 4pm at the village hall
12