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The way it used to be, kids...
THE past has been brought to the present thanks to a new project. Virginia Mason reports
HISTORY can be dull and boring – but for a group of Calderdale schoolchildren it has been brought to life.
The days when klaxons or whistles sounded to beckon the workers to the mills, bath nights were once a week in a tin tub in front of the fire and water was fetched from springs and wells, have been transported from the past to the present with vivid clarity.
These bygone times when cooking and baking were done on coal or wood fires and a trip to the toilet meant going outside, have been recalled in a new book, Now . . .Then. . .Mill Bank.
The recollections have been put together by the Mill Bank group, a voluntary association of Mill Bank residents, which was formed in 2002 to protect and enhance the village.
The book, which gives a glimpse of life in the picturesque Pennine village around the beginning of the 20th century, was written with young people in mind and as a result, it is proving a big hit with pupils of St Mary's School, Mill Bank.
The book has already been used as a teaching aid with children taken on a village history walk to see for themselves some of the things described in the book, including the sites of former village shops, pubs – even outside toilets.
"I couldn't believe there were so many outside toilets. I would not have liked to live back then," laughs 10-year-old Jack Heap, a Year 6 pupil. "Going on the walk was great, especially looking at the old wells."
Fellow classmate, Kiera Janicwiez, 11, agrees.
"It must have been quite hard living back then but I have enjoyed finding out all about it.
"It was especially interesting to learn about a pub that was called The Anchor which used to be a field that belongs to my grandad."
The book contains descriptions of what it was like to be a child in the village in an age when there were few cars and they could safely play in the streets, sledging in winter all the way from the chapel to the stream.
There are descriptions too of how the village sounded with church bells ringing out and cartwheels and clogs clattering over the cobbles, as well as the "knock-upper" who woke mill workers by rattling a long pole against their windows.
Other topics include health, families, the home, washing, communications, clothes, play and entertainment, community, transport and travel and religion.
Head teacher of St Mary's, Simon Scott, said the book had been enjoyed by all children at the school.
"It was Year 5 and Year 6 who went on the walk and have been involved in the main but we have put other copies in our library and all the children, of all ages have been interested. They have found it fascinating," he says.
"What is especially nice is that St Mary's is a school where generation upon generation of the same family has attended and the same goes for the village.
"Families have lived here for generations too. This book is really capturing the lives of those generations and it is important that stories are passed down." The Mill Bank group published the book with the help of a grant from Calderdale Council's Rural Development department and forms part of the group's local history work.
Written by Ruth and Michael Beazley, it is richly illustrated with a collection of old photographs from the Mill Bank archive and quirky and enchanting drawings by village artist, Elspeth Walker, a former pupil of St Mary's and now a third year manchester University Student.
"The research was quite slow and painstaking but once we it gathered it together, making sure it was all factually sound, the writing didn't take too long," says Michael, a governor at St Mary's.
Ruth, who is also the author of other histories about the village, said it had been a challenge writing for a younger audience.
"You have to make sure that it is written in a way which is interesting for them but hopefully we have achieved that. Ironically we are now finding that word of the book is growing and the villagers are interested in copies too. Hardly a day goes by without someone knocking at the door or giving us a ring to ask for a copy, which is lovely."
There is no charge for the book, but the Mill Bank Group is inviting donations.
More details about the book and the group's latest calendar are available from Michael and Ruth on 01422 823110 or by visiting
www.mill-bank.org.uk This book is really capturing the lives of those generations and it is important that stories are passed down.” The Mill Bank group published the book with the help of a grant from Calderdale Council’s Rural Development department and forms part of the group’s local history work.
Written by Ruth and Michael Beazley, it is richly illustrated with a collection of old photographs from the Mill Bank archive and quirky and enchanting drawings by village artist, Elspeth Walker, a former pupil of St Mary’s and now a third year manchester University Student.
“The research was quite slow and painstaking but once we it gathered it together, making sure it was all factually sound, the writing didn’t take too long,” says Michael, a governor at St Mary’s.
Ruth, who is also the author of other histories about the village, said it had been a challenge writing for a younger audience.
“You have to make sure that it is written in a way which is interesting for them but hopefully we have achieved that. Ironically we are now finding that word of the book is growing and the villagers are interested in copies too. Hardly a day goes by without someone knocking at the door or giving us a ring to ask for a copy, which is lovely.”
There is no charge for the book, but the Mill Bank Group is inviting donations.
More details about the book and the group’s latest calendar are available from Michael and Ruth on 01422 823110 or by visiting
www.mill-bank.org.uk
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Tuesday 07 February 2012
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