Following my graduation from Tante Marie Culinary Academy, Woking I had the pleasure of working as a private chalet chef in France several years ago and my Bakewell Tart became a firm favourite of my weekly afternoon tea says Alasdair Nunn of RachAls Kitchen.

I think it’s the marriage of the rich, crumbly pastry and the sweet, buttery almond filling combined with the familiarity of strawberry jam which makes this classic tart a real winner!

Makes a 26cm Tart or 6 Small “Individual” Tarts – Feeds Approx. 12 Pate Sucree Pastry:

300g Plain Flour
100g Caster Sugar
150g Butter
4 Egg Yolks

To make the pastry firstly preheat your oven to 200’C / Gas Mark 6 (180’C Fan).

Cream the butter and sugar together with a wooden spoon in a bowl for approx. 5 minutes or until well combined.

Then beat in the egg yolks (one at a time) until fully incorporated into the mixture.

Sift in the flour and mix with your spoon until the mixture comes together as a ball of dough.

Tip the pastry out onto a floured work surface and knead briefly until smooth. Roll out the dough and then carefully place it into a lightly buttered and floured 26cm tart case.

Push the dough into the corners of the case, prick with a fork (all over to ensure the dough doesn’t rise) and then line the pastry case with parchment paper, fill with baking beans and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the beans and parchment paper and bake for a further 5 minutes to ensure you don’t have a soggy bottom!

Remove from the oven and cool.

Bakewell Filling:

200g Butter 200g Sugar
200g Ground Almonds
3/4 Tbsp Strawberry/Raspberry Jam 4 Eggs – Beaten
50g Plain Flour
100g Chopped Glacé Cherries 100g Flaked Almonds
1 Tbsp Icing Sugar / Water

With an electric whisk, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Slowly add the eggs and then add the flour and almonds. Mix well.

To Finish:

Spread the jam and cherries onto the cooled pastry case. Dollop the filling on top of the jam and cherry mixture and spread evenly. Sprinkle over the almonds.

Bake for approx. 30 minutes at 180’C (Fan) – If the flaked almonds start to brown cover the tart with foil.

Meanwhile combine the icing sugar with a few drops of cold water and transfer to a piping bag.

Once baked, allow to cool and then finish with a drizzle of icing sugar – Serve with a fruit coulis if desired.

All over the district, schools and businesses have changed the uses of science labs and factories to produce Personal Protection Equipment. Crossley Heath, Ryburn and Brooksbank are amongst schools providing masks to Calderdale Royal Hospital and local care homes.

A bespoke tailoring firm in Huddersfield changed the line of speciality from suits to masks to keep the employees and suppliers in paid work. Helen Bailey, Managing Director of Masks UK, explained‘Business slowed down rapidly long before the UK hit lockdown due to our international clients closing down tailoring shops around the world and, of course, suit clients here in the UK, only attending essential appointments. It took a couple of weeks from idea to going live online. I guess we just looked at what we had at our finger tips and went from there. The response has been incredible!’

Helen’s non-medical mask business is super popular online. Helen explained ‘We’ve delivered to some existing clients in Norway and various tailoring connections around the World. We had an Australian purchase on the website, that’s as far a field we can go!! It’s an ever growing number but I’d say we’re close to 500k masks so far (12th May 20). The masks use a fabric commonly used in sportswear: the outer layer uses cotton nanotechnology for ultra water resistance, and the inner layers are breathable and moisture-wicking cotton muslin cloth.

Using a re-usable mask helps to reduce the volume of medical masks being used by non-medical people. There are many patterns online for you to try making your own (see one below). The World Health Organisation states (31/05/2020) ‘there is not enough evidence for or against the use of masks (medical or other) in healthy individuals in the wider community’.

However, if you choose to use a mask, here are the main precautions to follow:
1. Clean your hands before touching your clean mask.
2. Position the mask so it covers your nose, mouth and chin.
3. Do not touch the main mask while you are wearing it.
4. After use, take off the mask with clean hands; removing by the ties. Do not touch the main mask on either side.
5. Wash the mask at a high temperature.
6. Clean hands after touching the mask.

At the time of writing this, I’ve been in lockdown with my 7 and 4 year olds for about a month. Like many others, I’m juggling home education and child care with my work. Whilst many projects are on hold for an unforeseeable length of time, some are adapting and shifting the modes of delivery.

Thankfully, our postal system is still operational and currently an option to distribute our arts about mental health publication Dwell Time whilst we remain in lockdown. We’ve sent our contributors copies and are looking at the possibility of an online launch and postal delivery for anyone who wants a copy. There will also be an online pdf available too. We’ve also published a special edition open call for work made in and about the Covid-19 pandemic and the isolation we find ourselves in. Anyone is welcome to contribute with words, images, video, sound files. Please email them to avavprojects@yahoo.co.uk All contributions are published on our website and shared on our social media. https://dwelltimepress.wordpress.com/c19-edition/

Zoom meetings have replaced face to face meetings of Art Lab and Halifax Mothers Who Make. Art Lab continues to ‘meet’ online via Zoom monthly and Mothers Who Make are tending to do shorter, weekly check-ins prioritising coping strategies and mental health. A pandemic is not necessarily the optimum time to be productive and creative and whilst these groups are for creativity, they are support groups fundamentally and the support needed right now is to counter the isolation and crisis we are all in. Some people have managed to make art work through the crisis and that can also a valuable coping strategy. Art Lab is open to all people making and interested in art and if you have some art to share please do join. Mothers Who Make is for any mother and any maker so if that’s you and you would like to join please do.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/deancloughartlab/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/MWMHalifax

Whilst the time for my own practice has been reduced significantly, I’ve been making lots of crafts with my children and they’ve been helping me with a few projects. They’ve been enjoying colouring in my Same Skies Regional Democracy zines and these are also downloadable to colour in if you have access to a printer: https://wesharethesameskiesblog.wordpress.com/ They also enjoyed helping me make Corona Book Worm the 1st who started off life to be a prop for my now postponed/cancelled Huddersfield Literature Festival workshops with Magic Rock Brewery. The Book Worm is made from redundant crown caps (corona caps) which my eldest helped hammer holes through and my youngest helped cut the spacers for to thread them into them central cord. This is part of an ongoing project Cap Stories where we collect stories and illustrate them inside discard (rubbish) caps. This project may evolve into collecting coronavirus stories of life in lockdown https://capstories.home.blog/

I’ve also been continuing with some studio drawings that are repetitive circles with automatic writing and scribbles. I use leftover beetroot juice and ink, bubble wrap prints, charcoal and pen and, when I get some time on an evening, these are my rubbish drawings processing the conversations and thoughts of the day.

Alice Bradshaw www.alicebradshaw.co.uk
Facebook www.facebook.com/alicebradshawartist
Instagram www.instagram.com/alicebradshaw.co.uk
Twitter twitter.com/alicebradshaw

Welcome everyone to this 2nd edition edition of The April 2020 Skircoat Green Directory.

What a month it has been! Even though we are in lockdown, we will continue to bring you the interesting articles, news and businesses our readers have come to expect. Please remember, essential services life care, nhs, electricions, plumbers and Funeral services are still on hand should you need them. And for those businesses that are also on shutdown like restaurants and retail, take a note of who is in the magazine. Some have moved to online deliveries or takeaways. We need to support all our local businesses to ensure they are here on the other side of this virus.

Enjoy this Digital edition of the directory and please do share with those who may have a little extra time on their hands!
Simply click on the arrows to the right of the image below and see this months magazine in full (or tap the image and then swipe left & right if on a mobile device!)

Welcome everyone to latest 2020 edition of The Skircoat Green Directory.

What a month it has been! Even though we are in lockdown, we will continue to bring you the interesting articles, news and businesses our readers have come to expect. Please remember, essential services life care, nhs, electricions, plumbers and Funeral services are still on hand should you need them. And for those businesses that are also on shutdown like restaurants and retail, take a note of who is in the magazine. Some have moved to online deliveries or takeaways. We need to support all our local businesses to ensure they are here on the other side of this virus.

Enjoy this Digital edition of the directory and please do share with those who may have a little extra time on their hands!
Simply click on the arrows to the right of the image below and see this months magazine in full (or tap the image and then swipe left & right if on a mobile device!)

St Cuthbert Day

20^th March 2020

Dear Minster Friends,

I’m writing this letter to everyone associated with The Minster as your Vicar during this global pandemic which is now affecting all our daily lives and has now resulted in the government restricting movement and the way we order our lives until the Coronavirus is firmly under control.

Following Government advice and instructions from both the National Church of England and our own Diocesan Bishop, I now write to confirm, that with the support of the Church Wardens and other colleagues, we have taken the decision to close the Minster until further notice. This decision is to support the government in trying to limit unnecessary travel and communal gathering, in order to protect the whole community and try to slow down the rate of infection until such time as we are told we can reopen with confidence.

This is a painful restriction on us all. This means we can’t be the gathered church at this time, and that we will need to pray at home as a dispersed community.

This situation leaves The Minster with a number of challenges: Worship, Pastoral, and Financial. These I will take in turn with advice.

The Worship of the whole people of God is one of the main spiritual things we do as Christians that sustains our daily living and existence. I encourage you to pray at home, and we shall be putting some material on the Minster website to support this. I also encourage you to join in worship broadcast on the BBC, both daily worship on Radio 4 and the proposed televised service on BBC One on Sunday mornings. The Church of England website will also provide you with material for praying each day under the heading of Daily Office. Presently, for those of you with smartphones the ‘Time to Pray’ App has now been made available free of charge; see https://www.chpublishing.co.uk/apps/time-to-pray  it is also available on Google Play and the Apple Store. Baptisms will be put on hold. Weddings and Funerals will be subject to Government guidelines at the time.

David, Jane and I intend to meet together for prayer and the Eucharist. Therefore, we are asking you to send through to the Office your prayer requests so that we can include them in our offering to God. This will continue for the duration unless illness or lock down prevents us from doing so.

Pastoral Matters: one of the great strengths of attending Church is the Pastoral Care that each worshipping community provides for one another. Many people living on their own suffer from isolation and loneliness, and families are struggling with work, mortgages to pay, childcare, and now Schools closing indefinitely. The Revd David Carpenter, the Lecturer and Chaplain to the congregation, will head up our new Pastoral Care system, that aims to keep in touch with as many people as we can who are part of the Minster community, whether you class yourself as congregation, choir family, welcomer, bell ringer, Civic Leader across the town and Borough, member of staff, or simply a Friend of the Minster. We shall be dividing people into groups, and key leaders both Clergy and Lay, will be phoning and emailing people, in order to stay in touch, and provide a listening ear and support. As Christians, we take up the mantle of being Christ’s feet, his mouth, his ears, his healing hands. I encourage all of you to care for your neighbours in your street as well as your friends. Please leave messages on the Minster phone (01422 355436) and via email admin@halifaxminster.org.uk and the Office will be open daily Monday-Friday 10am-1pm to pick up messages and respond to requests for prayer and help.

Financial: Over the last twelve years since I’ve been here, we’ve turned around a £50,000 year on year deficit, and for the last three years we made a small surplus. We are now planning to stay closed until the middle of the summer, when we hope some restrictions might be lifted. This means we need to somehow stay financially afloat, paying staff, paying the Parish Share each month so that the Diocese can pay Clergy Stipends, and our monthly bills towards insuring the building and other committed expenditure. We’ve had to cancel lots of events and bookings, and with the Minster closed there will be no visitor donations and revenue from the Minster shop. Many committed members of the Minster community contribute financially monthly through Planned Giving: either by Standing Order, the Envelope Scheme, or by cash donation, and all Gift Aided. For those who already contribute by Standing Order we remain hugely grateful for the knowledge that your money will arrive each month. For those of you who contribute by Envelope or cash donation, I enclose a Standing Order Form that will enable you to continue making that vital financial contribution, but without the need to physically place your Envelope or cash in the plate, whilst the Minster remains sadly closed. We want to reopen as soon as we are allowed and in the knowledge that we remain financially a going concern. If you would like to talk to our Treasurer Peter Naylor about setting up a Standing Order and Gift Aiding your contribution, please either ring the Office or email Peter treasurer@halifaxminster.org.uk. If you want to send a cheque to cover your donation then please send to Mr Peter Naylor, Causey Hall, Causeway, Halifax, HX1 1QL.

I’ve never had to write a letter like this before and it all feels very surreal. Some will liken it to the Great War years, but for a younger generation, we’ve never had to live through a time like this, and for many people, there is an uncertain future. As Christians we place our hope in God through Jesus, who by the power of his Spirit encourages and enables us to Keep Calm and Carry On! Julian of Norwich that great mystic from East Anglia, professed her faith by proclaiming that through faith in God All Shall be well, all shall be well, all manner of things shall be well. And that is my hope and prayer for all of us. Stay safe, Stay in touch.

Keep us, good Lord,

under the shadow of your mercy

in this time of uncertainty and distress.

Sustain and support the anxious and fearful,

and lift up all who are brought low;

that we may rejoice in your comfort

knowing that nothing can separate us from your love

in Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.

This letter comes with my love and gratitude to everyone associated with The Minster, and that of my wonderful colleagues, David and Jane, Mick and Sheila, Church Wardens.

Hilary

The Revd Canon Hilary Barber

Vicar of Halifax Minster

Important contact details:

Canon Hilary Barber 07905987089 h.barber@halifaxminster.org.uk

The Revd Jane Finn 07709222591 j.finn@halifaxminster.org.uk

The Revd David Carpenter 07460443368 d.carpenter@halifaxminster.org.uk

The Minster Office 01422 355436 admin@halifaxminster.org.uk

Peter Naylor Treasurer 01422 355436 treasurer@halifaxminster.org.uk

I remember as a child in London finding my way to school in fog so thick I had to feel my way along the walls of houses. It was called ‘smog’ – a combination of smoke and fog.  Halifax had the same problem.  It was so bad that in 1837 Anne Lister described Halifax as ‘a large smoke-canopied commercial town’.

In 1870 along came ‘The Smoke Abatement Act’ which prompted John Wainhouse to build a chimney the following year. He owned the dye works in Washer Lane and was concerned about the contribution his factory was making to the air pollution – not to mention the effect it had on his nearby home (now The Wainhouse Tavern).  He decided to build a chimney that would carry the smoke up and away from the valley and his home.

Before it was completed, Wainhouse sold his factory , making the chimney redundant. So he decided to change its purpose and annoy his neighbour, Sir Henry Edwards at the same time.

Sir Henry kept annoying him with various threats of summonses, so Wainhouse decide to get his revenge.  Sir Henry cherished the privacy he enjoyed at his Pye Nest home and boasted that even when he was strolling round his grounds he could not be seen. Wainhouse decided to invade that privacy which he did by increasing the height of the chimney and turning it into a folly that the public could visit.  He couldn’t know it at the time, but it was to become the tallest folly in the world.

It took over three years to complete and cost of £15,000 (over a million pounds today) being finished in 1875.  Did Wainhouse achieve his objective? Yes indeed! Wainhouse Tower is over 250 feet high and the Victorian public could climb its 403 steps to the top and not only gaze into Sir Henry’s Pye Nest home’s grounds, but could see for miles in all directions. You still can on Bank Holidays, if you’ve got the energy.

Trish Colton’s A-Z of Halifax book launch is on 6^th March at 7pm at the Old Rishworthians Rugby Club, Copley Village.

This month I have chosen to write something about the Walker family of Lightcliffe, as a preliminary to a Talk which I hope to launch at Square Chapel on 11^th March.  Here is the tale of the missing Minster (or Parish Church) window.

It may not be commonly realised that the Walker family of Crow Nest had strong connections with Halifax itself.  They did, and in the late 18^th Century owned a swathe of land along the Hebble valley towards Shay Syke, much of which was later taken over by the railway. They also held other sections of land near Halifax Parish Church.

And, from 1676 to 1809, many of the family were buried in the Parish Church.  Most of their tombstones have vanished, but the many family interments within the edifice were recognised by Evan Charles Sutherland-Walker of Crow Nest in 1864, when he paid for a new stained-glass window to be placed in the church in commemoration of his maternal ancestors.  Although the attractive brass plaque detailing the donation of this item is still in situ, the window above has apparently disappeared.   Why is this?

In 1958 a decision was made by the Parochial Council to rebuild the famous Commonwealth windows on the south side of the chancel, then in a poor state. A decision was also reached to remove two 19^th Century stained-glass windows on the same side, towards the east end of the nave, and replace them with two plain Commonwealth windows on the north side, in order to allow more light into the church.   The stained-glass was removed to the north side, but the plaques remain, and today we have inscriptions below windows to which they are not related.  One of these commemorates the Walker family, and the caption can easily be seen and read today, entirely in Latin.  This highlights the family of Crow Nest as significant in Halifax Parish, mentioning the burial links over 130 years. Also included on the plaque are two attractive representations of the Walker family Arms, not apparent elsewhere in the Minster.  And there is the family axiom; the motto of Ann Walker’s family was Per ardua virtus, usually translated as Courage Through Difficulty.

Can the ‘missing window’ still be seen?  Yes.  As mentioned above, it was moved to the north side of the church in 1958, and is now partly hidden by the side of the organ. The window was ordered by Sutherland Walker in 1864 to the design of London stained-glass artist William Warrington, and features Moses anointing Aaron, as described in Leviticus 8 verse 12.  Other figures support the two main characters, and three Old Testament texts are displayed on a white scroll below.   The quality and style of this window is not regarded as of such high quality as most of the Minster glass.

The first of the Walker family buried was William Walker of Upper Walterclough, Southowram, and of Lower Crow Nest, who died in 1676 aged 84.  The last of the family buried in Halifax’s ancient Parish Church was William Walker of Crow Nest, fourth of the name, who died unmarried in 1809.  He was the uncle of Ann Walker of Anne Lister fame; and on his death, his younger brother John (Ann’s father), inherited Crow Nest.  Until that time, John and family had lived at Cliffe Hill.

  There are other relics of the Walkers in Halifax Minster today.  For example, there are three brass pew ownership plates mounted – with others – on a board under the tower interior.   One of these belonged to William Walker of Crow Nest, and another to his brother John when still at Cliffe Hill.  A third plate bears the name of Ann Walker of Cliffe Hill; perhaps more likely to have been that of Aunt Ann (1757-1847) than of Anne Lister’s partner.  The later Walkers lie buried at Lightcliffe.

David C Glover

There have been comparatively few Conservative MPs for Halifax. Amongst those who did serve in this capacity was Henry Edwards,who lived at Pye Nest, between Halifax and Sowerby Bridge. He was one of Halifax’s great 19th Centurymen, and being an MP was only one aspect of his life.

Henry came from a textile family, mostly operating in the Ryburn Valley,being the third son of Henry Lees Edwards of Pye Nest, whose family originated in Birmingham. The Edwards father was brother to Mary Edwards who married John Walker of Crow Nest,Lightcliffe. This relationship resulted in Mr Edwards senior eventually being appointed a joint trustee for Ann Walker, the partner of Anne Lister.The younger Henry Edwards was born in 1812, and given a private education. His family was wealthy enough for him to go on a Grand Tour of the continent in his late teens, accompanying a young nobleman, the Marquess of Winchester. In Paris, the young man from Pye Nest heard of a familiar lady then staying in the French capital; you may have guessed that her name was Anne Lister.

On 30th November 1830, Anne entered in her diary: “Mr. Henry Edwards, jun., of Pye Nest, called, and stayed about an hour. I hoped to see him some evening; received him very civilly.” Having explored Paris, Henry proceeded through France to Italy and the Mediterranean with his aristocratic companion, returning to England in December 1831. Seven years earlier, Anne Lister makes more than one mention in her diaries of visiting Mrs. Henry Lees Edwards at Pye Nest and of meeting young“Master Henry”-aged eleven-there. On Friday, 10th January 1823, she recorded:“At 11.0, my Aunt and I were off in the gig to Pye Nest. … Sat half-an-hour with Mrs.Edwards and her daughter Delia, and sons, Charles, Henry, and Thomas. A sad, vulgar set. I said nothing, but my aunt exclaimed about it as soon as we were out of the house. I thought she would. The servant came in with his linen jacket & apron on.”

Horrors! Henry really wanted to join the army, however his father insisted that he join the family business instead. By the early 1840 this had been rehoused at the newly-built Canal Mills, near Sowerby Bridge. Henry was an expert horseman, and he did eventually achieve his desire of leading a group of ‘military’ men, the reserves known as the West York Yeomanry Cavalry, of which he was a joint founder. By this means he was to achieve the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel, and he looked a fine figure in uniform. The reason for the raising of the Yeomanry Cavalry was connected with unrest during Chartist and Plug Plot times, in which Henry’s own property at Canal Mills would suffer. He was involved with suppression of the 1848 demonstration in Bradford, where he led his men into action, and many citizens were injured. It was as a belated reward for his upholding of law and order during the 1840s that he was awarded a baronetcy in 1866, by Queen Victoria, on the advice of the Earl of Derby, then Prime Minister.

Halifax was enfranchised as a parliamentary borough in 1832, with two members of Parliament. Most of the early MPs were Liberals. The election of 1847 came at a critical time, when there were two Liberal candidates, and one Radical. This split the vote of the progressives, and allowed Henry Edwards, the Conservative candidate, to top the poll, something the Conservatives never again did in 19th Century Halifax. He was elected, and served till 1852, when the Liberals retook the seat. Later he would serve as an MP for Beverley. He died in 1886 and lies buried in the churchyard at All Saints’, Salterhebble.

Much more might be said about this complex but interesting man. Many will know of his bitter feud with J E Wainhouse, which darkened the later years of his life.

If you’d like to learn more, please come along to my illustrated lecture at Square Chapel in November.

David C Glover

President of the Halifax Antiquarian Society

Chairman of the Friends of Lister Lane Cemetery

Vice-Chairman of the Halifax Civic Trust

One year on from opening her salon in Elland Wharf, Becky has no regrets.

The salon celebrates its first anniversary and she’s proud to have grown the business to having a full-time Assistant and other beauty personnel who offer aesthetics and make-up services. Known for its relaxed atmosphere and focus on beauty wellbeing, the salon even has its own therapy-dog Nel who is adored by the customers.

“I always knew I wanted to be a hairdresser, even when I was sat scribbling away in English at The Crossley Heath School. I used to find myself staring at other people’s hair and imagining what I could create!” After finishing college and freelancing at a number of hair salons Becky felt it was the right time to set up her own business in 2018. Aged only 24 she bravely called upon her hairdressing contacts, friends and family to help create a logo and website and kit out the brand-new salon with all the latest equipment and get her up and running.

“Now we’ve been open 12 months I can’t imagine life without the salon!” Becky added, “I really care about my customers and the salon is a relaxed, friendly and creative space full of hair advice, ideas,free WIFI and never-ending cups of tea plus biscuits! My dog Nel is a customer favourite too. He’s trained to be an official therapy dog and it amazes me how he relaxes and calms people with his company!”

To celebrate Hair @ the Stables first anniversary Becky is running a fantastic competition to win loads of free goodies–just head to her Facebook page or website hairatthestablesltd.co.uk for more info.

To book your appointment visit www.hairatthestablesltd.co.uk www.facebook.com/hairatthestablesltd 01422751330