Many people visit me with anxiety issues, each one of them going through similar experiences.

If you’re a sufferer, initially you may feel strange, a kind of ‘unreal’ and not with it.  You may tremble, feeling a rapid heartbeat and breathing irregularly.  These symptoms can lead to bigger issues like depression, a racing mind and tiredness, which may eventually render you disconnected from people and the world around you; Ruminating, trying to pluck up the courage to simply ‘live life’ whilst plunging deeper into the crevasse. Eventually feeling panicky then leads to the next stage – mental exhaustion. Being hyper aware of feelings can make you think you are going crazy!   Both mind and body become super-tired.

Overthinking and over-analysing is exhausting work which rapidly leads to the final stage in this battle – emotional exhaustion.  If you’ve missed days off work, and any chance of a social life feels like climbing Everest in summer sandals, then you’ve potentially reached the finish line.

However, you can recover from this, no matter what level of anxiety or panic you have reached.  Now here comes the ‘but’…… YOU WON’T GET BETTER UNTIL YOU STOP TRYING!

Spending time, analysing your condition and trying to find reasons for it, gets you more caught up in the trauma.

Accept the anxiety but put yourself out there; do the things that bring you out of your comfort zone, safe in the knowledge that you won’t die from a panic attack. Only then will you know that you actually could do it, and despite the adrenalin rush you didn’t die and therefore can do it again, only next time it won’t be as testing.

Anxiety is a particular kind of hell but don’t see it as the enemy. Let go and live alongside it for the time being. Allow it to be part of your day and you may begin to feel some inner peace, which in turn will help you to rebuild the missing bits of your life.

Who knows, maybe there’s a reason we’re all meant to do some paddling upstream against the tide?

Marica x

For more of Marica’s self-help blogs visit www.calderdalecounselling.com

maricawebley@gmail.com

07759 014131

Last year some determined Skircoat residents, supported by Holy Trinity and St Jude’s Church came together with the intention of holding Skircoat’s own Great Get Together in 2019. The group have been working hard to make this a reality involving West Yorkshire Police, Calderdale Council and West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue in the planning.

The Great Get Together is a movement started in memory of Jo Cox the late MP. The Skircoat Great Get Together hopes to bring the community together to enjoy a great day out!

Planning for the event was recently bolstered by a successful application to the Skircoat Ward forum which granted £491 to help cover some of the costs of the day.

Cllr Colin Hutchinson said ‘the Great Get Together planned for the Skircoat ward is absolutely what we should be supporting through the local ward forum grants. Bringing our community together, celebrating diversity and promoting community cohesion in such a positive way will be a great benefit to the residents of the Skircoat ward.’

The event is on Saturday 29th June, on the moor off Free School Lane and in the grounds of Holy Trinity and St Jude’s. The group hopes that the local community will join them during the three hours event.  Activities organised include the chance to explore a working fire engine and Police vehicle, an Indian dance taster session and a high energy, high stakes game of Imams v Clergy rounders match.

Visitors will have the chance to spend 5 minutes with various members of differing faith groups to learn more about the faiths of Calderdale. ‘Faith Dating’ helps to dispel some myths and explore faith in an open and fun way.

As a close friend of Jo, local MP Holly Lynch has been supporting the group and said ‘the planning of the event sounds to be coming along really well. I am grateful to the group for honouring Jo’s memory by organising such a fantastic event that reflects all that she was passionate about’.

More information about the day can be found on the group’s Facebook page @SkircoatTogether

– suggested by local poet Victoria Gatehouse

June has arrived with its promise of warm weather (fingers crossed) and many of us start to think about holidays. I love the sense of movement and sensual detail in this month’s seaside poem and know, from speaking with the author, Bob Horne, that it’s as much about growing up and self-discovery as it is about swimming.

The Raft

That summer I was strong enough

to swim out, haul myself from the water

on to the black wooden boards

as the tide smacked its sides.

From harbour to headland

chalk-cliff to shoreline

summer colour covered the sands,

spilled into the fringes of the sea.

I turned by back on the shallows

busy with the clamour of paddlers,

swayed on the ups and downs of waves

reeling in through grey-green emptiness,

balanced on the raft, still not adrift

but out of my depth, loving it.

Taken from Knowing My Place, published by Calder Valley Press.

Bob Horne founded the ward-winning Calder Valley Press in 2018, publishing books by talented local poets. Bob is also co-organiser of the wonderful ‘Puzzle Poets’ spoken word night at The Navigation pub in Sowerby Bridge.  I’m looking forward to reading there myself on 1^st July.  Knowing my Place is Bob’s first collection. More about Bob and Calder Valley Press can be found here https://caldervalleypoetry.com/about/

By the time you read this, you should have had the opportunity to watch the first two episodes of Gentleman Jack the screening of which began on 19^th May on BBC 1.  In this TV series, Sally Wainwright focuses on the romance between Anne Lister of Shibden Hall and Ann Walker of Lightcliffe during the early 1830s.  As you probably know, the series stars the excellent Suranne Jones as Anne Lister, while Sophie Rundle is ideally cast as Ann Walker.

Here is a brief account of a girl who lived in the old Master’s House at Heath Grammar School, who was a friend of Ann Walker for much of her life.

To begin: on the north wall of Halifax Minster, near the porch door, is a memorial in Latin to Rev Robert Wilkinson who was headmaster of Heath Grammar School from 1789-1839.  He was also curate at Lightcliffe Chapel from 1782 onwards. It was Robert Wilkinson who baptised Ann Walker at Lightcliffe in 1803.

A native of Cockermouth, Robert married Sarah Robinson of Hipperholme at Halifax in 1782; four of their children died in infancy, the surviving children Mary, Catherine, Sarah and Lydia.  Lydia was born at Heath in January 1795 and baptised at Lightcliffe on 25^th of that month.  She grew up to be a close friend of Ann Walker.

In her diary for 21^st July 1818 Anne Lister recorded: “Met the two Miss Walkers, of Crow Nest, and with them two Miss Wilkinsons, of Heath, at the Library.”

A direct reference to Lydia Wilkinson appears in Anne Lister’s diary for 7^th December 1832, describing a visit to Ann Walker at her home, then at Lydgate: “Miss Parkhill was in the room on my going in – spoke or rather bowed to her formally …  She goes on Monday & Miss Lydia Wilkinson then comes to Lidgate, of which I said I should be glad.”

An entry in Anne Lister’s diary from a year earlier, 28^th October 1831 informs us: “[Heard] from Langton of a Miss Wilkinson, of Heath, going to be married to Mr. George Fenton.”  It was not till 30^th May 1833, aged 38, that Lydia married Rev George Fenton at Halifax Parish Church; he was then a minister at Ilkley Parish Church.

George and Lydia Fenton had two children, both of whom sadly died in infancy, being buried at Ilkley.  In 1836 Rev Fenton was appointed vicar of Royston near Barnsley; but he sometimes officiated for his father-in-law Rev Wilkinson at Lightcliffe Chapel. Anne Lister tells us in her diary for 23^rd August 1835: “Mr George Fenton did all the duty – preached 23 minutes tolerably but, unfortunately as to subject…”

Lydia Wilkinson’s husband George Fenton died in 1843, aged 48; he was taken to Lightcliffe for burial, near his father-in-law.  Widowed Lydia then moved in with her unmarried sisters, living at 2 Savile Row, Halifax.

From 1833, Anne Lister and Ann Walker attended services at Lightcliffe Chapel regularly, and the Lister diary makes many mentions of Lydia’s father Rev Robert Wilkinson.

Ann Walker inherited a life interest in Shibden Hall on Anne Lister’s death in 1840.  Sadly, in 1843 she was forcibly removed to an asylum near York. A few years later she was finally judged well enough to return home, to live at her own property of Cliffe Hill, Lightcliffe, under supervision.  We have no clear knowledge of her mental condition; no letters written by her after the early 1840s survive.   Ann’s affairs were taken into the hands of one of her Rawson cousins, who arranged for her to be looked after at Cliffe Hill by a housekeeper and an ‘attendant’.  But it is the housekeeper who interests us – she was the widowed Lydia Fenton, in charge of the building for the remainder of Ann’s time there.  Her suitability, given her friendship with Ann so well in her youth, may be imagined.

Following Ann Walker’s death in 1854, Lydia returned to Savile Row, Halifax, to live with her sisters. Lydia was the last survivor, dying on 24^th March 1865 at Savile Row aged 69.  At each of the sisters’ burials, Archdeacon Charles Musgrave, vicar of Halifax, presided, as indeed he had done at both the funerals of Anne Lister and of Ann Walker. You can see the Wilkinson family tombstones today in Lightcliffe Churchyard, not far from the last resting place of her friend Ann Walker.

I am most grateful for the splendid work of Helena Whitbread and Jill Liddington in transcribing Anne Lister’s Diaries.  Also, my thanks to The Friends of Lightcliffe Churchyard.

David C Glover

On Tuesday 25^th June at 7.30 pm, I am speaking at The Grayston Unity Bar, opposite Halifax Town Hall Porch about Emily Bronte, Wuthering Heights and High Sunderland.  Tickets £5.00 must be booked in advance on 07807 136520 – seating is very limited.

On Thursday 27^th June at 7.30 pm, I am speaking at St Matthew’s Church, Lightcliffe about John Crossley & Sons of Dean Clough 1803-1982. Entry £5.00, tickets from Tony Hillam on 01274 675405.

My name is Samantha Wheatcroft I’ve lived in Skircoat Green for 19 years with my husband David & our two sons Finton & Toby.

When Gallery 339 closed last year it was a big loss for Skircoat Green. Myself, friends, friends of friends etc were constantly asking each other where to go to get a great card or a fabulous present?

In conversation, Amanda Norton, the current owner of Nicholls Fashion and Beauty shop in Skircoat Green, mentioned that she was thinking of retiring from the fashion side of the business (the beauty rooms are staying open).  The Dress shop has been on Skircoat Green high street for 80 years, with just two families owning it (the first being Mrs Nicholls).  Obviously, this high street doesn’t have empty shops very often!  For me, it was an ideal opportunity to try & fill that gap that Gallery 339 had left behind.

Eesome Gift and Card shop won’t be a replica of Gallery 339 as I obviously want to put my own stamp on it.  However, customers will be able to select cards from some of the great companies that previously supplied Gallery 339 as well as some of the same products.  However, there will also be gorgeous candles, jewellery, homeware etc. from new and different companies too.  Most of the stock will be designed and made in Britain and where possible, from good old Yorkshire!

As this is a new venture for me, I’d like to say a huge thank you – to all my family and friends who have been incredibly supportive. Also, to Natalie Seager who ran Gallery 339. She has bravely chosen to forge a new pathway, practising restorative therapies.  Natalie has been a boon to me throughout this process so a huge thank you to her too.

Eesome will open in June 2019, the planned opening times are:

Tuesday to Friday 10am – 5pm

Saturday 9am – 4pm

If you’d like to get in touch then email eesomegifts@gmail.com or find the store on Instagram as eesomegifts or visit www.eesomegifts.co.uk  Otherwise, I’ll see you in June when the shop opens!

Last month I mentioned doing a printmaking workshop at The Artworks. The seven week course has come to an end and has been a really interesting exploration in technique and materials. I started off the course trying out etching with inscribed scribbles as illegible ‘writing’. I also tried drypoint and had the idea to bring in discarded plastic packaging (which I’ve used in various ways in my practice before) to treat as a drypoint plate. After several attempts and being dissatisfied with the results, I realised that the most interesting results had been a squashed plastic tray. It had unsuccessfully printed the inscribed words but what was interesting to me was every time it was inked up and went through the printing press it made a different flattened impression. Playing on words; this printing ‘plate’ (technically a collagraph) is also a flattened version of a ready-made food container which is a stand-in or a poor-substitute of a dinner plate. Therefore this series of prints is called ‘Plates’ which I’m showing in an exhibition in Leeds called Dualism (15 April – 5 May).

I also mentioned I’d been selected for a writer’s residency working with Yorkshire Visual Arts Network, Corridor 8 and artist Sarah Smizz, producing a piece of writing for publication later this year. My research methodology is using snowball sampling to interview artists about their practices in order to unearth hierarchies and challenge the uncritical use of the term ‘resilient’ to describe artists in the region. This project has really picked up pace over the last few weeks (literally snowballed!) and has been incredibly inspiring talking to so many (previously unknown to me) artists about their work and strategies of resilience.

In the midst of juggling everything and critically questioning what it means to be resilient, I took the decision to step down from my role as coordinator for Halifax Mothers Who Make. It’s a sad decision but something had to give. I felt the group needs more time and energy than I can currently commit to really develop it and hopefully I’ve found a brilliant successor to continue the work Lucy Simm started and I continued for 18 months after. This decision did not come lightly, as I really enjoyed the role, but I had to acknowledge I couldn’t maintain everything I wanted to do at current pace without serious risk of burnout.

As well as ongoing curatorial projects Art Lab at Dean Clough, Soundstripes and Dwell Time, I’m Associate Artist for Welland Festival 2019. Of course, this involves rubbish and it also involves talking in the form of collecting stories of past and imagined future Elland. I’m collecting discarded bottle caps/lids and stories of Elland through guided litter-picking, story-telling walks around a 1.2km route along the new imagined shoreline of Elland-on-Sea. Scientists predict that if all the ice caps were to melt, the sea level would rise by 80m. My walking route of Elland plotted around 80m altitude is where the future coastline would be. These guided walks will inform my research and bottle cap collection for a new installation for Welland Festival in June.

Find out more about how to get involved in walks, send in your stories of Elland and where bottle cap the collection points are below.

Welland Cap Stories https://capstories.home.blog/

Welland Festival https://www.facebook.com/wellandfest/

Alice Bradshaw http://www.alicebradshaw.co.uk/

Museum of Contemporary Rubbish http://museumofcontemporaryrubbish.blogspot.com/

Facebook https://www.facebook.com/alicebradshawartist/

Instagram https://www.instagram.com/alicebradshaw.co.uk/

Twitter https://twitter.com/alicebradshaw

This month, the CEO of The Piece Hall Trust, and recent winner of Business Woman of the Year award, has kindly agreed to share a little about herself with SGD readers.

Nicky Chance-Thompson accepted the mammoth task of guiding the final preparations to get the Piece Hall ready for opening in August 2017, managing this in a matter of months!

Since then, there have been a raft of awards won for the building, other team members of the Trust and Council and also, for Nicky herself.

The Piece Hall Trust is a charity; the building has become an amazing indie retail area, unique entertainment space and remains a historic monument. How does Nicky manage our national treasure as well as fit in the role of Lady Mayoress of Halifax 2018/9 and live a normal life too?!

Having worked in London and other big towns, what inspires you about Halifax? 

The people, the landscape and the quality of life. How lucky are we to live in a town surrounded by such beautiful countryside? It’s also bursting with creative talent and I’m so glad that this is now being more recognised nationally.

How, in the past 12 months, have you managed to juggle work, any social life and fulfil the role as Lady Mayoress? 

My social life has been pretty much non-existent but I’ve enjoyed being Mayoress and supporting Marcus in his role as Mayor. I’ve got to know about the wonderful and kind communities of Calderdale and it’s made me fall in love with it even more. The job is very demanding but I’ve made it work as it’s so important and I just love The Piece Hall.

As CEO of the Piece Hall Trust, what has been the most enjoyable time so far? 

Meeting royalty and working with a fantastic team and tenants. It’s a real privilege to have such great colleagues and we are doing great; my thanks to each and every one of you. It’s been a challenge taking everyone on this journey because the ambition is far greater than the Piece Hall that people might remember from the past. This is a transformational project and about far more than the square that is The Piece Hall.

My daughter would like to know of your favourite TV programme when you were 10!

It was Grange Hill.

What’s your favourite music?

All music! I love classical and modern. I’m a musician so I can’t settle on one genre. Ask Mark at Loafers my taste is eclectic.

How are your dogs?

They are very grumpy with us right now but still seem to love us unconditionally. They have been very understanding this year. I’m looking forward to spending more time with them. And my cat Tom.

And finally, your advice to an aspiring business woman regarding what to focus on in a predominantly male environment?

Build great supportive networks, always be yourself and remember it’s ok to be different.  We have different strengths. Together #wecan

Many thanks to Nicky for taking time out to answer our eclectic set of questions.

As a family, we love the Piece Hall.  We enjoy supporting the businesses, attending events, and talked no end about the positivity it’s adding to our town. There are many ways people can choose to support The Piece Hall Trust: Volunteer your time, make a donation, become a member, sponsor an event or become a corporate member.  For more information go to www.thepiecehall.co.uk/support-us

The Piece Hall has a huge variety of events planned for 2019, visit the website, Facebook page or visit the Welcome desk below the South Gate to find out which event you’re going to see, we might well see you there! 😊

It’s safe to say that Harveys of Halifax, Halifax’s independent department store, is part of the fabric of the town. As an independent, family owned store in its fourth generation of ownership, Harveys has embraced change over the years. Tracy Harvey, the store’s Managing Director, told us “We’ve undergone many changes over the years and we’ve adapted the way we operate to embrace the changing times in and around Halifax. We’ve expanded, altered the brands we have in store and improved the way we communicate with our customers. One trait of ours as a store which has remained consistent has been our unwavering commitment to provide each and every one of our customers with an excellent, personal customer service.”

For a unique shopping experience, the team at Harveys have carefully sourced and managed the products which are stocked. Retail Director, Tony Murray, told us “We want to be a home for new, modern brands that previously you would have had to travel outside of Halifax for. Our most recent additions include Barbour, Fjallraven outdoor clothing, Cath Kidston and Valentino bags. We’re constantly on the look out for fashion, beauty, gifts and homeware which offers something special and different.”
In addition to the main store on Rawson Street, there’s also the new gift shop in The Piece Hall which has something for every budget and all tastes. Many of the brands and gifts in stock at The Piece Hall store have a story to tell – the stories of the people who create the products and many of the products have a Yorkshire theme. The main store is floor after floor of beauty, gift and fashion inspiration – all under one roof. Harveys prides itself on a very personal customer service, from the lady at your favourite make-up counter to the sales assistant in the menswear department – they all care passionately about the service that they provide their loyal customers.

Despite its history and tradition – Harveys is far from afraid of change. The store is always expanding its portfolio of brands to appeal to new audiences and to give the people of Halifax something different and valuable. There is now also the option to shop online for home delivery or collection in store.

Fancy shopping and dining? Then call in to Upstairs@ Harveys and enjoy a well deserved cuppa, freshly made lunch, dinner or an afternoon tea as a special treat.

Visit the website at harveysofhalifax.co.uk or follow the team on social media including Instagram and www.facebook.com/harveyshalifax where you’ll find lots of regular competitions and special events being planned.

Take a fresh look, at Harveys of Halifax.

Image courtesy of Joe Cornish Gallery

(Main featured image courtesy of Andrew Sinclair)

On 17^th May a new statue, designed by renowned sculptor Andrew Sinclair and commemorating the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment, will be unveiled at the top of Woolshops. The work will incorporate statues of soldiers from various eras, along with a bust of the great Duke of Wellington.  Work began on the site at the end of March.

As many readers will know, the Duke of Wellington’s Regiment has a very long association with Halifax.  Its title was awarded by Queen Victoria to the 33^rd Regiment of Foot in 1853, after the death of the first Duke himself.  This unit amalgamated with the 76^th Regiment in 1881, and survived until 2006.

From 1794 the 33^rd was under the command of Sir Arthur Wellesley (later the Duke of Wellington) in India, and from 1806-1812 Wellington was Colonel of the Regiment.  Along with other British troops, the 33^rd Regiment fought under his command at Waterloo in 1815.

Surviving accounts of the battle written by private soldiers are incredibly rare.  In the late 1970s The Department of Manuscripts at the British Museum (now The British Library) was given a letter with a vivid description of the battle, written two months after it took place, in the name of George Hemingway of Halifax, 33^rd Regt.  We are lucky this survived.

Writing from occupied Paris on 16^th August, two months after Waterloo, Private Hemingway took up his story at Soignies on 15^th June 1815, and related his experiences at both the battels of Quatre Bras and Waterloo.  It appears that, although written in his name, he dictated his text to another Halifax man in the 33^rd, Private William Illingworth, whose message to his own family is incorporated in the letter.  You must realise that many soldiers were illiterate in those days. The spelling is very erratic, and there are gaps in the text, so the reader has to concentrate carefully to decipher it.

I shall make a few quotations from the Hemingway letter.   He makes much emphasis on the deprivations endured by the British soldiers in advance of the battles; he tells how soldiers went three days without food, and were much exposed to heavy rain, struggling in the mud.  At Waterloo, Hemingway was wounded about seven in the evening of 18^th June, during the last attack by the French Imperial Guard. Ensign Howard of the same battalion was the author of another vivid description of Waterloo, and reports that when the 33rd formed in a square, and faced the final French charge, ‘we could scarcely send our wounded officers to the rear and much less men.’ Hemingway’s wound must have been light, for he was able to leave the field in the hour of victory, a weary survivor. A large proportion of the wounded died – many of them weakened by the limited medical treatment they were given – and some units suffered more deaths over the following months, as a consequence of wounds, than on the day of Waterloo.

The Regimental Muster Books preserve some information about the military careers of George Hemingway and his friend (and scribe) William Illingworth. They joined the 33^rd on 1^st October 1812 (Illingworth) and 10^th December 1813 (Hemingway) respectively. After their letter was written in August 1815, they remained in the French capital for some time. On 23^rd December that year they embarked at Calais, and on Christmas Day marched into Canterbury. They reached Colchester on 1^st January, then marched to Hull.  Having arrived at Sunderland in April, they received their Waterloo medals. Hemingway (the name is normally spelled ‘Hummingway’ in the Muster Books) suffered a good deal of ill health in the years that followed, but he served in the 33^rd until 2^nd February 1820. By then he ranked as having served more than seven years (two years’ extra service was credited to every soldier who fought at Waterloo) and was drawing thirteen pence a day. Briefly he served further in Guernsey, but the 33rd was mainly employed on garrison duties in England during these years. William Illingworth stayed on in the regiment. He too drew pay for seven years’ service and (from 1817) for being a bandsman. He was discharged (‘service expired’) on 9^th October 1819, some four months before his friend. Neither man rose above the rank of Private.

Hemingway was and is, a not uncommon name in Halifax, and his identification back in Halifax is not certain.  It may well be he was the same George Hemingway who in 1845 kept a shop at 15 Clark Bridge, between Halifax Parish Church and the bottom of Southowram Bank, beside today’s Matalan store. George and Elizabeth Hemingway, to whom the letter was addressed, may have been Waterloo George’s parents.  I have not yet located either his burial, nor that of Illingworth.

David C Glover

To find out where I’m talking this month take a look a the following:

To find out more about the unveiling of the memorial visit https://memorial.dwr.org.uk/#events