FORGOTTEN CORNERS

[Big Kev]

Is my memory at fault or were there once silver threepenny coins? Something is nagging at the back of my head.

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[Stanley]

[Tripps]

I've got a couple of those - and have used them, but just for Christmas puddings.

Not only have the coins gone, so have the popular slang names as well You mentioned threepenny joey - I'll add a tanner, a bob, two bob, half a dollar, and I've heard of five bob referred in rhyming slang, as an 'oxford' (scholar) .

I think cash is on the way out. I have personally not spent a single coin or note since March. Mr Dickinson will have to change his catch phrase - cash isn't king anymore. Cards are King.

There are those who think this a deliberate ploy by Government to gain more control over us plebs. I don't - just that it's an inevitable consequence of the current situation.

[PanBiker]

The current modern tenner triggers memories of the ten bob notes. Has about the same value or possibly less actually! If you look at beer prices or fish and chips it's no contest.

[chinatyke]

I think cash is on the way out. I have personally not spent a single coin or note since March. Mr Dickenson will have to change his catch phrase - cash isn't king anymore. Cards are King.

There are those who think this a deliberate ploy by Government to gain more control over us plebs. I don't - just that it's an inevitable consequence of the current situation.

During the last few days the Chinese government announced something about some new electronic currency being trialled here. I don't really understand it because surely we already use this by card transactions and payments made from electronic wallets on phone apps. It was something to do with you got paid electronically but you couldn't go to the bank and ask for cash in exchange for a credit balance, you could only pay electronic transfers from your credit account. Much the same as now except you would not have a cash option. Like you say, hints of a cashless society in the future with people essentially bartering in e-credits.

[Stanley]

Thinking about the 'cashless society'. Perhaps a forgotten corner here is the cohort of the population who haven't got access to the internet and its miracles. Not all Crumblies have a computer or the ability to understand them. Then their are the unfortunates on dial up speeds. (Did you see the news item about the local village network that staggered every morning at the same time. Eventually the engineers discovered that it was down to one old TV sat that, when it was switched on in the morning, emitted a rogue radio signal that crippled the connection to the server. The owner has promised to scrap it!)
Ever since the local banks closed I have managed my simple financial affairs by post, cash is simple, I draw it out at the Co-op on the free cash machine. Now I see that cash machines are being taken out because they don't make enough money to pay the expenses. That drives us towards online banking which is inaccessible to those without smart phones or who, like me, have a rooted aversion to trusting my financial dealings to the tender mercies and insecurities of the Web.
Think of the homeless, the very poor and the disabled. Cash in hand is the only way they can survive. The world isn't populated solely by smart people who have the means to be cashless. Many don't even have bank accounts! This needs to be remembered in any move towards the abolition of money in your pocket.
This is a forgotten corner that can be avoided.

[chinatyke]

Many don't even have bank accounts! This needs to be remembered in any move towards the abolition of money in your pocket.

I think cash will be used less and less until it dies a natural death. Already people pay by their e-wallets on their mobile phones. There are no transaction charges for payer or payee, so settling a small amount is no problem. Most people here have a WeChat wallet which is topped up electronically with no cash involved. They use it to pay anything, even bus fares at 1 rmb (= <9pence). It is contactless and has been welcomed and widely accepted in the Covid isolation arrangements. I don't use it - I'm a dinosaur, but younger generations already make e-payments without giving it a second thought. It is so convenient and probably even more secure than carrying money.

[Stanley]

As long as the disadvantaged are catered for!

[Stanley]

If you look carefully at this map of Wellhouse street in 1892 you'll see that all the houses on 'Twenty Row', those on Wellhouse street, had outshuts on the backs next to the street. I never realised this until I was shown a 1994 pic of the street with all the outshuts in place. They were all demolished when the row was refurbished shortly afterwards. In effect, like East Hill Street, the outshuts were on to the back street and the garden fronts were the 'front' of the house. Wellhouse Street was in fact their back street.
I believe the two rows were built by Billycock Bracewell shortly after he built Wellhouse Square. I went in to one of the houses once and was struck by how small and low the rooms are compared to those in my row, East Hill Street, which were built in about 1860, after the Rows and Wellhouse Square.
The standard of housing was rising as the town prospered. Compare with the even better houses built at the end of the century.



Like Ribblesdale Terrace built shortly after 1900. See also Park Avenue as well,

[Stanley]

Over the years I have watched the refurbishment of the fast food shop at the corner of Station Road. I have lost track of how long the current refurb has been in progress, all I can say it is the most extended building job I have ever seen! They are getting close to a finish now and one would expect them to open shortly. Will it be successful or go down like the original build. One has to wonder now that the night time economy of Church street has been hit so badly.
I note from David's post that Chewies is closed for a while.... We see these new starts happening over the years, hope springs eternal but most of them do not survive. Our high street economy isn't doing well at all. Too many forgotten corners.

[PanBiker]

Over the years I have watched the refurbishment of the fast food shop at the corner of Railway street. I have lost track of how long the current refurb has been in progress, all I can say it is the most extended building job I have ever seen!

Do you mean Station Road Stanley?

[Stanley]

Yes Ian. Thanks for pointing that out. I have edited it.

[Stanley]

Looking at this image of Station Road in 1892 reminds us of the range of three imposing buildings on the South side, the Liberal Club, the chapel and the Conservative Club.



The Labour Party was founded in 1900, having grown out of the trade union movement and socialist parties of the 19th century and shortly after the Liberal and Conservative clubs were built this less than imposing building was the local HQ of Left wing movements, the old Ivory Hall Club in Brook Street. I have always thought what a telling commentary this was about early twentieth century politics. Later on, when the Communist Party was founded in Britain in 1920 the Ivory Hall was the main centre of activities when it reached Barlick. Not much chance of them building any imposing buildings!
The Ivory Hall is long gone, the Liberal Club is now the community hall and as far as I can see the Con Club is now a normal private club. This in itself says something about the evolution of politics in our times. I think all three buildings qualify for Forgotten Corner status.

[Stanley]

Today's forgotten corner is triggered by a statistic I heard this morning which tells us that since 1970 the world as a whole has lost 68% of its wild life. (LINK)
This got me thinking about the changes we have seen at local level. I can't remember when I last heard a Pewit or a Cuckoo and there are definitely fewer birds about. Funny how these things can catch up on us. True, the consequences of the Covid pandemic may have improved things slightly, better air quality and less noise pollution but I don't think this has really addressed the situation. It makes you wonder where it will all end! Not the most cheerful forgotten corner, I apologise for it.

[Stanley]

Not sure if it is a forgotten corner any longer as the re-location of the Jubilee Fountain nears completion. The workers appear to be on the final stretch, they are working on the flags that need cutting to fit the irregular shape of the new location. The new up-lighters are installed and no doubt the lamp on the top will soon make a reappearance. I have to say that it is going to be quite impressive when finished.

[Stanley]

This one had slipped my mind, I was triggered by Stephen talking about the price of coal.
At 2AM on Saturday 22 September 1934 there was an explosion and fire in the Dennis Main Seam at Gresford Colliery near Wrexham. A double shift was working that night because there was an eagerly anticipated local football match that day and everyone wanted to go to it. Over 260 miners were killed in the seam and 3 of the first rescue team died as well It was estimated that over 200 women were widowed and 800 children lost their fathers. The pit was sealed after 3 days to starve the fire in the seam of oxygen. Only 11 bodies were ever recovered and from then until closure in 1973 the miners had over 250 bodies with them each day.
It is almost certain from the evidence that the company had been pushing for production taking safety short cuts and ignoring the warnings given to them by the miners but at the subsequent hearings and trial it was discovered that all the safety records had been 'lost'. The company was fined £150 for 'poor record keeping'.
This and many other accidents were the 'Price of Coal' and is today a forgotten corner.



The scene at the mine on the day.

[Stanley]

My employment at West Marton Dairy was secure. The main reasons for this were that it was not high pay and was seven days a week. Many of us worked seven days a week for years with pay in lieu of holidays. This was all calculated using rules set with an industry Wages Council. We never considered ourselves as special, it was just the nature of the job.
One of the consequences of working like that is that I have always been aware of other essential workers, the unsung heroes who work 24X7 to keep essential services going. How many members of the public ever think, or are even aware of these workers. Think of the services that we expect to operate 24X7 like utilities. There is immediate outcry if there is any interruption in sewage disposal, electricity, gas and water. Sudden emergencies in these systems have no respect for hours or holidays and someone has to turn out and work in often challenging conditions. These workers and the services they provide are now forgotten corners. Further, with the demise of the old Wages Councils, I suspect that a high proportion of these workers are not protected with the statutory benefits we had at the dairy. Are they all on reasonable overtime payments? I doubt it. That statutory protection we enjoyed is, itself, a forgotten corner. So many workers today have none of these benefits, some are not even guaranteed work.
In this respect, even in the 'bad old days' we were better off. A sad commentary on attitudes to the lowest tier of workers today. A forgotten corner.

[Stanley]

There must have been a time long ago, in remote villages, where it was possible to live life without being bombarded with bad news. The only source of news of the 'outside world' would be from travellers like packmen and tinkers. In time these would carry broadsheets and flyers informing people of outside events but the children would live through childhood completely shielded.
This came to mind yesterday on my second walk where I always encounter kids going to school. Almost without exception they have their noses stuck into their mobile phones. They are exposed to everything, whether it's on their phones, on radio or the TV. It strikes me that ignorance being bliss is a forgotten corner!

[Stanley]

The Central Co-operative Sore on Albert Road in 1989. We have seen this space alter over the years and become this...



Here's David Whipp's image of the first version of the Town Square before further additions were made.



Three weeks ago we saw the first glimpse of the latest version. This and other improvements to the surrounding pavements and street furniture are scheduled to be finished this month but personally I think they will have to get their skates on!



Part of the contract has of course been the third relocation of the Jubilee memorial.

All in all, a nice collection of forgotten corners and subsequent improvements. Things change so quickly these days!

[plaques]

Whereabouts on the old Coop building was this plaque located?

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Barlick coop.jpg

[Stanley]

Can't exactly remember but I can give a clue. The Central Co-op was built in two stages, 1907 and 1919/20. The 1907 build was the East end, nearest the Majestic.

[Stanley]

Scrub that response Ken. I have had a furtle and now believe it was on the central pediment facing onto Albert Road. I don't have a full-on pic of it. So almost certainly part of the 1920 extension unless the pediment was in the original build. Just looked at the pic again, It says 1907 on it Dummy! So the pediment was part of the 1907 build.
Sorry about that Ken, I was being a bit slow!

[Stanley]

Have a look at THIS Wkipedia article on the 'panic' or 'crash' bar fitted on exits in public buildings. I watched a Youtube Video about the Victoria Hall disaster in Sunderland and this alerted me to the fact that Mr Biggs, who invented the first panic bar, was either in the hall or directly influenced by the death of all those children during a magic show. We are so used to these simple and affective devices that we forget they are there and what triggered their invention. (See THIS, the Youtube video that tells the story of the event.)

[Stanley]

The first pic is the gala parade forming up at the end of Bank Street and the second is the Co-operative float at about the same time. They could both be the same gala procession. The Gala in Barlick used to be a major occasion and was replicated in Earby as well.



This was the West Marton Dairies entry in the Skipton gala in the late 1950s.

As the years passed attendance at the galas gradually fell away and eventually they became uneconomic, producing no profit for local charities. I can't say why, perhaps the concept couldn't compete with all the other entertainments available. We were becoming more 'sophisticated' and a day in the open air with an imported celebrity no longer worked. Whatever, they are now a forgotten corner, I doubt if we will ever see them again.

[PanBiker]

Earby's event were always around May Day. I used to spend all week cleaning my van between jobs to enter in the trade vehicle section. The local trade vans all took part in the procession up to Springfield and were all lined up for inspection. There were categories for best turned out vehicle and best organised tools in a service vehicle. I nearly ran over one of the tambourine dancing lasses one year who managed to faint spectacularly right in front of me in the procession! Happy days and simple pleasures, it always seemed to be fine on Earby May Day.