PROGRESS OR CULTURAL VANDALISM?

[Stanley]

PROGRESS OR CULTURAL VANDALISM?

03 May 2001

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, it gives us 20/20 vision of where we went wrong! It’s a useful tool because by identifying the consequences of past actions we can learn lessons about the way we manage our environment. One action from the past I have always regretted is the demolition of the railway line between Barlick and Earby and the connection with Skipton and Colne. Just think what we could do today in terms of tourism if we had a steam railway running right into the middle of the town! It’s water under the bridge now of course, we can’t re-write history, however, what we can do is be aware of our assets and stand up and shout if we think that we can identify another mistake being made.
It’s not all bad news of course, there is a body of opinion in the town that recognises the dangers of wholesale modernisation and it was this groundswell of opinion that made it possible to save Bancroft Engine in the early 1980s and resulted in initiatives like the Town Square. Actions like this make it possible to embrace change and improvement without throwing away the essential features that lift Barlick from being simply another boring provincial town full of brand name shop fronts to being a unique and human scale environment. We’ve not done too badly in the past and with a bit of forethought we can do just as well in the future.
Right, I can hear you saying, “What’s triggered him off this week?” Simple, I saw a report that there is a move afoot to demolish the little hovel behind the telephone box at the bottom of Walmsgate and ‘tidy’ the area up. I can see why this might be seen to be a good thing, theft of roof slates, neglect and vandalism have combined to make it an eyesore and I agree, we need to do something about it. However, before we rush into demolition, let’s just stand back and take a long hard look at what we are doing.
My mate Ernie Roberts was born in one of the small back-to-backs on John Street and in the thirties was a leading light in the local gang, ‘The Wapping Shincrackers’. Walmsgate was part of their territory and very little went on there that they didn’t know about. He told me that the hovel in question was the home of a woman they knew as Sarah Ann Rocky. She was evidently a bit of a character, Ernie said she liked her drink and he had seen her brought back home slightly worse for wear in a wheelbarrow!
After Sarah, the hovel was occupied by another woman who lived on her own. Ernie couldn’t remember her name but he knew quite a bit about her because she couldn’t read or write. She had a son called Eric who was in Canada and Ernie used to write letters for her and read the letters she got from her son, he thought she was living there until the late thirties. He remembered one incident when there was a fire in the building and when the fire brigade got her out she asked them to save her crock. Thinking it contained valuables they went in and got it out but then found she had been using it as a toilet!
All good stuff and part of Barlick history but the really important message we get from this evidence is that the ‘hovel’ we are looking at is actually the smallest house in Barlick. It still has a fireplace and a flue and a curious barred window at high level in the rear wall. Dig a little further and the first thing that strikes me about it's shape and position is that it occupies a peculiarly triangular shaped piece of ground bounded by the path behind, the road in front and the house on the East side. It has all the indications of being a squatted site, built on a piece of land that wasn’t owned by anyone. This possibility is reinforced in my mind by the fact that in this part of the town there are quite a few pieces of land which don’t have clear title. I say this on the basis of a long conversation I once had with Harold Duxbury. I’m not going to go any further into this matter because it can be a very sensitive matter and it is no part of my brief to upset anybody’s applecart but I would lay a shade of odds that at one time the hovel was built on waste ground.
So what we have may be an eyesore but it’s also an important piece of Barlick history. My recommendation would be to re-roof it, reinstate the chimney, point it and put a good door on it. This could possibly be cheaper than demolition and revetment of the ground behind it and would result in another asset for the town. Years ago, I bought the little building opposite the Conservative Club for the same reason. It was falling into disrepair and was an eyesore. John Northage refurbished it and I sold it for what it had cost me. It’s just a peculiar little building that looks as though it is trying to set off down the hill, but I think it adds something to the townscape and has been in constant use ever since. Can we please apply the same principle to the building in Walmsgate?
I’d like to have a look at another distinctive part of the town while we are on the subject of managing change in such a way that we retain character. I have no doubt that many motorists are of the opinion that the stretch of Barlick Lane (Manchester Road) between Hill Top Farm and Bancrofts ought to be widened and resurfaced. Please don’t do anything of the sort. On road traffic grounds, it is a very effective piece of ‘traffic calming’, it slows vehicles down as they approach the town down a steep hill, can anyone ever remember a serious accident on this stretch?
On historical grounds, look very carefully at the boundary between the road and the fields stretching down to Bancroft Mill. This is an original pre-medieval boundary, that hedge has been there for at least 800 years and almost certainly a lot longer. Take the trouble to walk down from the top and notice that in the top corner of the field, there is a walled enclosure that is now completely overgrown. This is the yard where destitute people who were recipients of ‘outdoor relief’ from the Skipton Workhouse used to have to break stone for road mending in order to qualify for the ‘dole’. Old Barlickers call it ‘Poorbones’. I never pass here without thinking of those poor people and the misery they must have endured in all sorts of weathers in order to get enough money to keep them barely alive. If we lose that small and insignificant piece of land, we lose a direct link with our roots and a potent reminder of how far we have progressed in terms of social care. I’d like to see it cleared out and celebrated as part of the rich heritage of the town. Is anybody on the Council listening?
There’s another big problem looming right in the centre of the town. I can’t for the life of me understand how a system works that on the one hand says that Rainhall Road School is redundant, and on the other says that Coates needs more classrooms. Leaving that on one side, what’s going to happen to the building? Are we going to have the windows boarded up, the wonderful window boxes and hanging baskets disappear and eventual demolition and a commercial use? Surely we have the imagination to use this fine building for community use?
Suppose we put a nursery school in there, how about a Youth and Community centre, could the doctors do with some more room to provide specialised health care. I’m sure more knowledgeable people in these matters than me can come up with their own suggestions. My basic point is that we have a public asset in the middle of the town and if we don’t do some serious shouting, worst case is that we lose it completely. It’s of no consequence to the accountants in County Hall but it’s of great consequence to us, we have to live here. Put pen to paper and make your voice heard, it’s called democracy and community pride!
The bottom line is that it’s no use at all going round telling all and sundry what a good place Barlick is and how it has a character of its own if we do nothing about the influences that are at work to level us down. This is the reason why I spend so much of my time researching the history of the town and writing about it. I get enough feedback to be certain that many inhabitants share my opinions. I’m just asking you to become vocal, badger your councillors, write letters to County Hall. If enough of us make enough noise they’ll think it’s a movement! (Alice’s Restaurant, Arlow Guthrie.)


03 May 2001