Stunning tapestry of Silsden scenes to take centre stage at textile art exhibition

Pictured above is a newly completed tapestry, portraying Silsden life and buildings past and present, which will be on view for the first time at a Textile Art Exhibition at the Town Hall on March 29th and 30th.

The stunning tapestry has been stitched over the last year by 27 Silsden women, including those pictured above. The tapestry demonstrates many stitching skills, from applique and fine embroidery to crochet and felting. The exhibition will show work by 15 local textile artists and textile groups.

"The sharing of techniques and ideas has been an important part of the project," says instigator Alison Tribe (pictured above), who helped organise it all. "We are amazed by what we have produced." The exhibition will include a video about the making of the tapestry and the history of the buildings that have been stitched. A small exhibition about Silsden's textile history will also be on show. Entry will be free.

Silsden couple's new-look cafe bar is an instant success

The new-look Beckside Cafe Bar, in Kirkgate, which opened on January 26th after a four-month facelift, has been busy non-stop, much to the delight of owners Chris Fowler and his partner Lauren Harker, for whom setting up their own cafe has been "a steep learning curve".

Chris, a Cobbydaler born and bred, and Lauren are pictured above with three members of their team, left to right Hannah Wrather, Chelsea Rampling and Sophia Slingsby.

Chris said of the instant success of the Beckside Cafe Bar, which was previously the Old Post Office: "It's been difficult to comprehend but obviously we are delighted." For the last five years Chris had been running the Robin Hood pub a couple of hundred yards along the road in Kirkgate. He is still the licensee but has handed over the running of the pub to his daughter, Jasmin.  Chris's partner Lauren previously was assistant manager of the Silsden primary school kitchen, where she worked for 10 years helping to provide lunchtime meals for the 400 or so pupils. Chris and Lauren are directors of the Beckside business along with Iain Lawson, whose Silsden-based company, Lawsons Playzones and Groundworks Ltd., installs playgrounds nationwide.  

The Fowler family help Chris and Lauren with staffing. Pictured above is Chris's sister Nicky, who works at both the cafe and the pub. After leaving South Craven School, Chris was an apprentice motor mechanic with Walter Briggs at Cowling. Following his apprenticeship, he joined BT (now Open Reach) where he was an engineer for 10 years and then a manager for 12 years.

He took voluntary redundancy from Open Reach and in November 2019 became licensee of the Robin Hood, which had been closed for a while. At the time it was a wet-only establishment but introduced food when the government's Eat Out to Help Out scheme was launched in August 2020 to aid the covid-hit hospitality sector.

Pictured above is daughter Jasmin Fowler, who is now managing the Robin Hood while Chris concentrates on the Beckside venture. Jasmin returned to Silsden in August from Bournemouth where she learnt the licensed trade assisting her mother in the running of multiple pubs in Dorset and Lancashire. Jasmin's brother Nathan Fearnley is one of the Robin Hood's two chefs, the other being Darren Robb.

Silsden shoppers welcome Briggate's new greengrocery

After an absence of many years, Silsden has an independent greengrocery, run by a member of a well-known local family. Olive & Green, in Briggate, opened at the weekend (November 23rd and 24th) and has attracted many welcoming comments from shoppers.

Owner Nicola Wheeler is pictured above. Her new greengrocery, which includes a deli and gift shop, occupies the prime Briggate location vacated in the summer by the former Knowles estate agency. (See my blog of July 23rd.) 

A trained chef, Nicola has vast experience in catering and retail, including running sandwich bars-cum-delis in Leeds. Her sister, Lora Waterhouse, is assisting Nicola at busy times and their mother, Barbara Hetherington, is supplying the gift shop with crocheted accessories. Nicola's plans for the business include using upstairs rooms for tapas nights and wine tastings plus cookery schools for children. First-floor space is also being rented by two businesses, in private-tutoring and beauty aesthetics.

Coffydale continues Kirkgate's coffee cultureOccupying one of Silsden's premier retailing locations, No 55 Kirkgate has contributed to the town's coffee-cum-catering culture, which along with hairdressing is a prominent part of the local economy. Coffydale, a combined cafe and bar, is owned by Louisa Rollins, who is pictured above on the right with colleague Gaynor Kelepouris. Louisa is a partner in another coffee shop in the area. The Silsden venture opened in January of this year.  No 55 Kirkgate has been a shop for well over 120 years, much of that time a grocery, being particularly remembered as Holgate's. More recently it has been a cafe, Bilaluci's following the closure of Holgate's and then the Duck Pond.

New barber Blendz into the continuing changes in Kirkgate

No 74 Kirgate, previously occupied by Silsden Vets, has a new lease of life as a barber's shop, run by Haider Ali, who is pictured above at the premises. He has been a barber for six years and the Silsden venture, called Blendz, is his first own-account business. Ali, who is from Wibsey, says he chose to open in Silsden because it looked a good place to be.

 

Wharfedale naturalist's focus on the changing biodiversity of the local countryside

Silsden Campaign for the Countryside organised a talk on the changing biodiversity of  our local countryside. The speaker was Dr Ian Brand (on the left), who chairs Wharfedale Naturalists. He is pictured with Caroline Whitaker, one of Silsden's three Green Party councillors at City Hall, and Mark Wogden, who chairs Silsden Campaign for the Countryside. The well-attended illustrated talk was held at Silsden Methodist Church on Tuesday October 29th.

Popular Kurdish barber takes a short cut to Kirkgate (from Bolton Road)

Popular Kurdish barber Saim Sarwan (pictured above), who opened his first shop at 5 Bolton Road, Silsden, in April 2021, has moved to No. 49 Kirkgate, which Saim says is bigger and in a better location than his previous premises (see my Blog of June 30th 2021), which he has vacated. The new shop is called Master Fade. The fade is a stylish and fashionable haircut. The customer pictured above having a flame treatment is Tom Cunningham.

No. 49 Kirkgate was a pharmacy for a long time but then had three changes of use in the last five years, as The Yorkshire Vaper, Dessert Bae and Raven Forge before its dazzling transformation into Master Fade.