Another soaraway success for Proms on the Farm

The 13th annual Proms on the Farm on July 23 was an amazing success, setting records for attendance and income. As the picture above indicates, hundreds took advantage of the heatwave to enjoy themselves and raise money for the Manorlands hospice and for Silsden Methodist Church's community work.  More than 1,000 people attended and £18,000 was raised, before expenses. Over the years the event, which is held at Sycamore Farm, Brunthwaite, has grossed £144,000 for the two causes.

Above: more tea, vicar? A pop-up Silsden WI was among the fun ideas for gazebos. For Women's Institute, read "We're Inventive." 

Above: the Blues brothers and sisters introduced the new Bluesmobile.

Above: the Best Dressed Gazebo accolade went to this ever ambitious group of friends from Bingley, who have taken part in all but a few of the Proms. Their seaside theme proved popular with youngsters from neighbouring gazebos.  

Above: the hot weather also prompted these friends to make a splash with a beach theme. Left to right are Philip and Ann Roberts, Dave Scargill and Amy Pascall  and Deb and Simon Wilson.

Above: from Brunthwaite to Bali with Silsden barber Jeff Walbank (kneeling left), his wife Gill (holding their grandson) and family and friends.

Above: cheers to a good time. Left to right are Katy Van Suilichem, Charlotte Hyde, Kate Parker, Jo Gill, Melissa Dobson and Jo Munt.

Above: Keighley Rotary Club members came dressed for the charleston. From left are Janet Pickles, who is a past president, president Marie Hickman, vice-president Nancy Holdsworth and Liz Joyce.

The event was opened by Silsden Town Mayor Peter Robinson, who is pictured above with his wife, Alison (fifth from left), and  members of the Proms team (left to right) Sylvia Atkinson, Rosalie Holroyd, Fiona Hanson, Dale Gatenby, John Lohan and Stewart Hanson.

The evening's musical entertainment was provided by the Sultans of Swing (pictured above), the Ripon City Band with Sarah Halstead as soloist and 1960 Four, the covers rock band previously known as the Big Bang.

Above: a reet royal Yorkshire tea party was in full swing with Bib and Tony Bailey and friends.

Above: you can't have proms without patriotism whether at the Royal Albert Hall or at Sycamore Farm. 

Above: red, white and blue was much in evidence.

Above: left to right are Jo and Alex Gill, Heather and Lee Langthorne and Jon and Sharon Grimshaw. Their gazebo had an Olympics theme.

Above: young Olympians, left to right, are Lucie Gill, Alden Grimshaw, Lewis Langthorne, Finley Thompson, Marissa Langthorne and George Grimshaw.

Above: sunshine smiles from the ladies (left to right) Zoe Hooper and sisters Julie Summersgill and Lynne Chapman, and the lads Neil Summersgill (left) and Alan Chapman.

Above: Silsden AFC line-up. President Barry Thomas (centre) is pictured with Lee Taylor (left), who is vice-chairman of the junior section, and the club's general secretary, Peter Hanson.

Above: Rosalie Holroyd is pictured with Martin Hall, musical director of the Ripon City Band, which is a finalist in this year's national brass band championships.

Above: left to right are Kath Davy and Ian and Elizabeth Hemsworth.

Above: family flower power. Left to right are Melissa Dobson and Kate, Jason and Joyce Kilvington.

Above: it's the gospel truth -- only one of these cheerful clerics is genuine. The Rev David Griffiths (centre), Vicar of St James' Church, is pictured with irreverent reverends left to right Neil Wilson, Andrew Buckler, Phil Binns and Jonathan Smithies.

Above: this Dutch flag was flown by John and Corrie Sunderland (left), to signify family ties with Holland. Their friends Mary and Michael Binns displayed the Yorkshire White Rose flag and the New Zealand flag, which they flew with reference to their son, Adam, who lives with his family in Dunedin in the south island.

Above and below: the joy of good company, good weather and good music. And support for good causes.

Hothfield School's budding bug-hunters

Above and below: Hothfield Junior School pupils were thrilled to go bug-hunting in the large field beyond Alder Carr Wood. Strewn with boulders and with fine views across the Aire Valley, this undisturbed hillside location is an ideal classroom for budding naturalists. The public footpath from the wood leads to the outer greens of the former Riddlesden Golf Club and then down to the canal.

Town Hall tea treat revives a community tradition

Above: Nearly 50 Silsden senior citizens enjoyed afternoon tea at the Town Hall in a revival of a community tradition that lapsed more than 20 years ago. They were entertained to music of the 1940s and 1950s by the Swing Cat Trio and tucked into sandwiches and home-made cakes served by volunteers from the Friends of Silsden Town Hall.

Above: Town Mayor Councillor Peter Robinson, who was accompanied by his wife, Alison, opened the July 2nd event, which was funded by the Harry Beverley Tillotson Trust. The Friends are organising a Christmas tea for December 10. Chairman Ray Colling said: "We hope the outstanding success of the afternoon will be the first of many and that we can reach out to as many over-75s as we can."

Hawthorn's hues highlight nature's nuances

Above: hawthorn blossom has been exceptionally abundant this spring.

Above: the bounty has burst forth unabated with the bonus, it seems on a grander scale than in previous years, that the white petals have become infused with a rosy hue. In the foreground is cow parsley, also known as Queen Anne's lace. Gardening broadcaster Monty Don describes hawthorn blossom and cow parsley as an incomparable combination.  

Above: in some spectacular incidences hawthorn's delicate pink floral tentacles have matured into crimson.  

The spectacle adorning our field hedgerows is far from over with the showy froth of rowan (above) still adding to the visual and sensory delights. And about to unfold in another riotous radiance is the heady creaminess of elder flowers 

Above: conifers are also having a field day, as can be seen from this pine loaded with emerging cones. Silsden is truly blessed with its treescapes, many of them within swift and easy walking distance of the built environment. We should all be charged with the duty of ensuring that local youngsters grow up to understand, to love and to protect the countryside.

Spring sprinkles the landscape with familiar colours

Above: the bluebell bonanza at Snowden Ghyll is nothing short of sensational, extensively carpeting the woodland floor upstream of Throup's Bridge.

Above: primroses are another highlight of Snowden Ghyll, where abundant wild flowers tell of ancient woodland.

Above: flowering cherry trees are a striking feature of the park. 

Above: Swartha Wood's annual bluebell extravaganza was about to be joined by the customary arresting array of ramsons. By May 10th the wild garlic was coming into flower and filling the becksides by the bridge with its pungent aroma. 

Above: shade for the sheep and their lambs as trees burst into leaf.

Proposals for 190 homes at Belton Road, 140 at Becks Mill and 47 at the old timber yard

1) Becks and Riverside mills

Local resident Sam Slater, among the many people who enjoy the tranquility of ancient Sykes Lane, inspects plans to build 140 three and four-bedroomed houses on the site of the former Becks and Riverside (Weavestyle) mills.

The scheme (above) was open to public view at the Town Hall on April 7. The Becks, Belton Road and Banks schemes will all be accessed from junctions with Keighley Road. The junction for the Becks houses will be nearly opposite the Aldi entrance. This estate road into and from Keighley Road runs the width of the development near the top of the diagram. It ends in Sykes Lane opposite the pens and outbuildings -- sited so as to serve any future housing development beyond the present scheme.

The development site is pictured above in its wider context. Shazad Khan, the project's transport expert, says cars can be managed without traffic lights or a roundabout, which would become options if congestion is rife. Predictions based on national modeling assume 2.6 cars per household. The symbols along Keighley Road on the map above represent bus stops.

The Keighley Road frontage is virtually opposite the Aldi store car park. Outline plans for the Becks and Riverside site have yet to be put to planners. Leeds-based consultants Nathaniel Lichfield & Partners (NLP) are handling the project on behalf of site owner Silvermantle Ltd., whose service address is in Manchester.

The Becks Mill was Silsden's first steam-powered textile factory, built in 1837/1838. It subsequently became Stocks Mill with a huge frontage to Keighley Road (see my posts of November 2014). This photograph was taken in 2009 when demolition of the mill fronting Keighley Road exposed this two-storey section, latterly occupied by Belmont Silks.

The entrance to the proposed housing estate will be here, about 45 metres south of the Aldi entrance.

The Riverside Mill (above), part of the 11-acre site, was purpose-built for textile firm Weavestyle. Plans for a Tesco store on the site were turned down following the recent demolition of the mill. 

View from the canal towpath. The vacant Riverside Mill area can be seen through the trees on the left

This 1970s view, also shown in my post of March 2016, partly indicates the Becks and Riverside mills site beyond the Keighley Road sports pitches in the foreground. The chimney nearest the pitches belonged to the old dyeworks, which gave way to the Weavestyle premises.

2) The Banks

Around 47 three, four and five-bedroomed homes are planned for The Banks on the canal-side site of the old Tunnicliffe timber yard. Access to and from Keighley Road will be opposite the old Corn Mill along the track (where caravans were once stored) beyond the lorry and the gate shown above. 

Above: The old timber yard where around 47 houses are to be built. Developer Harron Homes, of Leeds, describes Silsden as a "quaint town".

Above: an impression of the development adjoining the canal.

Above:  the access to and from Keighley Road will run between Victorian Mill Banks on the left and the unmade road on the right, which leads to picturesque Albert Square. 

Above: the Sykes Lane end of the access road.

Above: the access road will cross Sykes Lane at this point to serve the new estate. Looking across to Millfields, a relatively recent housing development between the canal and Elliott Street.

Above: Sykes Lane is known to have been in existence in 1565 but its origins are possibly much earlier. It was an access route to early field systems. Flanked for years by an old-fashioned mishmash of smallholdings and pursuits, the lane is rich in birdsong in spring and a leafy delight in summer. 

3) Belton Road

Bradford council regulators, meeting on April 7, deferred consideration of plans to build around 190 homes on land between Belton Road and Henholme Lane. Part of the proposed site is shown above, looking towards Henholme Lane.

Above: the development area is ringed in red. The access is in Belton Road near the junction with Keighley Road. Councillors want more information about the risk of flooding.

Above: an illustration of the proposed development. The builder, Countryside Properties, of Essex, which has a Stock Exchange listing, is seeking outline consent. Part of the site is reported to be in an area known to be a flood risk. City Hall officers said the scheme should be approved but councillors called for a fuller flood-risk assessment taking into account the Boxing Day floods. The developer's assessment had been written before the area's December deluge.