Alison Drake's book...THOMAS

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The Castleford Heritage Trails
In The Footsteps Of....

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Old Whitwood
by Alice Shirley Schofield
Whitwwod is a small village, one mile south west of Castleford in West Yorkshire. It was an agricultural area which became a mining village and since the closure of the colliery it has become the site for new light industrial developments. A tiny area, about two square miles but an area with an interesting history.
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THOMAS
Alison Drake

 

The Castleford Heritage Trails.....
About the Project

Developing a series of Heritage Trails around the town had long been an ambition of Castleford Heritage Group, and the project finally began in 2004 following two successful funding applications to Arts Council England, Yorkshire and Wakefield Metropolitan District Council.

With this funding the Group was able to recruit a Writer in Residence, Ian Clayton, and an Artist in Residence, Harry Malkin. Ian was charged with the responsibility of creating this book and the accompanying leaflets, and Harry was commissioned to produce a number of public art pieces to be sited around the town. Both have worked with the local community to gather information and inspiration. This beautiful book and several community-made artworks are the result.

The artworks created by Harry Malkin can be seen in various points around the town, and range from carved brick reliefs to cast iron plaques on walls or in the pavements. All depict an aspect of the history of Castleford, and remind us of the people who have passed through this town.

History is created every day, and Castleford is creating its fair share at the moment. Within the next few years several major regeneration projects will have come to fruition and the townscape will have changed considerably.

There seems no better time to record and commemorate the lives of the people who were once touched by this town, and the surroundings in which they found themselves. But this is not the end of the Castleford Heritage Trails project, with so much history in the town it is just the beginning.

Lorna Malkin, Project Manager

....and a word now from compiler of the book
Ian Clayton

Whatever happened to the wooden aeroplane propeller that was fastened to the wall outside the old army stores in Bradley Street?

Where is the big key that hung over the door at Parkin’s Hardware shop on the corner of Aire Street and Bank Street? Will the Miners Arms weather vane ever find its way back into town? And is the winding handle of the Old Market Hall clock still collecting dust in the Museum’s collection? Cas’ folk are sentimental about their historical artefacts. They have good need to be, many of the symbols of this town’s history have been covered up with earth, knocked down, sold off or simply misplaced.

When I embarked on this project to write down a Castleford Heritage Trail I was told by no end of people ‘There’s nowt left to see!’. This is true, but when you start to sift through the stories of Castleford’s past, startling new artefacts do begin to appear. Yes, it is true that the remarkable Roman baths are covered in a mound of earth next to the Co-op car park, but the famous Roman milestone that was found in Beancroft Road is still preserved. Alright, it’s in Leeds, but preserved nonetheless. It’s also true that Henry Moore’s house was knocked down, but two houses where he also lived are there to be seen today. The elegant Theatre Royal, where Stan Laurel made one of his first professional appearances long since fell to the wrecker’s ball, yet the house where Laurel and hundreds of other theatricals stayed is still there, still lived in.

History can be as much about applying imagination as it is in museum exhibits. Walks and trails are physical journeys, but they can also be journeys of the mind.

I like to think of Castleford Heritage Trails as an Alice in Wonderland experience. Where, by using a little bit of imagination, we can walk in the footsteps of Wild West heroes, music hall legends and world famous sculptors. I also believe that we’re entitled to take a look with new eyes on things we’ve walked past all of our lives.

We have tried an odd combination of scholarly approach and light reading. Anyone interested in delving deeper into the history is referred to the extensive Bibliography at the end of the book. If you’re the type who prefers stories from history told by those it was passed down to orally...Hey! You’re in luck.

For years there was a man who frequented the Horse and Jockey pub, in Castleford, who would tell anybody prepared to listen that he had written a lot of The Beatles hits for them; including ‘Hey Jude’ and ‘I am the Walrus’. I still see this man walking up and down Carlton Street with a Netto’s carrier bag. There was a man in Featherstone who claimed that the flag from the Graf Spey was in the back bedroom of an old folk’s council bungalow in Purston. And I have heard of a lady who swears that the Holy Grail is buried somewhere in Pontefract. People will tell you that Dick Turpin hid in hollow trees in woods all over this district and that Robin Hood and his merry men waylaid travellers to Castleford as they passed through Wentbridge, actually this last one is probably true.

While I have been researching this Footsteps book I have been told that the Delta Blues singer Big Bill Broonzy gave a concert at Glass Houghton, that a fairy tribe of Giants called the Galapus guarded the river Aire crossings, that one of Stan Laurel’s first professional engagements was at Castleford and that the Longinus spear, the one that pierced Christ’s side, may have been brought here to Castleford by a Roman soldier. Though this last one can’t be true because I once met a tour guide from Birkenhead who told me that the spear is secreted in a special hiding place on a World War II U Boat that stands in dry dock at a maritime museum on the banks of the Mersey.

History is as much in stories as it is in artefacts. And yes, it is definitely true that Big Bill Broonzy and Stan Laurel both appeared in Castleford.

This book is edited in order that people following the Heritage Trails can read some of the history of the vicinity as they pass by. It is not a walks guide in the strictest sense. I don’t imagine for one minute that people will walk from the Bridge Foot to The Potteries reading aloud. You’re bound to get knocked over doing that.

The Castleford Heritage Trails....
In The Footsteps Of....
compiled and edited by Ian Clayton
£9.99