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Ilkley Literature Festival

admin — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 13:23:33 +0000

Parkinson At Ilkley Festival

Yorkshire’s very own chat show king Sir Michael Parkinson is heading the line up at this year’s Ilkley Literature Festival. Sir Michael is among a host of writers across fiction, journalism, poetry and non-fiction to appear at the 37th event. Ilkley Literature Festival was launched by poet WH Auden in 1973 in one of his last public appearances and each year more than 160 events take place in a variety of venues across the town.

There are projects and residencies involving local schools and community organisations. The first female poet laureate Carol Ann Duffy, Booker prize winner Roddy Doyle and The Guardian’s Polly Toynbee are set to appear on the bill. Time Traveller’s Wife author Audrey Niffenegger will make her debut at the festival and broadcaster Peter Snow will be exploring his new history To War with Wellington: From the Peninsula to Waterloo. Fatima Bhutto, Benazir Bhutto’s niece brings her family memoir, Songs of Blood and Sword to Ilkley and Nelson Mandela will be the subject of renowned anti-apartheid campaigner and Labour MP Peter Hain’s biography.

This year’s festival, which will run from October 1 to 17, will also have a programme of performances with the children’s festival weekend running from October 9 to 10. Festival director Rachel Feldberg said: “We’re delighted to have such a great line up already and this is just the start.

The complete Ilkley Literature Festival programme will be announced in July.

Tickets will be available to Friends of the Festival from August 18 and will go on general release on August 31.

21st Ilkley Moor Fell Race

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:00:32 +0000

The 21st Ilkley Moor Fell Race had reduced numbers as some unexpected early morning snow made travel difficult for many. Those who made it to the venue enjoyed a challenging race, with fine wins by local hero Graham Pearce and Yorkshire champion Emma Clayton. Over 30 Ilkley Harriers volunteers made the race possible while Pete Bland Sports were the major prize sponsor this year as well as providing race numbers. This race has a real Yorkshire flavour, and as always every finisher received a complimentary packet of Yorkshire Tea from Bettys and Taylors of Harrogate. The event also incorporated the eighth running of the Junior Ilkley Moor Fell Races. The weather was absolutely awful while setting up for the event and the snow and ice made conditions the worst they have ever been for the competitiors. Despite all this, 80 juniors came along to run in the event and make the hard work all worthwhile.

In the U-8s half-mile race the first three boys were Ciaran Crabtree 4.40 (Keighley & C), Edward Riley 4.54 (Ashlands School) and Tom Hagan 4.56 (Ilkley). For the U-8 girls it was Annie Brown 5.24 (Airienteers), Molly Hesketh 6.18 and Lucy Hargraves 6.20.

The U-10s, 12s and 14s all did a one mile course. In the U-10 boys’ race the first junior home was Charles Smith in 8.06 followed by Kai Atkins 8.29 (Pendle) and Francis Westhead 8.56 (Ilkley). For the girls Alex Baker 10.44 (Pendle), Bethan Morley 11.10 (Ilkley) and Zanya Moore 11.59 (Calder Valley). For the U-12s Ilkley had a clean sweep of the first three places in both the boys’ and girls’ races with Thomas Kerr 8.13, Ruaridh Mon-Williams 8.18 and William Tench 8.26 for the boys and for the girls Sarah Pickering 8.45, Elizabeth Westhead 9.10 and Lucy Jacques 9.12.

In the U-14s and outright winner of the one mile course was James Merchant 7.58 (Pendle) followed by Jack Cummings 8.26 and Tom Bennett 8.43, both from Ilkley.

In the girls’ race the order was Sally Handford 9.14 (Keighley & C), Lucy Williamson 10.04 and Joanne Williamson 13.03, both from Ilkley. Six U-16s competed in the two mile race and the winner was Kristian Edwards from Tamworth AC in 13.38 followed by Bradley Chapman in 17.53 and Sam Wood in 18.10, both from Ilkley. The girls’ race winner was Pippa Barrett 17.23 (Keighley & C) with Georgia Malir (Ilkley) second in 18.02.

This event was also the annual Junior Ilkley Harrier Club Fell Championship where Phil Dean Trophies are presented to the first boy and girl JIH from U-10 to U-16. The 2010 winners were: U10 – Francis Westhead and Bethan Morley; U12 – Thomas Kerr and Sarah Pickering; U14 – Jack Cummings and Lucy Williamson; U16 – Bradley Chapman and Georgia Malir. In the Great North West Half Marathon, Andy Wiggans finished 18th out of 881 finishers, and first in his class, in a new personal best of 80:09. Jann Smith also recorderd a new personal best 96:27 to finish 205th.

Fell Race results: 1, Graham Pearce (Pudsey & B) 39:52; 2, Robin Lawrence (Bingley H) 42:16; 3, Tom Adams (Ilkley H) 43:04; 4, Matthew Roberts (Eryri H) 43:13; 5, Colin Bishop (Saddleworth) 43:14; 6, Jack Dugdale (Clayton-le-Moors) 43:16; 7, Sean Willis (Saddleworth R) 43:17; 8, Stephen Brock (Keighley and C) 43:40; 9, Dave Wilby (Ilkley H) 43:42; 10, Ted Mason (Wharfedale H) 43:52; 11, Jonny Bradshaw (Wharfedale H) 44:01; 12, Paul Crabtree (Wharfedale H) 44:47; 13, Ryan Greaves (Pudsey & B) 45:38; 14, Alex Sinclair (Skipton AC) 45:40; 15, Jason Hemsley (Wharfedale H) 45:54; 16, Pete Keron (Wharfedale H) 46:28; 17, David Alcock (Pudsey & B) 46:57; 18, James Senior (Bingley H) 46:59; 19, Derek Fuller (Ilkley H) 47:04; 20, Jonathan Aylward (Pudsey & B) 47:19; 21, Stuart Pitches (Ilkley H) 47:21; 22, Colin Valentine (Keswick AC) 47:23; 23, Ralph Tench (Ilkley H) 47:24; 24, Neil Hardiman (Clayton-le-Moors H) 47:38; 25, Jamie Hutchinson (Ilkley H) 47:40; 26, Paul Brannigan (Todmorden H) 47:42; 27, Jim Ryder (Ilkley H) 48:03; 28, Paul Hobbs (Todmorden H) 48:10; 29, Richard Crossland (U/A) 48:17; 30, Dick Ballantine (Keighley and C) 48:25; 31, Nick Pearce (Ilkley H) 48:34; 32, John Beetham (Keswick AC) 48:41; 33, Dave Collins (Todmorden H) 48:45; 34, Richard Joel (Ilkley H) 48:47; 35, Dave Ward (Borrowdale FR) 49:05; 36, Chris Davies (Saddleworth) 49:15; 37, Rob Thackray (Leeds & Bradford Tri) 49:41; 38, Emma Clayton (Scunthorpe) 49:46; 39, Dave Cummings (Ilkley H) 49:50; 40, Phil Clayton (FRA) 50:18; 41, Andrew Fell (Rossendale H) 50:29; 42, Stephen Brandwood (Todmorden H) 50:49; 43, Pauline Munro (Bingley H) 50:52; 44, Richard Thackray (U/A) 51:40; 45, Holly Williams (Keighley and C) 52:11; 46, Neil Smith (Ilkley H) 52:16; 47, Ian Hutchinson (Bowland FR) 52:27; 48, Martin Farrar (Skyrac AC) 52:29; 49, William Smith (Wharfedale H) 52:34; 50, Tom McClelland-Thomas (Calder Valley) 52:37.

51, Brett Weeden (Keighley and C) 52:43; 52, Samuel Stell (U/A) 53:00; 53, Clive Greatorex (Todmorden H) 53:02; 54, Carl Bradshaw (Wharfedale H) 53:29; 55, Paul Smithson (Keighley and C) 54:04; 56, Peter Bramham (Keighley and C) 54:06; 57, Ed Robinson (Settle) 54:09; 58, Michael Toman (Rossendale H) 54:11; 59, Andrew Turner (Ellenborough AC) 54:14; 60, James Sheard (Saddleworth R) 54:15; 61, Steve Hall (Horsforth H) 54:17; 62, Alison Eagle (Ilkley H) 54:19; 63, Paddy Hagan (Ilkley H) 54:20; 64, Paul Hindle (Keighley and C) 54:24; 65, Ian Brocklebank (Skyrac AC) 54:28; 66, Alistair Barlow (Ilkley H) 54:29; 67, Fraser Hardie (Keighley and C) 54:33; 68, Heather Dawe (Ilkley H) 54:38; 69, Simon Harris (FRA) 54:43; 70, Sharron Smith (Bingley H) 54:47; 71, Stuart Conway (Keighley and C) 54:49; 72, Tim Clegg (Keighley and C) 54:50; 73, Nick Hayward (U/A) 54:56; 74, Mike Baldwin (Ilkley H) 55:01; 75, Barry Mordue (U/A) 55:11; 76, Bob Hamilton (Ilkley H) 55:13; 77, Tamara Hird (Wharfedale H) 55:20; 78, Gill Myers (Wharfedale H) 55:21; 79, David Bagot (U/A) 55:39; 80, Jenny Dybeck (Ilkley H) 55:46; 81, John Fortescue (Abbey R) 55:49; 82, Dom Nurse (Abbey R) 56:01; 83, Gordon Rowson (U/A) 56:16; 84, Michael McLoughlin (Preston H) 56:31; 85, Barry Rawlinson (Rossendale H) 56:38; 86, Paul Stephens (Ilkley H) 56:40; 87, Richard Giles (U/A) 56:51; 88, Christopher Jones (Spenborough AC) 56:54; 89, Alison Weston (Ilkley H) 56:55; 90, Antonio Melechi (Ilkley H) 57:01; 91, Ross Powell (Mercia) 57:15; 92, Ed Brougham (Ilkley H) 57:19; 93, Frank Glass (Skyrac AC) 57:26; 94, Nick Dybeck (U/A) 57:32; 95, Chris Tomes (Keighley and C) 57:35; 96, Stephen Coy (Ilkley H) 57:38; 97, Adam Baird (Otley AC) 57:41; 98, Chris Oxlade (Ilkley H) 57:53; 99, Graham Breeze (Ilkley H) 57:54; 100, Alan Brentnall (Pennine FR) 57:55.

101, David Buchanan (U/A) 57:56; 102, Donna Cartwright (Radcliffe AC) 58:17; 103, Mark Cartwright (Radcliffe AC) 58:22; 104, Timothy Jacobs (Abbey R) 58:25; 105, Sam Richards (Pendle) 58:29; 106, John Hayes (Ilkley H) 58:32; 107, Carol Morgan (Nidd V) 59:03; 108, Kelly Harrison (Ilkley H) 59:15; 109, Paul Livsey (Darwen D) 59:17; 110, Ian Yoxall (U/A) 59:18; 111, Sean Makin (Achille Ratti) 59:24; 112, Michael Smith (Bingley H) 59:25; 113, Mark Richmond (U/A) 59:26; 114, Jane McCarthy (Ilkley H) 59:28; 115, Derek Oliver (U/A) 59:30; 116, Trudy Beetham (Keswick AC) 59:51; 117, Britta Sendlhofer (Ambleside AC) 59:52; 118, Eddie Lesniak (Achille Ratti AC) 60:09; 119, Richard Thackeray (Featherstone RC) 60:16; 120, Gareth Miller (U/A) 60:18; 121, Steven Moss (Spenborough AC) 60:51; 122, Richard Butterwick (Todmorden H) 60:52; 123, Owen Mills (U/A) 61:01; 124, Rebecca Mon-Williams (Ilkley H) 61:02; 125, Ruth Dorrington (Abbey R) 61:14; 126, Nicholas Cunningham (Lancs Fire and Rescue) 61:18; 127, David Young (FRA) 61:22; 128, Robert Pritchard (Skyrac AC) 61:23; 129, Barbara Savage (Clayton-le-M) 61:36; 130, Peter Shelley (U/A) 62:02; 131, Andy Lawrence (U/A) 62:03; 132, Arthur Reilly (Ilkley H) 62:05; 133, Tim Whitehead (Keighley and C) 62:16; 134, Jonathan Riley (U/A) 62:29; 135, Steven Weston (Ilkley H) 62:31; 136, Harry Atkinson (Bingley H) 62:32; 137, Sean MacCarthy (Abbey R) 62:35; 138, Michael Waterhouse (Ilkley H) 62:38; 139, Matthew Burns (FRA) 62:44; 140, Matt Podd (Otley AC) 62:46; 141, Dave Roberts (U/A) 62:56; 142, Peter Dugdale (Clayton-le-M) 62:57; 143, Mike Dawe (U/A) 63:04; 144, Michael Keavney (FRA) 63:15; 145, Nicholas De La Poer (U/A) 63:28; 146, Mark Latham (Bingley H) 63:30; 147, Colin Best (Otley AC) 63:43; 148, David Gillian (Abbey R) 63:53; 149, Ashley Hardwell (U/A) 64:21; 150, Mark Cheekley (FRA) 64:25.

151, Derek Parrington (Swaledale RR) 64:27; 152, Tim Thom (Keighley and C) 64:30; 153, Rachel Smith (Bingley H) 64:37; 154, Jean Brown (Clayton-le-M) 64:44; 155,Trevor Symonds (FRA) 64:53; 156, Gary Burns (Horsforth F) 65:01; 157, Charles Barlow (Saddleworth) 65:08; 158, Elizabeth Tomes (Keighley and C) 65:22; 159, Philip Jones (Calder V) 65:31; 160, Martin Smillie (Otley AC) 65:34; 161, Matthew Shepherdson (U/A) 65:41; 162, Michael Hartley (U/A) 66:03; 163, Gerald Paxford (FRA) 66:10; 164, Philip Robinson (Nidd V) 66:15; 165, Sophie Brown (Ilkley H) 66:40; 166, Andrew Kitts (Keighley and C) 66:45; 167, John McGonnagle (Achille Ratti) 66:47; 168, Stephen Batley (Skyrac AC) 66:49; 169, Colin Shackleton (U/A) 66:54; 170, Alison Bennett (Ilkley H) 66:55; 171, Carl Harrison (LUUCCC) 66:56; 172, John Pickering (Ilkley H) 67:22; 173, Aidan Smith (U/A) 67:28; 174, Simon Bowens (Baildon R) 67:30; 175, John Coates (Ilkley H) 67:39; 176, Ian Marshall (Ilkley H) 67:46; 177, Sarah Fuller (Ilkley H) 67:47; 178, Jean Rawlinson (Clayton-le-M) 67:50; 179, Paul Mortimer (U/A) 67:56; 180, Simon Webster (U/A) 67:57; 181, Lincoln Jowett (U/A) 67:58; 182, Natalie Curtis (Ilkley H) 68:57; 183, Sarah Edwards (Abbey R) 69:07; 184, Andrew Jackson (Ilkley H) 70:11; 185, Janet Arkwright (Keighley and C) 70:48; 186, Susan Barber (U/A) 71:05; 187, Bob Payne (Ilkley H) 71:38; 188, Kieron Ashworth (Wharfedale H) 71:45; 189, Simon Everett (Overoptimists) 71:49; 190, Peter Ehrhardt (Todmorden H) 71:53; 191, Anne Freund (Baildon R) 72:10; 192, Michael Fryer (Otley AC) 72:47; 193, Dave Armstrong (St Bede’s) 73:09; 194, David Seaman (Nidd V) 73:36; 195, Stella Cross (Abbey R) 74:11; 196, Jackie Edwards (U/A) 74:13; 197, Sheila Witham (Keighley and C) 74:23; 198, John Ward (Abbey R) 75:06; 199, Alison Frost (Ilkley H) 75:25.

200, Jonathan Easton (Nidd V) 75:35; 201, Richard Parkin (U/A) 75:41; 202, Gavin Burgess (U/A) 76:22; 203, Philip Thackray (U/A) 76:27; 204, Max Wood (Skyrac AC) 76:55; 205, Sue Morley (Ilkley H) 76:57; 206, Caren Crabtree (Keighley and C) 77:08; 207, Robert Hirst (Clayton-le-M) 77:21; 208, Joanna Murphy (Ilkley H) 77:32; 209, Dave Beston (Abbey R) 79:51; 210, Gordon Kaye (Bingley H) 82:36; 211, Christopher Casson (U/A) 84:31; 212, Randall Casson (U/A) 84:33; 213, Richard Handford (Keighley and C) 84:35; 214, James Raffle (U/A) 89:42; 215, Andrew Bennett (Ilkley H) 91:25.

Lisa Turns From Ballet To Collage

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:42:01 +0000

A ballet-dancer-turned-artist found inspiration in movement for her latest work, which is on display in Grassington. Addingham’s Lisa Hinds McConkey, once a professional ballet dancer in New York, will put on her first solo exhibition, in a joint venture with a Dales printers, at the Fractal Press Gallery, Wood Lane, Grassington, until Monday, March 15. Lisa, originally from Washington DC, gave up her career in ballet to take up art, and has shown here work as part of other exhibitions since the 1980s. Before the age of 18 she had accepted a full scholarship with the Joffrey School of Ballet, and then accepted a contract with the American Ballet Theatre II.

She left ballet to pursue art, later graduating from the Corcoran School of Art in Washington. She has lived in the Ilkley area for 12 years now. Lisa’s brightly coloured artwork, showing ladies in dresses in motion, depicts the joy of movement, and she has chosen to incorporate real fabric in her work, adding to the effect. She says she has always been drawn to collage and will use whatever materials necessary to create the desired colours and textures. Her solo show will include giclee montage – a term she coined herself to describe her present work, and she says she has always worked slightly outside convention and spearheaded alternative approaches to artwork. One of her projects stateside involved painting ten foot figures on clear plastic above the dance floor of a Washington DC club.

Source – Ilkley Gazette

Talks over Ilkley Centre Closure

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 16:15:52 +0000

College heads have been called to a meeting with students and representatives of the community over plans to close Ilkley’s Bridge House learning centre. Students who study at Bradford College’s Bolton Bridge Road building are awaiting confirmation of a date for the summit from Bradford College bosses. A Wharfedale councillor who fought to stop Bradford College closing its centre at Burley Grange in Burley-in-Wharfedale, has also called for the college’s principal and governors to meet community repres-entatives, following last week’s announce-ment that Bridge House will close this summer. Councillor Matt Palmer said he was ‘astonished, disappointed and angry’ to read of the imminent closure of the Ilkley centre in last week’s Gazette, after earlier promises about providing adult education in Wharfedale. As Coun Palmer spoke out late last week, ‘for sale’ signs were going up at the Bolton Bridge Road premises, Bradford College’s last centre in Wharfedale.

Commercial property agent Dacres Commercial says the buildings and land are already attracting interest. The college’s lease for the site expires this summer, and the college says it cannot renew the lease for financial reasons. Cuts in Government funding and a rise in the cost of a new lease have been given as reasons for the move.
In a further twist, the businessman who took on Burley Grange, Alan Hayes, has revealed that he put a proposal to a Bradford College official to take over Bridge House as a learning centre. The idea was rejected by the college. Bridge House student and former Ilkley Parish Council chairman Dave Roberts approached the parish council on Monday seeking the support of councillors in demanding answers about the impending closure.

Around 60 students turned up at a meeting called by the college last week, but Mr Roberts says they were not satisfied with the explanations given by Bradford College, formerly Bradford and Ilkley Community College, They have written to the college’s executive director, Andy Welsh, asking why Burley Grange, originally gifted to the community, was sold knowing that Bridge House’s lease would expire in May 2010. They are also asking how long the college has been seeking alternative accommo-dation to provide its courses, as it says it plans to do. The students also called for answers about the college’s rights as a tenant of Bridge House. Coun Kate Brown said she had not been formally told of the closure despite being nominated to liase between the council and college. She hopes to attend the meeting between college officials and students. Talks are also believed to be going on between Bradford Council and Bradford College, as the search goes on for alter-native rooms to rent for providing courses.

Coun Palmer, who represents Wharfedale, said: “It is hard to express in words how let down I and many staff and students feel at this surprise announcement. “I cannot understand why the college has given constant public assurances that Bridge House would remain open, even as they were preparing for closure. We have now lost all guarantee of sustainable adult education provision in our community.” The college confirmed last week that there could be redundancies.

Source – Ilkley Gazette

Ilkley

admin — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 15:53:36 +0000

Ilkley is situated on the banks of the River Wharf in the Yorkshire Dales. In the 1840’s the spring waters in Ilkley were discovered to have medicinal properties and the town slowly grew into a health spa for the rich. Tourism has been the economical mainstay for Ilkley, having grown mainly since the early spa days. Architecturally, it a Victorian town, but it does have a fine selection of older buildings All Saints Church has its origins in Anglo-Saxon times with additions and changes throughout the centuries, including a 13th century embellished doorway and a 15th century tower. For history lovers, many bronze-age carvings have been found in the area. A popular walk leads west up the valley to Heber’s Ghyll to see the ancient Swastika Stone, the only ancient stone of its kind found in Britain. Ilkley has a lot to offer. It holds a famous Literary Festival, the nature walks are relaxing and educational and if you love to shop, The Grove and Brook Street is famous for its retailers of every fancy.

Situated in the Wharfe Valley, the spa town of Ilkley is surrounded by glorious countryside. The southern slopes of the valley form Ilkley Moor, immortalised in Yorkshire’s anthem – On Ilkla Moor baht’at. Prehistoric man lived on the moors and left behind stone circles and hundreds of rock carvings, including the famous Swastika Stone. Nowadays walkers and nature lovers have unlimited access to enjoy the spectacular views across Wharfedale. There is a permanent orienteering course and opportunities for rock climbing on the Cow and Calf Rocks and in Rocky Valley. Here at Ilkley Directory we aim to provide the highest quality directory of service. We cover everything from the best drinking holes to top quality walking routes in the famous Ilkley Moors. We also cover the surrounding villages including Menston and Burley.