The Late Show in Yorkshire & Lincolnshire

STAN HELSING'S FINAL PROBLEM ******************* Ghosts, goblins, faeries, giants, boggarts, mermaids and even werewolves are all said to roam across the ancient North. One man has been documenting a great many of these folk tales, legends, myths and mysteries and now the leger of Yorkshire's finest monster hunter is available for the first time - exclusively to listeners of the Late Show. So lock your doors, extinguish the candles, draw your bedsheets closer and prepare to enter the world of the strange as we welcome you to - STAN HELSING’S FEAR FILES!! ********************************* "Tonight’s tale - THE FINAL PROBLEM It is with a heavy heart that I take up my tape recorder to tape record these last few words for you on my tape recorder. I have endeavoured to give some account of my strange experiences over the years, from the tale of The Lincoln Imp all that time ago through to the recent recording of The Brontë Hauntings. It was my intention to have stopped there, and say nothing of the event which has created a void in my life. My hand has been forced, however, by the recent postcards with which my erstwhile housemate turned nemesis, Humphrey the Boggart, has taunted me. Each postcard, from Edinburgh, Eastbourne and Dartmoor, revealing the location where he has taken me prize tin of ham, which he did so grievously half-inch off out of me Harvest Basket from the cubs. Each postcard a location with a link to the great Sherlock Holmes - the birthplace of the author, the final home of his creation, the setting of his greatest triumph… so where to now? Where else? For what I fear is our final confrontation, it seems that Humphrey’s trail comes to an end in Switzerland at that terrible and magnificent landmark - The Reichenbach Falls! Now, I have never been one to shy from an encounter with the unknown, the supernatural, the mysterious nor strange, as you know from my Fear Files, yet climbing up by this chuffing massive waterfall does fill

JOSEPH ALYSIOUS HANSOM Micklegate, York There have been some wonderful people and incredibly important places and events around our part of the world. Tonight - to The Strand and don't spare the horses... BLUE MONDAY: JOSEPH ALOYSIUS HANSOM ********************* Joseph Hansom was born in in Micklegate, York, in 1803 the son of a builder and became a freeman of York. He was apprenticed to his father, Henry, as a joiner, but showing an early aptitude for draughtsmanship and construction, he transferred his apprenticeship to a York architect named Matthew Philips, without informing the City of York By around 1823 he had completed his apprenticeship and became a clerk in Philips' office. About 1825 he settled in Halifax, Yorkshire, and in the same year he married Hannah Glover, the elder sister of the architect George Glover, at St Michael le Belfrey in York. He took a post as assistant to John Oates and there befriended the brothers John and Edward Welch, with whom he formed his first architectural partnership (Handsom & Welch) in 1828. Together they designed several churches in Yorkshire and Liverpool. In 1831 their designs for Birmingham Town Hall were accepted; however, the contract led to their bankruptcy, as they had stood surety for the builders. The disaster led to the dissolution of the partnership. On 23 December 1834 he registered the design of a 'Patent Safety Cab' on the suggestion of his employer. Distinctive safety features included a suspended axle, while the larger wheels and lower position of the cab led to less wear and tear and fewer accidents. He went on to sell the patent to a company for £10,000; however, as a result of the purchaser's financial difficulties, the sum was never paid. The first Hansom Cab travelled down Hinckley's Coventry Road in 1835. The Hansom cab was improved by subsequent modifications and exported worldwide to become a ubiquitous feature of the 19th-century street scene. Hansom designed around 200 buildi

STAN HELSING'S STAYCATION: DARTMOOR ******************************** Tonight’s tale takes us to DARTMOOR… Coming away from stately Edinburgh via picturesque Eastbourne, it strikes me that there isn’t a starker place in these sceptred isles than bleak and desolate Dartmoor. Yet here I am, on the trail of my long time housemate turned nemesis, Humphrey the Boggart, who wronged me so cruelly by relieving me of the jewel of my Harvest basket - a massive tin of Pek ham. As I trudge along this barren landscape looking for clues as to where I shall be summoned to next, my mind is filled with the stories that surround this terrifying terrain in darkest Devon. For instance, there is a great body of water what goes by the name of Crazywell Pool, and if the name wasn’t enough to put you off then you just wait! Crazywell Pool is situated just below Cramber Tor, one of a great many tors dotted around this part of the world, including Rippon Tor, Gutter Tor, Sharpwell Tor, Chinkwell Tor, Bag Tor, Hen Tor, Fox Tor, Kes Tor, Cox Tor and Hameldon Tor. You could, if you wished, just visit all of them - on a Grand Tor! Suit yerselves. Anyway, Crazywell is said to be a bottomless lake and if you should gaze upon it on Midsummer’s Eve then you shall see reflected back the face of the very next parishioner what is to die! *** As for creatures, there is Cutty Dyer, some form of water sprite or ogre. A violent and evil monster what attacks humans and drinks their blood. Cutty Dyer has a particular taste for naughty children and drunken grownups whose bodies he then chucks in the River Yeo near Ashburton. *** Speaking of drunken grownups, there is a tale of a farmer who had just moved to the area and after a most refreshing evening at a nearby inn made some disparaging remarks about the quality of sheep at Tavistock Market. The locals convinced this newbie, with the aid of a few more ales, that he was probably right about Tavistock, and he that should buy the superb

ERNEST HAROLD JONES Artist and Excavator Tonight - we meet an incredible artist... **************** Ernest Harold Jones was born in Barnsley, on 7 March 1877 to William Jones and Mary Anne Sprake, both of Welsh heritage. His father was the first Headmaster of the Barnsley School of Art and then returned to Wales as Head of the Carmarthen School of Art. Jones was educated at Queen Elizabeth's Grammar School in Carmarthen. By the time he was 18, he was teaching at the Carmarthen School of Art. In 1902, Jones won a scholarship to the Royal College of Art in London. By 1904, his health had deteriorated so much from tuberculosis that he had to leave London. He was a good enough artist that he was able to join John Garstang's excavations in Egypt that same year. Jones began work with Garstang of Liverpool in the 1903-04 season, but in the 1904-05 season became an excavator and an illustrator of the project at Beni Hasan. In July 1904, there was an exhibition at the Society of Antiquaries of London. Jones' paintings of artifacts, Egyptian landscapes, and some of the excavation staff were displayed. Jones continued working for Garstang until 1907, but quickly grew tired of the isolation of the sites of Abydos and Beni Hasan. The American millionaires Theodore Davis and Emma Andrews offered him more money for less work in the bustling town of Luxor, and by February 1907, he was working for them. Jones worked on their excavations in the Valley of the Kings, for which Davis and Andrews held the concession. Jones worked mostly on their houseboat, the Dahabeyah Beduin, painting larger objects coming out of tombs they cleared in the Valley. He worked with Davis and Andrews on notable excavations of KV 54 and KV 55. He wrote a number of letters home to his family, remarking on the friendships he made with the Davis and Andrews crew. He appreciated their friendship and care, and looked forward to many years of work with them. In the 1910-11 season, he returned to Luxor

STAN HELSING'S STAYCATION: EDINBURGH ************************** Tonight’s tale is the story of GREYFRIARS BOBBY. Yes, my dear friends, I have travelled North Of The Border to dear old Bonnie Scotchland on something of a quest. You see, since my last Fear Files, the one what was all about Harvest Traditions an’ that, it appears that my unwelcome houseguest of the last few decades, Humphrey Boggart, has absconded with the prize article of my Harvest Festival Basket - a family-sized tin of prime chopped pork! Not content with depriving me of my succulent bumper tin of Pek, the unnatural, tiny, wizened scoundrel has taken to taunting me with his (and its) whereabouts by sending me postcards from his (and it’s) last location - which brings me to Edinburgh and the world famous Greyfriars Kirkyard. In the early 19th century, Edinburgh was an industrial powerhouse it’s mighty factories filling the air with oppressive black smoke which earned the city its nickname of Auld Reekie. Hordes of workers flocked to the mighty Capital causing overcrowding in the city’s Old Town, resulting in dilapidated slums rife with poverty, disease and in some areas, violent criminality. At around the same time, Edinburgh had become the leading European centre for anatomical study, the nearby university excelling in medical knowledge, gained in large part by the dissection of cadavers. Such was the demand that an abhorrent and despicable trade arose to circumvent the legal process of acquiring bodies for medical research, and it is due to the epidemic of grave robbing and body snatching that a number of measures were introduced to prevent these so-called Resurrection Men from plying their grisly trade. Graveyards, Kirkyards and plots were fitted with booby traps, monuments became too large to lift, mausoleums, crypts and vaults became heavily gated and the graves of other prominent folk of the area were fitted with a thing called a Mortsafe, a kind of cage what fitted around

STAN HELSING'S FEAR FILES HARVEST SPECIAL **************** Autumn is my favourite time of year, as the nights draw near, the leaves turn a beautiful shade of gold and the air is perfumed with the aroma of bonfires. It’s also the time when I get my Harvest Festival basket from the local cub scouts! I do loves Harvest Festival baskets! The sheer, giddy excitement of the Mystery Tins! Will it be Apricot Halves or Stewing Mince? Condensed Milk or Spaghetti Hoops? Pilchards or Peaches? It’s a Mardi Gras of the mind!! Now, you may be thinking, but Stan isn’t it a bit early to be getting a Harvest Festival basket? And to that I concur, but the local cubs don’t like to leave it too late in the season to trek to my crib as they’re not too keen on encountering the godawful boggart what resides with me… HEY!! HUMPHREY!! Leave those tins alone!! The Harvest Festivals as we understands them was invented in Cornwall in 1843 by the Reverend R.S. Hawker of Morwenstow. T’was his idea to have the local schoolchildren gather up surplus produce what was then distributed to them what’s in most need. Thanks was then given in the form of prayer, song and sermons of a typical Christian, Victorian stylee, however there are many, many more Harvest Traditions what go much further back than that. For instance, back when Britain was a predominantly agricultural society there were a number of celebrations what centred on the seasons, harvest-time being one of if not the most important of these. Harvest is the crowning glory of the farming year, and as such it was customary for all who made their living by the land to come together, work hard and celebrate. Some farmers mucked in with their labourers whereas others would deputise an experienced worker for the duration with an honorary title such as Lord Of The Harvest! The Lord Of The Harvest would oversee the work and ensure that there was a sense of playful enjoyment during the gathering of crops. This would s

DEF LEPPARD Crookes WMC, Muirhouses. Sheffield There have been some wonderful people and incredibly important places around our part of the world. Many of them will have been awarded a historic blue plaque to commemorate their lasting legacy. You probably pass some of these on a daily basis without realising! Tonight - let's get rocked! ********************* Def Leppard were formed in 1976 in Sheffield. Rick Savage, Tony Kenning, and Pete Doubleday, all students at Tapton School in Sheffield, South Yorkshire, formed a band called Atomic Mass in 1976. Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus in November 1977. Only 18 at the time, Joe Elliott tried out for the band as a guitarist following a chance meeting with Willis after missing a bus in November 1977. During his audition it was decided that he was better suited to be the lead singer. The band's initial rehearsals took place at Portland Works, and their first gig was in the dining hall in A Block in Westfield School in Mosborough, Sheffield. Elliott proposed the name "Deaf Leopard" which was originally a band name he thought of while designing band posters in art class Their first album, 1980's On Through the Night, reached the Top 15 in the UK. Their second album, 1981's High 'n' Dry, and the album's most popular track "Bringin' On the Heartbreak" became one of the first rock videos played on MTV in 1982 European and American tours followed. The band opened for Ozzy Osbourne and Blackfoot Def Leppard's next studio album, Pyromania, was released in January 1983. Reaching No. 2 on the US album chart, Pyromania was certified Diamond in the US and 7× platinum in Canada and reached the top 20 in the UK A US Gallup poll in 1984 saw Def Leppard voted as favourite rock band over peers such as The Rolling Stones, AC/DC, and Journey Def Leppard's fourth album, Hysteria, was released on 3 August 1987. One of the first singles from

Tonight’s tale is the story of THE BRONTË HAUNTINGS! If you are a bit of a bookworm, unlike what I am, then you will have already have heard of The Brontës of Haworth. For, as you know, my dear friends, I am not a scholarly sort, but even one so ignorant as I has heard of their contributions to the world of doing books, an’ that. Ah yes, The Brontës - Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, Anne and Ringo - has there been a more famous quartet ever to have ever come from the north of England? Between them they are responsible for some of the most popular works of fiction in the whole of English literature - Jayne Eyre, Wuthering Heights, The Tenant Of Wildfell Hall, Button Moon, Agnes Grey, Stranger Things - their influence goes far, far beyond the printed page. The Brontës were born in the village of Thornton in West Yorkshire later moving to the nearby Haworth Parsonage, as their father Patrick took on the role as rector there. The four children - Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, Anne, Beaky, Mick and Titch - were incredibly close. Together they created complex and fabulous fictitious worlds from an early age, their tiny imaginations being fired and inspired by one another, The isolation and misery probably helped concentrate their tiny minds too. The rural north of England in the nineteenth century was a pretty bleak and desolate place, riddled with poverty and disease. So in the dark, gloom of the parsonage these four remarkable children - Charlotte, Emily, Branwell, Anne, Mungo & Midge - created teeny tiny books and magazines BY HAND for an imaginary world inspired by their toy soldiers. Set in the fictional Glass Town, these titchy-witchy titles include Blackwood’s Young Men’s Magazine, The Search After Happiness and Branwell’s Blackwood’s Magazine, written and illustrated by the children. Much has subsequently been written about their later lives, the heartbreaks, unrequited loves, struggles with mental health, physical health, and particularly

Tonight’s tale is entitled THE HORRIBLE HEADS OF HICKLETON! Hickleton is a village as quaint as it sounds. Hickleton. What a charming name. Picture, if you will, a kind of leafy rural idyll where a playful CBeebies cartoon dog might have some rather wholesome adventures. Say it with me - Hickleton. Now the village lies just on the A635, six miles from Doncaster to the east and nine miles from Barnsley to the west. Its history can be traced back hundreds of years not only from the magnificent Grade II-listed Georgian stately home, Hickleton Hall, but also the famous Hickleton Hoard, a collection of almost 400 Roman coins found beside an old cooking pot in an undisclosed field in the area. There’s also rumours of a Roman fort in Hickleton, although no Roman remains remain. And then there is the beautiful St Wilfrid’s Parish Church, a quite large building for such a small community, reflecting more prosperous times during the boom of the woollen trade. St Wilfrid’s stands on the site of previous places of worship that can be traced back to Norman times, it has some wonderful examples of Victorian stained-glass work testament to a great restoration by the local aristocracy. There is a beautiful sanctuary paved with fine marble, there is also a delightful leafy churchyard in which to stroll, and, of course, there’s the three human skulls set behind a metal grille in the lychgate… Hmm? Oh yes. The skulls. Where did they come from? Well, herein lies a mystery, you see there are a number of stories associated with the horrible heads of Hickleton. One tale has it that they are the skulls of sheep rustlers what was hanged at the nearby gallows on Hangman’s Lane, before being displayed in gibbets as a deterrent to others who may try their luck with the odd looted lamb. Another story has it that they are the skulls of men accused of performing witchcraft rituals, yet another has it that they are of fallen women of the Parish, another that they a

Tonight I bring you the tale of THE GHOSTS OF MARSTON MOOR! The Battle of Marston Moor was probably the most decisive conflict of the English Civil War, when more than 4,000 men succumbed to an outbreak of gun, knife, sword and cannon related injuries in the space of a single afternoon. So, what happened? Well, if I remember rightly, just off the top of my head, the combined forces of the English Parliamentarians under Lord Fairfax and the Earl of Manchester and the Scottish Covenanters under the Earl of Leven defeated the Royalists commanded by Prince Rupert of the Rhine and the Marquess of Newcastle… that’s how I recall it anyhow - and no I’m not just reading this off of Wikipedia or nowt… *ahem* Basically, what it was was that That Posh York had been besieged - in what was to be called The Siege Of York - by Oliver Cromwell’s Roundheads. At that time That Posh York was the principal city and bastion of Royalist power in the north of England, and was being ably defended by the Marquess of Newcastle. Prince Rupert of the Rhine, who was Charles I’s nephew, had come over from the North West, across the Pennines, and had been gathering up more and more big lads for a right royal rumble, and on the way he managed to out-manoeuvre the Roundheads position and helped protect That Posh York from a further attack. However, Oliver’s Army, with the aid of the Scottish Covenanters, launched a surprise counter attack the next day on the wild moor of Long Marston. There were many factors that led to the Royalists downfall, first off it were proper rainy and muddy, next up Prince Rupert’s troops were absolutely cream-crackered from all that walking, then there was the in-fighting between Rupert and his second in command, the grouping of the troops was all over the shop, and then at supper time a load of the Cavalier’s just wandered out of position to get some scran! Add to that the fact that Rupert’s forces were wildly outnumbered and you can see wh

This is the tale of THAT WICKED GIANT OF PENHILL. Years ago in Wensleydale there was an enormous stone castle, a kind of ROQUEFORT, if you like, where there lived a giant who thought he was a big cheese, but he was a proper stinker. Stinkier than a week-old wheel of Brie what had been left out in the sun. He was EDAM bully, always scaring and threatening the locals in the valley as he walked his prize pigs all about the place. One day, he spotted a young shepherdess with a small flock of sheep near his rock fort and for some reason this angered him. Taking his giant boarhound Wolfhead, he approached the timid young lady. “HALLOUMI dear,” said the giant, wickedly, “I was PASSENDALE an’ AYIBE noticing’ yer sheep.” “Yes?” Answered the shepherdess nervously. “ANARI be thinking..” growled the giant “They CURD frighten my pigs!” The shepherdess looked blankly at the giant, probably a bit confused by all the cheese puns, and let out a nervous laugh. The giant grinned slowly and then set Wolfhead to kill all of her sheep! The shepherdess screamed and begged the giant to call off his enormous hound, but instead the giant brought his club down upon her, KILLEEN her instantly. SPERRIN not a second thought for her, he turned and went back to his rock fort. The villagers were stunned into silence, as Wolfhead, covered in sheep’s blood, silently herded the pigs past them back to his master’s side. Everyone agreed that no-one was to upset the giant ever again. Yes, they would all have to tread very CAERPHILLY indeed… This would prove impossible as, Y FENNI-thing, the giant’s mood grew crueller and darker with each passing day. He’d beat his loyal servants, terrorise the villagers and had even begun to lash out at Wolfhead, accusing the boarhound of failing to guard his FINE FETTLE of plump pigs properly. One day he saw his pigs were roaming all about. Where was Wolfhead? How DAIRY abandon his post?! Spotting him in the dist

Tonight’s tale has quite a sting in its… um… tail - for this is the ta… story of - THE BEES OF QUEEN ADELAIDE! Bees feature quite prominently within British folklore as they were seen to be divine creatures, highly intelligent, holy and quite mysterious. Poets praised their perfectly ordered society, church candles were made from beeswax (which also polished their pews) and monks, well you know monks and their home brews… the bees provided them with the needs - the needs for mead! From mediaeval times onwards bees were quietly revered, so much so that they were treated as members of the family and were even told of events within the family such as births, weddings and funerals. In some villages in Yorkshire, bees were formally invited to funerals, the hives were dressed in black mourning cloth, and the bees would be gifted a portion of food. On receiving the food the bees would gently hum indicating that they had consented to stay. Another significant time that bees would hum would be around Christmas Eve when it is said that they hum the Hundredth Psalm in their hives at midnight in honour of Baby Jesus! Other traditions include children being immune from their stings, a bee on board a boat as a good omen, similarly if it flies around a sleeping child, and a bee in the house presages good fortune, Bees must never be bought with ordinary money though, oh good Lord no! Bought bees never prosper! Instead, they could only be purchased with a gold coin, or be gifted or loaned. Bees could also seen as quite ominous, in fact it was thought that the soul would take the form of a bee a short time after a death. Also, if a swarm of bees landed on the dead branch of a tree, or on rotten wood, this was a warning of an impending death. In Lincolnshire, if a beekeeper died then special attention was given to the first swarm afterwards. If the swarm could be taken without fuss then the new master would prosper. If they flew away, then it was to be with

ALICE BACON Corn Exchange, Leeds **************** Alice Martha Bacon was born on 10th September 1909 in Normanton, West Yorkshire She considered herself lucky to go to a grammar school but she could see the world of opportunity denied to her friends, a view confirmed by her later career as a teacher. It became Alice’s political, social and personal crusade to improve the education of working-class boys and girls. Early political influence came from her father who took his teenage daughter to work, describing later how she “went down the mine into its inner workings and almost terrifying darkness”. Bacon delivered her first political speech at the age of 16, when she also joined the Labour Party, at the Normanton Railwaymen’s Club and her first advice surgeries were held almost 20 years before she became an MP in Leeds, helping miners fill in compensation forms for industrial injuries. In 1935, she became as Labour's League of Youth delegate to the Socialist Youth International Conference. Bacon was active in the National Union of Teachers and became president of its West Yorkshire division in 1944. In 1938, Bacon was selected as the candidate for Leeds North East, for which she became the MP in the 1945 general election, becoming Yorkshire’s first feamle MP. When constituency boundaries were revised for the 1955 general election, she transferred to Leeds South East constituency and served it as MP until she retired in 1970. Bacon was on the Labour Party's National Executive Committee from 1941 until 1970, and chaired it in 1950–1951. In the 1953 Coronation Honours she was appointed a CBE. When Labour returned to government in 1964, Bacon became a Minister of State at the Home Office up to 1967, serving under Frank Soskice and Roy Jenkins in a period of liberalising reforms. In the Home Office in the 1960s she oversaw the introduction of substantial societal changes, including the abolition of the death penalty, the decriminalisatio

FRANKIE HOWERD 53 Hartoft Street, York Tonight we meet a giant of British comedy.... ********************** Francis Alick Howard was born in York on 6 March 1917. Frankie lived in a terraced house, 53 Hartoft Street, in what he described as ‘a poorish area of the city near the River Ouse’. He later said he had only one memory of living in York and that was of falling down the stairs, an experience which left him with a life-long dread of heights. He attended the local church regularly and, at the age of 13, became a Sunday school teacher and joined the Church Dramatic Society. Always nervous and shy and with a stutter, he plucked up the courage to also take part in school plays and decided he would audition for RADA in London. He failed the audition miserably but realised that his future might lie in comedy. War intervened and, in 1940, Frankie was called up to serve in the Royal Artillery. He was stationed at Shoeburyness, Essex and soon became very popular as an entertainer with his fellow service personnel. After he was demobbed in1946, Howerd appeared at the Stage Door Canteen in Piccadilly Circus. Here he was spotted by theatrical agent Stanley ‘Scruffy’ Dale and was put under contract. He auditioned for the BBC radio comedy and music show Variety Bandbox, making his first broadcast on the show on 3 December 1946. Howerd was an instant success and quickly became one of the most popular entertainers in the country, broadcasting regularly and touring the music halls. By 1951 Howerd and Dale, joined by Eric Sykes, who wrote most of Howerd’s radio scripts, had formed F. Howerd Scripts Ltd which later became Associated London Scripts. The directors’ list, which included the best known of the scriptwriters of the time was: Dale, Howerd, Sykes, Ray Galton and Alan Simpson, Johnny Speight, Tony Hancock and Spike Milligan. Over the years Frankie had many successes and was a great favourite of the royal family, particularly of Queen

SEASON FIVE CHAPTER SIX: "HOARDS" ********************* Tonight’s tale is less of a horror story and is more of a mystery. This is the story of HOARDS… Now, you may not be familiar with what a hoard is but rest assured you are never too far away from one, and they keep cropping up all the time! Typically, a hoard is a form of buried treasure what come in all shapes and sizes, from all points in history, from all civilisations and from all over the region. One of the oldest is the York Hoard, what was discovered in 1868 by workmen digging for the Northern and Eastern Railway. It comprises of some 70 axe heads from around 3,000BC. These would’ve been incredibly valuable and so was probably buried for safekeeping, as was The Ayton East Field Hoard, a hoard of Neolithic stone and antler tools. As we move through to the Bronze Age we get The Driffield Hoards 1 & 2, where you find, intriguingly, 91 ingot fragments and more tools than a plumbers van! The Wanlass Hoard is far more decorative and consists of four penannular brooches - made of gold! There was no coins in the Bronze Age, however, when we come to the Iron Age this is where we really hit the jackpot! The Beverley Hoard of around 110 gold coins, the Riseholme Hoard with 40 gold and hundreds of silver coins, and the Silsden Hoard which had 27 gold coins and a Roman finger ring, start us off on the right foot. The Walkington Hoard and the Stanwick Hoard matches our pile of cash and then raises it with a bronze horse head! Now, I mentioned the Romans, and it’s here that things really start taking off. We get the Bennington Carr Hoard, The Blake Street Hoard, Boston Spa, Bottesford, Cridling Stubbs, Deepdale, Fremington Hagg, Grassmoor, Heslington, Hickleton, High Green, Killingholme, Kirton in Lindsay, Knaresborough, Langtoft, Osgodby, Overton, Ryedale, Welbourn, Wold Newton, Womersley and that posh York… all massive hoards, all containing gold and silver coins, jewellery, sacred objects, s

ANGELA MORLEY Broadcasting House, Leeds Angela Morley was an English composer and conductor who became familiar to BBC Radio listeners in the 1950s under the name of Wally Stott. Morley notably provided incidental music for The Goon Show and Hancock's Half Hour. Morley was born in Leeds, Yorkshire on 10 March 1924 under the name of Walter "Wally" Stott. Morley's father was a watchmaker who played the ukulele-banjo, and the family lived above their jewellery shop. As a mostly self-taught musician able to sight-read, Morley left school at age 15 to tour with Archie's Juvenile Band, earning a weekly wage of 10 shillings. At the age of 26, Morley stopped playing in bands to instead work solely as a writer, composer, and arranger. Morley is known for writing the theme tune, with its iconic tuba partition, and incidental music for Hancock's Half Hour in both its radio and television incarnations, and was also the musical director for The Goon Show from the third series in 1952 to the last show in 1960. At this time, she was known to work quickly and would sometimes write music for The Goon Show the same day of recording. In 1953, Morley became musical director for the British section of Philips Records. She worked with artists such as Frankie Vaughan, Noël Coward, Dame Shirley Bassey and Dusty Springfield and on the first four solo albums by Scott Walker. She stepped back from the music and film industry between 1970 and 1972 in order privately to undergo gender transition. One of her first projects upon her return to public life was as an orchestrator on Jesus Christ Superstar. She then orchestrated, arranged, and aided in the composition of the music for The Little Prince, released in 1974. Her contribution to the film was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Original Music. Though initially reluctant, citing lack of preparation and unfamiliarity with the novel, Morley wrote most of the score for Watership Down. Following the success of Watership D

SEASON FIVE CHAPTER FIVE: "THE PHANTOM FEN-SLODGER" **************************** "Today's tale is that of THE PHANTOM FEN-SLODGER! Now, I fear that an explanation is needed right from the get-go, so bear with me. Long ago, before the Lincolnshire Fens was drained to provide much-needed arable farmland, the vast area was a wild and dangerous wetland. It teemed with fish and waterfowl and was very popular with local fishermen and gamehunters. One of these was a man named Joseph Hempsall. Joseph had a farm close to Soham Mere, which at the time had some 1000 acres of water and wetland. It was an ideal place for him to fish, raise his geese, and catch game. Most nights Joseph would walk across the mere to the local tavern in Wicken, as he was one of the few men who could navigate the treacherous swamps, even on the darkest moonless nights. Carrying his long pole, Joseph was what was known as a Fen Slodger, that is someone who could leap the dykes and expertly navigate around the area known as Big Bog without any hint of trepidation. One night, whilst in the tavern, a thick fog rolled across the land and ignoring the pleadings of his friends, Joseph Hempsall, Fen Slodger extraordinaire, put on his thick coat, grabbed his lamp, took up his trusty pole and headed into the darkness, whistling as he went. That fog lingered for three days, it was the thickest fog in living memory, and after it began to dissipate on the fourth day, one of the Wicken men decided to check in on his friend. As he approached the Hempsall Farm the man saw Joseph coming towards him. However, Joseph Hempsall was not his usual cheery and confident self. He was hunched over and had a very pale palour. He was also deathly silent, right up until the two men reached the door of the farmhouse at which point he leaned in and whispered: “Enter not. For my body lies in Big Bog.” The poor man turned and tried to run, but Joseph held him in an icy grip and stared with soulless eyes, s

SEASON FIVE CHAPTER FOUR "THE BRADFORD BOAR" ************************** As the poet, philosopher and eminent Bradfordian Ade Edmondson once said, “This one’s a bit of an animal!” For this be the tale of THE BRADFORD BOAR, which wasn’t just a bit of an animal - it was quite a LOT of an animal! Our story takes place in the mid to late 14th century, in the area of Bradford known as Cliffe Woods, it’s where the cathedral is now but back then the whole area was covered in a deep dense forest. In fact it was officially listed as medieval hunting forest, with just a handful of settlements dotted around the gaff. Within this thick canopy of wild woodland there was a natural well, and it was here that the gargantuan, the enormous and quite frankly freakish Bradford Boar did roam. This oversized oinker regularly terrorised the local populace, causing much damage to property and even to persons! It stood as tall as a quite tall man and was the length of an average sized Fiat 500, but with its ferocious fangs and terrifying tusks the Bradford Boar was far more frightening than a quite tall man in average sized Fiat 500. Now, the lands around Bradford were owned by John of Gaunt, who was the third son of Edward III, later the father of Henry IV, and subsequently Henry V’s grandad - he was also the Duke of Lancaster. One day, on his return from Lancaster, he made a stop-off in Bradford, where the locals gathered to tell him of this pesky porker. John of Gaunt made a decree, whoever could hunt and kill this horrible hog would not only be pardoned for hunting on royal land but would be awarded lands of their very own! Word of the prize spread far and wide, and soon Cliffe Woods became a hive of hunting activity. Many hunters sought out this bacon behemoth, but they simply got scared off or injured, until one day a local archer named John Northrop stepped forward. Itching for some scratchings, Northrop lay in wait by the well. In no time at all the gargant

SEASON FIVE CHAPTER THREE: "SNAKESTONES AND BELLTONES" **************************** "As the nights get longer and hotter, my thoughts turn once more to the coast, and in particular my favourite spooky seaside resort of Whitby. Specifically, the ancient ruins of the Abbey, looking impressively down upon the harbour, the town, the market, the boats, the goths, the morris dancers, the kipper-smokers and the, quite frankly, ludicrous number of award-winning chip shops. The Abbey, as it stands now, is a shadow of its former self (thanks to Henry the flippin’ VIII and his Dissolution of the Monasteries of 1540 - more on that in a bit!) but even that being said so, it is a truly magnificent structure and can lay claim to being easily one of the most easily recognisable silhouettes in the whole of Yorkshire. The abbey’s importance to modern Christianity cannot be overstated neither, for t’was here in 664 that, according to the Venerable Bede, the Roman Catholic and Celtic Christians first sorted out the date of Easter! So, think on that the next time you’re having a Crème Egg! Now, you can’t talk about the Abbey without bringing up the Abbess - and she was simply the a-best! St Hilda of Whitby is the patron saint of learning and culture, and in particularly of poetry and in particularly of song. All over this here country there are many a school, college and university named after St Hilda, and in many of them school, college and university’s reliefs and paintings she is quite often depicted sporting a benign, caring smile - whilst brandishing a massive pastoral staff! You see, when St Hilda arrived in Whitby the abbey was absolutely covered in a carpet of hideous poisonous snakes! Harrison Ford couldn’t have got within three feet of the gaff, I tells yer! But St Hilda wasn’t Harrison Ford. She was more Samuel L Jackson. St Hilda approached the cliff edge, got on her knees and prayed to The Lord Almighty to rid this motherflipping abbey of

THE WHO: LIVE AT LEEDS Leeds University Refectory, Leeds Tonight we witness a seminal moment in rock history - recorded right here in our region! ************************ Live at Leeds is the first live album by English rock band The Who. It was recorded at the University of Leeds Refectory on 14 February 1970, and is their only live album that was released with the line-up of Roger Daltrey, Pete Townshend, John Entwistle and Keith Moon. The Who were looking for a way to follow up their 1969 album Tommy, and had recorded several shows, but didn't like the sound. Consequently, they booked the show at Leeds University, along with one at Hull City Hall the following day, specifically to record a live album. The shows were performed on 14 February 1970 at Leeds and on 15 February at Hull, but technical problems with the recordings from the Hull gig — the bass guitar had not been recorded on some of the songs — made it all the more necessary for the show from the 14th to be released as the album. Townshend mixed the live tapes, intending to release a double album, but ultimately chose to release just a single LP with six tracks, and the cover was pressed to look like a bootleg recording. The full show opened with Entwistle's "Heaven And Hell" and included most of Tommy, but these were left off the album in place of earlier hits and more obscure material. According to music journalist David Hepworth, because there was no microphone pointed towards the audience, crowd noise was a "distant presence, as distant as the traffic outside," making the recording "a faithful account of what the band played and nothing more." The sound was significantly different from Tommy and featured hard rock arrangements that were typical of the band's live shows. The album was released in 23 May 1970 by Decca and MCA in the United States, and by Track and Polydor in the United Kingdom. It has been reissued on several occasions and in several different formats. Since its