THACKLEY TRUMPIT TELL US YOUR STORY

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 BEER FESTIVAL

     The Thackley Trumpit

( Incorporating ‘The Idle Chatterer’ & ‘The Closing Times’ )

Tel. 07944969335   Email: billco@blueyonder.co.uk       

             Idle Beer Festival Success                                                 

By Alex Mohammed

It was with some sadness I looked out of my window on the evening of Friday the 27th of June to an overcast, grey sky. Darker clouds loomed ominously in the distance just to add to the likelihood that the weather was going to turn for the worse. I’d been asked to head up to the Idle and Hepworth’s Beer Festival to get a report on the event and had hoped for some better weather. Despite this, I grabbed a coat in case the heavens opened, strapped on my boots, grabbed a writing pad and set off on the relatively short walk to my friend Matts house, who had agreed to head up to the festival for a bit. As I set off, raindrops started to fall and my glasses gathered the usual condensation. Luckily it only lasted a few minutes, and after a short walk, I reached Matts’ house then together we journeyed forth to the Beer Festival.
We arrived to a small gathering of people huddled near a TV watching Andy Murray play at Wimbledon. I was introduced to Jen, one of the organisers of the event, who was very friendly and made us both feel very welcome. We handed over some money which was for entry and a glass for the evening, as well as some tickets which were used to get the various beers, as the bar was cash free. All that remained then was to try some of the many great beers on offer from the great local breweries. To this end, we grabbed a menu and perused until we selected our drinks. Food was also on offer, and many people went on to partake of mushy peas and hotdogs and the like. We decided to start off with two drinks: a delicious Raspberry Blonde and a beautiful porter called Bright Black Porter. They were both really top notch drinks and set the standard high. A standard, I am glad to say, which remained for the whole evening.
All of the breweries were from the local area and really delivered. On offer were beers from Oates Brewery, Ilkley Brewery, Partners Brewery, Roosters Brewing Co, Elland Brewery, Naylors Brewery, Copper Dragon Brewery, Ossett Brewery, Saltaire Brewery, Salamander Brewery, Wharfebank Brewery and Goose Eye Brewery. Matt and I made it our mission to have at least one beer from each brewery. A fun challenge, I admit, and a tasteful one. We enjoyed ourselves increasingly as we made our way through the beers which included various blondes, hoppy ales and bitters. The prices were all very reasonable too, which is always a bonus! Having opened around 7, the Beer Festival was quiet only for a short period. Within an hour or so, the room was bustling with the locals who joined in whole-heartedly with the drinking. It was great to see that, regardless of the dreary weather, a great sense of community prevailed to give a good turn-out and make the event memorable. We tried a good few more beers including Old Ale, Tabatha and a particularly tasteful IPA called Fort Smith. There continued to be an altogether friendly feel to the event, with everyone talking animatedly and recounting tales to their friends, all the while steadily and happily drinking away. The 12th Idle Beer Festival was off to a flier!
Although Matt and I didn’t really know anyone at the event, we soon were taken in by the contagious atmosphere and got talking to a few of the people around us. It was good fun, telling jokes and stories and making such bad puns which had all of us laughing. The room continued to get more and more packed as the night went on and the atmosphere became further animated as people consumed more of the delightful beers on offer. Everyone was in high spirits, and some of the kids took advantage of a rare brightening in the sky to mess about with a football. The event had a real family feel to it, and the kids appeared to enjoy it just as much as their parents. This atmosphere was added to by a local band, Good Citizens, who played a number of covers. It was nice to hear some good ole’ music and I especially liked their rendition of Madness’ “It must be love” which they really made their own.
As the festival drew to a close I saw a few friends I hadn’t seen in some time, one of the downsides of everyone heading in their own directions as we get older. It was good to spend some time talking to them and catching up, as well as reminiscing about good times back when we were younger. This seemed to me one of the best things about the event; this was happening all over and catching up with friends is always an enjoyable experience. Undoubtedly this helped add to the overall impression I have left of the event, that it was mighty fun. I would also like to thank all the people who worked on the Idle and Hepworth Beer Festival, as well as all the breweries who helped make the night what it was and I am sure others who attended would join me in echoing that sentiment. I look forward to returning to the event next year, when I am sure it will be just as much a success.

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 MUSINGS FROM THE PADDED CELL - THE IDLE LORD

The Idle Lord. 

Musings From The Padded Cell

Britishness 

The media are awash with chat about the notion of “Britishness” in the wake of the Trojan Horse story coming out of Birmingham. As ever, politicians are jumping on the bandwagon likes fleas on an old dog; it is, after all, election time soon.
Rationale debate is still difficult to achieve as this is a ridiculously emotive subject, despite it rising to the top of the agenda largely due to UKIP’s recent successes at the polls.
Cameron, as ever, is flapping around like a one-winged parrot, seeking tough sound-bites whilst selling us off to the Chinese. Miliband, leader of the party that opened the flood gates, is almost invisible; small mercies to be grateful for I guess.
Whilst there are sound economic arguments for controlled immigration, these are inevitably based on the reality – like it or not – that we can be choosy at least as far as non EU migrants. Britain is a nation people aspire to come to.
However, the thing that hacks off Ordinary Joe more than anything else is the fact that the politicians who preach the benefits of mass immigration rarely live in the areas that have to deal with the impact.
One hack wrote at the weekend of the “metropolitan elite” – he meant New Labour – whose policies opened the doors.
Bradford – metropolitan but far from elite – contends with it’s primary schools dealing with almost 150 different languages. This has been a massive failure of the indigenous population. Making kids learn the Magna Carta will not solve this one bit.
There remains a fundamental flaw in the way we treat minorities. Bending over backwards might seem the “fair” thing to do but it misses the point that there are those within these communities that will exploit this weakness as Birmingham demonstrates.
Wherever you live you must surely respect the law of that land. To live here, often on the social benefits a progressive society can still afford to provide, and yet to rail against it’s very existence and cultures is both offensive and ignorant.
Fortunately, most common sense can still be found in the good old British pub – one of the founding pillars of Britishness – and I find it hard to argue with the sentiments I heard expressed at the weekend.
“If they don’t like it then they should *** off.” said my unnamed source, clearly fearful of a kidnap attempt and beer deprivation.
Britishness should be about upholding the values and traditions that we have fought for over centuries. You cannot cow-tow to a raft of migrant cultures simply to appease the politically correct brigade.
And before the human rights brigade pipe up there is nowhere better on Earth than Britain to enjoy human rights; that is why most people still want to come here.

Top man 

I defy anybody not to have seen the story of Bernard  Jordan, 89, and his “great escape” from his care home – fulfilling a wish to attend the D-Day commemorations in Normandy last week – and to have watched without a lump in their throat.
Wonderful stuff from another era and all carried off with grace, charm and a cheeky wink of an old boy’s eye.
Boys own stuff because boys will always be boys.

More From “I Told You So” Corner

According to last weekend’s Sunday Times, Ofsted have finally woken up to the fact that there is almost no competitive sport in state schools and that this is not a good thing. Well done chaps, what took you so long?
Regular readers – I do have a few – will know I have been banging on about this for well over a decade and more. Most recently I wrote a chapter (3) in “Fifty Not Out” on this issue.
However, even more damaging and socially divisive is the fact that these inequalities forged at primary schools are further widened all the way to elite sport.
Take the distribution of funding from UK Sport, essentially dictated by the pursuance of Olympic medals:
http://www.idlelord.com/playing-up-hill/
Bad enough that we fund only sports where medals are deemed possible but look at what we end up with* in terms of the proportion of GB medal winners who were privately educated. Sydney 2000 – 23.6%, Athens 2004 – 27.8%,
Beijing 2008 – 35.7%, London 2012 – 46%
*Sunday Times 15/6/14
England’s cricket team for the first test contained only one player – Moeen Ali – educated in the state system. This is a national scandal and in no small part has played a significant part in the rapid and apparently unstoppable rise in obesity levels nationally.
It is a failure of generations of young people deprived of opportunities to enjoy sport and live a fit and healthy lifestyle. Politicians of all parties should be ashamed of this utter disgrace.

More Musings

At last one of the half-wits that have been disturbing the local area on their souped up skateboards has been prosecuted. 
Sadly the judge backed away from a custodial sentence – bad enough – but it was the comments in mitigation from his solicitor that hacked me off most.
Trying to excuse the lad’s actions because he had had a tough upbringing was pathetic. Why not simply state that there is no defence for endangering peoples lives, taking up expensive police resources and for destroying the peace that most people crave.
The solicitor will doubtless be an educated bloke and will probably live nowhere near the affected areas. What a waste of a good education if you cannot distinguish      between right and wrong.
We cannot keep excusing cretins like this nor simply tag them and hope for the best. It’s like slugs, there is no point in moving them on as they will only keep coming back. Stand on them…hard. 

And More Musings from The Idle Lord

Normally I dread a dental appointment for obvious reasons but ever since falling off a six-foot fence at Christmas, the shame of confessing to nice man Andrei how I scraped my front tooth, has been weighing heavily.

We went through the usual preliminaries.

“Do you smoke?”

“No”

“Do you drink?”

“A bit” said sheepishly.

“Over 30 units a week”

“Depends if Big Al needs keeping company” I offered hopeful he would change the subject “course I do!”

I explained that the reason I, as a normally responsible 51 year old, had fallen off a fence was most likely because that particular night I had probably had my weekly allowance in one go. And that Joe Lawrence had encouraged me to garden hop on the way home.

These days the dental practice is part of a large group and you only have to look around reception to realise that there is now a corporate sell here with all manner of products on offer.

So Andrei must now sell as well as offer torture, whereas nice old Mr Spencer simply gave you that routine “…sound, sound, sound….oooh….kerr-ching…pension time!”

Fortunately, Andrei is as bad as I am at  selling.

“Have you got an electric toothbrush?” he asked.

I showed him my mobile phone and suggested he already knew the answer. Not put off just yet he pointed out how much better these were – on special offer in reception by coincidence – keeping me in the dreaded chair far too long.

I don’t go to the dentist to do anything other than try to get out as quickly as possible. Flogging me a mini-vibrator is not enhancing my customer experience one bit.

“If you stopped drinking for one week you could save enough for one” he offered as one final stab from the sales manual. Time to go seek a pint I thought, see you next year.

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 MAILBAG

MAILBAG

From Jeff Thelwell
During the last few months we have kept the Cote Farm development issue in the news by organising events and demonstrations. Unfortunately the timing of these actions did not match up with the publication of the Trumpet and so we have relied on word of mouth and the kindness of local shop keepers to spread the word. Although this has sometimes led to limited numbers of demonstrators, all our efforts were reported by the Telegraph and Argus and some even made Look North.  Not bad for six people with no money and little    experience of such matters. At this point I should point out that whilst we are not a political group, we owe a big thank you to all our Lib Dem councillors for the use of their organisation, their expert advice and support. Without them, I doubt we would have been so effective. 
We are now waiting for the Planning Office to announce the date of their meeting concerning Cote Farm. We thought it would be June but now it appears to be July or even August. We will however let you know as soon as we get a date so watch out for placards in shops etc. and don't throw any mail away unread as we will make every effort to leaflet the area. We are doing this because we are planning a final action and we are calling on you as residents of Thackley to let the Council know you prefer green fields to overcrowded roads and schools. If a thousand of you can send in an objection, that same thousand can spare an hour in a peaceful demo. We need you, your family and your friends to make this last effort prior to the planning    meeting and then we need as many as possible at City Hall on the big day. Don’t just moan, do something about it! 
Once again watch out for placards, posters and mail!!

From Eric Dean,734, Leeds Road, Thackley.
Come on Lads.  Join the Club
Around twenty years ago it was common to have attendances of around 60 retired men at the Idle & Thackley Men’s Forum.
Now the attendance is between 18-21. Why? The committee have often discussed the gradual drop in attendance and none of us can find a satisfactory answer.
I am Chairman of the Forum and find it a very pleasant duty to        perform. I am proud of the members and enjoy the banter and discussion every Wednesday morning.
I am writing this as an appeal to all the retired men of Thackley, Idle and further afield.
We meet every Wednesday morning from 10.00am -12.00am. We have coffee and biscuits, chat and finally a speaker.
When a new member joins he inevitably finds something in common with the others even back to schooldays and affairs in the locality.
We have an excellent Speaker Secretary and have speakers three weeks out of four on a wide variety of subjects usually with screen presentations.
We are non-political with no religious affiliations. Some of our       members are widowers and it is good to see them settling in, enjoying themselves and becoming part of the Forum.
Don’t be put off by the term Forum. It’s really a get together of older men who like to talk and listen, have a laugh and, incidentally look  after one anther.
Come on Men of Thackley & Idle don’t be lonely or bored. Come and join us. You will be made welcome. Remember, as we used to say in the Idle Musical Union.
FELLOWSHIP IS LIFE!!!
Eric Dean, Chairman, Idle & Thackley Men’s Forum

Good Afternoon, Bill
I've just read the front page of the the latest "Trumpit" with increasing trepidation and dread.
As a proud Thackley boy, I have only spent 18 months of my past 38 years (39 in November) outside the Thackley and Idle area!!!! I grew up In Craghill Road, and I moved back to Thackley Corner in 2011.
I am appalled at what the Council is allowing in our back yard - if someone from our area were to threaten a  development in Pickering, where the Idle Moor developer is based, there'd be uproar. Yet it seems to be perfectly acceptable here!!!!!!
So why can't we have a Parish Council for Idle & Thackley????!!!! The people of Idle & Thackley would have greater influence on matters that affect us - including planning applications!!!!!!!! Thackley and Idle are great places to live: if we had our own Parish Council, we would have a much better chance of keeping it that way.
May I also remind readers that there is a Facebook Group, of which I am the Admin, entitled "Hands Off Cote Farm!!!!" This is the link: 
https://www.facebook.com/groups/187141744787723/
Thanks Kevin Russell

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 HEALTH MATTERS - BE SMART IN THE SUN

Health Matters - Be smart in the sun

By Consultant Pharmacist - Nick Parmar

How does the sun damage skin?

Sunlight is made up of different types of radiation: the Visible part which we see, the infrared part which we feel as heat and the one we cannot see or feel - Ultraviolet (UV) radiation.  It’s this ultraviolet (UV) radiation that damages skin cells. There are two types of UV rays UVA and UVB. Both types cause skin cell damage and skin cancer and it is UVA that is responsible for sunburn. So as the Aussies say Slip, Slop, Slap, Seek, Slide.

Slip on sun protective clothing 

Cover up with clothing made of a closely woven material such as cotton, polycotton or linen to block out the sunlight. If we can see through it, the UV can get through.
Remember wet clothes let through more UV than dry clothes.

Slop on a sunscreen with at least SPF15

The higher the SPF the greater the protection from UVB, children and those with pale skin should use SPF30.
Choose a ‘broad spectrum’ sunscreen which means it protects against both UVB & UVA rays. The UVA star rating should be 4 or 5.
Apply generously – around 2 teaspoons for your head, arms & neck at least 2 tablespoons to cover exposed skin if you’re in your swimming gear.
Re-apply sunscreen every 2 hours – it comes off through washing, sweating etc.
Re-apply after swimming even if it’s labelled waterproof.
Watch out for those easy to miss areas – lips, ears, around your eyes, neck, scalp particularly if the hair is thinning, backs of hands and feet.
Health Matters - Be Smart in the Sun 
by Nick Parmar - Senior Pharmacist at Thackley Pharmacy

Slap on a hat

A broad brimmed hat gives good protection for the neck, face, nose and ears – the areas most commonly affected by sun damage.

Seek shade

The UV radiation is most intense between 11am and 3pm.  Even when we find a shady spot we still need to use other sun protection because the UV rays are reflected off surfaces around us such as sand, water and concrete.

Slide on some sunglasses

The sun can burn/damage the eyes. Sunglasses offer good protection but not all of them are adequate – look for a pair that has one of the following:
The ‘CE Mark’ and British standard BS EN 1836:1997
A UV400 label
A statement that the sunglasses offer 100% UV protection.

Did you Know ?

Sunscreens can go off - so check the use by date printed on the bottle. Most have a shelf life of 2-3 years.
Being kept in the sun can cause the sunscreen to deteriorate and become less effective – avoid buying sunscreen that has been kept on the shelf in direct sunlight or outside when abroad. Keep your sunscreen in the shade.
You can burn in the water – even if you are swimming in a pool or snorkelling in the sea
Clouds can give a false sense of security - UV radiation from sunshine still comes through thin cloud
The sun’s rays are more powerful at high altitudes – so even though it’s cooler up the mountain you will need more skin protection
There is no such thing as a healthy tan. A tan is the skin’s  response to the sun’s damaging rays and is therefore an    indicator of the amount of sun damage.
Sun beds are just as damaging as sunshine.

For further help and information www.sunsmart.org.uk run by Cancer Research, the UK’s national skin cancer prevention campaign.

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 JOE'S JOTTINGS

Joe’s Jottings

Flaming June as they say! Hmm not exactly roasting hot, in fact we had to put the heating on for an hour this morning just to air the place. Windows have had to be closed occasionally. We have had average rainfall and average temperatures. This has allowed plants to grow at a reasonable pace and the garden should be in full bloom as there has been no global warming this month and traditional plants have done well.
As mentioned last month the fruit crop is going to be   massive this year. I’ve got apple trees groaning under the strain of still small fruit, a plum tree that is looking good even though it is only its second year in the ground, I’ve never seen as many strawberries and raspberries on the plants. The strawberries and raspberries are ready to harvest. They are cracking fresh with a bit of clotted cream ice cream. Last year I was down at B & M stores on Kings Road and I spotted a blackcurrant bush for sale at fifty pence. It looked in a bit of a sorry state, in dire need of some tender loving care. I took a risk and purchased the plant. Leaves looked about dead, the soil was dryer than a kangaroo’s jock strap and it had several broken stems. On my return home I plunged the plant into a bucket of water and plant food and left it overnight which perked up a few of the smaller leaves. I re-potted it in a large container with some fresh multi-purpose compost and stuck it in a sunny spot. Keeping the soil damp for a few days transformed its appearance and new growth started to show. Half a dozen berries appeared but never ripened, but the plant was now healthy and looking like a survivor. After the mild winter my blackcurrant sprang into leaf and started to produce some flowers which was a very good sign as it signalled a crop would be available later in the year. Now you may be  wondering why I’m going on about a blackcurrant bush. The reasons are twofold. One, I’ve never eaten a raw blackcurrant and I was intrigued to find out what they tasted like. Would it be sweet or sour, bland or strong? The answer I got was that they taste just like Rowntree’s blackcurrant fruit gums. I’m not sure what I’m going to do with them as I only have the single bush and there are not enough berries to set The Kitchen Skirt to work making something. I will probably just harvest and eat them as they ripen because they are delicious. Secondly these little blighters have thrown up another problem which I had not given much thought to. Young Henry has been working hard in the garden with his granddad, digging up weeds (prized plants),   attacking innocent insects and carefully watering everything in sight including The Skirts washing. His capacity to learn and   inquisitiveness knows no bounds and it is a joy to  behold but it also taught me a darker side to this. Henry is at that age where everything has to be looked at and tasted. Everything goes straight in the mouth, including things that could potentially do him some harm. Now my attitude is benign neglect. In other words let the kid find out for himself and if it stings, hurts, tastes nasty or bites he will be more cautious the next time. What brought the real problem to my attention was an unripe blackcurrant which is green. He came running up to me shouting “Gran-ad, gran-ad, bapple, bapple” followed by a swift movement to the mouth to chew on said “bapple”. Swiftly retrieving the unripe berry from his mouth I concluded it was just a blackcurrant but it could have been something a lot worse. It made me review the plants in the garden that could have a negative effect on our young Henry. A quick trawl of the tinternet shocked me by the amount of potentially dangerous common plants in the  garden. The RHS (Royal Horticultural Society) website has a page dedicated to them as they are too numerous to list http://rhs.org.uk/advice/profile?pid=524 RHS/home/advise/ Potentially harmful garden plants. Hopefully another twelve months learning in the garden will teach him some caution so in the mean time I will have to be vigilant.
At the back of Idle Conservative Club they have opened the field to allotments. Now this field has been an eyesore for years, overgrown with weeds and scrub and looking pretty scruffy. It has now been transformed. Not all the lots as yet are under cultivation, though all have been rented out. I’m assuming that the owners of the empty lots are carefully planning how to get the best out of them. Most are in varying states of cultivation. Fences, huts, raised beds and greenhouses are being erected, vegetables in neat rows look to be thriving. It’s a wonderful use for a derelict space and it can only get better as all the lots get into full swing. I wish them all well.

THACKLEY TRUMPIT JULY 2014 THE GINGHAM DRESS

THE GINGHAM DRESS

A lady in a faded gingham dress and her husband, dressed in a homespun threadbare suit, stepped off the train in Boston and walked timidly, without an appointment, into the Harvard University President's outer office. 
The secretary could tell in a moment that such backwoods, country hicks had no business at Harvard, and probably didn't even deserve to be in Cambridge .
"We'd like to see the president," the man said softly. 
"He'll be busy all day," the secretary snapped.
"We'll wait," the lady replied.
For hours the secretary ignored them, hoping that the  couple would finally become discouraged and go away. 
They didn't, and the secretary grew frustrated and finally decided to disturb the president, even though it was a chore she always regretted.
"Maybe if you see them for a few minutes, they'll leave," she said to him. 
He sighed in exasperation and nodded. Someone of his importance obviously didn't have the time to spend with them, and he detested gingham dresses and homespun suits cluttering up his outer office.
The president, stern faced and with dignity, strutted toward the couple. 
The lady told him, "We had a son who attended Harvard for one year. He loved Harvard. He was happy here. But about a year ago, he was accidentally killed. My husband and I would like to erect a memorial to him, somewhere on campus."
The president wasn't touched. He was shocked. "Madam," he said, gruffly, "we can't put up a statue for every person who attended Harvard and died. If we did, this place would look like a cemetery."
"Oh, no," the lady explained quickly. "We don't want to erect a statue. We thought we would like to give a building to Harvard." 
The president rolled his eyes. He glanced at the gingham dress and homespun suit, then exclaimed, "A building! Do you have any earthly idea how much a building costs? We have over seven and a half million dollars in the physical buildings here at Harvard." 
For a moment the lady was silent. The president was pleased. Maybe he could get rid of them now.
The lady turned to her husband and said quietly, "Is that all it cost to start a university? Why don't we just start our own? " Her husband nodded. The president's face wilted in confusion and bewilderment.
Mr. and Mrs. Leland Stanford got up and walked away, travelling to Palo Alto, California where they established the university that bears their name, Stanford University, a memorial to a son that Harvard no longer cared about. 
You can easily judge the character of others by how they treat those who they think can do nothing for them.