Sunshine

Yes, sunshine! Today!The sky is as blue as a blackbird's egg, and the warmth is so welcome after the dip in temperature last week. It won't be long before we plant the Kiwi fruit, and it's a sure sign that we'll soon be off to a good start. 

Hundreds of people milled around on the lawn in front of the main rose garden at Headingley Farmers' Market this morning, and plenty of them took our programme-leaflet, albeit a little absent-mindedly as they listened to the music which wafted in their direction from the gamelan players. Let's hope they all come to at least one of the events! Tickets are shifting as well, especially for novelist David Peace, normally based in Japan but in Yorkshire at the moment.

Richard Lindley, maître d' at the illustrious Café Lento, revealed today that he will begin the proceedings next Wednesday with a reading of his favourite short story - by Roddy Doyle. As the one-time owner of a historic Norton motorcycle, he has been talking about an event based on the Motorcycle Diaries (Notas de Viaje - Diarios de Motocicleta) of Ernesto 'Che' Guevara , who rode one when he was still a medical student and who has gained Richard's admiration simply for being able to cope with it. Perhaps at some time in the future, some kind of shortened, episodic presentation of the Diaries could be presented along with music from South America, or perhaps a clip from the film directed by Walter Salles could be shown. We shall see. There are several musical groups in West Yorkshire which could fill the bill.

In the picture - sunshine in one of Headingley's forest glades....if you want to find out about Headingley's biodiversity, or its many polytunnels, or future plans, click HERE now.

Two more writers who lived in Headingley

Thanks, June, for the information that Arnold Kettle and William Fryer Harvey were once residents of Headingley.

Arnold Kettle (1916 - 86) was a respected Marxist literary critic who was a lecturer in English Literature at the University of Leeds from 1948-1967. After leaving Leeds he became Professor of Literature at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, and then the first Professor of Literature at the Open University.

He produced some influential literary criticism, including The Nineteenth Century Novel, and An Introduction to the English Novel, and was an important contributor to the journal Marxism Today. He was also editor of Shakespeare in a Changing World.

The Kettles lived on Moor road, Headingley. Their son, Martin, amongst other things an outstanding Guardian  journalist and commentator, was born in Leeds in 1949 and attended Leeds Modern School.

Above - Arnold Kettle

William Fryer Harvey (1885-1937) was born into an affluent Quaker family. His cheerful upbringing at Spring Bank, Headingley, was described in the memoir We Were Seven. 

He was a successful writer of tales in the mystery and horror genres. One of his best known stories, The Beast with Five Fingers, was made into a movie in 1946, starring Peter Lorre, and regenerating interest in his work. So what did he look like? If you know of a photo, please send it to us.

In the meantime, here is a poster for the film:

Chris Mould is wicked!

It doesn't matter that much if you come with or without children - Chris Mould is pure magic. Wickedly Weird as well.


He is at Headingley Library on the last day of the LitFest - 27 March at 1.30pm - and you don't have to pay a penny. He is not just going to talk, but draw as well.


Chris Mould was born in Bradford and has lived and worked there all his life. He began drawing at a very early age and hasn't stopped since. He trained in Art colleges and Polytechnic for six years altogether starting in Dewsbury College and moving to Leeds, during which time he gained a joint honours degree in Graphic Design and Illustration. Since then he has been working as a freelance illustrator. More recently his work has been used in television and in feature film development.


Chris has illustrated several books for Oxford University Press. His latest illustrations are for the Measle series, where Chris really manages to bring the characters to life.

 

You can find out what you are letting yourself in for by visiting the website. Click HERE to go to it.

Tolkien on Mastermind

Richard Wilcocks writes:
Thanks for the new email, Karen. I missed that episode of Mastermind on the BBC as well, but now I have found it, and there's plenty on Tolkien. How many people know that he caught Trench Fever in 1916 during the Great War and had to be sent back to England? Saved his life? Without Trench Fever, no Lord of the Rings? What if? The Mastermind episode is HERE. The Tolkien questions are about five minutes in.

Tolkien in Headingley

 

Richard Wilcocks writes:

Contrary to what people keep telling me, and in response to a few email queries, one-time Headingley resident J. R. R. Tolkien did not write The Hobbit in Leeds. Thanks to Karen for your research on Lord of the Rings, as well, while we are on the subject - you had something to do with the filming in New Zealand, so you should know. And incidentally it's good news that The Chocolate Fish is open again in Wellington!

Tolkien was Reader and then Professor of English Language at the University of Leeds from 1920 to 1925. Just before he left to become Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Oxford, he brought out an edition of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight. The second edition of this (with his colleague E.V.Gordon) followed in 1930 and remained influential throughout the twentieth century.

And I have no idea whether or not Tolkien supped pints in Whitelocks. I like to think that he did.

Whatever happened to Phyllis Bentley?

Phyllis Bentley was not from Headingley but from Halifax, where she spent almost her entire life. Her family was closely involved with a textile industry which has now largely disappeared. When she is remembered at all, it is as the writer of regional novels, and her West Riding was considered, in its day, to be a kind of equivalent of Thomas Hardy’s Wessex. She was highly praised by the likes of Arnold Bennett, Hugh Walpole and that other great literary figure from Yorkshire, J. B. Priestley.

Her novel Inheritance is set in the times of the Luddites, with a mill owner’s son in love with a mill girl, and is a little reminiscent of Charlotte Brontë’s Shirley. It sold very well in the Thirties, and was translated into a number of languages. Bentley was fascinated by the Brontës, and her book on them is something of a classic, still selling steadily and used as a reference. So why has she faded into obscurity, unlike Hardy?

This will be one of the questions addressed in Headingley Library on Tuesday 23 March at 7pm by Dave Russell. The ticket is three pounds – with two pounds for concessions. There are refreshments too.

Click top right for the programme