------------------------------ It's going to rain....
The Staff at Womble On Tour Towers have been asked whether there's ever been any information about Huddersfield on the blog. Well there hasn't, but there is now.
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Huddersfield - An Introduction
Huddersfield is now the largest town in Britain and nestles at the foot of the Pennines. This former heavy woollen industry town combines urban and rural with its vibrant town centre and sprawl of satellite villages. In fact contrast is a major feature of the town. It boasts both the award winning Alfred McAlpine football stadium, and the recently renovated 18th-century railway station in St. George's Square. There is an annual contemporary music festival, as well as local pop festivals and Caribbean and Asian carnivals. Huddersfield is also the home town of a number of famous people and institutions - the George Hotel is the birthplace of Rugby League; Harold Wilson (whose curiously pipeless statue graces the railway forecourt), James Mason and Roy Castle number amongst its famous children.
Brief History
Earliest roots can be traced to Castle Hill, where there's evidence of an Iron-Age fort and a Norman Castle. However, the town really started to grow during the Industrial Revolution when
it became one of many Yorkshire mill towns. The boom created by the textile industry provided a rich legacy of fine Victorian buildings such as the railway station and its Town Hall. Much the the prosperity came about through the local Lords of the manor, the Ramsden family. In 1920 Huddersfield Corporation purchased virutally the entire the Ramsden Estate including almost all of its town centre. As a result of this, Huddersfield has affectionately been styled as ‘the town that bought itself’.
Famous Huddersfield People
Huddersfield has produced a number of famous people down the years, including
Harold Wilson, British Prime Minister 1964-70 and 1974-76.
Patrick Stewart, Actor (best konwn for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek)
Roy Castle, musician, dancer, and actor.
James Mason, major British and American star
Anita Lonsborough, Olympic gold medalist
Local Dialect
Womble On Tour still struggles with the language from time-to-time. Have a quick butcher's at some of the gibberish I have to decipher.
Baht -- Without
Bray -- To beat / hammer ("She were braying on t'door at two in t'morning")
Brokken -- Broken ("Thou's brokken tha watch")
Fettle -- To clean / mend something ("Don't fret, I'll fettle it")
Ginnil -- A narrow passage between buildings
Mullock -- Mess or muddle ("Tha's med a reet mullock of that")
Oss -- To stir; move, to begin ("Coom on, oss thaself")
Rush -- Cost ("How mooch did that rush yer ?")
Slart -- To spill / splash ("Thou's slarted on tha shirt")
Snap -- Food
Thoil -- To bear / endure - usually to pay for something ("I couldn't thoil to pay that")
Thou -- You
Ummer -- Local word for Hell - see also Bradford o-)
Wit - Common Sense - ("If tha's not got wit to move, tha'll get hurt").
Wonble On Tour-land (aka Huddersfield) has been in the news today because of flooding. Some people have been turned out of their homes less than half a mile away from our own burrow because a beck has burst its banks, and life must be utterly miserable for them right now.
