Richard Bell's Wild West Yorkshire Nature Diary, Monday, 15th February 2010
WHEN
I see film of West Yorkshire from the 1970s, at the time of the miner's strike
for instance, there is often a grey misty haze over the landscape, much as there
has been today. Did we have a run of overcast weather during the decade? Did
the film stock used at the time give a grey tinge to everything? Or did the
coal fires then burning in many houses put quantities of soot into the air?
The mist has been washed away by this afternoon's rain.
The engine shed (above) stands near the site of Horbury
Station which closed 
about
40 years ago. I always think it's a shame that they don't re-open it. Because
of government and European guidelines, development funds get channeled into
other communities, leaving middling towns like Horbury right at the end of the
queue. For instance, Belle Vue in Wakefield has just been graced with some crisply
graphic street banners, designed by my friend John Welding,
celebrating the suburb's past and present while Horbury gets public information
banners (definitely not designed by anyone with the visual flare of
John Welding) fixed to its lamp posts, appealing for foster parents.