Where We Come From by Robert Bannister

Yorkshire Folk

‘Opinionated and say it how it is’……

Naked, screaming and dragged out into a place they call ‘Yorkshire’

I have not always lived here, but they say “you can take the boy out of Yorkshire, but you cannot take the Yorkshire out of the boy”

I think there is a lot in that saying, like the Barmy Army chant “where we come from”

Yorkshire is a vast county in England that splits up into: North, South, West and East Yorkshire. With a language pieced together from many years of fighting between tribes from around the world and then in the lulls trying to communicate: Celtic, Saxons, Romans, Germanic, Vikings in no particular order have all tried to communicate at one time or other.

Doncaster South Yorkshire The Place Of My Birth

“Eh up! Ows tha doin?”

Roughly translates to “ Hello! How are you?”

The architecture of course reflects the many changing occupations and characters that have come and gone. Yorkshire is as diverse as it is beautiful, stretching across the Dales and moors to the sea.

From Skipton to Whitby, the tales are many and well worth a visit.

This was once the industrial heartland of mining and all things ‘Ecki thump’ but has long since given way to tourism, farming and all things commercial.

I live outside a small port town called Goole in East Yorkshire which has basked in former glories like many. As everywhere though, the remnants and ghosts still remain:Flat caps, Whippets, pigeons lofts, tweed, Yorkshire pudding and damned fine ales can still be found.

East Yorkshire

With a camera you can come away with images that portray the back streets and hardships of old to the modern grandeur that is today.

‘Yorkshire Folk’ love them or hate them, they will not care….

South Yorkshire

Ingredients and how to make Yorkshire Pudding

100g/3½oz plain flour
¼ tsp salt
3 large free-range eggs
225ml/8fl oz milk and water, mainly water
4 tbsp sunflower oil

Method

Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7.

Mix the flour and salt together in a bowl and make a well in the centre. Add the eggs and a little of the milk. Whisk until smooth, then gradually add the remaining milk. This can be done with a wooden spoon, but is easier with an electric hand-held whisk. Pour the mixture into a jug. Make sure the mixture is aerated with bubbles. Allow the mix to rest.

Measure a teaspoon of oil into each hole of a 12-bun tray, or a tablespoonful into each hole of a 4-hole tin, or 3 tablespoons into a roasting tin. Transfer to the oven for 5 minutes, or until the oil is piping hot.

Carefully remove from the oven and pour the batter equally between the holes or the tin. Return the batter quickly to the oven and cook for 20–25 minutes (35 if making the Yorkshire pudding in the roasting tin), or until golden-brown and well-risen. Serve immediately

Note: during the wars, sawdust was used to bulk up the flour mix

West Yorkshire

One of my great influences in street was a man that was born in Headingley, Leeds, called Frank Meadow Sutcliffe.

Born in 1853 and died in the May of 1941.

Frank predominantly photographed life around the Whitby area whilst living in Sleights, North Yorkshire. He was a rare breed that was given the highest esteemed honour of being made honorary fellowship of the Royal Photographic Society in 1935 whereby his photography was recognised as art. His work was displayed in galleries across the world between 1880 to 1894 in New York, Tokyo, Berlin, Paris, Chicago, and Vienna.

The amazing ingenuity about Frank’s photos were the natural candid feel that we so yearn for today. Of course the images were carefully coordinated due to the slow Collodion wet plate process but the candid street ethos was indeed created.

In the early 1900’s Frank Sutcliffe was given a Kodak film camera which was at the time poorer quality but provided the ease to move freely from street scene to street scene.

North Yorkshire