Pride in Pontefract

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Pride in Pontefract The newsletter of

Pontefract Civic Society

October 2015 Chairman’s Message

All Saints Church

My workload remains high, as does that of our committees. Since our September newsletter was prepared, a number of things have happened, which can be briefly shared here:

• Heritage Open Days - saw events being supported at Pontefract Masonic Hall, Pontefract Town Hall, Pontefract Castle, St. Joseph's Church, and finally All Saint's Church, where the latter was oversubscribed with people intrigued by the double helix staircase. Our thanks go to all hosts, guides and you the public.

• I've been shown around the public areas of the newly refurbished Wakefield Town Hall, ahead of a brief meeting with Andrew Balchin (which is reported in this newsletter).

• I've attended meeting of the Pontefract Town Centre Business Partnership as well as Pontefract Groups Together and the Magna Carta Group.

• I met a new resident who was keen to understand what goes on in Pontefract from a community engagement perspective.

• I've visited our Magna Carta stonemason, and met our builder with the structural engineer.

• I've supported other events and activities such as meeting WMDC on planning, highways & transport, Museum's ballot box talk, YHACS meeting, our Design Awards 2015 walk around the town, Lantern Festival, The Crescent Project, Civic Voice Convention & AGM (Bristol), and the Beauty in my Backyard launch (London), as well as having a display in the library foyer and our banner on the town hall balcony.

Pontefract’s first Ballot Box

Together with the Vice Chair of Pontefract Heritage Group, I attended a meeting on 8th October with representatives from Wakefield Council (Hazel Birdsall, Principal Officer: Tourism, Merrill Diplock, Principal Officer: Castles, Nino Vella, Principal Officer: Museums & Heritage and Jo Hill, Development Manager, Regeneration) The aim of the meeting was to share information and discuss current issues and initiatives etc. affecting the castle, museum and tourism. We’re all involved with different aspects of Pontefract’s heritage and it is essential that we ensure that we’re all working together as effectively as possible.


As you can see from the above and the remainder of this newsletter, there's an awful lot happening, some immediate and some for the longer term. Proposed Area Councils - Update In March 2015, Cllr Peter Box, proposed introducing Area Council's in April 2016, to which the Society's Executive prepared a brief response, after which Paul Cartwright and Martin Lodge met with Joanne Roney (CEO) and Andrew Balchin (Corporate Director, Adults, Health Communities) in June. A further follow up meeting took place in early September with Andrew, where we asked for a written statement for us to share with Society members “Wakefield Council is facing more difficult choices as we contemplate continuing deep cuts to our budget. Each year we have had to consider how we try to protect vital services for children, the elderly and maintain vital services that our communities rely on. It becomes even more important that what we do spend, we spend wisely and so the Council has been looking at the benefits of giving local Ward Councillors more say on how we spend money on local improvements. Ward Councillors, in touch with their local communities, hearing local concerns and understanding what matters most to people are at the forefront of local democracy. Local community groups and our local partner organisations also bring ideas, enthusiasm and resources which can match Council funding and bring bigger benefits to an area. We have already seen the benefits of small amounts of “community chest” type funds and recent capital funds in the South East of the District have brought about much needed improvements in the fabric of local communities. It’s still early days and the Council will have to see how much money it will have to save after the Chancellors Spending Review in November but the issue of local budgets for local improvements is still very much alive”

Andrew Balchin Corporate Director, Adults, Health & Communities

Wakefield Council The PCS Executive will be watching this matter with keen interest from November onwards to ensure that the delegated decision making and budget responsibility meets the needs of the local community Magna Carta Monument

Charlie Kershaw has now completed work on the panels depicting the Pontefract Coat of Arms, King John’s, John de Lacy’s Coat of Arms and the Notarial sign of the de Lacy family.


We are currently awaiting updated structural drawings, which WMDC have insisted are created to EU standards as the monument is a substantial structure, and whilst it will be in the precinct it is classed as being on the highway, where some vehicles do pass. Once we've finalised the plans with the structural engineer, and it has been accepted by WMDC, we can then schedule a three week build period, and our Publicity Events & Admin (PEA) Committee will ultimately manage the unveiling ceremony. YHACS Autumn Meeting 50 delegates from Civic Societies across the region attended Yorkshire & Humber Association of Civic Societies (YHACS) Autumn Meeting. This was the first time Pontefract has hosted YHACS. Previous venues have included Beverley, Harrogate and Leeds

The day got off to a great start with 23 delegates attending a Heritage Walk led by Martin Lodge, Vice Chair of Pontefract Heritage Group. The hour and half walk flew by covering key points and buildings in the immediate town centre interspersed with anecdotes about some the famous (and infamous) people who have had an impact on the town. Such was the time, we could not include a visit to the Valley Gardens or the Castle, though these were promoted in the main meeting

After a lunch break, Kevin Trickett, Chair of the YHACS opened the afternoon meeting at St Giles Church, followed by a welcome addresses from Cllr Denise Jeffery and Paul Cartwright. Cllr Jeffery said "The local authority needs proactive civic societies like Pontefract, who are a critical friend, and is good to be working with Paul and his team".

The theme of the YHACS meeting was "Design" with two good keynote speakers on very different subject matter. Michael Brooke, Development Officer North West England and Ireland, from ACPO – Secured by Design was on first and as a retired police officer, his presentation focused on advice to developers on security of property and the immediate built environment. The second guest speaker was John Orrell, Group Director, DLA Design who is leading a commercial development in the heart of Leeds, which will include both the building, social space, retail with the added benefit of innovative technology developments.

In his presentation to the meeting, Paul Cartwright took the opportunity to:

• Showcase local activity by the Pontefract Civic Society • Highlight some of our partnership activities • Give examples of where and how the Society has acted as a

catalyst for change; to help establish other groups such as the Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens and The Crescent Project.

This was the first visit to Pontefract by YHACS, and was a tremendous success, with many delegates saying they will return with their families.


Beauty in My Back Yard Pontefract Civic Society has been invited to road test the Beauty in My Backyard (BIMBY) Toolkit. Across the UK, communities are voicing concern over new housing developments in their villages, towns and cities. By 2021, it is expected that the UK will have developed a shortage of around 1.1 million homes. However people know that most new housing developments are not particularly well designed and often detract from towns and villages rather than enhancing them. Communities have thus responded to new house-building projects with mistrust, and have sometimes been accused of being obstructive, or NIMBYs (Not In My Back Yard).

On 27th October 2015 the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community (http://www.princes-foundation.org/) will launch its BIMBY Housing Toolkit, a simple and practical, step-by-step method, empowering communities to work with local authorities and developers to create a regional BIMBY Housing Manual. It is specifically designed to give certainty to house builders, who can be sure of their housing’s popularity, whilst granting security to the community and local authority that new building projects will be in-keeping with local preferences and needs.

Over the past 20 years, the Prince’s Foundation has been testing tools and techniques to improve placemaking and building design, conducting over 120 projects, and engaging just under 10,000 people in housing projects throughout the UK. They now know what works and what doesn’t, and feel it is time to share this knowledge. The BIMBY Housing Toolkit consists of a clear three-step guide, designed to be simple and useable for anyone. During each step, the guide’s users will be provided with the tools to mobilise the community to jointly create content for their Manual using the Toolkit’s various templates. Upon completion of the 3 main workshops, and having uploaded content into the templates on-line, communities are rewarded with a self-produced, comprehensive and professional report, detailing their communal vision for good quality local housing, which can then be formally adopted into the planning system. The Princes Foundation approached Civic Voice, the national umbrella organisation for the civic movement with a request to identify 5 or 6 civic societies who would be prepared to “road test” the toolkit before it was generally released for use across the country. They recognise that civic societies are amongst the key players in the planning system and have considerable experience and expertise in planning matters which has been acquired over many years. Pontefract Civic Society has been chosen to participate in this pilot project and Chairman Paul Cartwright will attend the launch in London on 27th October where he will meet Prince Charles who is keen to launch the project personally.


After the launch the participating civic societies will be invited to attend a workshop where they will be briefed more fully on the criteria for assessing the toolkit. They will be invited to submit their assessments on line in order to make the process as simple and convenient as possible. Paul Cartwright said “I am extremely proud to be representing Pontefract Civic Society for the project launch at St. James’s State Apartments, in the presence of HRH The Prince of Wales. The selection of our society has come about as a result of our active involvement with Civic Voice at meetings, on social media and another example was our nomination of the extensive building work at St. Giles Church for the Civic Voice National Design Awards. I’m really looking forward to meeting Prince Charles and other delegates in London” The BIMBY project is expected to last approximately three months. Report from the Land Use and Transport (LU/T) Committee There have been no new developments to report since our last issue, but the committee has remained occupied with existing business. Our scheme for Monkhill station is being evaluated at Combined Authority level at present and we have meetings arranged at various levels in the very near future, which will give us the opportunity to continue our lobbying for improved services and facilities at the station. We ought to point out that out pre-occupation with Monkhill station and its services does not imply that we are unconcerned about Baghill station and its services; it is simply that the technical challenges at Monkhill are much greater and need urgent resolution. Within the last month we became aware of a public consultation initiated by the House of Lords on the subject of the Built Environment, whose object is to gauge public opinion on issues relating to planning legislation. Although we only had a few days before the consultation period ended, we made a submission on behalf of the Society stating our views and concerns relating to the questions posed by the consultation. Some readers may have noticed in the local press that Wakefield Council, as part of their Local Development Framework, have published their draft Retail and Town Centre Local Plan for final comment by the public. The Society responded to the early consultation with a very extensive report and it is now our task to look at these two documents in parallel to make our final comment on how we see the development of the town centre. Finally, we expect the next in the series of occasional Prince of Wales Development Liaison Committee meetings to be announced quite soon and we shall report on this at the earliest opportunity

Peter Cookson Pontefract Bus Station You may have noticed that we now have a double display cabinet in Pontefract Bus Station. The cabinet is in a prominent position and provides us with the opportunity to provide information on the Society and promote events. We are indebted to Helen Quarmby the Manager of Pontefract Bus Station for making it happen The current display features the new Pontefract Book. The next display will feature the Railways of Pontefract. Any ideas or suggestions for future displays would be greatly appreciated. Please send your ideas to Martin Lodge [email protected].


Christmas shop window competition Following a long history of success with our Facade of the Year Award and Annual Design Awards, we now wish to celebrate what businesses are doing to make the town centre look more attractive through their window displays. The society had previously raised this opportunity with the former Pontefract Business Forum, at which time it received a positive response. This is a pilot project to test the appetite from traders, and we will shortly be communicating directly with them, and via social media. Having creative shop window displays at Christmas makes the town look more attractive, and gives shoppers a feel-good factor. As this is a pilot, we asking businesses to register their display with us, an independent judging panel will visit and photograph each location, and we'll present a number of framed certificates on this first occasion. We'll then review the project's success, with the hope that we can expand it in the future. The project is being administered by our Conservation, Environment & Planning Committee with Paul & Christine Cartwright leading the charge, and whilst Paul will Chair the judging panel, this will be in a non-voting capacity. The judges will be Cllr Denise Jeffery, Rob Clayden (photographer & artist); another person has been approached, as have the King's High School and Carleton High School who we expect to nominate one pupil each, who are studying art and design. We're really excited about this new pilot project, and we're looking forward to receive entries from independent shop owners and traders based in the Market Hall. The Peter Cookson Collection If you are interested in photographs of Pontefract’s railway history then please take a look at https://www.flickr.com/photos/pontefractheritagegroup/albums/72157659421825919. Any member who is interested in developing a similar album to share their photographs of Pontefract and the surrounding area should contact Martin Lodge [email protected] Welcome to New Members We are pleased to welcome new members to the Society Corporate Member (Bronze)

• Integral Building Control Solutions Individual Members

• John Neville Turner • John & Dean Dean • David Jones • Peter & Shirley Guy


Forthcoming events 2015 Events - BOOK NOW! Tuesday 3rd November The Longest Retreat from Burma A talk by Col. Gerald Delany followed by a pie and peas supper. Tickets are available from Abson Blaza (estate agents), Ropergate and will be sold on a first come first served basis (limited numbers) . The talk will be held in the Large Ballroom at The Grange (Carleton Community Centre), Carleton. Doors open at 7pm and the talk starts at 7.30pm (bar available from 7pm). Tuesday 1st December Christmas Dinner at Rogerthorpe Manor To book your place(s) and make your menu choices please contact Mike Skidmore, PEA Chair [email protected] Telephone: 01977 709327 Visits to other Civic Societies 2016 Over the years, we have made a number of visits to other towns and cities where we've been hosted by the local civic society or civic trust, though our most recent attempt was unsuccessful. Undeterred, the Publicity, Events and Admin Committee is finalising our 2016 Calendar of Events, and we are therefore seeking your input. If you have a town or city in mind, that you would like to visit as part of an organised trip, to look at a conservation area, or a project and a building of interest, then please let me know by Friday 13th November 2015

Mike Skidmore PEA Chair

[email protected] Telephone: 01977 709327.


Pontefract Civic Society present an

Italian Night

Saturday 21st November 2015

7pm for 7:30pm The Girl Guides HQ, Carleton Park, WF8 1PR

3 COURSES FOR £10.00 PERSON

(AN ALTERNATIVE ENGLISH MAIN COURSE) BRING YOUR OWN DRINK AND GLASSES

WHY NOT MAKE A NIGHT OF IT AND INVITE

YOUR FRIENDS ALONG?

TO RESERVE PLACES PLEASE EMAIL OR TELEPHONE MARTIN LODGE

[email protected]

01977 796 456


Reports from other groups Exhibition reaches Micklegate Methodist Church

An exhibition by local artist Emma J. Horsfield, will be at Micklegate Methodist Church, Pontefract from 14th to 18th November. This coincides with the Church hosting its Winter Fayre on Saturday 14th November where there will be various stalls of crafts and cakes. The exhibition focuses on telling a visual narrative of the life of Jesus with accompanying books (for children and adults) offering an insight which can appeal to all visitors. A recently completed large addition to the exhibition, 'The Last Supper' will be on show in the area for the first time. The exhibition has already toured many venues this year, including Ripon Cathedral, Selby Abbey, Wakefield Cathedral and Beverley Minster, and will continue touring in 2016. Pontefract Town Centre Business Partnership This Wakefield MDC supported local group meets once per month with the goal of making the town centre a better place. The number of businesses attending is growing each meeting, and it's good that local authority officers are listening and developing events and projects to show off Pontefract a thriving market town using that as our unique selling point, together with the investment in heritage e.g. Pontefract Castle. The police attended the last meeting to report in particular on an issue for property owners and public safety as a result of free runners causing damage to a number of roofs and walls around Ropergate. They will be discussing prevention with owners, whilst also going into local schools. Pontefract in Bloom Pontefract was awarded Silver by Britain in Bloom this year and the replanted Rose Garden at Friarwood Valley Gardens was commended. Pontefract can and should do better. Civic Society will be helping Brian Chappel who has done this alone for several years. Go for Gold!


Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens

The Overload music festival on 19th September was very successful and attracted a large number of young people. The renovation of the exterior of the former aviary building was completed with re-pointing of the brickwork by WDH in September, the paving in front of the building having been carried out in July. The next stage in our plans for the building is to convert the interior as a camera obscura and the costing of the work required is under way with a grant application in mind. Our gardening commitments will continue through the winter months in the Rose Garden and herbaceous borders which require continuous attention. Gardening volunteers always welcome at our volunteer sessions which we post in the notice board at the Friarwood Lane entrance.

Dr Colin White

Hermitage and Dispensary

At last there is progress to report. Pontefract Heritage Partnership has been awarded a “Getting Ready” grant of £9,600 by the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF) for the work required to prepare for the main HLF grant application of around £2m to restore the Dispensary. The Mid Yorkshire Trust Board has now agreed in principle to give the Hermitage and Dispensary to Pontefract Heritage Partnership by asset transfer.

Before we can take ownership we need to ensure that the hospital trust completes repairs of the Dispensary following the demolition of the extensions at the rear of the building and rectifies the water problem in the Hermitage; a big ask considering the current state of NHS finances. There is an immense challenge ahead in creating a realistic and sustainable social enterprise plan that will persuade HLF to award the £2m grant needed. The full support and involvement of the local community will be essential for the success of the project

Dr Colin White Friends of Pontefract Park

There was a spring bulb planting session at the lakeside on 14th October when pupils from St Giles School planted 3000 daffodil bulbs. New benches have been installed by the lake. Consideration of developments such as a visitor centre and skate park are on hold until details about the proposed new sports centre have been decided by Wakefield Council


Dr Colin White Pontefract – the new Hollywood?

You may have noticed a significant increase in media interest in Pontefract over the past few months. In one week alone, three different crews were filming in and about the town. Pontefract Heritage Group received an approach from Colin Rothbart, a London-based freelance Producer and Director specialising in observational documentary, formats and reality TV for the BBC, ITV, Sky, Fox and Channels 4 and 5. He has worked for most independent production companies including Two, Four, Boundless, Love, RDF Media, Betty, Optomen, IWC, the BBC and ITV in house. Colin is directing a new series for BBC2 TV to be hosted by David Myers of Hairy Biker and Strictly Come Dancing fame. I met with Colin in August to discuss a potential angle. The BBC is particularly interested in the demolition of the Castle and the impact of the three sieges on the Town. Filming has since taken place over a number of weeks in the castle itself, in Cromwell’s, at the Hermitage and in the town centre. The series to be called the Hairy Builder is scheduled to be broadcast in February/March 2016.

Martin Lodge Vice Chair

Pontefract Heritage Group

The Crescent Project

We are pleased to be able to announce that the Crescent project is now officially up and running. After the tremendous turn out on for the visit to the Cinema in August, a committee was formed to look at the future of the building and the way forward. Since the inaugural meeting, the committee has been busy working behind the scenes. The main focus has been seeking public views on what the local community would like to see the building used for. This information has been gathered by the collation of comments on social media (Face Book and Twitter), results from a survey still open to all at http://gazlee.typeform.com/to/ZVQHts , and general comments from the public meeting and further discussions with the public.

There is a clear desire to see the building returned to its former glory and become an entertainment venue in Pontefract catering for specialist films and hits from yesteryear. There is also a desire to expand its use further, possibly as a theatre venue for various activities including shows comedy club cabaret etc. and bringing the dance hall back to life.


However as we have had further visits to the building it is apparent that all the provision of dressing room areas etc. will need to be addressed and incorporated into future plans in adapting the building to requests of the public use for the building . It is apparent that any future use of the building is a long way off. The long process of feasibility studies, design, planning and completion being major steps. It goes without saying we need to look at the long term sustainability of the project and how we can prevent it in future years falling back into its present day state. The committee is now working hard to look at how we can fund the feasibility study which will include building surveys etc. All of which will need to be done before any purchase of the building. In order to keep the public informed of any fundraising and progress, we have set up a face book page along with a website and twitter account. There are further plans to start a newsletter which may be quarterly to start with but eventfully more frequent as we progress and have more news to share. Please help us return this monumental land mark to its former glory by following us on Twitter https://twitter.com/TheCrescentWF8 Face book -- Go To www.facebook.com and search for The Crescent Cinema Pontefract in Facebook's search box and our website www.the-crescent.org.uk

Philip Cook Chair

The Crescent Project The Lantern Festival

Pontefract Lioness Club were thrilled to see so many people turn out to the 4th Annual Lantern Festival in Pontefract Town Centre on Saturday 17th October 2015. Workshops have been running since the beginning of September and every week adults and children alike having been coming along to make lanterns ready for the parade.

Year on year the local Brownies and Guides have taken part and this year we were pleased to welcome two new groups to the parade. The parade was led by Ed Anderson – High Sheriff of West Yorkshire, Councillor June Cliffe - Mayor of Wakefield and Councillor Maureen Tennant-King - Mayor of Featherstone, closely followed by the Minden Bugle and Drums Band.


Now in its fourth year the Lioness Club are pleased that the festival is so popular and that we are continuously getting more and more people taking part but as an organisation we only have 20 members so we couldn’t put this event on without the help and support of other organisations including the Friends of Friarwood Valley Gardens, the Neighbourhood Policing Team, Yorkshire Rose First Aid and this year for the first time we also had the help of the Pontefract ATC who worked hard alongside our members, family and friends to make sure everything ran smooth throughout the event. The Lantern Festival really has become a community event but there is a cost to putting on an event like this and we would therefore like to thank Chevin Housing Association who kindly supported us through their Community Grant Scheme, PRS for Music and of course the general public who donated at our workshops and on the evening.

Feedback on the Lantern Festival has been so positive and we are still getting lots of comments on social media saying what a great event it was and people are already asking for the date for 2016.

Jeannette Morgan Secretary

Pontefract Lioness Club Pontefract - Celebrating the past; looking to the future – a correction

Our item in the September edition of Pride in Pontefract stated that the new book on Pontefract will be the first book on Pontefract to include colour photographs. We are informed that Eric Houlder’s Ancient Routes Through Pontefract (2012) is illustrated throughout in colour, as is the souvenir book published in 2007 on the fiftieth Anniversary of PontArc, The first Fifty Years. We apologise for the error

Pride in Pontefract

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