ASK people nicely and they will agree to help.
That’s the mantra shared by Richard Wood of Farnley Tyas and James Sykes of Highburton.
These are the two men who have driven a project which sees All Hallows Church at Almondbury bathed in light and filled with the sounds of a village steeped in history.
The Story Of A Village is a son et lumiere history of an area that has much to say.
And it is not hard to see how Richard and James together have charmed and enthused others to help them deliver a project that many would simply have dreamed about.
Together they have enlisted local actors, students from King James’ School, technical wizards from Huddersfield University, Huddersfield Choral Society and big names from the world of professional theatre such as Timothy West and his wife Prunella Scales plus Huddersfield’s own Gorden Kaye who as a boy went to school at King James’s.
It helps that James and Gorden were in the same drama group at Huddersfield Technical College and have been friends ever since.
And knowing that Prunella Scales has long family connections with Kirkburton plus a passion for the region, provided a great starting point for that please nicely approach.
James promises that you will be moved to tears by Prunella’s beautiful reading and that those who listen closely can pick out the sound of Dobcross looms, recorded at Crosland Moor where the only ones still in use are working.
This is a story made with expertise, attention to detail but above all with a great deal of love. It is a little piece of history made in Huddersfield. Share it at performances running until November 13.
