A great weekend but . . .

Jul 5 2008 by Helen Roberts, Huddersfield Daily Examiner

CONGRATULATIONS to Kirklees on a great weekend of entertainment with its Party in the Park, and good to hear too that the leader of the council is already promising a repeat for next year.

I was particularly pleased to see that lessons had been learnt from last year’s faux pas, when Huddersfield musicians were callously excluded from the party. This year three bands – Buen Chico, Project Sunset and Northern Beats – were given a showcase and a great job they did too in demonstrating what a lively local music scene Huddersfield has.

So I’ll give Kirklees two stars out of three, but there’s still room for improvement Clr Light.

How come, for example, the local bands were not allowed to use the same sound system as the headliners; were not projected on the big screen; and were paid a derisory fee that amounted to one two-hundredth of what the headliner received?

Why couldn’t the party have been promoted as one event rather than a main show and a warm-up that felt like a fob to local sentiment? After the two excellently attended Huddstock festivals no-one can now claim that there isn’t a large and loyal following for Huddersfield bands.

Make no mistake, I am delighted that the council has the ambition to put Huddersfield back on the touring map for top-line artists. But in the process we shouldn’t fall into that typical small town mentality of thinking ‘if it’s from round here it can’t be any good’.

Nobody is going to say that about the Huddersfield Choral Society, of course, but they have attained excellence thanks to years of tradition and support.

Why can’t we build up the same kind of infrastructure to promote other kinds of music too? The council could start by addressing the woeful lack of rehearsal facilities for young bands in the borough.

So how about the council showing it means business straight away by launching a ‘battle of the bands’ in which the winners will be showcased at next year’s Party in the Park and where they will be treated for once as first-class citizens?

MRS D WOOD

Paddock

Look after our market

THANK you for finding out the facts behind the sudden loss of stalls at our open market.

I sincerely hope that we shall see the stall holders back again soon. No matter how good supermarkets are they will never have the atmosphere of the old-fashioned open market and I do not think you can find anything cheaper in other shops. There are bargains galore to be had on every stall there.

Too many of our traditions are being lost in the name of progress.

Do not let us lose something which is needed in Huddersfield.

Mrs N Clarke

Almondbury

Brylcreem boy

WHAT a surprise in Tuesday’s Examiner (July 1) when reading the All Our Yesterdays, featuring Dalton and Ravensknowle in the 40s, 50s and 60s, to see my younger brother, Paul Ellam, as a pageboy in the sixth annual Dalton Gala.

He was six and I remember our mother giving his hair a good Brylcreeming and telling him to keep smiling for the camera. He is now a grandfather.

Thank you Examiner for the memories.

JANICE DEAKIN

Marsden

My main problem is . . .

A NEW gas main was planned for Rockley Close, Almondbury. The work started in late June but connections to properties were done on July 1.

When the company enterprise turned the gas on to each property one of their engineers checked for leaks and all appliances were working.

All was well until he tried to ignite the combi boiler, which he had a problem with.

We were told it was our problem. What I can’t understand is that when I went to work that morning all was well and when I got home it was not.

Now it is going to cost me money which I should not have to pay. There is a paragraph in a letter they sent round getting them out of any responsibility. I wish I could have that sort of cavalier attitude.

Has anyone else had a similar experience?

JOHN CRAVEN

Almondbury

Successful search

MAY I, through your columns, thank the many kind people who have contacted me in regard to my search for a book about my old school.

Special thanks to former pupils and to “Spike” Jones my form master in 4A in 1959.

I wish you all the very best and once again, thank you.

BRIAN LAWRENCE

Golcar

They’d be served

IF a monk turned up for a glass of mead or Father Christmas for a glass of sherry and a mince pie they would be served in the Lord Wilson (assuming such comestibles are purveyed).

BRIAN HORTON

Berry Brow