A Craven Diary

A NATIVE of Barnoldswick featured in the Craven Herald 50 years ago when her life story made the medical journal Pulse. Pulse, which launched in 1960 and is still the leading publication for the country’s GPs, profiled 27-year-old Dr Christine Pickard, who had decided to turn her back on GP work and become a science writer for the London Evening Standard. Dr Pickard was a former pupil of Skipton Girls’ High School and a daughter of retired Barnoldswick GP Dr John Pickard. She told Pulse at the time she was not interested in people’s bodies, but she was interested in people, which led her to leave medicine and go into journalism. As a young woman, and after training to be a doctor, she had taken a course as a teacher in English and gone to Algeria before hitch-hiked to Egypt with a friend. It was there that she entered journalism as a feature writer for Middle East Features Service. On her return to London, where she had been working as an emergency doctor, she landed herself a job with the London Evening Standard.

THREE cheers to Masham’s T&R Theakston Ltd, which has come up with an innovative way to help the victims of the recent floods. It plans to brew a special beer, appropriately named Noah’s Ark Ale, and will donate 10p for every pint sold to community foundations working to bring relief to flood-hit communities in Yorkshire, Lancashire, Cumbria and Scotland. The beer is a 4.3 per cent ABV, amber, full-bodied bitter in the classic pale ale style and has a pronounced citrus taste and aroma. Executive director Simon Theakston says: “We're all have all been horrified by the extent of the recent flooding and the severe impact the flooding has had on the lives of individuals and households all over the north of the country. We wanted to do something directly to help, and so decided to do what we do best – create a new brew to help raise funds to directly aid the affected regions. We very much expect that the beer will go down well with our customers, and that a worthy sum is raised for such a compelling cause.” Noah’s Ark Ale is available through all existing Theakston supply channels.

SETTLE Rotary Club will be on a merry-go-round next month. For, it will staging its annual Merry-go-Round dinner on Friday, February 19. As usual, the format will be a three-course meal, with each course served at a different hostelry/restaurant in the Settle area and with all diners meeting in the dining hall at Giggleswick School at 7pm. There are a number of new locations this year, with cCourses are being served at The New Inn, Clapham, The Courtyard, Talbot Arms and Ravenous in Settle, Boars Head at Long Preston, the Craven Heifer and the Knight’s Table at Stainforth, Gamecock at Austwick, the Craven Arms and Harts Head, in Giggleswick, and Helwith Bridge. Tickets cost £19, with a minimum of £5 from each going to the chosen charities, which are the Yorkshire Air Ambulance, Clapham Cave Rescue Organisation and Settle Swimming Pool. To book, contact 01729 822445. Parties of up to eight can be accommodated when booked in advance.

NORTH Yorkshire Police are urging members of the public to make sure their mobile devices are secure in order to deter thieves and hackers. Laptops, tablets and smartphones are more popular than ever. Two thirds of people in the UK now own a smartphone, with 33 per cent of Internet users seeing this device as the most important for online activity. Cybercrime is a real threat across the UK, including in North Yorkshire where 624 cyber-related incidents have been reported since April 1. These range from online bullying to holiday fraud and identity theft. Detective Chief Inspector Matt Walker, the force’s head of cybercrime, said: “We think itThis is an important and timely reminder to encourage people to take some simple measures to secure their mobile devices, not just against thieves, but also against viruses, hackers and online criminals. Many will have got new laptops, smart phones or tablets for Christmas and we want people to look after these new devices – and themselves. It is vitally important to talk to children and young people about their online activity and that they have a basic understanding about the sites they use. Don’t publish anything that could threaten your personal security and safety.” The police have produced an app which offers bespoke security advice for your smartphones and tablets. Get it at phonesecure.nyp.mobi. For more information, visit cyberstreetwise.co.uk or getsafeonline.org.

ST John Ambulance is offering primary and secondary schools in Craven free first aid lessons and teaching resources after receiving funding from the Department for Education to help young people develop traits such as confidence, grit and community spirit. The Government’s Character Education grant will allow St John Ambulance to first-aid train 100,000 young people in lifesaving skills, giving them the knowledge to help family, friends or someone in the community when they need it most. Paul Cairns, regional schools and community projects co-ordinator for the charity, said: ‘We know schools want their pupils to learn first aid but most of them don’t have the resource to teach it – this is the perfect opportunity for them to get lifesaving skills taught in the classroom. First aid can boost confidence, develop integrity, encourage resilience and inspire young people to make a real difference in their communities. We believe that all pupils should have the chance to learn first aid and develop these skills. Our vision is that no-one should suffer for a lack of trained first aiders, and the Character Education grant will help us take a big step in that direction.” For more information, call 01924 262726, option 4, or visit sja.org.uk.

A COLLEAGUE out and about at the weekend, diligently checking out a route for a Craven Herald walk, came across this large pile of rubbish dumped some way up a well-used ‘green lane’. Almost a mile along Mark House Lane, which runs between Gargrave and Bell Buck, whoever dumped it must have had some serious, off-road vehicle, she tells me, the path being even more rutted than usual because of all the recent heavy rain. She took this picture of the rubble and assorted computer parts and passed it on to Craven District Council, which was aiming to sort it out as soon as possible.

CARERS' Resource is appealing for volunteers to help support two popular activities for carers. One is the IT @ Home scheme which helps carers in Airedale and Bradford get to grips with computers, set up emails, surf the web, social media, do online shopping and communicate with friends and family abroad. Commitment would be a couple of hours a week. Own transport is desirable, as the volunteer would visit clients in their homes, and some experience of teaching would be useful too. The second is a host to support a well-established friendly monthly social/activities group for carers which meets at The Hub in Steeton. The reliable host would be responsible for opening up, greeting members, organising monthly sessions and collecting subs. Commitment is about seven hours a month. For more details, check out the volunteering section of the Carers’ Resource - carersresource.org – or email co-ordinator Val Stewart on vstewart@carersresource.org. Full training given and all expenses paid.