A Craven Diary

HOME-START Craven is appealing to both individuals and businesses in the area to raise funds to support its vital work with families with young children in Craven. The charity recruits, trains and manages a team of volunteers who work with families who are struggling for a wide range of reasons. Chairman Linda Will tells me: “We work with families in their own homes, helping them deal with the problems they face and staying with them until they feel they can go on independently. We are always reading in the Craven Herald about individuals, groups and companies raising money for good causes and we want to appeal to them to fundraise for us. If you’re planning to run a marathon, compete in a triathlon or sponsored walk or if you and your colleagues would like to do something to help others, please consider doing it for Home-Start Craven”. If you are interested in helping, please contact lead co-ordinator Gena Brown on 01535 633782.

A MARTON schoolgirl received a letter a hundred years ago from a soldier on the Western Front after she inscribed her name and address on an egg. Many eggs were sent to soldiers and hers was one sent to the British Expeditionary Force from her school. Private W Wright wrote he was in hospital with a cold following the hard weather in the trenches. "We are well loved after, and we get eggs frequently," he wrote. He discovered her address on an egg he had eaten for breakfast and had responded to her request to 'please write'. He explained he was originally from Scotland, had emigrated to Canada before returning to England to fight. He had been to the Western Front three times, had been injured in Ypres, sent back to England, then to the Dardanelles where he had been injured again. He'd spent a month in hospital before being sent back to the front.

MORE news has emerged about the German prisoners of war in the Raikes camp in Skipton in 1918 and 1919 following a public information session by the university academics who are translating the diary kept by the men. The aim was to glean more facts about the site from people who may have information or artifacts. Anne Buckley, a Leeds university teaching fellow, who lives in Skipton, tells us 50 people or so turned up at the event at Skipton Library. "We updated them on our progress of finding some of the barracks such as the one which became Tosside Village Hall and the three which went to Ermysted's Grammar School in Skipton," said Anne. Her colleague, Caroline Summers, a lecturer in German, read three amusing extracts from the latest translation work which had people laughing and Caroline also explained that they had traced the daughter of one of the named authors who unfortunately had died in 2014. "We got a few more leads - a retired teacher thinks that a couple of the barracks ended up at Hanson and Belle Vue Boys' schools in Bradford - he's going to follow that up and get back to us. And a woman who worked at Morton cemetery, near Bingley, told us where we could find the list of names of the soldiers who died in the flu epidemic," said Anne. She tells us that another information session will be held in the next two or three months. Keep your eye out in the Craven Herald.

A SKIPTON High Street pub is offering foodies the chance to design a brand new pie dish for a specials menu later this year. The Red Lion - owned by Greene King - is calling on aspiring pie-connoisseurs to submit their culinary creations online at facebook.com/redlionskipton including details of their perfect pastry, meat, vegetable and sauce combination. The overall winner will bag themselves a £500 cash prize and the title of Greene King’s first official Great British ‘Pastriot’. And two runners-up will each receive a £100 cash prize. Sarah Liley, general manager at the Red Lion, tells me: “We decided to mark the launch of our Best of British festival with a competition to find a new twist on one of Britain’s best dishes, the humble pie. We are hoping to find pies that are both creative and delicious in equal measure; whether it’s an old favourite, a personal speciality or a classic pie with a modern twist. We can’t wait to see what the Skipton community come up with.” However, you will have to quick as the closing date is tomorrow.

THE Help for Heroes charity is encouraging people to get baking as part of its 2016 Bake for Heroes campaign. The idea is simple: you bake a cake and then divided it up and offer slices to friends and neighbours in exchange for a donation. Alternatively, you can hold a bake sale at work or school. Emma Parry, chief executive and co-founder of Help for Heroes tells me: “H4H is all about ‘doing your bit’ and this event is a wonderful example of people rallying support and having a great deal of fun while they raise money. The money you raise is needed, it is being used and it is hugely appreciated.” To register and receive a free fundraising pack, visit bakeforheroes.org.uk or call 01980 846459. The campaign runs until May 2.

SCHOOLCHILDREN in the area are being invited to put pen to paper for a national story-writing competition to be judged by renowned children’s author and former Children's Laureate Anne Fine. The Sleepy Stories by Silentnight campaign aims to encourage families to keep bedtime reading at the heart of their night-time routine. Research shows that nearly a third of UK parents only read their children a bedtime story once a week or less, despite 83 per cent of children saying they enjoy being read aloud to and 68 per cent describing it as a special time with their parents. The competition asks children aged from six to 12 to submit a short story of between 250 and 500 words that features the West Craven bed giant’s loveable mascots, Hippo and Duck. The winning entry will be published in a book, which will be presented to the winner at a special celebration ceremony at their school hosted by Anne. The winner will also receive £1,000 worth of books for their school, a brand new bed and a giant Hippo and Duck soft toy. Nick Booth, marketing director at Silentnight, said: “We believe passionately in the power of a bedtime story, not only is it proven to better literacy skills but it strengthens the bond between parent and child. Most of us have fond memories of being read a bedtime story and we want to encourage families to keep the reading and storytelling tradition alive.” To enter visit silentnight.co.uk/sleepy-stories and the closing date is Friday, May 20.

REMAINING on the subject of writing, readers are being invited to celebrate the life and work of one of the world’s greatest novelists, PD James, as part of The Theakstons Old Peculier Crime Writing Festival's Big Read. It aims to encourage as many people as possible to celebrate great crime writing by reading the same novel at the same time - and this year's book is An Unsuitable Job for a Woman which introduces Cordelia Gray, the first modern female detective in crime fiction. PD James wrote the book while working as a civil servant in the crime department of the Home Office and wanted to create a young heroine of courage and intelligence. The Big Read begins on Monday, May 9, and runs until Friday, May 13, with a free event at Skipton Library on Tuesday, May 10, at 7.30pm, where the book will be discussed by Festival Reader in Residence and bestselling crime author Mari Hannah.