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| A welcome in Yorkshire when the Tories were gunning for single parents | A welcome in Yorkshire when the Tories were gunning for single parents |
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| The recent campaign to remove Sir Bernard Ingham as a regular contributor to the Hebden Bridge Times about which I wrote last month has finally been successful, and his column has been replaced with a series of personal pieces under the heading 'My Calder Valley'. After more than twenty years of reading the opinions of a man who left the valley for Surrey a long time ago, local people will surely welcome the opportunity to write for their paper. May I offer this as my contribution, my last monthly despatch for the Northerner, under that heading. | The recent campaign to remove Sir Bernard Ingham as a regular contributor to the Hebden Bridge Times about which I wrote last month has finally been successful, and his column has been replaced with a series of personal pieces under the heading 'My Calder Valley'. After more than twenty years of reading the opinions of a man who left the valley for Surrey a long time ago, local people will surely welcome the opportunity to write for their paper. May I offer this as my contribution, my last monthly despatch for the Northerner, under that heading. |
| I arrived in the Calder Valley in November 1985, with my two young sons, one aged seven and the other a five-month-old baby. Things were quite difficult for single parents at the time, and not only financially in those pre-tax credit days. Ministers in the Thatcher government were continually lecturing about the importance of 'The Family', but they did not mean families like mine, ie a woman with children and no partner, but the 'two heterosexual parents with two-point-four kids' model. | I arrived in the Calder Valley in November 1985, with my two young sons, one aged seven and the other a five-month-old baby. Things were quite difficult for single parents at the time, and not only financially in those pre-tax credit days. Ministers in the Thatcher government were continually lecturing about the importance of 'The Family', but they did not mean families like mine, ie a woman with children and no partner, but the 'two heterosexual parents with two-point-four kids' model. |
| Peter Lilley made his Tory party conference 'Little List' speech, disparaging single mothers, while John Redwood expressed his surprise at the sight of so many single parents when visiting a Cardiff estate. The government's insistence on trying to shoe-horn everyone into a 'one-size-fits-all' model was both inappropriate and damaging when applied to people's personal lives. Those of us who, for whatever reason, could not or chose not to adopt the 'traditional nuclear family' norm were made to feel inadequate, or it was implied that we must be failing in some way. | Peter Lilley made his Tory party conference 'Little List' speech, disparaging single mothers, while John Redwood expressed his surprise at the sight of so many single parents when visiting a Cardiff estate. The government's insistence on trying to shoe-horn everyone into a 'one-size-fits-all' model was both inappropriate and damaging when applied to people's personal lives. Those of us who, for whatever reason, could not or chose not to adopt the 'traditional nuclear family' norm were made to feel inadequate, or it was implied that we must be failing in some way. |
| It is uncomfortable now, a generation further on, to have to recall just how judgmental many people were towards single parents, and I had experienced something of this in the village where I had previously lived. It was therefore a complete revelation to arrive in the Calder Valley and feel immediately welcomed and at home. The time was right for the valley to receive an influx of new residents; as the textile mills closed and workers moved away to Manchester or Leeds, some of the abandoned buildings were converted into artists' studios and craft workshops, galleries and whole-food outlets. and a plethora of creative people found their way to the valley, particularly Hebden Bridge. | It is uncomfortable now, a generation further on, to have to recall just how judgmental many people were towards single parents, and I had experienced something of this in the village where I had previously lived. It was therefore a complete revelation to arrive in the Calder Valley and feel immediately welcomed and at home. The time was right for the valley to receive an influx of new residents; as the textile mills closed and workers moved away to Manchester or Leeds, some of the abandoned buildings were converted into artists' studios and craft workshops, galleries and whole-food outlets. and a plethora of creative people found their way to the valley, particularly Hebden Bridge. |
| The town also found itself welcoming a significant gay and lesbian community, who also felt at home and comfortable here. It is now almost impossible to go out without bumping into a poet, painter, playwright or potter, and of course, a good few writers. The trail-blazing communes and squats of the 1970s had flagged up the fact that there could be different types of alternative living arrangements, so that Calder Valley residents were more aware than most that the traditional family model, while of course working well for many people, did not suit everyone. | The town also found itself welcoming a significant gay and lesbian community, who also felt at home and comfortable here. It is now almost impossible to go out without bumping into a poet, painter, playwright or potter, and of course, a good few writers. The trail-blazing communes and squats of the 1970s had flagged up the fact that there could be different types of alternative living arrangements, so that Calder Valley residents were more aware than most that the traditional family model, while of course working well for many people, did not suit everyone. |
| It is interesting to speculate as to why such open-mindedness can be found here in this narrow Pennine valley, and I certainly do not claim to have the definitive answer. Calder Valley residents have an independent mind-set, the roots of which may be traced way back to the tradition of nonconformity and dissent which was evident a couple of centuries ago. The geographical isolation of the valley before trunk roads, railways and the internet probably contributed to the survival of that frame of mind. | It is interesting to speculate as to why such open-mindedness can be found here in this narrow Pennine valley, and I certainly do not claim to have the definitive answer. Calder Valley residents have an independent mind-set, the roots of which may be traced way back to the tradition of nonconformity and dissent which was evident a couple of centuries ago. The geographical isolation of the valley before trunk roads, railways and the internet probably contributed to the survival of that frame of mind. |
| Think of one of the world's earliest Methodist chapels in Heptonstall, the Crag Vale Coiners quietly debasing eighteenth century coinage, the Chartists, a copy of whose earliest known hymn-book, dating from 1848, was discovered in Todmorden Library two years ago, and more recently, the quirky writings and interesting life of William Holt, about whom I wrote in the Northerner.) Todmorden, at the head of the valley, although only a small town, has produced two Nobel Laureates, and of recent years has been in the vanguard of the 'Incredible Edible' movement, growing food for communal consumption on spare ground, road-side verges, way-side tubs and roundabouts. | Think of one of the world's earliest Methodist chapels in Heptonstall, the Crag Vale Coiners quietly debasing eighteenth century coinage, the Chartists, a copy of whose earliest known hymn-book, dating from 1848, was discovered in Todmorden Library two years ago, and more recently, the quirky writings and interesting life of William Holt, about whom I wrote in the Northerner.) Todmorden, at the head of the valley, although only a small town, has produced two Nobel Laureates, and of recent years has been in the vanguard of the 'Incredible Edible' movement, growing food for communal consumption on spare ground, road-side verges, way-side tubs and roundabouts. |
| Martin Wainwright sometimes refers to my monthly Northerner dispatches as coming from the 'Pennine Shangri-La'; this might sound rather whimsical, but we know what he means. It is not simply the scenery or the independent shops or the 'funkiest town' accolade or the plethora of alternative businesses and organisations which flourish here; it is a combination of all of these, and more. Essentially, it is down to the attitudes of the local people, open-minded and accepting rather than prescriptive. Some were born here; others moved here, attracted by the spirit of the area; while a fair few folk, such as myself, found our way here almost by accident, looking for cheap housing, and discovered exactly the sort of place we had been looking for in which to to raise our children. It is definitely our Calder Valley. | Martin Wainwright sometimes refers to my monthly Northerner dispatches as coming from the 'Pennine Shangri-La'; this might sound rather whimsical, but we know what he means. It is not simply the scenery or the independent shops or the 'funkiest town' accolade or the plethora of alternative businesses and organisations which flourish here; it is a combination of all of these, and more. Essentially, it is down to the attitudes of the local people, open-minded and accepting rather than prescriptive. Some were born here; others moved here, attracted by the spirit of the area; while a fair few folk, such as myself, found our way here almost by accident, looking for cheap housing, and discovered exactly the sort of place we had been looking for in which to to raise our children. It is definitely our Calder Valley. |
| You can read back through Jill's dispatches here. | You can read back through Jill's dispatches here. |
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