EVENTS

Presentations and Entertainments

UPSTAIRS, DOWNSTAIRS AND AROUND AN ENGLISH ESTATE 

WITH FRANK WILSON AND THE EARL OF WHARNCLIFFE

Did you love and enjoy Downton Abbey; the characters, the style, the overall feel of the time and place? If you do you may have wondered whether there is anywhere quite like it. Well there is. 

Until very recently I lived very close to one of these in Yorkshire in the north of England (where the mythical Downton was located) and the Earl of Wharncliffe and I would like to tell you about it.

Come with me to Wortley, the ancestral seat of the Wharncliffe family where the local church and school were endowed by the “family” and where most of the houses in the village are still owned by the “estate” along with thousands of acres of land including moors, woodland, farms and a classic old golf course.

Let me tell you stories of upstairs and downstairs; the highs and lows of the family and the many ways in which the life of the village has been interwoven with the life of the Wharncliffes.

Let me introduce you to a succession of Earls and to Lady Rowena, Lady Ann and Lady Barbara, living in the village. Meet Winnie, who worked at “the Hall” and lived a long and busy family life in the place she loved. Let me tell you the stories Winnie and Lady Barbara told me and to which, having lived close to the village for almost forty years I have been able to add more. There is even a slightly scandalous link with British Columbia as well as other dramas and scandals to rival those at Downton..

I cannot take you physically around the hall gardens, through the ancient churchyard, into the Wortley Arms pub (where the last Earl spent a great deal of time) or to the “Countess” tea-rooms for afternoon tea with scones and jam and cream but I can do my best to transport you by other means. It will be my pleasure to take you there.

Two poems – and there are blossoms on the plum tree and Not Unreasonable are included in the recent anthology The Sky is Falling! The Sky is Falling! edited by Sheila Martindale. The poem The Other Virus was included in the Winter 2020 issue of Island Writer and the Summer 2021 issue includes the poem Samoan Beginnings. Nowt At All Like Home was reviewed in the Winter 2021 issue. Mr Boot’s Folly appeared alongside Russell Hague’s evocative image in a recent issue of the UK publication Northbound. 

The much more recent news from 2023 is all about Oak Bay and Not Far Away and Around and About the Loxley Valley. The first has been a welcome and enjoyable collaboration with local artist Tony Fathers. Designer Phil Robbie and I (and of course Tony) are very pleased with the end product. 

The Loxley Valley book continues my collaboration with photographer Russell Hague which began in earnest with Crows in the Apple Tree. Once again we seem to have been able to link up effectively at 4,500 miles distance and also once again we are very pleased with the quality of the result. 

I continue to receive complimentary comments about Village Lines. Lots of people like the poems and are especially complimentary about award-winning artist Alan Taylor’s evocative drawings. 

I have also been pleased with the response amongst fellow-golfers to A Walk in the Park – my history of Uplands Golf Club. Perhaps my most challenging assignment to date it owes much to the quality of many of the photographs from Leo Mah and the fine design by Phil Robbie. 

From 2006 onwards my main charity has been the Multiple Sclerosis Society charity in Canada and the UK. Many thousands of dollars and pounds have been raised over the years from book sales and associated presentations. 

Recently I have shifted my focus and established Alzheimer’s charities as my prime beneficiary for revenue from all book sales of “Oak Bay and Not far Away” and “Around and About the Loxley Valley” and associated events. I am also happy to consider supporting other local charities on request. 

I am very grateful for the continued support from the Richard and Gwenda Chadwick charity fund which has underwritten the major portion of my publishing costs over many years. This has enabled me to pass on all the revenue from sales and presentations to my designated charities.