Derek Bryant

@derekbryant.bsky.social

Curating things I think may be important

Fairburn Ings: nature reclaiming an industrial landscape. What we think of as natural heritage is often anything but natural. Fairburn Ings is a landscape shaped less by preservation than by repeated intervention, collapse and chance. Originally a wet marshland on the floodplain of the River

Bild

What's in a name? In Brighouse just down the road from me you have Rydings for the park, library, and art gallery (The Rydings) and a doctors surgery in the town - Rydings Hall Surgery. The older, historic name for a nearby terrace might appear as either Rhyding or Ryding

Datestone for Crooked Riding Terrace, Thornhills Bridge Lane, Brighouse This is quite a large and elaborate datestone for a row of terrace houses, and has been placed on the blank gable-end. The houses face onto Anvil Street. Crooked Riding is the name of a house further down the street, although the second word is spelt Rhyding on one OS map and Ryding on another.

On tomorrow's date 17 January in Todmorden in 1784 John Fielden was born. The mill owner and radical British reformer became a notable proponent of legislation protecting the welfare of factory workers. Influenced by his experiences in his father's mill, John developed a strong

John Fielden (1784–1849) was a prominent British industrialist and a Radical Member of Parliament (MP). Known locally in Todmorden as "Honest John," he was a wealthy cotton mill owner who became a significant social reformer. This is a statue erected to him in Todmorden

the Pilgrimage of Grace (1537). It aimed to enforce royal law and suppress dissent, serving as a crucial regional court until its abolition by the Long Parliament in 1641 before the English Civil War. The Council of the North was based primarily at Sandal Castle (near 2/3

Antique engraved view of Sandal Castle near Wakefield, showing a fortified medieval stone castle with curtain walls, round towers, and a central keep set on rising ground. The castle is surrounded by trees and open countryside, with small groups of people and horsemen in the foreground, rendered in a detailed eighteenthcentury engraving style.

Situated in the fields around Walburn Hall are the earthwork and buried remains of the extensive medieval village of Walburn itself. The first documentary evidence of the village dates to 1222 but it could be around one hundred years older. The medieval village took the 1/3

Situated in the fields around Walburn Hall are the  earthwork and buried remains of the extensive medieval village of Walburn itself.

I was asked why there would be a labyrinth in a church. They are nothing new. Dating back to the 4th century they became a more widespread feature in churches and cathedrals during the Middle Ages, particularly in Italy and Northern France: The practice peaked with large, elaborate floor

Bild

In Huddersfield, around 2,000 armed men, many weavers, gathered to seize the town but called off the attack and dispersed. Meanwhile in Sheffield a well-organised group led by John Blackwell assembled, marched, and intended to attack barracks but again dispersed; Blackwell 2/3

In early April 1820, what could have been a significant uprising occurred in the West Riding of Yorkshire, It was closely linked to unrest in the west of Scotland, particularly around Glasgow and the aftermath of the "Peterloo" trials. The unrest unfolded in several towns. 1/3

Coat of arms of the former West Riding of Yorkshire (or at least one variation of) Taken by Flickr user:Tim Green   2.0

William was also a talented musician and had been an oboist in the Hanover Military Band before moving to England in 1757 where he was leader of the Durham Militia band from 1760-61 with whom he was based in the Yorkshire Dales town of Richmond, for a short time. Here he 4/5

The image is a portrait of Sir William Herschel, a renowned Hanoverian-British astronomer and composer. The painting is by Lemuel Francis Abbott was created around 1785, shortly after his most famous discovery.

The Enlightenment or the great ‘Age of Reason’ was a time in the 17th and 18th centuries when a new philosophical movement dominated the world of ideas throughout Europe William Herschel who had a brief connection with Yorkshire and his sister Caroline were a 1/5

A colour lithograph from around 1896, depicting astronomers Sir William Herschel and his sister Caroline Herschel at their home in Bath, England. Herschel was a German-born British astronomer famous for discovering the planet Uranus in 1781 using a telescope he built himself. Caroline Herschel was an accomplished astronomer in her own right, becoming the first woman to be paid for her scientific work and discovering several comets. Caroline moved to England in 1772 to live with her brother and became his assistant, helping him with his observations and mathematical reductions. The siblings often worked together, with William observing the night sky through large, self-built telescopes while Caroline recorded his findings.