PENELOPE HEMINGWAY
Like most Europeans, I had more than one ancestor killed in World War One. Today I found my photos of one of them. He died just over 100 years ago – my dad spoke of him when we were growing up, and his other uncle who died in 1917. I thought it was very […]
On October 14th, 1888, Augustin Louis Le Prince shot the world’s oldest surviving piece of film – in a Leeds suburban garden. Widely known as the “Roundhay Garden Scene”, the footage was shot by Louis Le Prince at the now demolished Roundhay Cottage, later known as Oakwood Grange, Roundhay in Leeds, and featured Le […]
Recently, I was privileged to be asked to do a very short talk on the history of ganseys, as part of the Autumn/Winter season launch at Baa Ram Ewe, in Leeds. “Knit Happy. Knit Yorkshire.” the sign on the shop says – now there’s a sentiment I can get behind. Sort of familiar territory, as […]
I have an almost-16 year old son. I can’t imagine him being at the First Day of the Somme. Yet my great grandmother was in that situation, on the 1st July, 1916. In fact, it’s likely both her sons were there – her eldest, barely 18, was in The King’s Own Yorkshire Light Infantry. My […]
One for the genealogists today so you might want to look away now if you’re not into this stuff! This is a blog post I have tried to start, many times. And given up on. Due to its complexity. So here it is – finally – the lengthy (sorry) story of how we finally broke […]
Finally, here it is. River Ganseys – Striking t’loop, Swaving, and other Yorkshire Curiosities Revived From the Archives is out on Ravelry. Your actual hard copies will hopefully be ready for Rhinebeck (The New York State Sheep & Wool Festival). The rather wonderful Schoolhouse Press will be stocking the book. That makes me happy on […]
202 years ago this month, the show trial of a handful of Luddites ended, and men were hung at York Castle after a ‘Special Commission’ at York Assizes. They built the scaffold unusually high, so the crowd of thousands could see the men die, like a farmer hangs a few crows pour encourager les autres. […]
Or: or “How The New Edition of This Book Beloved By Knitters, Came About….” Today I thought I’d give an insight into how we put together the new edition of “The Old Hand-Knitters of the Dales”, that classic, much-loved book on the history of Yorkshire knitting… Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley produced six books together, […]
I’m always compelled by genealogy when it put stories and faces to names. And it being 100 years since WWI, I wanted to write something in memory of my two great-uncles who died in that War. One of them was the reason I got into genealogy in the first place. I was going to keep […]
Got a parcel, this morning. Getting parcels is always brilliant, but this was a particularly brilliant parcel. Some print copies of ‘The Old Hand-Knitters of the Dales’. These will be distributed around the shops of museums in the North of England who helped us during our period of research. I will put up details soon. […]
PENELOPE HEMINGWAY 