Peter was born in 1947 and has lived in or around Golcar, Huddersfield his entire life. His ancestry can be traced back to 1210 in Barkisland, near Halifax, when the family name was then de Northcliffe. It changed to Norcliffe around 1650. He's been married to Moira for 53 years and they have one daughter, Rachel.
Peter Norcliffe writes of the exploits of his local walking group, the ‘WARTS’, and their Yorkshire rambling. “Lockdown has deprived us of opportunities to exercise these in each other’s company and so I have had to turn to writing to keep my skills ticking over.”
Peter Norcliffe recalls the day when he helped his neighbour with a water leak, but came face to face with a fire; he reminisces about his years as a part-time firefighter and the activities his brigade got up to.
Peter Norcliffe dives into family history in this three-parter about his uncles who served in the Second World War. In this instalment, he discusses his Uncle Frank, who served in India.
Peter Norcliffe dives into family history in this three-parter about his uncles who served in the Second World War. In this instalment, he discusses his Uncle Stanely, who served in Normandy.
Peter Norcliffe dives into family history in this three-parter about his uncles who served in the Second World War. In this first instalment, he discusses his Uncle Harold, who served in what was then Burma.
Peter Norcliffe recalls the ‘proper’ snow of 1947, which started falling in January and didn’t clear until mid-March, leaving many homes stranded for weeks.
Norky recalls his most embarrassing moment, which occurred during a German exchange visit in 1955. ” I’m embarrassed about it even now, I can hardly bring myself to put it down in writing, perhaps doing so will after 63 years lay it down to rest.”
Peter Norcliffe reminisces about biplanes, old money, and ‘Doctor Dan’s Health Drink’ in his latest column. ” Not for me a train driver or firefighter – both very noble causes, of course, but I’m sure you will agree, not in the same league as a milk man with a black and white horse.”
Norky goes back to the early fifties to recall a time when some things were scarcer, but the magic of his childhood Christmas lives on in his memories.
Peter Norcliffe’s latest piece goes into local history, older agricultural practises and his memories of his uncle’s tractor.
Peter Norcliffe’s latest piece goes into his own family’s history and the ‘make-do-and-mend’ culture of earlier times. Revisiting his childhood he recalls old ‘Jerries and English battles’ and ‘erry carts’.
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. Textile mills had been allowed to run down before I started working, mainly through lack of investment, and cheap foreign imports. The management no doubt assumed, as did the management of many other British […]
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. After the Norman invasion of 1066, there was an immediate and obvious separation of society into a two-tier structure: the ruling class who spoke French and the rest. Then, as the ruling class from […]
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. You can catch up on his ramblings so far via his author page. The war took a different turn for my father in 1943. He had served on the Scillonian for about a year, plying between […]
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. You can catch up on his ramblings so far via his author page. In the months following the end of the Second World War, millions of military personnel were returning to their homes, at […]
In 1890, my great grandparents Joseph and Eliza Senior took the whole family to Sagan in what was then Germany (now Żagań in Poland). This is where a Yorkshire mill owner called Oldroyd set up a textile factory (which is still running today, now in local Polish ownership). He took a skilled labour force with him fro
There’s another puzzle. For many years it seemed almost socially acceptable for older women to have relationships with younger boys, but not the other way round. It’s as though society developed a view that girls should be allowed to mature at their own pace without the sexual advances of an adult, but not so the boys. There is probably some rational, sensible reason for it all, but I don’t understand it.
At 11 years old, I was quite comfortable being naked within the family environment, but when we did PE (physical education), we had to use the communal boys’ showers. Not only was it the first time I had used a shower, it must have been the first time I had even seen a shower. It was also the first time I had seen other boys without clothes.
Have you been following Norky’s ramblings? This week he returns to his high school days in the Colne Valley and recounts some of his memories of teachers’ so-called discipline.
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. Over the next few weeks, he will share with us his memories of early life. You can catch up on his ramblings so far HERE. My sister Rhondda recalls one of her most embarrassing […]
True stories from ‘Norky’ who comes from Scapegoat Hill, a small, isolated farming village, high on the Pennines in West Yorkshire. Over the next few weeks, he will share with us his memories of early life. I was born at St. Luke’s maternity hospital, Huddersfield, at 5am on the 21 June 1947. Dawn on mid-summer […]