• Contact
  • About
  • Authors
DONATE
NEWSLETTER SIGN UP
  • Login
Yorkshire Bylines
  • Home
  • News
    • All
    • Brexit
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Health
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
    Johnson and Macron

    Mais oui, mon ami: Johnson and Macron display ‘le bromance’ and discuss a European Political Community

    Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill, right, and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS in Dublin

    Northern Ireland Protocol Bill: a hopeless case and a dangerous one?

    SAY NO TO PUTIN

    War and no peace: Putin’s war with Ukraine threatens us all

    Prime minister PMQ prep

    Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

    The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

    Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

    schools bill

    Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

    Emmanuel Macron

    French parliamentary elections 2022: shockwaves across the Channel

    Rail strikes

    Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

    cost of living march london

    Trade union movement marches to demand better

    Trending Tags

    • Johnson
    • Coronavirus
    • Labour
    • Starmer
    • Northern Ireland protocol
    • Brexit
    • Culture
    • Education
    • Environment
    • Home Affairs
    • Transport
    • World
  • Politics
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
    • All
    • Culture
    • Dance
    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Recipes
    • Sport
    Nostell Priory, Wakefield

    Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

    Headingley Cricket Stadium

    A view from the Roses match: is everything ‘rosey’ in English cricket?

    Bettys' Fat Rascals

    Scallywags, scoundrels and rascals abound in Yorkshire (we do like our scones)

    'Woke' beliefs

    Woke and proud: Compassion must never be allowed to go out of fashion

    Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

    What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

    Red Ladder

    Climbing the Red Ladder – bringing theatre to the community

    Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster

    Kaiser Chiefs never miss a beat in Doncaster

    Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, second from right, is joined by Keighley Creative representatives, from left, Georgina Webster, Jan Smithies and Gemma Hobbs.

    Bradford announced as City of Culture 2025

    Queen cakes fit for a Queen

    Queen Cakes fit for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

    • Food
    • Music
    • Poetry
    • Sport
  • Business
    • All
    • Economy
    • Technology
    • Trade
    Freya Osment from Northern Gas Networks

    International Women in Engineering Day 2022

    Rail strikes

    Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

    conservative party

    The Conservative Party: fiscally irresponsible and ideologically incapable of addressing the current crises

    Yorkshire cows

    British farmers are being offered a lump sum payment to leave the industry – but at what cost to agriculture?

    cost-of-living-crisis-in-voluntary-sector

    Cost-of-living crisis looming for the voluntary sector

    Money on the floor - £20 notes

    The huge cost of Brexit is being seriously understated

    Financial problems

    Surge in bad debt and late payments indicate mounting business distress in Yorkshire

    An evening photo tour of Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, with excellent light towards sunset.

    Winter blackouts and rationing for six million homes as government plans for disruption to energy supply

    Jar with money cascading out of it

    Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

    Trending Tags

      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
    • Region
    No Result
    View All Result
    • Home
    • News
      • All
      • Brexit
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Health
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
      Johnson and Macron

      Mais oui, mon ami: Johnson and Macron display ‘le bromance’ and discuss a European Political Community

      Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill, right, and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS in Dublin

      Northern Ireland Protocol Bill: a hopeless case and a dangerous one?

      SAY NO TO PUTIN

      War and no peace: Putin’s war with Ukraine threatens us all

      Prime minister PMQ prep

      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

      schools bill

      Johnson’s education power grab: from ‘liberation’ to dictatorship in one generation

      Emmanuel Macron

      French parliamentary elections 2022: shockwaves across the Channel

      Rail strikes

      Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

      cost of living march london

      Trade union movement marches to demand better

      Trending Tags

      • Johnson
      • Coronavirus
      • Labour
      • Starmer
      • Northern Ireland protocol
      • Brexit
      • Culture
      • Education
      • Environment
      • Home Affairs
      • Transport
      • World
    • Politics
    • Opinion
    • Lifestyle
      • All
      • Culture
      • Dance
      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Recipes
      • Sport
      Nostell Priory, Wakefield

      Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

      Headingley Cricket Stadium

      A view from the Roses match: is everything ‘rosey’ in English cricket?

      Bettys' Fat Rascals

      Scallywags, scoundrels and rascals abound in Yorkshire (we do like our scones)

      'Woke' beliefs

      Woke and proud: Compassion must never be allowed to go out of fashion

      Eurovision 2022 stage - photo by Michael Doherty on Wikimedia Commons licensed by CC BY-SA 4.0

      What does Ukraine’s Eurovision win tell us about the politics of solidarity?

      Red Ladder

      Climbing the Red Ladder – bringing theatre to the community

      Kaiser Chiefs in Doncaster

      Kaiser Chiefs never miss a beat in Doncaster

      Bradford Council leader Councillor Susan Hinchcliffe, second from right, is joined by Keighley Creative representatives, from left, Georgina Webster, Jan Smithies and Gemma Hobbs.

      Bradford announced as City of Culture 2025

      Queen cakes fit for a Queen

      Queen Cakes fit for the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

      • Food
      • Music
      • Poetry
      • Sport
    • Business
      • All
      • Economy
      • Technology
      • Trade
      Freya Osment from Northern Gas Networks

      International Women in Engineering Day 2022

      Rail strikes

      Millions affected by biggest rail strike action in 30 years

      conservative party

      The Conservative Party: fiscally irresponsible and ideologically incapable of addressing the current crises

      Yorkshire cows

      British farmers are being offered a lump sum payment to leave the industry – but at what cost to agriculture?

      cost-of-living-crisis-in-voluntary-sector

      Cost-of-living crisis looming for the voluntary sector

      Money on the floor - £20 notes

      The huge cost of Brexit is being seriously understated

      Financial problems

      Surge in bad debt and late payments indicate mounting business distress in Yorkshire

      An evening photo tour of Drax power station near Selby, North Yorkshire, with excellent light towards sunset.

      Winter blackouts and rationing for six million homes as government plans for disruption to energy supply

      Jar with money cascading out of it

      Boosterism doesn’t put food on the table

      Trending Tags

        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Region
      No Result
      View All Result
      Yorkshire Bylines
      No Result
      View All Result
      Home Lifestyle

      Norky’s ramblings: more stories of growing up … or not

      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. This article is part three of a six-part series on the theme of male immaturity based on Norky’s childhood.

      Peter NorcliffebyPeter Norcliffe
      28-08-2021 15:12
      in Lifestyle, Region
      Peter Norcliffe's biking helmet and goggles

      Peter Norcliffe's biking helmet and goggles

      50
      VIEWS
      Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
      ADVERTISEMENT

      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. This article is part three of a six-part series on the theme of male immaturity based on Norky’s childhood.

      Like many young people, I thought that I was quickly running into the ‘fast forward’ period where I wouldn’t have much time before the dreaded adulthood and old fart period set in, forever and ever. Little did we all know that adulthood is simply what we make of it and can be just as much fun as our youth but with more security and without the interest of the police. This insecurity of age is just a part of ‘growing up’.

      Accidents happen

      I had many bike accidents. When I was late picking Moi up she knew that I’d come-off or had been run in by the police. Funnily enough, my worst road traffic accident wasn’t on a bike, it occurred when I was 17 years old. I was with a biking mate, Dooley, in an Austin A35 van owned and driven by one of Dave’s mates Brad. As there were no seats in the back of the van, I had to just wedge myself behind the front seats as best I could.

      We set off for an evening of entertainment in Manchester, travelling over the Pennines and down into Lancashire. Brad misjudged a double bend. Truth is, he was racing another car driven by a friend of his that we had met on the way.

      If anyone would consider taking up any form of racing, an Austin A35 van would never be your first choice, in fact, it wouldn’t be on the list at all. Brad just couldn’t resist the challenge. We got into a spin and hit a wall with the offside of the van travelling backwards, I was slung out of the back doors and the van continued over me. I was taken to Oldham Hospital and with help I was able to walk into casualty. But that was the last walking I did for four days.

      I woke up in the middle of the first night busting for a pee, the nurses had thoughtfully left a bottle at the side of the bed, but I couldn’t move anything from the waist up. I was too embarrassed to ask for help of course, so it took me one and a half hours to reach and use that bottle. My bladder had expanded to the size of a bucket and I overflowed the bottle, but good grief, I don’t think I had ever felt so relieved during my previous 17 years.

      Putting me back together

      A couple of student nurses would make regular visits to make me welcome and listen to my funny accent. And a couple of grown up nurses – who reminded me of a very popular television program called Emergency Ward 10 – occasionally held my hand during the first night when I wasn’t feeling at my best. It almost made the whole episode worthwhile.

      I received quite a lot of kudos and interest within the biking group after that. It would have been much better had I received the injuries while falling from a motorcycle, but I would soon be adding many other stories of heroic survival of the most breathtaking bike accidents when I cheated death only by inches. All true, if not just a little exaggerated.

      X-rays showed I’d broken my elbow, and the orthopaedic consultant recommended a straight plaster cast. My arm was bent at the time and I found it very painful to move it at all. When it was time for the orthopaedic technician to straighten my arm, they must have assumed that it would prove troublesome, and the resident gorilla was on standby at the back of the room in case I kicked up a rumpus. Luckily, there was very little pain and the gorilla was not required, much to the relief of the technician who was very pleasant and apologetic, but was obviously more than a little concerned.

      Back on my bike

      I left Oldham Hospital after a few days, and attended Huddersfield Royal Infirmary for the remaining treatment. The resident orthopaedic consultant there wasn’t impressed with the straight cast and recommended fitting a bent cast this time. Again, the local gorilla was on standby just in case. But as before this wasn’t necessary and he was sent chuntering on his way.

      I found that the bent cast was much more practical. And after I accidentally softened the bent section in the bath, I was even able to ride my bike again! I had to change my riding style a little and I couldn’t shift my weight around or stick my knee out quite as far as before, but I managed.

      I’d copied this style from a bike racing hero of mine called John Cooper (Mooneyes). I seem to remember he was the first rider to develop a style where he would lean his body off the bike into the bends and stick his leg out and on occasion slide his knee along the tarmac. This is the style now used by all racing motorcyclists. Before Mooneyes, all riders sat squarely on the bike through the bends.

      One arm works wonders

      As I’m right handed, having a plaster cast on my right arm made many things awkward or impossible, but being 17 years old and ‘immortal’ I soon adjusted. I often got the sympathy vote from the young women and I was even able to continue playing darts quite well with my left hand. The two things that I was never able to quite get to grips with were combing my hair and wiping my bottom.

      Luckily I recovered quickly, and after six weeks the cast was removed and I was near to full recovery. But I had a skinny, hairy right arm to build back up again and my neck took a couple of years to feel completely comfortable. Even after more than 55 years, I still get a twinge in my back that corresponds to the area of a tear in my suit jacket.

      Brad’s father offered to pay for the repairs to my suit. No offer of a replacement or any other compensation though, and Brad’s insurance wouldn’t pay out either (apparently Brad didn’t pay for insurance that covered his passengers). I could have sued his ass and I probably should have, but loyalty has always meant a great deal to me.

       

      ADVERTISEMENT
      Previous Post

      Bank holidays go perfectly with an apricot almond flan recipe

      Next Post

      Alexander Stafford MP: Christian morality vs dodgy donations?

      Peter Norcliffe

      Peter Norcliffe

      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.

      Related Posts

      Death Star
      Politics

      Wakefield by-election journal: volume 4 (tech, lies and video crews on the trail of Wakefield Man)

      byJimmy Andrex
      28 June 2022
      The small number of trees shows that even the high uplands of the Dales was a woodland environment. Much has been nibbled down to the ground by heavy populations of sheep. Photo by Andy Brown
      Environment

      Government policies destroying upland Yorkshire farming with no regard for the land or our health

      byAndy Brown
      27 June 2022
      Nostell Priory, Wakefield
      Music

      Glastonbury? What’s Glastonbury? When the music world came to Wakefield

      byJohn Heywood
      26 June 2022
      10/05/2022 Prime Minister Boris Johnson at the House of Commons. Picture by Andrew Parsons / No 10 Downing Street
      Politics

      The country needs more than just ‘Booting Boris out of Downing Street’

      byDr Stella Perrott
      26 June 2022
      March for women
      Politics

      Women of Wakefield: people power only works if the people use that power

      byProfessor Juliet Lodge
      24 June 2022
      Next Post
      Image description: Alexander Stafford

      Alexander Stafford MP: Christian morality vs dodgy donations?

      Want to support us?

      Can you help Yorkshire Bylines to grow and become more sustainable with a regular donation, no matter how small?  

      DONATE

      Sign up to our newsletter

      If you would like to receive the Yorkshire Bylines regular newsletter, straight talking direct to your inbox, click the button below.

      NEWSLETTER

      LATEST

      Johnson and Macron

      Mais oui, mon ami: Johnson and Macron display ‘le bromance’ and discuss a European Political Community

      29 June 2022
      Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill, right, and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS in Dublin

      Northern Ireland Protocol Bill: a hopeless case and a dangerous one?

      29 June 2022
      SAY NO TO PUTIN

      War and no peace: Putin’s war with Ukraine threatens us all

      29 June 2022
      Death Star

      Wakefield by-election journal: volume 4 (tech, lies and video crews on the trail of Wakefield Man)

      28 June 2022

      MOST READ

      Prime minister PMQ prep

      Brexit isn’t working – something we can all agree on

      28 June 2022
      Sinn Fein Vice President Michelle O'Neill, right, and Sinn Féin President Mary Lou McDonald at the RDS in Dublin

      Northern Ireland Protocol Bill: a hopeless case and a dangerous one?

      29 June 2022
      Photo credit Robert Sharp / englishpenLicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license.

      The Davis Downside Dossier

      1 January 2021
      boris johnson clown poster

      Johnson, Nixon and dangerous duplicity: half a century of ‘gate’ scandals

      28 June 2022

      BROWSE BY TAGS

      antivaxxers Charity Climate change Coronavirus Cost of living Creative industries Crime Cummings Democracy Devolution Equality Farming Fishing History Immigration Johnson Journalism Labour Mental health NHS Northern Ireland protocol Pollution Poverty PPE Starmer Travel Ukraine
      Yorkshire Bylines

      Yorkshire Bylines is a regional online newspaper that supports citizen journalism. Our aim is to publish well-written, fact-based articles and opinion pieces on subjects that are of interest to people in Yorkshire and beyond.

      Learn more about us

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Contact
      • About
      • Letters
      • Donate
      • Privacy
      • Bylines network
      • Shop

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      No Result
      View All Result
      • Home
      • News
        • Brexit
        • Education
        • Environment
        • Health
        • Home Affairs
        • Transport
        • World
      • Politics
      • Opinion
      • Lifestyle
        • Culture
        • Dance
        • Food
        • Music
        • Poetry
        • Recipes
        • Sport
      • Business
        • Economy
        • Technology
        • Trade
      • Donate
      • The Compendium of Cabinet Codebreakers
      • The Davis Downside Dossier
      • The Digby Jones Index
      • Newsletter sign up
      • Cartoons by Stan
      • Authors

      © 2022 Yorkshire Bylines. Citizen Journalism | Local & Internationalist

      Welcome Back!

      Login to your account below

      Forgotten Password?

      Retrieve your password

      Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

      Log In