Showers at Shibden

I met my daughter and granddaughters (and their dog!) at Shibden Park recently, for a couple of hours. We had a great time, exploring the park and the playground. There was opportunity for that ageless tradition of 'feeding the ducks' - and yes, we used proper bird food, not bread. It was a windy day and there were some very sharp showers but we managed to dodge the worst of them.

Then we had a ride on the little train, which happily has started running again with suitable modifications to promote hygiene during this time of coronavirus. They were spreading families out in separate carriages and staff were disinfecting the seats between trips. It is quite hard, I find, to remember to keep sanitising hands and so on. The little ones are better drilled in it than I am - but then, I rarely touch things when I'm out, whereas they were using the play equipment and so on.

My youngest granddaughter, in particular, has always been super-excited by this little train, ever since she was tiny - but for all of us, it was refreshing to do something 'normal' and joyful for a change.

We tried a 'selfie'... It wasn't especially successful as I had the phone on the wrong setting - doh! But then, these days, I am better a little blurred!

Shibden Hall Park

By the time we arrived at Shibden Hall, the sun had come out and the sky was an intense blue - but it wasn't a lot warmer! We skirted the house this time and headed down to the boating lake where there is a nice café. Coffee and cake warmed us up a little and we were able to rest our aching legs before the long walk back - up and over the hill again!

There are still masses of daffodils in bloom everywhere. They seem to have lasted a long time this year. Some trees have blossom and some have new vivid green leaves.

I noticed the first native bluebells too, on south facing slopes. They're rather early. We usually expect to see them in May, not April. Let's hope they last as long as the daffodils and we can really enjoy them. They too are such an intense blue.

'Gentleman Jack'

Shibden Hall and Anne Lister

A new BBC drama series 'Gentleman Jack' is currently being filmed at Shibden Hall.  It has been written by the Yorkshire writer, Sally Wainwright, who has crafted a string of excellent TV dramas including 'Last Tango in Halifax', 'Happy Valley' and the Brontë bio-pic 'To Walk Invisible'.

'Gentleman Jack' tells the story of Anne Lister (1791-1840), who inherited Shibden Hall from her aunt and lived there until her death in 1840. We know a lot about her because she kept extensive diaries detailing her life, her travels, the renovations and alterations she made to Shibden Hall (including the addition of a gothic tower to house her library) and commentary on the social, political and economic events of the time. Parts of the diaries are encrypted and chronicle her lesbian affairs. The code was deciphered by the last inhabitant of Shibden Hall, John Lister (1847-1933) and his friend Arthur Burrell. Arthur advised John to burn the diaries but he did not, fortunately hiding them behind some panelling so that they have survived.

Unusually for the time, Anne Lister lived openly as a lesbian and shared her home with her lover, the heiress Ann Walker, from 1832. Sadly, Anne died from a tick bite infection while travelling in Georgia in 1840. Her body was embalmed and brought back to Yorkshire by Ann Walker, and she was buried in Halifax Parish Church. Her will gave Ann Walker the right to continue living at Shibden Hall but the Lister family had her declared insane and removed to an asylum. The Hall reverted to the care of the Lister family.

Many of the rooms in the Hall are displayed as they would have looked when Anne Lister lived there. Some of the furnishings are original and some are 'props' introduced by the BBC for their drama. Some fireplaces have been given false fronts and pantings replaced by tapestries. Most of the changes are noted on information boards in each room.

The Great Hall is the central reception room.

The dining room has original panelling and chairs but the table and curtains are 'props'.

A small room is laid out as a study and library.

The kitchen is mostly original, though the hallway seen through the door, which is the entrance and visitor information point, becomes a scullery in the TV drama.

The bedroom below is Anne's aunt's room in the TV drama. Anne's own bedroom in the Hall was too small for filming so a replica has apparently been built in a studio. Isn't it amazing the lengths they go to to make films and TV series?

Shibden Hall

Well, autumn may be advancing (see yesterday) but I'm not ready to let go of summer yet. I've been so busy visiting places and I have a lot of pictures that I haven't yet shared. So if the trees on some of my photos still look a bit green, it's because the pics were taken a few weeks ago. 

Earlier in the year, I visited Shibden Hall Park, near Halifax, with my family but Shibden Hall itself was closed so we couldn't go in. I noticed last month that the hall had reopened for just a few weeks, and I took the opportunity to go and see it. It dates back in parts to 1420 though it has been altered many times. It was originally the home of William Otes and then passed to the Savile and Waterhouse families. Then for about 300 years it belonged to various members of the Lister family, wealthy mill-owners and cloth merchants. In the 1930s it was given to Halifax Corporation and is now a museum, in the care of Calderdale Council.

Shibden Hall is often used for filming and that is why it has been closed for much of this year. It is the location for a BBC series to be called 'Gentleman Jack', which I will explain a bit more about tomorrow. It also featured in the BBC's 'Last Tango in Halifax' and the courtyard at the back and some of the rooms inside were used for the pub and carriage scenes in the Brontë drama 'To Walk Invisible', much of which was filmed in and around Haworth where the literary Brontë family lived.

There is currently a display of costumes from 'To Walk Invisible', which I found interesting. It was fun too to spot the props and alterations that have been made for the current drama series. There were notices inside detailing these. (Spot the fake wall covering the railings in the photo above...).

The costumes above were worn in the Brontë film, as can be seen in the stills below, which also feature Shibden's courtyard.