Here is Emlyn Hughes the legendary Liverpool and England footballer cutting the celebratory cake at Brighouse Job Centre on the occasion it was awarded the prestigious 'Investor in People' on October 14, 1994. In this photograph from the left is Miss Carol Sykes, the Brighouse Job Centre Manager, Emlyn Hughes, Sir Donald Thompson, the Member of Parliament for the Brighouse area and another representative of the Brighouse Job Centre. Some readers may recall seeing Mr Hughes and his friend and footballing colleague Ian St John in the Brighouse town centre on a number of occasions. I bumped into them quite by chance when they had their sports equipment and clothing warehouse in Wood Street behind the Robin Hood pub. There office was in the old office building which joined onto the Robin Hood. All these buildings were demolished to make way for the new Lydl Supermarket which opened in December 2018.   

Well done Brighouse High School - here are a number of students presenting a cheque for £1,400 for the Save the Children charity.

Those posing with the presentation cheque are from the left Julia Wardell, Vickie Lord, Leanne Gelsthorpe, Mrs Jean Norris, Nadine Wyles, Mrs Sally Barker, Geraldine Gavaghan, Emma Gee and Kelly Hall. The presentation took place at schoiol on February 1, 1996.  This group of students will be in their early 30s now. 

Here is one of the familiar charity stalls at the back of the Town Hall in Market Street. These stalls from different charities were there most Saturday's but it seems to have stopped now, anyone know why. The people running this stall are from left to right Mrs Anne Inwood, Mrs Jan Morris, Mrs Rita Godding, Mrs Anne Heap, Mr Jack Heap and Mrs Lynne Thompson. This was out on September 7, 1991.. all of 33 years ago.  

Here are the starters for the mature citizen egg and spoon race at Norwood Green - I don't have any names or even a date perhaps you might help. I look forward to hearing from you.

The ground work is not quite finished yet but when it is this is the site for the new petrol filling station for Tesco Supermarket. The tall building in the distance are the St James's flats built on the site of the old St James's Church which was demolished in 1972, Then it lay as a neglected vacant site for almost 20 years before the flats were built. The left side of the site is where Kirkley House stood which overlooked Bradford Road. The was often called 'Pork Pie Villa' because Thomas Atkinson the Brighouse pie maker lived there for some time.  

Dick Barton – Special Agent is a radio thriller serial that was broadcast in the BBC Light Programme between October 7, 1946, and March 30, 1951. Produced and directed by Raymond Raikes, Neil Tuson, and Charles Lefaux, it was aired in 15-minute episodes at 6.45 (later 6.15) each weekday evening. From January 11, 1947, an additional "omnibus" edition repeated all of the week's programmes each Saturday morning between 11.00 and 12.00. In all, 711 episodes were produced, and the serial achieved a peak audience of 20 million. Its end was marked by a leading article in The Times.

The serial followed the adventures of ex-commando Captain Richard Barton MC (Noel Johnson, later Duncan Carse and Gordon Davies) who, with his mates Jock Anderson (Alex McCrindle) and Snowey White (John Mann), solved all sorts of crimes, escaped from dangerous situations, and saved the nation from disaster time and time again.

The series was replaced from time to time by one about the adventures of an explorer. One episode was entitled "Plague on the Plateau".

Beginning in 1948, the Hammer film company made three Dick Barton films and, long after the radio series had been replaced by The Archers, Southern Television made a television version in 1979. Dick Barton has also been adapted into a tongue-in-cheek stage play and a spoof radio comedy. Each version has featured the originals' memorable signature tune, "Devil's Galop" by Charles Williams.

We are featuring “Devil’s Galop” on this week’s show played by the Royal Doulton Band MD: Edward Gray in 1978. This is a good piece of concert music but far from being easy.

This map is dated c1893 and shows the whole of the town centre as it then was. Looking at it closely you can see there have been many changes over the last 131 years. One interesting feature are the number of backyards between and behind buildings. Many of these did have names but have now long been forgotten. For example the yard behind M  & S Locks in Bradford Road is officially known as Barton'a Buildings, which is possiby named after the local nineteenth century builder John Barton. Walking through the alley way on Commercial Streret to get to the bus station, as you walk through you will pass Ball's Yard, look closely and you will see the sign telling you that. There are many more see if you can find them. 

Recently I purchased on eBay a number of tickets for dinner dances. Some of them were described as a 'Grand Dance', another three are described as a 'Staff Dinner and Dance' and three of them are numbered the 7th (1954), 8th (1955) and 9th (1956) Annual Dance. One of them has a serviette inside, the kind of thing you would wrap a piece of birthday cake in. 

Orion R Farrar was a marching band director and composer. He was born in Indianapolis, in 1866, the son of an English shoemaker, his mother was from Indiana. As a child the family moved to Warren, Ohio. Aged 19 he enrolled in the Dana Musical Institute in Warren, studying theory, composition, and cornet playing. From graduation he taught brass instruments and conducted the Institute band. He also organised the Indiana State Band for two years.

In 1901 moving to Youngstown, Ohio he formed the Ohio State Band, he also led the Youngstown Military Band. In 1915, he conducted the Ohio Municipal Band.

He was purported to have died in California in 1929.

As a march composer, he is most remembered for the marches "Bombasto" written in 1895, "Indiana State Band" written in 1896, and "Hi Henry's Triumphal" written in 1900. "Bombasto" found an enduring place in the circus band repertoire, as well as in the libraries throughout the banding world.

Having been a public speaker for over 40 years I was pleased to have been invited a few years ago to speak on cruise ships.