Ronald and Frances Blatchley Visit
[5th Mar 2010]News » Ronald and Frances Blatchley Visit
Ron & Fran outside Ebor House, alongside Mike Barber and his sister Pat. Mike has previously spoken to the Society on the work of Richard Oastler, who fought for working rights for children.
Joseph Priestley reenactor Ronald Blatchley and wife Frances visited England for the January meeting of the Priestley Society. Ron and Fran had been visiting friends in Germany for ten days and then stopped over in Yorkshire for four days before returning home. They had planned the visit to coincide with the monthly meeting of the Priestley Society where Ron gave the Society a slide show “virtual tour” of the Joseph Priestley House and discussed “The History and Present State of the Joseph Priestley House” (see this news item for more information on this talk). The Society met in the Priestley Room of the Old Hall pub at Heckmondwike. Old Hall was formerly the home in which Priestley grew up under the guidance of his Aunt Sarah Keighley.
The Blatchleys were hosted by Jim and Lesley Birch. The Birches and Blatchleys first became acquainted when Ron and Fran visited the Priestley Society in 2004 and Ron and Fran hosted Jim and Lesley on their visit to the USA in 2007. Friends of JPH may recall Jim being the speaker for the Annual Meeting in September of that year.
Jim took them to visit several churches associated with Priestley, two museums, and an outdoor sculpture park. Jim, Ron, and Fran were also invited to visit the three hundred year old home, Ebor House, in Leeds where Mike Barber lives. Mike was in the USA in October and stopped at JPH where he was given a tour by JoAnn Long and Tom Bresenhan. He left his business card with JoAnn and Ron used the information to e-mail a message that he would be showing pictures of JPH in Heckmondwike in January. Ebor House is a splendid and sprawling home on a lot roughly the size of the JPH site, but virtually invisible from the street. Mike had an excellent scrapbook history of the house and enjoyed showing an impressive collection of souvenirs that he has collected on his many travels. The genial host also introduced his guests to his equally charming sister Pat and brother Peter.
Jim also volunteered Ron to show the JPH slides at the Birstall library, filling in for another more local speaker who had to cancel at the last minute. The library is in Priestley’s hometown, just around the corner from the Priestley statue on the town square. That talk was attended by a crowd of about thirty people interested to learn more about a local hero.
Written by Ron Blatchley, originally for the Friends of Joseph Priestley House newsletter
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