Today I crossed a line.
An invisible line that for centuries has been a boundary between rivals. A boundary over which wars have been fought, wars which changed the history of not only the nation, but of the whole world. A bloody line drawn between members of the same royal bloodline. Where kings were made and kings were lost.
Today I left my Lancashire home and sneaked across the border into Yorkshire. Today I went to Ilkely.
Now Ilkely, generally made famous by the song “On Ilkla Moaar, Baht ’at” (which, translated for the rest of the world into English means “On Ilkely moor, without a hat”!), regularly comes near the top of various lists of the happiest places to live in Britain. To achieve that it clearly must have a lot going for it as a town. The bits that I saw were delightful and the people incredibly friendly. I saw a bench on the main street with a sign describing it as a “Chatting Bench” – inviting people to sit on the bench if they didn’t mind someone else coming and sitting next to them and having a conversation. I just loved that – although it is slightly sad that community is so lacking in most places that we actually have to make express provision for a fellow human sitting near you to be able to strike up a conversation. But at least, in Ilkely, they do that.
Whilst there I took the opportunity to visit the world famous Betty’s Tearoom.
Betty’s Tearoom was first established in 1919 by a Swiss confectioner called Fritz. I’m not sure if “Fritz’s Tearoom” would have done as well, particularly so close to the end of the First World War, so perhaps it’s a good thing he chose a good strong English name instead. The business started (and remains headquartered) in nearby Harrogate, but there are now several branches dotted around Yorkshire, all with the same delightful teas, coffees, food, confectionary and impeccable service that has made it so famous.
Following a swift remortgage to pay for four pots of tea and four lunches, my party and I headed across the road to the real purpose of our sojourn across the border – The Ilkely Jigsaw Festival!
Now I know that at this point you are probably thinking “WTF!!?”. But this was a day out for my partner Karen and I and our respective mothers as part of what was probably the best, but most expensive, Christmas present ever! Last Christmas Karen and I wrapped up twelve envelopes for each of our mothers, to be opened on the first day of each month of 2024 and in each of which was a treat. These ranged from flowers, soap hampers and afternoon teas to steak dinners, days out and concert tickets! This month’s gift was a day out at the Ilkely Jigsaw Festival!
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the Ilkely Jigsaw Festival, an annual event to raise money for charity. The hall is rammed with literally hundreds of jigsaws, all completed, and available to purchase. Visitors select the jigsaws they want to purchase, and these are then broken up and re-boxed (in the original boxes) by an army of jigsaw-mad volunteers. The prices reflect the fact that the jigsaws are second hand (but they are all in great condition and without a single piece amiss!) – £4 for any jigsaw less an 1000 pieces, £6 for any jigsaw of 1000 pieces and over, and some superb new jigsaws for about two-thirds of the price you’d pay for the same thing on Amazon.
The festival runs for three days, and there are thousands of completed jigsaws, neatly sandwiched between sheets of cardboard stacked at the back of the hall and (I’m told) in rooms beyond, just waiting to replace the ones purchased. By the time you walk round and view the jigsaws and choose some to take home the displays have been refreshed and you can walk around what is essentially a new festival for a second time!
But perhaps the most genius thing about this whole event is how circular it is and how the circularity maximises the amount of money that they raise (which is considerable!)
There is a jigsaw club in Ilkely. The members meet every Friday and socialise over jigsaws. The completed ones are stored between card, building a library of completed jigsaws. Over the course of the year they also receive donations of completed jigsaws from individuals, groups, nursing homes and schools and they also approach major jigsaw manufacturers who provide sponsorship in the form of new, boxed jigsaws.
Each year they sell the jigsaws to visitors who, in the vast majority of cases, take a couple of pieces of cardboard with them and then donate the completed jigsaw back to the festival to be added to the pile to be re-sold next year! Thus the cost-base of the whole enterprise is as close to zero as it is possible to get, and it’s recycling credentials are impeccible!
Yorkshire is famed for the careful way in which it’s inhabitants behave with money and to create an event which takes thousands from a cost base close to nothing is something that could only have been dreamed up in that county!
I came away with a boot-full of jigsaws and a mortgageable lunch. I was probably £250 lighter when I left Yorkshire than I was when I crossed the border into it. But I had a lovely day, and I can understand why it is such a happy place to live.
I can also understand why most people don’t have a hat. They probably can’t afford one!
Leave a Reply