I first came across J.B.Priestley, 20 years ago when I watched the wonderful 19545 black and white movie an Inspector Calls featuring Alastair Sim, but had not realised at the time the author/playwright was a Yorkshireman.
I next saw his name in a display in the Church of St.Michael & All Angels in Hubberholme, up in Langstrothdale on a plaque explaining that Priestley’s ashes had been sprinkled in the churchyard. As the church is a regular stop on my All Creatures Great & Small Tour, due to the fact the inside was used to film the wedding of James and Helen in the new series, I thought I would explore a bit more.
I had recently also read Staurt Maconnie’s travelogue – The Full English, where he retraces the route of J.B Priestley’s travelogue An English Journey written in the 1930’s which had given one or two insights into the man’s character but I still did not know much about his background and link to the Yorkshire Dales.
J.B. Priestly (the J and B standing for John Boynton) was born in Manningham, Bradford in 1894, which was then a highly respected suburb. After attending Grammar school in Belle Vue he left school to work as a Clerk at Helm & Co where he started writing. He served in the army during WW1 and suffered injury from both mortar attack and poison gas before being demobbed in 1919.
After leaving the army he was lucky enough to get into Cambridge to study English and it is here that his writing became more prolific becoming a novelist, playwright, essayist and critic.
In the 1930’s he started writing dramas, many of which became successful West End plays, before coming up with his perhaps best known play An Inspector Calls – a modern morality play, where a prosperous middle class family are visited by a mysterious Inspector Goode who questions the family about the suicide of a young working class woman who worked in their employment.
He was known for his social commentary, which perhaps can be seen most in his book the English Journey where he experiences towns and cities across England, experiencing the industry and squalor in many locations. He even described his home city of Bradford as a “a city entirely without charm . . . but it has the good fortune to be on the edge of some of the most enchanting country in England”.
Even after this negative comment about his birth city, his statue can still be seen in Bradford outside the Media Museum.
He became a popular broadcaster on the BBC during WW2 with his propaganda broadcasts being acclaimed to strengthened public moral. But his strong socialist principles are also believed to have helped the Labour landslide in the 1945 General Election. Priestley was also a founder member of CND, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament and turned down a knighthood and a life peerage.
Whilst Priestley had travelled widely and lived in many locations across England, he remained a true lover of the Yorkshire Dales. He loved the peace and quiet, the beautiful scenery and the simple way of life.
A couple of quotes sum up this love of the area. In 1966 he wrote “I have never seen more beautiful, more satisfying country than that of the Yorkshire Dales. One favourite is Wensleydale….Upper Wharfedale is another favourite of mine – it’s the smallest place Hubberholme, it is sheer magic, not quite in this world”.
Hubberholme also gets another mention in his book – The Other place published in 1953…
“A short walk beyond Buckden in Upper Wharfedale is Hubberholme, one of the smallest and pleasantist places in the world”. He also states “Once up there you seem at first at the world’s end; and indeed you are a long way from anywhere.”
Priestley died in Straford upon Avon in 1984, but up until his death he was a regular visitor to the Dales where he loved to paint in and around Hubberholme and loved a pint in The George Inn. In fact on his death his third wife said he always harboured an ambition to run the pub!.
Due to his love of the area, his ashes were sprinkled in the Churchyard and the plaque to commemorate this can still be seen on the back wall, close to the tower where there is a small display about his life’s work.
I wonder if he ever though the church would be used for the filming of All Creatures Great and Small? Here is a picture I took earlier in 2024, with Nicholas Ralph and Samuel West when they filmed little Jimmy's Christening!
Today, Priestley's name continues to resonate far beyond a little churchyard in Upper Wharfedale thanks to his variety of literary creations.
I have blogged about this little church and its rood loft previously - click here if you would like to read this too
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