Grassroots work needed for grandiose music plan

Sir Bobby Charlton former footballer,

John Nettles, actor, Alan Pascoe, former athlete, David Morse, actor, Dawn French actress and comedienne, Joan Cusack, actress, Stephen Moyer, actor, Emily Deschanel, actress, Michelle Wie, golfer, I AM old enough to remember queueing at 6am as a teenager for season tickets for the orchestral concerts in the 1950s and being lucky enough to hear world famous orchestras perform in the Town Hall.

At the same time, probably lasting for about 30 years, the opportunities for youth music were second to none, choirs flourished and there were theatre performances and many amateur performing groups around Huddersfield. The town was thriving artistically.

Since then the Contemporary Music Festival has provided an extension of the musical experience and has brought the cognoscenti here from all over the world.

At the same time there has been a steady decline in singers in many (though not all) of the local choirs, and children’s musical education has suffered perhaps irrevocably during recent years.

I was therefore pleased to read (6/10/18) that Huddersfield is to be seen as a creative force for the arts and that Huddersfield is to be promoted “as a global cultural, creative and heritage destination with a world-class music offer”.

Fine words indeed. But there was precious little in the practicalities of how this is to be achieved.

First, people have persuaded to come here.

Since 1989, I have been a provider of self- catering accommodation in Huddersfield. Over the years we have had visitors from all over the British Isles and beyond.

Accommodation were ably supported by both full and part-time Tourist Officers; Kirklees published a free accommodation guide and at one time the three local authorities (Kirklees, Calderdale and Barnsley) put out a joint publication.

There was also an excellent Tourist Office on Albion Street, manned by knowledgeable staff who did everything from booking concert tickets to providing information about accommodation or giving advice to visitors on the area generally.

How different it is today with one part-time tourist officer and tourist office provision shrunk to part of a counter at the rear of the Lending Library.

There is a splendid publication called Welcome to Yorkshire.

One can understand a long article about a unique feature such as the Yorkshire Sculpture Park, but there are also articles about Selby, York, Hull, Leeds and a four-page spread about Calderdale.

Where are the articles about Huddersfield and all the town has to offer the visitor? Huddersfield might as well not exist.

If grandiose schemes like the one just announced with a flourish are to succeed, then the grassroots provision for visitors and the advertising, or lack of it, needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.