A Little About Me

I’m not an academic, professional historian, writer, or linguist; simply an enthusiastic amateur pursuing my interest in local history and Yorkshire Dales dialect. My research is currently focused on the Sinkler brothers of Pateley Bridge, poachers who were transported to Australia, but made it home to Nidderdale again.

I’ve been aware of the story of Jack and Elisha Sinkler ever since I was a child, thanks to my Mum. After chatting about the Sinklers again recently, I innocently thought I’d try to find out a bit more about them. Well, that has quickly turned into a whole project! So I now find myself accidentally writing a book. Not my intention, or my talent, but the information I’ve gathered is no use to anyone else if it sits on my laptop forever. I’ve actually grown quite fond of this pair of rogues, and I hope to see them properly remembered in Pateley, as our most famous/infamous residents.

Alongside my interest in local history, I’m also a Yorkshire dialect enthusiast, particularly interested in North Riding Yorkshire dialect as spoken in my native Nidderdale. I come from a long line of local hill farmers, and I see the dialect that I learned from my Dad as a direct link back to all those ancestors that went before.

Next up after the Sinklers, I’m planning to write about Thomas Blackah, local dialect poet known by the pseudonym “Nattie Nidds”. I also have a handwritten book of local recipes that I’d like to digitise and publish, along with an autograph book featuring poems and sketches from WW1 & WW2.

I’m a member of the Yorkshire Dialect Society, the British Association For Local History (BALH), The Yorkshire Archaeological & Historical Society (YAHS), and the John Snow Society.