W. R. Mitchell facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
W. R. Mitchell
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| Born | William Reginald Mitchell 15 January 1928 Skipton, West Riding of Yorkshire, England |
| Died | 7 October 2015 (aged 87) Steeton with Eastburn, West Yorkshire |
William Reginald Mitchell (born January 15, 1928 – died October 7, 2015) was a British writer. He was known for his many books and articles about Northern England. He especially focused on the Yorkshire Dales, Lancashire, and the Lake District.
For twenty years, he was the editor of Dalesman magazine. Over sixty years, he wrote more than 200 books. He also wrote hundreds of articles and gave many talks. His work covered biographies, social history, and nature. He also wrote about the geography of these areas.
Mitchell collected many taped interviews with people from these regions. These recordings are now kept at the Universities of Leeds and Bradford. They are a special collection of local accents and history.
Contents
A Life of Writing and Exploring
William Reginald Mitchell, often called Bill, was born in 1928 in Skipton. His family worked in the local textile industry. They were also strong Methodists. This faith was important in Bill Mitchell's life. He was a Methodist local preacher for over 40 years.
In 1943, when he was 15, Bill Mitchell started working. He became a junior reporter for the 'Craven Herald' newspaper. After serving in the Royal Navy, he returned to the newspaper.
Becoming a Magazine Editor
In 1948, Harry J. Scott, the editor of Dalesman magazine, asked Bill to join his team. Dalesman magazine started in 1939. It is a well-known regional magazine that is still published today. It shares stories about the lives of people in the Yorkshire Dales and the wider Yorkshire countryside.
From 1951, Mitchell also started editing 'Cumbria' magazine. This magazine covered the beautiful Lake District area of England. Through his journalism, he met and interviewed many people. These interviews became the ideas for his articles and later books. In 1952, he married Freda Bancroft. They had two children, David and Janet.
In 1969, Mitchell became the editor of Dalesman. He held this job until he retired in 1986. Yorkshire Television even made a show about his life when he retired. The famous writer Alan Bennett narrated it. After retiring, Mitchell started his own publishing company, 'Castleberg'. He ran it from his home in Giggleswick.
Awards and Recognition
In 1996, Mitchell received the MBE award. This award recognized his great work in journalism in Yorkshire and Cumbria. He also received an honorary degree from the University of Bradford. This means the university gave him a special title for his achievements. In the same year, he became an Honorary member of the Yorkshire Dales Society. Later, he became its President and first Patron.
Bill Mitchell loved nature. This interest showed in his writing for many years. He worked with several nature groups. These included the British Deer Society and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds. He also helped start the Royal Naval Bird Watching Society.
In 2007, he won a Golden Eagle Award. This award recognized him as one of the first important outdoor writers. In 2009, he was voted the 'Greatest Living Icon' for the Yorkshire Dales National Park. This was part of a poll to celebrate the park's 60th anniversary. In 2010, he won the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Dalesman Rural Awards. This was for his work in recording the history, heritage, and wildlife of the Yorkshire Dales and Moors. In 2014, he was voted number 33 in a poll of the 75 Greatest Icons of Yorkshire. This was to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Dalesman magazine.
He wrote a regular column called 'Letter from the Dales' for the Bradford 'Telegraph & Argus' newspaper. He also wrote for the 'Craven Herald' newspaper and had a monthly feature in Dalesman called 'Dalesfolk I Remember'. Bill Mitchell passed away on October 7, 2015, at the age of 87.
The W. R. Mitchell Archive
Most of Mitchell's cassette tapes are kept at the University of Leeds library. These tapes are part of a larger collection of spoken histories. They are a unique record of how people used to speak.
Voices from the Past
These tapes include interviews with famous authors. You can hear conversations with Alfred Wainwright and Alf Wight, also known as ‘James Herriot’. There are also interviews with people who knew Beatrix Potter. The stories on these tapes come from all kinds of people. They include wealthy families and ordinary people from small Dales communities.
The tapes also show how Dales accents and dialects sounded over forty years ago. These ways of speaking are not heard as often today. This is because people move around more. The Leeds collection also has some of Bill Mitchell's printed works. It also has letters he exchanged with people in the Lake District.
The University of Bradford Library also has a collection of Mitchell's materials. These include scrapbooks, letters, and more audio tapes.
In 2011, the W.R. Mitchell Archive was created. It is managed by a charity called Settle Stories. Their goal is to make some of these tapes available to everyone. In 2012, Settle Stories received a grant to turn some of the cassette tapes into digital files. This means people can now listen to these historical interviews online.
Mitchell's Works
W. R. Mitchell wrote a huge number of books. His books covered many topics. He wrote about the history and nature of the Yorkshire Dales, the Lake District, and other parts of Northern England. Some of his books focused on specific places, like the Settle-Carlisle Railway. Others explored the lives of people in these regions. He also wrote about local traditions, wildlife, and even ghost stories!
Here are just a few examples of the many books he wrote:
- North Ribblesdale (1961)
- Hollow mountains: The story of man's conquest of the caves and potholes of North-West Yorkshire throughout 10,000 years (1961)
- Men of Lakeland (1966)
- Lancashire Witch Country (1966)
- A Year with the Curlews: Life on the Northern Pennines (1967)
- Haunted Yorkshire (1969)
- Wild Pennines (1976)
- Life in the Yorkshire Dales: A Pictorial Review (1980)
- Ghosts of Yorkshire (1982)
- Beatrix Potter Remembered: Her Life in Lakeland (1987)
- Yorkshire's Hollow Mountains (1989)
- A Passion for Puffins (1994)
- The Story of the Yorkshire Dales (1999)
- Birds of the Lake District (2000)
- Hannah Hauxwell - 80 Years in the Dales (2008)
- Wainwright: Milltown to Mountain (2009)
- Herriot - A Vet's Life (2010)
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W. R. Mitchell, a famous writer and editor.
