Mike Page
It is with great sadness that I report the death of Professor Mike Page following a long illness. Mike has been a valued member of the Honley Civic Society committee since 2012 and in recent years has been our Programme leader. In this role he has brought many interesting individuals to our meetings and we were fortunate to have a notable talk which he gave himself on the development of Indigo dye.
We were privileged to spend time in the company of someone who has been described as “one of the most renowned chemists in the country” and yet whose modest manner belied the fact.
Mike’s kind and gentle nature made him very approachable and he was an extremely thoughtful and supportive individual. His academic background was distinguished, culminating in Professor of Chemistry and deputy Vice-Chancellor at Huddersfield University until 2018 and visiting Professor at University of Edinburgh since 2019, giving him a broad range of interests and an open mind. His opinion was sought in many situations both during committee discussions and personally, and I know he will be greatly missed by many of us.
Our thoughts are with Caroline and all the family.
Ken
Ken Jenkin, Chairman
image courtesy Huddersfield University
A New Year Message from our Chairman
This past year has been a challenging one for most of us, as we have been unable to meet in the normal way for so long. Whilst membership of the Civic Society gives us the opportunity to hear from our guest speakers and to learn about many different topics, it has also been a chance to socialise. In recent years that time at the end of each meeting when we can have a cup of tea and a chat has seemed to get longer, and more and more people stay, so this is obviously an important part of our meetings. Sadly Covid 19 has caused that to temporarily stop and the lack of or change in the way that we get together is one of the more distressing features of this pandemic.
The development of a number of vaccines is good news, though, and gives us hope that meetings will be able to restart. However, it seems to me that this is unlikely to be before our next season beginning in September 2021. We will retain all current members on our books and we will not be collecting membership subscriptions for this year (Sept. 2020- May 2021). Our reserves are sufficient to renew our membership of CPRE and our public liability insurance and book sales continue to do well. We are keeping the website up to date so please look at that for news.
I hope that each one of you is managing to keep fit and well, staying in touch with one another, and getting safely through these difficult times.
I wish you a happy and a healthy New Year in which we can get together once again as a group.
Ken
OUR LATEST BOOK IS NOW AVAILABLE
FINDING BANKS
Written by Civic Society member Angela Marshall and inspired by the TV programme A House Through Time, this is the story of a Honley house, a family business and a lost community. Banks is that area to the south of the village centre and was the home to Holdroyd’s Joiners and Funeral Directors for almost 200 years. The book has 104 pages and is fully illustrated with over 70 pictures plans and maps black and white and colour.
It is available from Holme Valley News and Zebra Jewelery in Honley and READ bookshop in Holmfirth, priced £10.00. Copies may also be obtained though the post by contacting Honley Civic Society at honleycivicsociety@outlook.com Postage is an additional £2.50
Kirklees Household Waste Survey
As part of Kirklees’s commitment to tackling the climate emergency they would like to look at our relationship with the things we throw away. You are invited to give your views in the following survey. Take the survey here
New title from Huddersfield Civic Society
