Speakers Corner at the Richard Whiteley Pavilion
For the first four years, the Festival received tremendous support from the late Richard Whiteley who was a Patron of the festival and who, each year , and out of the goodness of his heart, "did a turn" for us.
One year he was taught to make chocolates, finishing up covered in the stuff. Another year he was kidded that he was barbecuing a ferret (it was actually a rabbit). Only weeks before he died, he turned up uncharacteristically late, said he wasn’t feeling too good but did not want to let us down and he and his partner, Kathryn Apanowicz, threw themselves into a hilarious "Ready Steady Cook".
We therefore thought it appropriate to commemorate Richard's commitment to the Dales Festival of Food and Drink by naming our speakers marquee and bandstand "The Richard Whiteley Pavilion". Kathryn liked the idea and was our first speaker the following year.
The high point of each day at 2pm is an interesting and entertaining talk by a different guest speaker. Another great supporter and patron of the Festival is the justly famous humorous author Gervase Phinn. Gervase is speaking on the Monday this year when the Pavilion will be full to bursting. If you have laughed at his humorous writings, prepare to laugh a lot more . He is even funnier in the flesh.
On Saturday our speaker is Peter Robinson the author of the DCI Banks novels adapted for television and shown on ITV1. The series starred Stephen Tompkinson as Alan Banks.
Peter Robinson was born in Yorkshire. After getting his BA Honours Degree in English Literature at the University of Leeds, he went to Canada and took his MA in English and Creative Writing at the University of Windsor.
His first novel, Gallows View (1987), introduced Detective Chief Inspector Alan Banks. Mr Robinson now divides his time between Toronto and Richmond, North Yorkshire.
Our Sunday speaker is Martyn Johnson - author, metal detectorist and historian!
His best selling book 'What's tha up to - Memories of an Attercliffe Bobby' details his memories as a 'beat bobby' in one of Sheffield's toughest area's during the 1960s and 1970s. Rated number 10 in the Sunday Times Bestsellers list of 2nd October 2011, Martyn describes his experiences where sometimes truth is stranger than fiction! His new book "What's tha up to nah - more memories of a Sheffield Bobby" has now been released. So come along on Sunday 6th May to hear more!
