TERRY SPENCER
Renowned for his research and publications concerning the history of the
neighbouring town of Knottingley, over recent times Terry Spencer has
begun compiling several studies of interest to the people of Pontefract.
I have been associated with Terry since the early days of the
Knottingley and Ferrybridge Digest magazine when he immediately offered
his full support and allowed me to reproduce several of his articles on
Knottingley's historic past. I have learned much about the town of
Knottingley from Terry's work and no doubt many hundreds of other local
people will have done likewise. Sadly, there are still a number of
studies by Terry which did not make it into print in the Digest Magazine
but these will be made available on our websites in the near future.
I
was pleased to receive a letter from Terry this morning in which he
thanked me for my work with the Digest Magazine and expressed his
sadness at its demise. Terry is a prime example of someone who has
dedicated his life to the documentation of our local history and
received very little recognition for his work. If you visit your local
library in Pontefract or Knottingley (or even Pontefract Museum) you
will undoubtedly discover a selection of Terry's published works in the
local history section. It is my understanding that Terry produces and
publishes these works at his own personal expense and donates them to
our local libraries and archives.
For someone to have left such a legacy for future generations and not
be in receipt of acknowledgement for his dedication is a sad reflection
on our local governing bodies. Perhaps there is no formal recognition
available for people who contribute so much to the local community - if
that's the case then maybe it's high time that something was.
Like many people of his generation, Terry is dismayed by the present
state of the local community and has freely commented on the destruction
of our heritage which for him began with the demolition and supposed
re-development of Aire Street, Knottingley in the 1960s through to the
more recent destruction of Marine Villa (The Hall), an eighteenth century
building adorned with a blue plaque commemorating the life of William Moorhouse, pioneer of New Zealand. Despite assurances that
The Hall
would be saved under the development of the site by Morrisons
supermarket it is doubtful that there was ever any intention to comply.
I am truly honoured to receive praise from Terry Spencer for my
efforts in publishing the Digest Magazine, though much of the content of
the magazines, particularly the Knottingley edition, was supplied by
Terry himself and I was simply able to make that available to a wider
audience. You only need to view the local history section of the
Knottingley website to see how valuable Terry's contributions have been
in the documentation of our local history and hopefully one day he will
receive the recognition that his work so richly deserves.
Michael Norfolk
16 November 2007
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