REMEMBERING RON WILLIAMS

 

REMEMBERING  RON WILLIAMS

I first met Ron many years ago in Jarvis Street Chapel, Rochdale at a meeting of the Edwin Waugh Dialect Society. He was sitting at the back of the room along with Frank Gibson, Jim Atherton and Ron Davies. It was my first time at the meeting and I immediately realised that I was in good company and among kindred spirits.

 

Ron was a very skilled and talented writer who would regularly leave competitions and presentation evenings with an armful of trophies. A modest man, often embarrassed by his own success, he could always be relied on to find just the right poem for any occasion.

 

A proud Yorkshireman, he nonetheless had a great love of Lancashire Dialect, living for many years in the Saddleworth area which was, as Ammon Wrigley put it, ”that part of Yorkshire where they talk with a Lancashire accent”.

 

We shall all miss him at the Monday morning dialect reading group and I shall particularly miss him as a point of reference in all manner of dialect writing, but most of all I shall miss a good friend.

 

My condolences go to his wife and fellow author Sally.

 

Sid Calderbank

 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LAA Calendar 2025

Image
  Executive Committee Meetings The committee meets mainly on the second Saturday of the month excluding January, August and December. If you wish to raise any matter with the committee please telephone 01254 235844 to    inform the Chairman .
Read more

Publicity Officer Report 2025

  The past year our meetings continued as pre-pandemic with one exception; now we have a regular Zoom Meeting in September and three face to face meetings. We retained the September Zoom Meeting because it enables us to book speakers from farther afield and gives an opportunity for members to join in when unable to attend in person.   Sadly the meeting held in September 2024 was poorly attended, disappointing for both committee and guest speaker. As Publicity Officer, I am always on the lookout for someone special and perhaps a little famous if possible for this meeting. Suggestions from members are always welcome. We are hoping to become more inclusive as an association and have made contact with various other groups who are a part of Lancashire’s varied History. Our committee meetings are also conducted on Zoom or sometimes Messenger; the reason for this being, that our committee are based all over Lancashire, so it’s a much better way of ensuring a quorum, whatever the ...
Read more

In One Piece! By Susan Osborne

  In One Piece!       By Susan Osborne   (This poem is a conversation between a Baker’s lass and Farmer’s lad, who met at the Village fete)     I baked a cake fer t’ village fete An placed it on a stand I allus use t’ very best An I mun say, it looks reet grand.   ‘Arta gunna slice it then?’ I just thowt I’d ask, ‘After t’ judgin tha can ave a piece But only if tha’s geet some brass.’   Best butter, soft brown sugar, Rich spices n fruit that’s moist. It’s best tay-bread tha’ll ever taste, Tha couldn’t mek a better choice.   ‘But I’m fair clemm’d, I’ve got bellywark Can’t I ‘ave a small piece now? A tasty treat afore t’ judging starts An I’ll show thi mi fust prize sow.   ‘Stop thi mitherin, I won’t give in It’s best judged in one piece . But I’ll come n see this fancy pig If tha tells me wheer it is.           ...
Read more