User talk:Whitemr999

Alfred John Brown

Walker, Writer and Yorkshire Icon. In his day, Alfred John Brown, or 'AJ' as he was known to his loyal band of readers, was a celebrated Yorkshire author who is still remembered as a prodigious writer, prolific walker and a passionate Yorkshireman. He wrote a number of books about 'tramping' in Yorkshire, several personal stories, two semi-autobiographical novels and a sole book of verse. He was born in Bradford in Yorkshire in 1894 and during his youth he developed a deep love of moorland tramping from wandering around the Brontë moorlands near Haworth in West Yorkshire, after being inspired by the famous sisters' writings. He left St. Bede's R.C. Grammar School at the age of 14 and began his working life as a trainee in the Bradford wool trade, then completed his education at night school and gained rapid promotion as a wool buyer at 21 years old. During WW1 he enlisted as a gunner in 1915 in the 2/2 West Riding Brigade of the RFA, but he was medically discharged in 1916 after contracting diphtheria, which left him semi-paralysed and unable to walk for almost six years. During this time he became interested in classical literature and poetry and he began a fledgling writing career as a form of therapy. His self-rehabilitation was brought about by learning to walk again, as he often quipped: "Walking was my cure and salvation". On return to work he was promoted to foreign sales manager, which involved European business travel and he became fluent in German and French. This resulted in his first book: A Joyous Entry into Brighter Belgium (1923), which described a small country with grand ideas after the war. He followed this with the semi-autobiographical novel under his pseudonym Julian Laverack: The Lean Years (1926) about his war service, his recovery from illness and becoming a successful writer. He then pursued his twin passions of walking in the Yorkshire Dales and writing about his experiences, among which he recorded an account of a 100 mile tramp along the Pennines from Barnard Castle to Ilkley over an Easter weekend with three friends. The book entitled: Four Boon Fellows (1928) was a rollicking extravaganza written in an amusing picaresque style which first brought him to the attention of a widespread Yorkshire readership. Following his marriage to his half-French wife, Marie-Eugénie Bull in 1927, their honeymoon was spent touring 'Gods Onw Counrty' of Yorkshire with visits to York and Whitby, and then spent time at his favourite Yorkshire hostelries of Tan Hill Inn above Arkengarthdale and the Cat Hole in Keld, Swaledale. Afterwards they settled in Burley-in-Wharfedale, where they raised three daughters and two sons who were all privately educated. Alfred's spare time writing career then blossomed with the publication of his Yorkshire topographical 'tramping series: Moorland Tramping in West Yorkshire (1931), Tramping In Yorkshire - North and East (1932) and the combination of these two books: Striding Through Yorkshire (1938). This became his best selling volume with over 20,000 copies sold, and it established his reputation as one of the great Yorkshire 'vagabond' writers. It also stimulated public interest in the exploration of some of the relatively remote and unknown areas at the time. During WW2 Alfred enlisted again, but being too old to fly, this time in the RAF Intelligence Service. He served at six Bomber Command stations where he planned bombing raids over Germany, and at two Operational Training Units providing tactical instruction for novice bomber aircrew in training. He also served at Bomber Command H.Q, High Wycombe and the Air Ministry on London, where he became Acting Wing Commander. These experiences provided material for his alternative flying book: Ground Staff: A Personal Record (1943), which received a commendation from Air Chief Marshal Sir Arthur 'Bomber' Harris. Following the war Alfred and his wife bought the Whitfield House Hotel in Darnholm, near Goathland on the North York Moors. They turned around a 14 bedroom family facility without electricity (only lit by oil and acetylene lamps) and no gas, mains sewerage, drinks nor catering licences, during the deprived post war austerity years. But with his business acumen and his wife's French flair for cooking, together with the support of their three daughters and support staff, plus a lot of hard work, they made a success of this bold enterprise. I also allowed Alfred to publish of two further books: I Bought a Hotel (1949) and Farewell - High Fell (1952). During this period it also allowed Alfred to become something of a 'Literary Innkeeper' since he produced four further books: a semi-autobiographical writer's romantic novel: Whitaker (1946), his only book of verse, the privately funded work : Poems & Songs (1949), a personal anthology of his beloved county: Broad Acres - A Yorkshire Miscellany (1948) and another topographical text: Fair North Riding (1952). Later he produced one more short book, the specially commissioned work: The North York Moors National Park Guide Book (1958), which enjoyed four reprints.. Then based on his previous successes, Alfred embarked on a risky full-time writing career, but after two years of literary drought in London and York, economic necessity forced him to return to the Bradford wool trade in 1954. He joined a consortium of an international cloth supply agency as a sales director travelling in Europe and the Middle East, but established his own textile export agency in 1960, representing UK specialist worsted manufacturers in Germany and Austria. In 1967 Alfred and his wife moved to Sleights in north Yorkshire ostensibly plan his retirement while he continued his agency business with his youngest son as a partner. But during a business trip to Germany in 1968 he became ill and upon his return home he was diagnosed with terminal cancer and died at home in early 1969. He was buried in St. John the Evangelist churchyard, Sleights, with a headstone inscribed from his own poem: 'Dales in Paradise' which reflected his eternal tramping hopes: "There must be Dales in Paradise, Which you and I will find..." Alfred was one of the most popular and widely read authors about the Yorkshire landscape. He inspired a whole generation of walkers with his energetic, masculine prose, which was rich in anecdote and personal reminiscence. He was one of the most influential Dales writers and campaigners and was above all considered as an iconic Yorkshireman. Now this once popular writer may yet rise again from obscurity, thanks to the internet 'print to order' services now available for out-of-print books. Furthermore his formal biography: Alfred John Brown -Walker, Writer and Passionate Yorkshireman has been self-published in 2016 by John A. White, which will bring him once more to the attention of devotees to walking in general and Yorkshire in particular. References: 1. John A. White, A. J. Brown - Walker, Writer and Passionate Dalesman, Yorkshire Dales Review, Issue 129, Winter 2015, pp 14-15. 2. John A. White, Alfred John Brown, Walker, Writer and Moorsman, Voice of the Moors, Winter 2015, pp 10-11. 3. John A. White, A. J. Brown - Yorkshire's Tramping Author, The Yorkshire Journal, Issue No. 3, Autumn 2016, pp 29-35. 4. John A. White, Alfred and his kingdom, John White Celebrates A. J. Brown - Walker, Writer and Passionate Yorkshireman, Dalesman Magazine, October 2016, pp 33-36. Whitemr999 (talk) 18:26, 30 September 2016 (UTC)