Chris Ratcliffe
Local writer and storyteller, George Murphy interviews local characters and personalities. More HebWeb interviews
Introduction
After 45 HebWeb Interviews, I've finally persuaded the HebWeb Editor to subject himself to my questions.
Chris Ratcliffe discusses his newly published book, No Direction Home, snapshots from his life in the 1960s. His book recaptures the excitement and challenges of that era.
In the interview, Chris also reflects on his early years in postwar London. He answers questions about his love of France, its language and culture, his greatest challenge, what's made him proud, his move to Hebden Bridge, 50 years ago and what music and books he would take to a desert island.
Chris Ratcliffe answers George Murphy's questions
What's your new book about?
The book is called No Direction Home:the 1960s. It gives snapshots from my 1960s, trying to capture and share some of the magic of those iconic years.
Why did you write it?
The 1960s was a time of cultural renaissance along with exciting attempts to change the kind of society we live in. I'm not always happy about the way the decade is portrayed. By recounting some of my own adventures, including creating an early alternative newspaper, building barricades on the streets of Paris, creating an alternative university at Essex and defending myself at the Court of Appeal, I hoped to give my own view of the 1960s.
Read more about No Direction Home
Have you future writing plans?
Having now completed my short book on the 1960s, I've started work on a a similar one about the 1970s. If anything, the 1970s is the decade most misrepresented by the media, and one in which I had so many adventures that I would like to share.
In those postwar years, in the early 1950s, how did your parents, teachers and your surroundings influence you?
I grew up in suburban London in the 1950s. No-one, it seemed, had much money. My mother was a housewife and my father was a cinema manager. My childhood was a happy one. We had a freedom children today can probably never know.
1953: Chris on the right, his brother Andy on the left
From an early age, I was able to go and explore the neighbourhood, and beyond, on my bike. Like many boys at the time I soon took up trainspotting. With my pals, I would travel all over London, finding ways to travel for free on the underground, just so we could explore different train engine 'sheds'.
Did you have a gap year between school and University?
Ha ha! I didn't know anyone who went to university! None of my family. None of my friends. And none of my school mates. I went to a secondary school of well over 1000 students. There was no avenue for any of them to go to university. A few of us were allowed to take our GCE O levels. The school found me a good clerical job in the City - one with prospects, and pay and conditions slightly above average.
A moment that changed your life?
The hardest decision I ever made was to leave that job, to leave home and to try and find a more fulfilling way of living. My parents, my friends, no-one could understand why I would leave the comfortable life I had. I guess it was a smilar feeling that made Crosby, Stills and Nash sing, "A different kind of poverty now upsets the soul."
The consequences weren't always easy, but everything in my life that I now value was because of that decision.
You spent some time in France as a young man. Can you tell us about your time over there? What made you a francophile?
When I was helping to build the barricades on the streets of Paris in May 1968, most of my friends spoke French. I couldn't.
Photo we took in May 1968 Paris
At school, my classmates and I had asked our teachers if we could learn French. Our request fell on deaf ears. Over the years I've visited France often. In the 1970s I did the vendange (picking grapes) five years running.
Photo: Grape harvest 1977, Chris pictured right
More recently, along with friends from Hebden Bridge, I've been part of a French Book Club. At the last count, I've now read 158 books in French. However, being able to read a language doesn't necessarily mean one can talk it. So as well as the Book Club, 2-3 times a month I meet with a couple of friends to talk French.
To whom would you most want to say "Thank you?"
My mum, Joey. She passed on to me so many qualities - curiosity, sociability, kindness, a sense of fun, a love of reading and so much more.
Chris, you write online book reviews. Over the years, what has been your absolute favourite?
For the past ten years or so, I've been writing reviews of the books I read. It's a way of keeping my reading focused, to help me remember what I've read, and to develop my own way of writing. They are all on Goodreads, and French reviews of the French books are on my blog, Les Liaisons Litteraires. My favourite authors vary from moment to moment. Recently, I've been been reading quite a few Irish writers. I particularly appreciate Sally Rooney.
What brought you to live in Hebden Bridge?
I arrived in Hebden Bridge in May 1975 to visit friends. The countryside blew me away. We don't have hills like this down south. Fifty years later, I'm still here.
You're a grandad. Can you tell us about your extended family
First, Rosie, my daughter, told me she was pregnant. A few weeks later she was told it was twins. Finally, a little over three months before they were born, we learned the truth - it was triplets.
Sadly (for me), they moved to Australia when they were five although they've regularly returned for visits. Now 25, Star and Jade live in Melbourne while Tess currently lives in London. While genetically identical, they have developed their own very different personalities
I enjoyed the travel book you wrote with Elaine about your travels in the Cathar area of France. What attracted you to that region?
Thanks George. At the end of 1970, my friend Alex and I went travelling in my van. We ended up in Toulouse. I stayed a few months and Alex stayed in the area for the rest of his life. 1970 was when I really started to learn French. I would sit in the bar with the daily newspaper and my dictionary. Elaine and I would visit Alex many times over the years and we noticed the tourist area was based around the Cathars and the Cathar Castles. So when we wanted a break from teaching in the 1980s, we applied for the Enterprise Allowance, spent several months cycling and camping in southwest France, and wrote Cycling in Search of the Cathars.
How did you meet your partner Jane?
Guardian Soulmates. Around, three years before we met in 2010, we had each lost our longterm partners. When Jane's brother moved to Hebden Bridge, we finally arranged to meet. We walked to Gibson Mill and back, chatting all the way. 15 years later, the chatting hasn't stopped. I feel a very lucky man.
How was Lockdown for you?
What a strange time that was. The fear. We knew nothing about how Covid was transmitted. Only that thousands were dying. Yet for the first few weeks we had that wonderful warm, sunny spring. So quiet. So many birds singing. I could safely walk up the Keighley Road. Jane and I took to reading to each other by video. We read the whole of To Kill a Mockingbird.
You've described the early years of HebWeb. In recent years, has AI helped you to cope with the demands of dealing with all its features?
While I am a sceptical enthusiast for AI, as a tool, I haven't really used it for the HebWeb yet. With such excellent writers and photographers in our area, there's little need.
What's been your greatest challenge?
The death of Elaine Connell, my partner for 26 years. She had cancer so we knew it was coming. But somehow, that didn't prepare me for the terrible reality. As well as being a great teacher, Elaine was an expert on Sylvia Plath and had so much more to give the world.
Finally Chris, what is your proudest achievement?
I am very proud of my children. Seeing Morgan, whose father went to a secondary modern, get six A stars at A level, and go on to Cambridge. Seeing Rosie, almost single handedly, raise her three triplet daughters, and (nearly) always rising to the never ending challenges, with patience and humour.
If you were stranded on a desert island, what music would you choose?
I think I would choose tracks that would help me remember different times in my life. Perhaps Me And Bobby McGee; Dance me to the end of love; Like a Rolling stone; Halfway to Paradise; My Old Man and this French version of Suzanne
And which books
That's even harder. I've long wanted to read Anna Karenina, and I'd like to reread Middlemarch. I haven't read the Count of Monte Cristo since I was 20. Reading that again would surely give me some good ideas for taking revenge on whoever cast me away on that island.
Thanks George. I enjoyed answering your questions.
See also
No Direction Home: the 1960s - more info and how to buy the book
Behind the pages of Pennine Pens
More HebWeb interviews from George Murphy
If you would like to send a message about this interview or suggest ideas for further interviews, please email George Murphy