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STEVE DRIVER
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Fresh Boarder
 
 Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/17 11:25 Hi everyone,

Here's one for you - having had the privilege of seeing Jake on numerous occasions I listened spellbound to his stories which, by his own admission, weaved fact with fiction. Knowing he was born in Yorkshire and taught in Leeds, does anyone know where he was actually born and spent his early years? There may very well be a case for contacting English Heritage to put up one of their blue plaques. He was fond of talking about how his father was a rural policeman in North Yorkshire but, as we know, that might just be fictitious! It's just strange that in all the pieces written about Jake, I've never seen his place of birth mentioned.
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ScarTam
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Gold Boarder
 
 Re:Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/17 17:54 Hello Steve:
There's no question at all about where Jake was born: that was in the village of Clifford, near Tadcaster in West Yorkshire, where his father was the village policeman at the time.
What is a lot less clear - and believe me, I've spent a long time trying vainly to establish the facts, is where he was brought up before the family moved to Leeds (where we have a very precise address) in his teenage years. His frequent claims to have been brought up in a North Yorkshire village simply resist any attempts to stand them up. It seems, according to Sheila Thackray, that the family was moved around quite frequently by the police service, and certainly there are bits of evidence of residence in West Yorkshire in vaguely Last of the Summer Wine country.
On the other hand, his knowledge of North Yorkshire clearly ran very deep - he spoke of it a lot and wrote about it a lot both in his songs and in his journalism. My current guess - though I still haven't stood it up - is that his maternal grandmother lived in Swaledale and that he spent school holidays with her. I rather doubt if we shall ever know for sure: but I can assure you that no policeman called Thackray was ever a village copper in North Yorkshire!
Ian W
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ScarTam
User

Gold Boarder
 
 Re:Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/17 17:56 Hello Steve:
There's no question at all about where Jake was born: that was in the village of Clifford, near Tadcaster in West Yorkshire, where his father was the village policeman at the time.
What is a lot less clear - and believe me, I've spent a long time trying vainly to establish the facts, is where he was brought up before the family moved to Leeds (where we have a very precise address) in his teenage years. His frequent claims to have been brought up in a North Yorkshire village simply resist any attempts to stand them up. It seems, according to Sheila Thackray, that the family was moved around quite frequently by the police service, and certainly there are bits of evidence of residence in West Yorkshire in vaguely Last of the Summer Wine country.
On the other hand, his knowledge of North Yorkshire clearly ran very deep - he spoke of it a lot and wrote about it a lot both in his songs and in his journalism. My current guess - though I still haven't stood it up - is that his maternal grandmother lived in Swaledale and that he spent school holidays with her. I rather doubt if we shall ever know for sure: but I can assure you that no policeman called Thackray was ever a village copper in North Yorkshire!
Ian W
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STEVE DRIVER
User

Fresh Boarder
 
 Re:Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/17 20:00 Hi there Ian,

Thanks for the information - I've been wondering for years about that and it's interesting to hear that, despite intensive efforts on your part, much of his childhood whereabouts remain a mystery. If it's any use to you, I recollect hearing Jake relate a story about his childhood as a preamble to a song and he referred to being brought up in a North Yorkshire village near which was a large pothole on a hillside or hilltop known locally as "The Hole". The only map reference I have have ever found is somewhere called The Hole of Horcum which, I think, is further north than Swaledale. For some reason I've always had the impression that he lived for some time on the North Yorks Moors but I can't remember why I've got that in my head.

Perhaps we are destined never to know too much about his early years and, in a way, that adds to the appeal. I hope you are gathering information for a biography by the way and look forward to buying a copy!

Steve.
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Paul
User

Platinum Boarder
 
 Re:Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/22 10:03 The excellent liner notes written by Victor Lewis-Smith for Jake in a Box give the address in Leeds where Jake spent a portion of his childhood.

Paul
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ScarTam
User

Gold Boarder
 
 Re:Jake's Birthplace - 2006/04/22 16:20 Yes, 8 Old Oak Close (the site of which is seen briefly in Victor's TV tribute) was where Jake lived with his Mum while he was teaching at Intake School. What no-one has so far been able to tell us, however, is at what stage in Jake's life the family actually moved there. It's quite possible it wasn't until Jake's teenage years.
Ian W
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