Breaking

The Mould
- The Story of Alice Gostick -
 Introduction

As many wonderful things do, it all began with a visit to the

library. The Empath Action CIC research team was holding a
history research group at Wakefield Local Studies Library for a
project also supported by the Wakefield Culture Grants.

With one of our busy sessions underway, we began talking

about books we had found and mentions we had read about
Albert Wainwright and Alice Gostick, and by extension
Henry Moore and Castleford. There is a sense that emerges
sometimes, a certain excitement that rises when a project is
afoot. We all agreed: there was a story here that was worth
telling.

At first, we had thought to focus on Albert Wainwright as here

was a gay man whose prolific artistic output and point in
history, that is living through both World Wars, makes him
incredibly interesting. The team agreed that Albert needed a
project, and what a project it would be! A zine, a blue plaque, and
a play to celebrate Albert’s life!

With invaluable guidance from the incomparable Red Ladder

Theatre Company, and in partnership with The Cluntergate
Centre of Horbury and Queen’s Mill Castleford, we began
developing our bid. We are incredibly grateful to say that the
Wakefield Culture Grants liked the idea and, in the Summer of
2023, we began our research. But, like the pots Alice would help
her students paint, projects have a shape, a time, and a definite
boundary.
We quickly realised that, while Albert was, and remains, an
interesting figure worthy of further exploration, his life and
story was not something we could tell within the bounds of our
short project.

At the same time, we were awed by the impact Alice Gostick had
on her pupils and, also, the incredibly progressive regime
overseen by T. R. (Toddy) Dawes. A change was in the air.

With the backing of the Culture Grants, we switched our focus

to Alice. This move gave us an opportunity to sit at the centre
of a spiderweb, able to touch on the early lives of Alice’s pupils,
Henry Moore, Albert Wainwright, and Arthur Dalby, and also
scope to look at Alice’s sister, Constance, and her place in the
anti-war movement, as well as fellow educator T. R. Dawes and
his wonderfully eccentric methods. Alice was the heart of this,
and soon she took a place in our hearts too.

For several months, our research team investigated the facts of

Alice’s life and those of her pupils, and a story unfolded: Alice
and Toddy didn’t just educate their pupils, they cultivated
artists and writers. Castleford artists and writers no less! We
learned how Alice lent Henry her carving tools, how Alice would
often entertain her favourite pupils at home, and how deeply, if
quietly, powerful Alice’s teaching was for those who were lucky
enough to be educated at Castleford Secondary School.
There was so much to say about Alice and her companions. Too
much for a one hour play. And so we offer this zine as a
companion to our production, to show the facts as we
understand them, albeit in a condensed way.

Never could we know completely all there is to know about Alice

and Toddy and the Castleford Set as we have come to call Henry,
Albert, Arthur and Alice’s other pupils. There will be other
researchers who will pick up these threads, and we cannot wait
to see what they find.

For now, though, this story rests with us, and we offer this
document as an exercise in gratitude for the privilege of being
able to sit with the ghosts of these departed friends, that
readers might know just a little more about the special place
that was Castleford Secondary and a woman called Alice who
stood at a quiet frontier in art education.
"Breaking the Mould" and the wider project to celebrate and blue
plaque the life of Alice Gostick is funded with a Culture Grant by
Wakefield Council as part of Our Year – Wakefield District 2024.
 THE GOSTICK FAMILY TREE

JOHN ANTOINE VICTOR AUGUSTE

GOSTICK BECKHAUS
ca.1820-1884 1802-1876
M=1844 M=1843
BEDFORD PARIS
ELIZABETH ADÉLAIDE OZANNE
AKA ELIZA COX 1814-1900
ca.1818-1888

ARTHUR M=1872 CLAIRE MARIE

JOHN GOSTICK PARIS SOPHIE BECKHAUS
1844-1926 1843-1931

CONSTANCE ALICE FRANK

MARIE GOSTICK GOSTICK GOSTICK
1873-1950 1875-1964 ca.1878-1966
M=1902
DUBLIN
ROSE
KEY KEIRNAN
M= MARRIED 1882-1964
 Timeline of Alice Gostick (1875-1964)

1875 BIRTH AND BAPTISM

1883 ORME GIRLS’ HIGH SCHOOL

1891 HANLEY SCHOOL OF ART

1893 TEACHER’S CERTIFICATE

1902 BRONZE MEDAL & CERTIFICATE

1904 SILVER MEDAL

1907 TEACHER AT ORME

1911 TEACHER AT CASTLEFORD

ca.1917 PEASANT POTTERY

1926 DEATH OF FATHER

1929 EXHIBITION OF GERMAN ART

1930 RETIREMENT

1931 WORTHING

1931 DEATH OF MOTHER

1950 DEATH OF SISTER

1964 DIED IN WORTHING

 Alice Gostick (1875-1964)
An Artist and Art Teacher at Castleford Secondary School
1911-1930

Alice was born on 20th February 1875 to Claire Marie Sophie

Gostick nee Beckhaus (1843-1931) and Arthur John Gostick
(1844-1926). Arthur was a teacher at Newcastle-under-Lyme
High School. Alice was baptised in the following April at St.
George’s Church.

Alice was educated at Orme Girls’ High School, Newcastle-under-

Lyme, and Hanley School of Art, Science, and Technology. She
went on to be an assistant teacher at Hanley after she gained her
teaching certificate there in 1893. In 1902 she won a bronze
medal, and was given the opportunity to visit and study in
London as part of the National Competition. She also won a 1st
class certificate. She then won a silver medal in 1904 for her
entries in the annual Government Department Board of
Education National Competition.

Alice was looking for work in March 1907. She applied in

Glamorgan as an art teacher but then was appointed as
assistant drawing mistress at Orme in the same year. Alice
started at Castleford Secondary School as the art teacher in 1911.
It was due to Alice that Henry Moore went on to study art.

Although Alice encouraged all forms of artistic expression, she

also emphasised accuracy in architectural drawing.
Alice also taught leatherwork, and she provided weaving
classes, which parents were involved with. Alice began holding
peasant pottery classes for pupils of the school, and in the
evening for the Technical School. This then developed into
annual exhibitions.

Alice retired from Castleford Secondary School in 1930. By 1931

she was living in Worthing. During the 1930s she formed a
friendship with Sylvia Jessie Blunden (1880-1967). Sylvia became
a permanent resident in Alice’s guest house and was like a sister
to Alice.

After being nursed by Sylvia, her friend of over 30 years, Alice

died at Merrydown, High Salvington on 13th April 1964.

Photo of Alice’s pottery taken at Wakefield Museum Stores

with thanks to Wakefield Museums and Castles, Wakefield Council
 Arthur John Gostick (1844-1926) BA
Alice’s Father

Arthur was born on 14th September 1844 in Pavenham, Bedford,

and educated at Bedford Commercial School, where he later became
a teacher. He enrolled at the University of London in 1861. In 1870
he came second in the first class honours in French under private
study, and gained his BA in 1873.

It is said Arthur was connected to the Gostwick family of

Willington Manor House, who entertained Henry VIII, his fifth wife
Catherine Howard, and Queen Elizabeth I.

Arthur John Gostick married Claire Marie Sophia Beckhaus in

Paris on 11th April 1872. They lived in Bedford until 1874 when
Arthur was invited to (primarily) teach French in Newcastle-
under-Lyme. There is a bit of a mystery surrounding his
relationship with his wife as, after 1881, census records do not
show them living together.

Arthur retired from the Newcastle-under-Lyme High School in 1910

after being a popular teacher there for 36 years. Arthur became a
member of the debating society and attended every meeting for 27
years. He was President for 20 years. He held an interest in the
music of the school, and in the development and improvement of
the library. Arthur looked forward to spending time in the school
library, being surrounded by a collection of 23,000 books. By 1911
he was living at 67, York Street, Bedford where he resided for the
rest of his life.
During WWI, Arthur came out of retirement to work again at
the Bedford school, which by that time was called the Bedford
Modern School.

He was involved with the Bedford General Library, and visited

the Tudor Manor House at Willington with the Bedford Natural
History and Archaeological Society in 1922.

Arthur John Gostick died at his home on 12th November 1926.

Bedford Public Library,

Once Known as the Bedford General Library

By Kind Courtesy and Permission of

Bedfordshire Libraries, Bedford Borough Council
 Claire Marie Sophie Gostick nee Beckhaus (1843-1931)
Alice’s Mother

Claire was born on 20th October 1843 in Paris, France, on the

same day that the first experiment with electric street lighting
took place on the Place de la Concorde. Claire grew up in France
at a time of invention but also great unrest. A riot broke out in
1846 over the high cost of bread, and another French Revolution
began in 1848. It was also a time of widespread cholera, with an
outbreak in 1849. This outbreak caused the deaths of thousands.

Claire lived through the Siege of Paris where people died of

starvation, and some survived by resorting to eating rats. We
can only guess at how all these experiences must have had a
profound effect on Claire, and may have also have had an
influence on her daughter Constance’s later work with the war
relief effort and the Bristol anti-war demonstration.

Claire played the piano in many local music concerts in aid of

raising funds for good causes. In 1880 she took part in a concert
at the Wesleyan School in aid of the Ragged School. Another
pianist at that concert was a Fraulein Berge. In 1881, a Miss
Bertha C. D. Berge, a teacher at Orme Girls’ High School, was
boarding with the Gostick family at 36, London Road, Newcastle-
under-Lyme.

In 1891, Claire and her son Frank were visiting a family by the
surname of Wheatley in Butterton, Trentham. By 1901, Claire
was living separately from her family in Albert Street, and was
teaching music. Her husband Arthur John and her daughters
were all living at Sidmouth Avenue. In 1911 Claire was living in
Southport, Lancashire.
Eventually Claire came to Castleford and lived with Alice. She
was remembered as playing the grand piano wearing widow’s
weeds at Castleford Secondary School.

Claire died on 1st December 1931 at Merrydown, High Salvington,

Worthing, the home and guest house of Alice.

Siege of Paris 1870-1871 part of the Franco-Prussian War

Saint Cloud after French and German bombardment during the

Battle of Châtillon.

By Adolphe Braun - Paris, 1871, Public Domain

 Constance Marie Gostick (1873-1950)
Alice’s Sister

Constance was born on 23rd June 1873 and was baptised on 11th
July at the Holy Trinity Church, Bedford. Constance attended
Orme Girls’ High School between 1882-1890. She enrolled at the
University of London in January 1891. Records show that she
had not passed any noted exams at London University by 1899.

Still, in 1901, Constance was a teacher, an employer at home, and

the proprietor of Willington Private School, Newcastle-under-
Lyme. She may have employed Alice at that time. By 1911 she
was a teacher at Orme Girls’ High School.

During 1914, Constance was in charge of the Teaching Centre at

the Barton Hill University Settlement, Bristol where she gave
talks to unemployed women on “Our duty in war-time” and
“other interesting topics.”

During 1919-1920, Constance went with the Quakers Friends’

Emergency and War Victims’ Relief Committee (FEWVRC) to
France and Austria. On her return she wrote a report and gave
talks on their experiences abroad. Constance visited the Foreign
Office in London as a representative of the FEWVRC with
Isabella Ormston Ford (1855-1924) of Leeds, who represented the
Women’s International League. Isabella was a suffragist and a
friend of Millicent Garrett Fawcett (1847-1929) who was the co-
founder of Newnham Hall, which later became Newnham College,
Cambridge, and the former President of the suffragist NUWSS.
In 1923, Constance became a Joint Secretary of the Bristol “No
More War” Demonstration Committee, and later that same
year became Warden of the Penscot Guest House and Adult
School, Winscombe.

In 1929, Constance was living in Worthing where she became the

proprietor of a guest house.

Constance, like her sister Alice, collected for the Downland Trust,
an appeal to save 60 acres of downland at High Salvington.

Constance died on 17th October 1950 at Worthing Hospital.

 Frank Gostick (ca.1878-1966)
Alice’s Brother

Frank was born ca.1878 at Newcastle-under-Lyme. He attended

the High School between 1885-1893, where his father was
teaching French, history, and mathematics. He went on to study
at the Dairy Institute, Worleston, Nantwich, and in 1897 gained
the National Diploma of the Royal Agricultural Society of
England in the science and practice of dairying.

Frank married Rose Keirnan in 1902 in Dublin. They emigrated

to Canada early in the following year.

Frank started out as a butter maker but worked hard and

became the manager of the Dauphin Creamery and Produce
Company, eventually becoming a dairy produce grader.

Frank and Rose visited England at least twice, once in 1916, and
again in 1936 when their destination was recorded as being Hill
Top, High Salvington, which was the address of Constance’s
guest house. As Constance lived next door to Alice this must
have meant it was a full family gathering. Constance had visited
Frank and Rose in Canada in August 1929.

Frank returned to England with his wife in the late 1930s, settling
in Washington, Sussex for some time, and they later resided at
Storrington.

Rose died in 1964 at the New Sussex Hospital for Women,

Brighton, and it was after this that Frank went to live in
Worthing. Frank died on 12th January 1966 at 31A Thorn Road,
Worthing.
Frank and Rose had no children, and as neither Constance nor
Alice ever married, the family line died out with him as he was
the last surviving member of their family.
 Castleford Secondary School 1906-1930

Thomas Richard Dawes was the headmaster of Castleford

Secondary School from the opening of the school in 1906 in
temporary premises on Wheldon Road. He was chosen by the
Secondary Education Committee of the Castleford District out
of 125 applicants. In March 1908 the foundation stone was laid
for the new school building on Healdfield Road.

Thomas encouraged individualism amongst his staff, students,

and members of various committees. His enthusiasm for new
ideas inspired many, and under his leadership the school became
a place of unconventional education.

The school held annual pageants, something later adopted by

the town, which the school was also involved with. Both
Thomas and his wife Florence Dawes were authors. They wrote
some of the plays that were used in the annual pageants at the
school and in the town, and some were even occasionally held
elsewhere.

After WWI, and in a move connected to the ethos of the League

of Nations Union, the School sought to connect with schools in
Europe with a student exchange programme which also
involved plays and an art exhibition. The pupils and “old boys”
that travelled to Germany in 1927 were known as “The English
Comedians” (Lord Halifax Players), a reference to the English
comedians who travelled in Germany in the 16th century.

Alice Gostick was a set designer for school plays at Castleford.

She was also the co-business manager of Albert Wainwright’s
production of “The Gods of the Mountain” which was staged at
the school and the Albert Hall, Leeds in 1923. The other business
manager was Florence Amy Dawes. In 1929 Alice co-organised
the art exhibition of four German schools at Castleford.

In 1930 the Paris “Theatre Classique Universitaire” toured in

England. It was organised by Thomas Richard Dawes, and was
so successful that there were many requests for future visits.

The school’s 13th annual concert in 1919 was “Lady Betty

Hastings.” The dances were choreographed by Phyllis Eileen
O'Dwyer (1894-1943), and the scenery was by Albert
Wainwright. Phyllis, the PT teacher, was the
great-granddaughter of Valentine Alfred O'Dwyer who taught
French at Crofton Hall School in 1816 under Richmal Mangnall,
and this was his reason for moving to Wakefield from
Doncaster. Phyllis’ grandfather, Alfred Cannon O'Dwyer, was a
schoolmaster at the West Riding Proprietary School at
St John's, Wakefield for a time from 1835. Her father Henry
Ernest O'Dwyer worked in the coal industry as a travelling
salesman, and later as an assistant trade manager.

Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682-1739) of Ledston Hall was a

philanthropist who, upon her death and subsequent legacy,
established educational trusts from other parts of her estate.
Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682–1739), Benefactress
by Godfrey Kneller 1710

Image in the Public Domain

 Thomas Richard Dawes (1866-1948) MA BA

Thomas was born at Carmarthen, Wales on 7th January 1866,

and was baptised on 14th March 1866 at St. David’s Church. The
family lived at the barracks of the Royal Carmarthen and
Pembroke Artillery as his father was a sergeant serving with
the militia in the capacity of schoolmaster. His parents, William
Dawes (1817-1874) and Martha nee Hodge (ca.1829-1893), went on
to have a confectionery shop.

Thomas was educated at Carmarthen Grammar School;

Aberystwyth University College; the University of London;
private study; the University of Paris; and private tuition.

Thomas was teaching German in Bristol at the Merchant

Venturers’ Technical College when he married Florence Amy
Stones (1865-1944) on 31st July 1893 in London. Thomas became
headmaster at the County Dual School, Pembroke Dock in 1894,
before coming to Castleford in 1906. Thomas and Florence had
three children: Marjorie (1894-1978), who was born in Bristol,
and two sons Richard Meredyth Dawes (1896-1897) and Thomas
Lynn Geoffrey Dawes (1897-1898), both of whom died in infancy.

Florence began teaching French and German at Castleford

Secondary School in 1912, and daughter Marjorie (1894-1978) was
educated there.

Thomas took the Castleford Subscription Band to the Paris

International Music Festival in 1912, and on 26th May they won
First Prize and 1350 Francs. The bandsmen later presented
Thomas with a medal inscribed with “Vive la Dawes.”
Thomas gave a lecture on their trip at the Co-operative Hall to
raise funds to pay off the band fund debts, and to buy the
bandsmen uniforms.

During WWI Thomas received a telegram from the War Office

congratulating Castleford on the response to recruitment work.

A very popular Castleford character, Thomas retired in 1930 at

the end of the school year. Thomas died on 29th December 1948
at 8 Briar Avenue, Green Lane, London.

Thomas Richard Dawes with the miners’ Castleford Subscription

Prize Band in 1912. Thomas is seated on the ground at the front.

Photo by Courtesy and Kind Permission of

Wakefield Museums and Castles, Wakefield Council
The Castleford Subscription Prize Band ca.1913 with Uniforms
Photo by Courtesy and Kind Permission of
Wakefield Museums and Castles, Wakefield Council

French Players’ visit March 1930 From the School Bulletin

A Photo taken at Castleford Local Study Library
An extract from the 1929-1930 School Magazine

Photos taken at the Castleford Local Study Library

 Albert Wainwright (1898-1943)

Albert was born on 4th May 1898 at 105 Oxford Street,

Castleford to Ada Wainwright nee Wetherill (1864-1937), and her
husband William Wainwright (1862-1935), a bottle mould fitter.
Albert was baptised on 24th August 1898 at the Wesleyan-
Methodist Chapel, Oxford Street.

Albert was one of Alice’s pupils who went on to attend the Leeds
School of Art. While a student there, Albert initially enlisted
with the Royal Flying Corps in 1918 just before they merged with
the Royal Naval Air Service to form the Royal Air Force.

In addition to being a teacher, Albert was exceedingly creative,

being a pottery artist, poet, illustrator, playwright, director,
producer, costume and set designer, and a watercolour artist.
He was also an occasional actor, and he played the ukulele.
During WWII he was a camoufleur.

Albert’s life partner was George Collins (1910-1985). George, who

was also a friend of the family, became a senior maths teacher at
Guisborough Grammar School.

Albert died on 31st August 1943 while travelling on a bus along

Harrogate Road, in Harewood, Leeds. At the time of his death he
was an art teacher at Bridlington School, and his address was
Beechwood, 12 Wetherby Road, Harrogate, where his sisters
Hilda May (1891-1961) and Maud (1893-1985) both lived until their
deaths.
 The Front Page of the 1911 School Concert Programme

Albert co-designed the Programme, and played a Courtier in

“Prince Bulbo, or the Rose and the Ring” based on W. M.
Thackray’s “Rose and the Ring”.

Photo taken at Castleford Local Study Library

The Old Bell, Ferry Fryston Old Church by Albert Wainwright
Photo taken at Wakefield Museum Stores with thanks to Wakefield
Museums and Castles, Wakefield Council
 Henry Spencer Moore (1898-1986) OM CH FBA

Another pupil of Alice Gostick at Castleford Secondary School,

and a contemporary of Albert Wainwright, was the
internationally famous artist and sculptor Henry Spencer
Moore. Born on 30th July 1898 to Mary Moore nee Baker (1857-
1944), and coal miner Raymond Spencer Moore (1850-1922),
Henry was baptised on 8th January 1899 at All Saint’s Church,
Whitwood Mere.

He went on to study at the Leeds School of Art and the London

School of Art. Alice Gostick is mentioned often in connection
with Henry, and he maintained a friendship with Alice for many
years.

While at school, Henry played Tom Snout in the 1913 school

production of “A Midsummer Nights Dream.” Henry, like Albert
Wainwright and fellow pupil Arthur Dalby, was very much
involved with the school productions.

Henry enlisted for WWI service with the 15th London Battalion,
but in December 1917, within a few months of landing in France,
he was sent back to England with gas poisoning. After his
recovery he served out the remainder of the war as a physical
fitness instructor. During WWII Henry was a commissioned war
artist.

In 1929 Henry married Irina Anatolievna Radetsky, a student

who was later his model.
Made a Companion of Honour on 9th June 1955, Henry went on
to found the Henry Moore Foundation which supports education
and promotes the arts. His wife and their daughter, Mary
Spencer Moore, were Trustees of this registered charity.

Henry Spencer Moore died on 31st August 1986 at Hoglands,

Perry Green, Much Hadham, Hertfordshire, his home and studio.

An Extract from the 1911 School Concert

Henry Moore in “Legolium, A Medley, introducing Dramatised
History, Songs, and Dances” Scene III. The Saxons, and Danes
A.D. 670 playing Olaf, a Dane.

Photo taken at Castleford Local Study Library

Draped Seated Woman by Henry Moore 1957-58 Bronze Sculpture

Overlooking the Lake at the Yorkshire Sculpture Park 2017

Photo by Helga Fox
 Castleford Secondary School Honour Roll

The WWI Castleford Secondary School Honour Roll was

unveiled on 27th May 1916. In ‘The Yorkshire Post’ dated
Monday 29th May 1916 it was stated that it was Alice’s design
but in a later interview with John Hedgecoe, Henry Moore
claimed it was his own design. In that interview Henry said the
carving tools he used were provided by Alice. Henry mentioned
that Alice had done carving herself, which we know to be true as
she exhibited “a beautifully-carved table in darkened oak” at the
annual exhibition of the Hanley Society of Arts and Crafts and
Potteries Palette Club in 1902.

Photo taken at Castleford Local Study Library

 Arthur Dalby (1900-1961) OBE
Associate of the Royal College of Art

Arthur Dalby was born on 16th April 1900 in Leeds to Florence

Hardinge Dalby nee Harris (1876-1945) and Herbert Dalby (1874-
1943). Arthur was baptised during the following month at
St. Matthew’s.

After attending Castleford Secondary School, Arthur studied

art at Liverpool, and the Royal College of Art (RCA).

Arthur, who enlisted when a student teacher and served during

WWI with the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve, designed and
made the Castleford WWI Honour Roll. This is not to be
confused with the Castleford Secondary School Honour Roll by
Henry Moore. The Castleford WWI Honour Roll was presented
to the Castleford Free Library Committee on 6th January 1921,
and it can still be seen at the Castleford Local Study Library.

In 1927, Arthur was working as an engraver at the time of his

marriage in London to Florence Doreen Bland (1894-1967). He
taught in London and Devon. In 1933 he was appointed as a
H. M. Inspector of Art Schools, taking up the position in
January 1934 in the north of England and lasting until 1947
when he took up a similar appointment in the south. In the
1940s, Arthur visited Finland and Sweden in an official capacity
for the Ministry of Education.

Arthur retained a love of theatre from his school days at

Castleford, and later he had a one man puppet theatre. During
1939-1940 he was involved with the Harrogate Drama Cell.
Arthur, his wife and their two children were beneficiaries named
in Albert Wainwright’s will.

Arthur received an OBE in the New Year Honours List of

January 1959.

Arthur Dalby died on 11th February 1961 in Camberley, Surrey.

Another Extract from the 1911 School Concert Programme

Arthur Dalby as Telemachus a mortal in “Legolium, A Medley,
introducing Dramatised History, Songs, and Dances” Scene II.
The Greeks, 1,000 B.C.

Photo taken at Castleford Local Study Library

 Joseph Lloyd aka Jim or James Carr (1912-1994)
Teacher, Footballer, Headmaster, Artist, Publisher, and Novelist

J. L. Carr was born on 20th May 1912 at Carlton Miniott to

Hannah Elizabeth Carr nee Welbourn (1874-1948) and Joseph
Carr (1873-1950) a railway worker, and Methodist lay preacher.
Joseph was called Lloyd within the family, and in later life
preferred to be called either Jim or James.

After failing the exam to gain entry into Tadcaster Grammar

School, he attended Castleford Secondary School. Prior to that,
Joseph was educated at the village schools of Carlton Miniott
and Sherburn-in-Elmet. He later went to Dudley Training College
to train as a teacher.

Joseph loved football, cricket, history, writing, and drama. He

was involved in several different clubs and societies at various
stages in his life. He played Bottom in the 1929 school production
of “A Midsummer Nights Dream”, and also while at Castleford
Secondary School wrote a magazine called “The Torch”.

On different occasions he taught in America and in 1938 he was

an exchange teacher for a year. Following his return to England,
he enlisted with the RAF in 1940. Joseph married Hilda Gladys
Sexton (1918-1981) in 1945 in Essex.

Appointed the headmaster of Highfields Junior School,

Kettering in 1951, he published books, booklets, and maps. His
first novel was published in 1964.
In 1965 the BBC Home Service broadcast an interview where
Joseph talked with affection about his old headmaster Thomas
Richard Dawes.

In 1980 his novel “A Month in the Country” won The Guardian

Fiction Prize, was one of those nominated for the 1980 Booker
Prize, and in 1987 was made into a film.

Joseph Lloyd Carr died on 26th February 1994 at Kettering.

Some of the characters depicted in the following section of the

Literary Map of Yorkshire drawn by J. L. Carr are Thomas
Richard Dawes, Henry Moore, and Barbara Hepworth. There is
also reference to the Wakefield Plays.

Image extracted from a larger illustration by JL Carr, courtesy of the

Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall and used under the Creative Commons
Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 International license
 Castleford Pottery

Castleford was no stranger to pottery when Alice arrived in the

town. Excavations have shown Neolithic pottery fragments
from as early as 3000 B.C., and after that the Roman Fort had a
pottery shop from which many examples can be viewed in local
museums. The craft continued throughout the medieval period
and the height of production was reached in the 19th Century.

The potteries were situated to the west of Castleford in the

Methley Road area where the rivers Calder and Aire are seen to
merge. Water transport was an important factor in the growth
of these new businesses. One of the better known owners was
David Dunderdale. Born in 1772, it is thought David was
apprenticed in Leeds and brought this skill to the area when he
took over the business from his father.

David called his enterprise, simply, the Castleford Pottery. His

wares were said to have been among the most beautiful in
Europe due to their cobalt glaze’s delicate colour and the
charming hand-painted decorations and borders. Large
quantities were exported to continental Europe and America
during the years 1790 to 1820.

Several factors seem to have halted the continued expansion of

the works in the area, namely blockades of British export, the
cost of investing in mechanisation, and competition from the
Staffordshire potteries.
Alice herself had grown up not far from the Stoke area and
studied at the Hanley School which had been acquired by a group
of Master Potters for the Mechanics Institute in 1845. There was
a recognised high standard of achievement with a focus
towards designers, decorative artists, and workers in arts and
crafts.

Alice was particularly inspired by the concept of 'peasant

pottery' and began giving pottery painting classes when she left
to start her teaching career. She was able to build upon these
ideas in her new role as an art teacher in Castleford. As a result
of her work, the local pottery was supplying ware to 170 art
centres in all parts of the country for the purpose of painting –
an extraordinary and innovative movement.

In addition, when Messrs Clokie and Co. first experimented with

their own venture into painted pottery, they asked for Alice's
guidance in the brush form. This she happily gave and thus
played a part in the development of the new designs, which
nowadays are collector's pieces.
From the 1923 Programme of “The Gods of the Mountain”
Images from the 1923 programme taken at
Castleford Local Study Library
 The Blue Plaque in Honour of
Alice Gostick (1875-1964)

At the time of writing, Alice Gostick becomes the 35th woman

to receive a Blue Plaque in the Wakefield District. Most of those
blue plaques have been as the result of the Forgotten Women of
Wakefield project under Dream Time Creative, which is
working for blue plaque parity between women and men. We
are thrilled that Alice can take her place alongside educators
recognised by the Forgotten Women of Wakefield project
including Gertrude McCroben and the Gissing sisters Margaret
and Ellen. To read more about them, visit
www.forgottenwomenwake.com
 Bibliography

Ancestry.co.uk
Barton Hill History Group
Bedfordshire Libraries, Bedford Borough Council
Castleford Grammar School The First Fifty Years
Castleford Local Study Library
Famous, 1914-1918 by Richard Van Emden
Findmypast.com
Fold3.com
General Register Office
Googlebooks.co.uk
Hartleys: Brick by Brick- Pot by Pot by David Wilders
Henry Moore: a Study of His Life and Work by Herbert Read
Henry Moore - My Ideas, Inspiration and Life as an Artist by Henry
Moore and John Hedgecoe
Henry Moore Recollections of a Yorkshire Childhood
(https://www.yfanefa.com/record/11513)
Henry Moore Textiles by Anita Feldman
https://www.thepotteries.org
https://www.threeisacollection.org
Library of the Society of Friends
LSE Digital Library
Newcastle-under-Lyme School, and Maureen Leese of the ‘Old
Girls’ Society’
The British Newspaper Archive
The Castleford Pottery 1790-1821 by Diana Edwards Roussel
The Fylingdales Group of Artists
The Henry Moore Foundation
The Life of Henry Moore by Roger Berthoud
Wakefield Local Studies Library
Wakefield Museums and Castles, Wakefield Council
West Yorkshire Archive Service - Wakefield History Centre
Wikipedia
Yorkshire Pots and Potteries by Heather Lawrence
 Script Writing Additional Research References

Alfred Orage and the Leeds Arts Club, 1893-1923 By Tom Steele
Art and Industry: Underglaze Pottery Painting In Secondary
Schools, The New Era In Education Essay Written By Alice Gostick
and Edited By Ernest Young
Henry Moore: Drawings By Ann Garrould
Henry Moore By Jeremy Wallis
Henry Moore: My Ideas, Inspiration And Life As An Artist By
Henry Moore and John Hedgecoe
Henry Moore By Sally O'Reilly
Henry Moore: The Life and Work of a Great Sculptor
By Donald Hall
Henry Moore Writings and Conversations By Alan Wilkinson
Henry Moore Volume 2: Sculpture and Drawings 1949-1954 - With
an Introduction by Herbert Read and edited by David Sylvester
The Last Englishman: The Life of J.L. Carr By Byron Rogers
The Life of Henry Moore By Roger Berthoud

Further Image Credits

Siege of Paris By Adolphe Braun - Paris, 1871, Public Domain.

Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?
curid=1641039
Lady Elizabeth Hastings (1682–1739), Benefactress by Godfrey
Kneller 1710 Public Domain. Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Lady_Betty.jpg
Bedfordshire Libraries, Bedford Borough Council
https://virtuallibrary.culturalservices.net/bedfordshire/vlib/0.d
igitised_resources/bedford_historic_building_library_photo.htm
JL Carr Literary Map Image extracted fro m a larger illustration
by JL Carr, courtesy of the Laurence Sterne Trust at Shandy Hall
and used under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0
International license. Source:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:A_literary_map_of_Yorkshi
re_by_JL_Carr.jpg
 Notes From the Editor

Empath Action CIC would like to recognise the work of Helga Fox
who is responsible for the majority of the work in this zine and
whose tireless efforts have made this zine possible.

We would also like to give a special mention to Eve Tinsley, Katie

Greensmith, Jack Moorby, and Patrick Gregan who played Alice,
Constance, Henry, and Toddy respectively in our play “Breaking
the Mould”. They gave far more to this production than can be
summed up in words, and it is a privilege to work with them.

We are eternally grateful also to the following student actors

from the incredible Wakefield College’s Mechanics' Performing
Arts for joining us for “Breaking The Mould”:

Sarah Gerrard - Ellen

Paige Walker - Troublesome Frank/Bully Teacher
Molly Hird - Mrs Aldritch/Badly Dressed Teacher
Saloum Njie - Arthur Dalby
Reece Cowlishaw - Albert Wainwright
Ven Jones - Mary/Boring Teacher

We would also like to thank James Eccles for lighting design,

Alex Chun for additional tech, and Harry Simpson for sound.
Our Show Programme for “Breaking the Mould”