That people are still finding and coming to the rediscovering Ripleyville blog is both gratifying and at the same time embarrassing, since I haven’t posted anything to it in 8 months. To me the layout now looks tired, the way the blog operates clunky and a lot of the content on the Victorian industrial village of Ripley Ville needs up-dating.
I also have a duty to those leaving comments which I have not been fulfilling – apart from approving them so they can be seen by visitors.
I wish that I could say that all this is going to change. The long silence has been because I couldn’t see how exactly I was going to get back on top of things. Since October last year (2016) a slight worsening of a chronic heart condition means that I have had to curb some activities and go at some others more slowly. For a number of months I did little rRV work.
Stabilisation of my condition means that I am, now, continuing to research both the history Ripley Ville and what came before – in early Victorian Bowling and Bradford. I am pursuing much of the finer details of the story of the industrial model village itself and of this earlier story. I have begun again to write about these topics off-line, off-blog.
That, I’m afraid, is what will be happening into the foreseeable future.
I will still approve comments you leave. There is no intention, as things stand, to make changes to the blog as it stands.
Bob
rediscovering Ripley Ville 
You getting better is whats most important Bob .
Thanks for the kind thoughts John. It is a chronic condition, so I don’t think it will get better. My hope is that it won’t get worse. Mind you I can still drive and walk a mile or so – slowly. In 2009 I couldn’t walk more than 50 yards and had to stop to get my breath when climbing the stairs.
Hi Bob – I’m sorry to hear about your heart condition. Several months on, I hope you’re doing ok.
I’ve been tracing my family tree and discovered Henry William Ripley married my first cousin 4x removed. I’ve had a fascinating evening and I have ended up at your blog. No time to read it just now but I’m looking forward to trawling through it! I’m really sorry your booklet is out of print, even if it needs updated. I’m really interested in Ripley Ville and saddened that so much of it has been demolished and forgotten.
I’ve applied to see your tweets. If it’s appropriate and you’re using the Twitter account for Ripley Ville related information, I hope you will approve me. If it’s private, I won’t mind at all that you don’t!
Wishing you all the best.