Tha couldn’t mak it up!

How about taking part in ‘plug riots and petition’?

No? Well, you can find out all about these and other historical oddities in a new book which spotlights curious tales from around the region.

Writer Howard Peach has compiled scores of quirky items from West Yorkshire - from murders, ghosts and witchcraft to stories from the Civil War.

And strange events, customs and legends from this area figure strongly in the collection of eccentricities.

For instance, Hotts for Batley. The ‘hotts’ were huge boxes hung from horses to cart manure around small towns like Dewsbury and Batley in the 18th century. It was mainly women’s work, although men tackled the heavier bits.

The ‘Birstall donkey wedding’ referred to the marriage of two people who had been living together and who finally agreed to be wed in 1887 in Cleckheaton.

To mark the occasion, there was a procession led by the town band, followed by 28 donkeys and six more drawing a wedding coach. A reception at the Black Bull in Birstall ended with various entertainment.

Heckmondwike claims to be the first English town to have Christmas lights for the public. This was in 1885, with Blackpool’s more celebrated illuminations dating from September 1879.

Another first is notched up by Dewsbury with local lass Betty Boothroyd being the first ever female Speaker of the House of Commons.

Then there were the ‘plug riots and petitions’ when 5,000 men marched on Cleckheaton mills to protest about election reforms. The men removed plugs from steam boilers to render them useless.

Not forgetting the world coal-carrying championship staged in Gawthorpe since 1963 and the sinister tale of the Devll’s Knell bell-tolling in Dewsbury, arising from the legend of a servant boy’s murder by a 15th century lord of the manor.

Set out in A-Z format, the book explores a vast range of subjects illustrated with archive material.

l Curious Tales from West Yorkshire is published by The History Press and costs £12.99.