This page is presently the home of priestley.bradwan.co.uk .  My intention is to develop this site to encourage others to create their own Priestley Night, with Piping in the meat and potato pie, topped and tailed with readings from J.B.  Priestley's works. 

Press praise Pie and brushes up Uncut Fringe

Details of my 2009 J.B.Priestley Night

Priestley was born in Bradford 13 September 1894 and lived there until World War I.  He volunteered in the first weeks of that war, and served on the Western Front.  He then took a Degree at Cambridge, and became a professional writer; living mostly in London and the South.  He wrote an immense amount of words; novels, plays, essays and non-fiction books.  His two most famous plays are An Inspector Calls (a GCE set text, but not a murder mystery) and When We Are Married.  The Good Companions was his his most successful novel.  The most successful of his non-fiction works was probably English Journey.  Based on a journey through the prosperous and ruined parts of England in 1930-31, during the previous big recession.  During the early part of the last World War he also broadcast short talks on the BBC Home Service on a Sunday evening, after the 9 o'clock news.  The were called Postscripts and happened by chance.  On September 29th, 1940, during the worst days of the Blitz, Priestley made a BBC broadcast about visiting Bradford shortly after an air-raid.  He talked of a small pie shop (called Roberts, at the top end of the old Kirkgate Market) that had displayed: '...a giant, almost superhuman, meat and potato pie...  out of that pie there came at any and every hour when the shop was doing business, a fine rich appetising steam...' He had heard the shop had been destroyed, but discovered it was not only open, but that: '...  the great pie, still brown, crisp, succulent and steaming away like mad.  Every puff and jet of steam defied Hitler, Goering, and the whole gang of them.  It was glorious. (From Postscripts, Priestley, Heinemann, 1941) The first J.B.Priestley Night Priestley died 14 August 1984 and his ashes were buried at St Michael and All Angels Hubberholme, in the Yorkshire Dales. During his lifetime he absolutely forbade any attempt to form a literary society in his name. More about Priestley at Wikipedia