Ted Hughes

'Crowing' about our local Laureate

Born on the 17th August 1930 at 1 Aspinall Street, Mytholmroyd, Ted Hughes would become the nation's Poet Laureate. Hughes later remembered living out his early years in the twin shadows of Scout Rock and Mount Zion Methodist Chapel. Both of which overlooked his home. The youngest of three siblings, he attended Burnley Road Primary School. His father worked at a joiner's yard near Hebden Bridge Station. During his years in Mytholmroyd, Ted was highly influenced by his brother Gerald's interest in hunting, mythology and the land.

When he was eight years old, the family moved to Mexborough in South Yorkshire. Gerald left home and his sister Olwyn then guided him into a closer relationship with literature. This saw him graduate from Mexborough Grammar School to Cambridge University. Hughes found studying (rather than creating) English Literature, too stifling. After a memorable personal experience, he switched to Archaeology and Anthropology.

At Cambridge he met the American poet Sylvia Plath and they married in 1956. Discord in their marriage led to separation and ultimately to Sylvia's suicide in 1963. She was buried in the Hughes family churchyard at Heptonstall. He kept links with the upper Calder valley and in 1968 he bought a former mill owner's house. This was at Lumb Bank near Heptonstall, later taken on by the Arvon Foundation as a centre for creative writing. For some, his relationship issues seem to have been of more interest than his poetry. This distracts from a figure whose contribution to English literature and conservation of the environment has been wide-ranging and influential. His reputation as a poet became established in the 1960s. This was affirmed by numerous awards through the rest of his life, such as the Queen's Medal for Poetry (1974). He was also recognised for his prose works. He was awarded the O.B.E (1977) and in 1984 he was given the highest accolade, the title of Poet Laureate. He was the youngest person to be granted the title since Tennyson. He held this post until his death and was the last poet to hold the title for life.

He was given the Queen's Order of Merit (1998), an honour only held by 24 people at any time. A few months later, Hughes died at his home in N Tawton, Devon (October 1998). He had been suffering from cancer. His ashes were scattered and a memorial stone laid, at the source of the River Taw on Dartmoor. This was eight miles from the nearest road. Hughes' local connections were expressed in his collection Remains of Elmet (later republished with extra poems as Elmet). The Elmet Trust was established in Mytholmroyd. This was to recognise the symbiotic relationship between the village and the poet. The Trust organises an annual Ted Hughes Festival.

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