|
Hon. Editor - Bill Thackray, formerly of Methley, went to Castleford Grammar School from Mickletown School and achieved, along with modest O level passes a Grade 1 in handball fives. An extensive career in administration with British Coal included 12 years at Savile Colliery. Family and leisure pursuits helped maintain a continuous association with this village. The seed to commence the web site was germinated following a request by Alma Townend in the Livewire Magazine for contributions. Collaboration with Mr. Allan Raphael, a later work colleague at Nat West was absolutely vital to create these squares, words, pictures and movements that you see. The layout was conceived in the early months of 2000 and the site went out on the 1st of July that year. The site was re-sized in January 2009 incorporating bigger photo reproductions and some amendments to text and was published on the 1st February. As at the 1st July, 2012 the published site reached its 12th birthday - amazing!!
In the developing years of the web site I have avoided reference to numbers of visitors and ‘hits’ to the site, relying on responses and requests for information through the feedback page to interpret the popularity of the site.
However a review of web statistics in 2008 indicated that a total of 29,300 visitors had been attracted to the site at an average of 80 per day, which at the time seemed pretty good. (Should the visitor connect more than once in a day it is only counted once, and then providing more than one page is accessed). However viewing figures for the following years were 42,400 in 2009, 51,800 in 2010, 69,900 in 2011 and 94,250 in 2012 giving an average of 258 per day. I wonder what 2013 will produce? So far - see this
Not surprisingly many of these visits (10%) link in through the main search engines which serves to indicate new viewers continue to find the site. The statistics also reveal that along with expected visitors from commonwealth favourites, there were surprisingly numerous viewers from other countries including Brazil, Sweden, Korea, Finland, Holland, Germany, Turkey, Romania, Uruguay, Japan, Russia, China, Poland, Austria, Czech Republic, Belgium, Switzerland, Norway, France, Spain, India, Malaysia, Algeria, Israel, Argentina, Mexico, Italy, Iceland, Portugal, Hungary, USA, Taiwan, Colombia, Bermuda, United Arab Emirates, Ireland, South Africa, Ukraine, Greece, Singapore, Cyprus, The Ivory Coast, Guatemala, Moldova, Slovakia, Thailand Estonia, Gibraltar, Denmark, The Phillipines, Uzbekistan , Western Samoa and Oman. I don’t know if any of these are Anglos/Brits living abroad but they are most certainly welcome. I have in the past invited contributions from surfers near and FAR which I now repeat. Search it, navigate using the back arrow now.
|