As many of you will know, Muppett was a prolific writer of poetry, songs, and stories. Muppett's family auctioned a number of his notebooks for two of his favourite charities, DalesBus and the Children's Liver Disease Foundation. CNet was lucky enough to win one of these, and a number of Muppett's poems and stories can be downloaded below.

There is already a plaque dedicated to Muppett outside The Fox in Shipley, saying “Muppett Was Here” but I believe there should or could be many more saying “Muppett Was There” or “Muppett Was Everywhere” – because he was. (NB in Yorkshire grammar shouldn’t it be “Muppett were ‘ere” etc). There should be a number of them in Bradford, Guiseley, Halifax, Todmorden, Hebden Bridge, the Dales and Whitby at the very least. (Please note - the magazine of the Bradford Branch of CAMRA always spelt plaque as plague – so there could be a rash of them).

There should be an extra large plaque at Gaping Ghyll – not only commemorating Muppett but also acknowledging the place as one of Special Scientific Interest for being the original (and only) known Marmite Mine – where supplies are now almost exhausted due to the relentless mining activities of Bradford Caving Club (including Muppett) to extract the perfect brewer’s yeast for their “Cave Inn” beers – “Real Dale”, “Ghylls By The Pint”, “Gaping’ Ole Ale”, “Fell Beck Down (Strong Ale)”, “Ghylly Ghylly ‘Oss’n’Pfeffer Katsun Ella By The Fell Beck” and (naturally) the yeast extract nectar itself. You have to love it, or hate it.

Muppett (bless his croslite crocs) was a (dis)honourable member (1) of MAMS & MAWS and was a regular attender at our Friday afternoon/night/early morning meetings - though often late (sometimes turning up as late as 7.30). For those not in know MAWS & MAMS were the Middle Aged Women’s Society and Middle Aged Men’s (2) Society who combined forces to have a deep and meaningful natter, gossip, joke and debate between community workers whilst listening to musical open mic sessions MC’d by none other than ---------  Muppett and occasionally others. The meetings took place in T’Castle where our genial host and landlord was Paul. Because of Muppett’s extensive llst of contacts in folk music we were rarely short of performers. This was also supplemented by contacts of Paul’s and those of various presenters from BCB Radio. Sometimes members of MAMS and MAWS even got up and performed. Muppett always sang a few songs himself in “cabaret time” as did Paul with his Punjabi folk songs usually accompanying himself on his harmonium. “Big Yellow Friday” was a special evening to raise money for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation which has supported Muppett’s Grandson, Amos, and the family since Amos was born. Together with the money raised by Muppett in his Coast to Coast and other long haul walks Muppett raised a lot of brass for the Foundation. Everyone attending Big Yellow Friday at T’Castle was asked to wear something yellow for the evening and one time, I could only find a pair of Marigolds, and I found it difficult to hold my pint wearing rubber gloves (though it was easy to attract the attention of the bar staff). It was usually on these occasions when we also met other members of his family. Gemma, Travis, Maisie and I think Amos too. 

Muppett and I worked together on a number of community projects, initiatives, campaigns and events and had known each other since 1999. It was always a positive and fun experience to work with him – in Bradford and, for a time, in Halifax. I was really pleased when Muppett got his job at CNet.  When I left Bradford to move to Rochdale (for my wife June and I to live close to our grandchildren) we kept in touch and we met up several times in either Rochdale, Todmorden or Hebden Bridge with other Bradford friends. Muppett once came over to Rochdale to meet me for a pub crawl, but we only managed one pub, as the weather was so bad! We also found out that we were both keen readers of Railway Detective novels by Edward Marston and Andrew Martin – murder mysteries on Victorian or Edwardian Railways and we both shared a love of Whitby. Though there was one major interest of Muppett’s I didn’t share – cricket (what is it?) 

Muppett was a great character and I’m very proud to have known him as a friend as well as a colleague, he is sorely missed by many of us fortunate enough to have known him. He were magic!

(1) Every MAMS/MAWS member was dishonourable, so he wasn’t alone.

(2) Middle Age is any age between 18-88 in case you were wondering or even wandering (Muppett wandered a lot which is an affliction of middle age)

Muppett – our extraordinary walk leader 

It was so incredibly sad to hear the news that our much valued and loved Volunteer Walk Leader Michael Pascal (who liked to be known as Muppett) had recently passed on. Muppett was a friend to many, a well-known and hugely respected Community Development Worker that had worked across Bradford District for many years. Muppett had so many qualities including kindness, a gentle manner, a great sense of humour and a wonderful sense of adventure. Above all he loved people and was passionate about improving their health outcomes. 

He absolutely loved walking and set up three walking groups with us in his capacity as Walk Leader for Bradford District Care Trust’s Well Together Service. He set up the Aire and Worth Valley Wanderers in October 2017.  The aim of the walks - to explore the hidden gems of the Aire & Worth valley and learn about local & natural history. Muppett’s aim was to start up the walk and then step back once other walk leaders became trained. He succeeded and now five walk leaders are involved with leading this weekly walk!

Muppett started the Fagley Amblers in October 2022.  Following some community development work in the area, Muppett had come to realise that many of the locals were unaware of the many beautiful, countryside walks on their doorstep.  The walks brought people closer to nature and introduced foraging.

His most recent group The Yorkshire Dales Strollers fulfilled Muppett’s aim of making the Yorkshire Dales more accessible to people from inner-city areas.  He tapped into an unmet need – providing short, guided walks in the Dales. He also encouraged the use of environmentally friendly means – by advocating use of the Yorkshire Dales Bus to get to the walk, meticulously planning and sharing all possible public transport connections to and from the Dales bus points. Environmental issues and protecting nature were very close to his heart. 

Muppett‘s zest for life and his positivity inspired everyone who came into contact with him. His loss is being felt by so many and our heart continues to go out to his family and everyone who knew him, he was such a unique and special person. 

Muppett was also very well known across Yorkshire’s music scene, he was a frequent performer, including at festivals in Whitby and organising music sessions in the Dales. He was an observer of life and would pen songs that illustrated people’s lives, many of them with his comedic touch. 

Our staff, volunteer walk leaders and walkers were so pleased to have the opportunity to say goodbye at his wake which was full of joy – music, laughter and where some of his songbooks and poetry books were auctioned off for charity – ever the fundraiser at heart.

Muppett brought people together in many ways, “we would never have had our walking group if it wasn’t for him” says Suzanne Trewartha of Aire Valley and Worth Wanderers. The group have grown close, friendships have blossomed, health has improved and further walking groups have spun off too.

A special Yorkshire Dales Strollers Walk went ahead on Sunday 20th October for those who walked with him on the Well Together walks mentioned, giving us a chance to remember him and be thankful for all that he did, as he enriched the lives of so many people. 

Nah Then
Ow do, Ow do, Ow do
How’s tha’ diddlin’? 

I wish it was not me saying these words, but our dear, too-soon-lost singer-songwriter, impresario, compere, poet, social worker, organiser, colleague and friend Michael Pascal who we all knew as Muppett, taken from us far too soon.  
 

You could never meet Muppett without soon breaking into a smile, one of the most positive human beings it has ever been my privilege to know.  If there was a problem, Muppett would find his way around it.  He could even turn a form of insult – a Muppett – into a badge of honour, a trademark big smile and let’s do it.

I only knew Muppett for a few precious years, as a regular traveller, with his partner Ann, on DalesBus, who when we were chatting about the need to raise funds to help keep DalesBus – that brilliant, volunteer run network of integrated buses to and from the Yorkshire Dales National Park  - told me he had an idea.  He could organise a few folk singers and musician friends to put on a gig initially in Otley and later here in Guiseley to raise those desperately needed funds for DalesBus.

I wasn’t sure how seriously to take him, but Muppett was a guy who when he said he would do something meant business.  The result was the series of annual DalesBus gatherings of hugely talent singers and instrumentalists which were soon raising amazing sums – by the second year passing the £1,000 mark – for DalesBus. This provided money which could be used as match funding to attract sponsorship and grant funding from elsewhere. This helped DalesBus to flourish like never before, adding new routes to the network, planned not by bureaucrats, but by walkers for walkers, especially for that important and hitherto neglected minority of us who for whatever reasons do not own or cannot drive a car.  How many people, including many young people, older people, those on low incomes, with disabilities whether mental or physical, and increasingly those from different ethnic backgrounds, have been able to enjoy a day in the Yorkshire Dales thanks to efforts of like people like Muppett.

Little wonder that one of the best loved theme songs of the Muppet concerts was “The Last Bus to Gunnerside” - DalesBus 830 which I am pleased to say will be running until October 20th.

But Muppett also became one of our most popular walk leaders, sharing his knowledge of the Dales and its footpaths with so many others, but this year even starting the Dales Strollers groups health giving walks that tied in with his daytime responsibilities with Bradford CNET and other groups.  He was a leading light with Keighley Walking Festival, again not just organising but leading walks including off the Nidderdale DalesBus.  He even produced with CNET a booklet Muppett’s Rambles in and around Bradford, all based on public transport. As a folk singer himself, and lover of Yorkshire dialect, he also helped establish and compere the popular Buck Inn Sessions, all designed to fit in with the Sunday 874 DalesBus to Buckden.

Behind all this activity, was a very caring individual, deeply committed to those values he held dear – an opponent of all forms of racism and bigotry, passionate about the countryside and above all a passionate Yorkshireman and Bradfordian, a commitment celebrated in his writing, above all in his poems and songs.

We have all lost a dear friend and ally, but his family have lost more than all of us.

Yet what lives on beyond our physical life is something truly enduring – our spirit which is shared with all who knew us, most of all our family and friends.  Muppett was always positive about whatever life threw at him, including in recent years his own health issues, and he would have wanted us, at this moment, to remain so. 

We live on through the memories we give to our family and friends, through the words that survive in those memories and on paper, and these days electronically, and through the values that we share.  Muppett is with us at tonight’s gathering, as he will be at future music sessions, even if he can no longer share a pint with us,. He will be with us on the next DalesBus to Gunnerside or Buckden, or heading along the track over Stake Pass from Kidstones, over the top to Semerwater and Wensleydale.

I am sure we shall be arranging, after this evening, other ways to celebrate a life so well spent.  Maybe a commemorative walk along a favourite walk in the Dales of his and Ann’s, maybe a printed publication to share with others, perhaps a plaque or bench, but something tangible to remind those who follow us that they also owe Muppett more than they can ever repay.

So let’s give Muppett a reet good send’ off toneet but perhaps with more good things to come.

Let’s drink a toast – to our dear friend Muppett!

The Wild Geese and Six Days – two bands that have supported Muppet’s various fundraisings over so many years. I’ve known Muppet since first meeting him at The King’s Arms Folk Club in the early 1980s and subsequently in so many ‘appearances’ and other guises since.

There are so many stories to share but one of my favourites relates to March 17th (St Patrick’s Day) 2007 when I was working in a Halifax primary school. Our tradition was to have a big singing & dancing celebration every St Patrick’s Day morning and to support it I’d pull in various musician friends and we’d all have a great hooley with the kids and parents.

Muppet was working in Calderdale at the time so I asked him to join us, which he did - in his shorts. I didn’t forewarn the staff or explain anything about him and no one knew what to make of this odd looking bloke sitting with the musicians. Then, after some tunes and dancing I gestured to him and he simply stood up and in a loud voice addressed a school hall full of folks in his loud Muppet voice with “ Ey up!! ‘Ow yer diddling?!! Happy St Patrick’s Day!!” and burst into his reggae Wild Rover. The place went wild with “ No, No NO, Never no more!!”.

After an hour and a half of great fun – including Muppet getting involved in the dancing – we took the impromptu ‘show’ up the road to Parkinson Lane Primary and repeated the same for/with them.

At the time Parkinson Lane School had a pupil role that was 100% Pakistani heritage and Muppet having stunned everyone there with his singing, gusto and appearance then launched into one of his other passions - Cricket! He knew that that day Pakistan (ranked no 4 in the World) were playing in the Cricket World Cup in Sabina Park, Kingston Jamaica against none other than – lowly Ireland!!!  And in true Muppet style he then resorted to chanting ‘ Ireland! Cricket! Ireland!’ against a barrage of a whole school bellowing ‘Pakistan! Pakistan! Pakistan!’ back at him.

As we said our goodbyes and left the poor staff to settle everyone down and restore decorum to their school again, Muppet turned to me and with that knowing grin of his said ‘Eey! That were reet fun!’ … and it was!

And the postscript was that Ireland actually pulled off one of the biggest Cricketing World Cup shocks ever and beat Pakistan that day!

As many of you will know, Muppett collated a series of walks around the Bradford District, as well as foraging recipes, into a book, called Muppett's Rambles.

In order to keep the book to a cost effective length, Muppett's original wording was edited by a member of the CNet team, whilst keeping the essence of what Muppett initially wrote.

We thought that as a fitting tribute we would make Muppett's original version of the book available. This can be downloaded below.

The CNet team came together to hold an event in memory of Muppett. This was held on Thursday 14th November, 4.30 – 7.00 pm at Silk Hall in Manningham Mills.

Around 70-80 people attended the event. We shared memories and sang songs. Muppett’s daughter, Gemma, and two of his grandchildren, Travis and Maisy, were able to join us. Muppett’s stepson, Matt, did a fantastic job of running the open mic, making sure everyone who wanted to speak or perform was able to.

BCB Radio held a live broadcast before the event started. This was presented by Clive Whittaker and several team members were interviewed. The recording from this is available to listen to further up this page.

We auctioned off copies of Muppett’s Rambles and Matt provided a number of Muppett’s old walking books and maps. The proceeds from these went to two of Muppett’s favourite charities, with £125.23 collected for the DalesBus and £154.63 collected for the Children’s Liver Disease Foundation.

A number of Muppett's friends shared written memories, which can be viewed in the gallery below.

The CNet team would like to extend our sincere gratitude to everyone who was able to attend and make this such a special event. We hope we made Muppett proud!