A district councillor is asking for help to find out just how many people regularly  use Barclays Bank at Leyburn.

In January Barclays Bank announced that it will close its branch office in Bedale on April 26 and that in Leyburn on May 5. This will mean it will have no banks in mid and upper Wensleydale  and nor has any other bank.

Barclays stated that the branch in Bedale is used by just 17 regular customers, and that in Leyburn by 19.

Richmondshire District councillor John Amsden is far from convinced that the Leyburn branch has only 19 regular customers. ‘I was in there on Friday and asked about that. Someone behind me said “There are nine of us in here now and more coming.” ‘

Cllr Amsden  said the bank is very much needed by those living in such a very rural area which includes Swaledale, Arkengarthdale, Bishopdale, Coverdale, and Wensleydale. ‘There are elderly people who don’t use computers or the internet. They have to use public transport because they don’t drive. So they have got to bank locally.

There is a Barclays Bank at Richmond. For someone living in Aysgarth a visit to Leyburn by bus takes about two hours, but twice that to go to Richmond. The last bus from Northallerton on weekdays is at 3pm.

Many bank branches  have closed due, it is said, to more people using internet banking. But Cllr Amsden commented: ‘The internet is very intermittent in parts of the dales which means residents can’t easily use internet banking and some businesses can’t take payments by card. A lot of people still pay in cash. There are the village halls and charities who need to pay in cash,’ Cllr Amsden said.

And he is worried that more ATMs will be removed making it very hard for visitors and residents to obtain cash in the evenings or at weekends.

He also pointed out there were more bank scams now and the scammers often target the elderly.

He asked those who bank at the Barclays branch in Leyburn and use it regularly to tell him by emailing him at cllr.j.amsden@richmondshire.gov.uk .

A short service will be held in St Andrew’s Church at Aysgarth at 10am on Friday November 11 to dedicate a new war memorial and plaque in preparation for Remembrance Sunday.

The new plaque commissioned to honour the twelve local men killed in WWI whose names were omitted from the original Roll of Honour has been installed and the existing plaques rearranged in chronological order.

The three pews below them have been removed and turned into a structure upon which memorial wreaths and crosses can be placed and displayed.

All are welcome at the dedication service and invitations have been sent to the chairs of parish councils and the local craftsmen who carried out the work. It is hoped that members of the families of those commemorated on the new plaque will be there too.

The Remembrance Service at St Andrew’s will begin at 10.45am on Sunday November 13.

Photo by Nick Gaskell – who has worked very hard to ensure the War Memorial is ready for November 11. The new plaque is that at the top right.

Above: Steve Jack and Tina Clune

Aysgarth’s new Post Office is now open and will provide a service for mid Wensleydale following the closure of that at Thoralby. It is in the Convenience Store at Aysgarth Garage and will be open from 9am to 1pm Monday to Saturday.

Steve Jack took over the shop and the garage in 2008 and ensured that the store remained open every day throughout the Covid pandemic.

In March, when he sought the support of Aysgarth and District Parish Council for a Post Office at the garage, the councillors pointed out that, with the closure of that in Thoralby, residents in such villages as West Burton, Thoralby, Aysgarth and Carperby often had to travel 12 miles to Hawes or Leyburn for Post Offices.

‘A lot of people from Thoralby were worried about losing the Post Office there. I thought it would be a good addition to the village and for the shop’, Steve said when the new Post Office opened on Friday morning (September 23). He emphasised that he would be flexible about closing if there was a queue.

During the first week he is being trained by Post Office trainer Tina Clune. He is advertising for someone to take on the Post Office work for 25 hours a week. And he is looking for another assistant for the shop.

The Post Office stated: ‘As part of an exciting modernisation and investment programme taking place across the Post Office network, a brand-new Post Office for Aysgarth has opened.The Post Office said the new facility [with ample car parking] will provide customers with 24 hours of Post Office services a week making it convenient for them to visit [and there is a car park]. The Post Office services are offered from a low-screened, open-plan Post Office counter that is integrated into the retail area.

It added: ‘This new Aysgarth branch offers customers a wide range of Post Office services, from posting letters and parcels to collecting and returning online shopping items. Customers can also take advantage of a wide range of banking services including cash withdrawals and balance enquiries for customers of all the main UK banks.’

Ian Murphy, Post Office Network Provision Lead, said: ‘We want to make it as easy as possible for customers to pay their bills, withdraw cash from their bank accounts, and send and collect their mail at a time and place that suits them best. We know how important our services are to customers, and we are confident that this brand-new Post Office will ensure that people in the Aysgarth area have easy access to our services.’

Below: Steve and Tina at the open-plan counter.

Jack Sutton’s photo: Friends – two young asylum seekers at Aysgarth Falls

Children in Wensleydale formed friendships with asylum seekers living in the North East when the Quakers from Bainbridge Meeting House and other volunteers hosted a Day out in the Dales on Monday July 25.

The organising group (Gwen Clark, Jennie White, Vanda Hurn, Sue Stokes, Andrea Hunter and Nancy Sutton) chose Carperby as the best venue with its sports pavilion and village hall. Flyers about the event were delivered to all residents and holiday makers in the village and many joined in with the fun.

‘We must have had over 40 people from the community turn up to wash dishes, prepare food, clear up, offer workshops or just chat and be welcoming. We had a good number of local children who joined in, made friends and played,’ Jennie White said.

There were 48 asylum seekers including 24 children, who came on the coach booked by Darlington Assistance for Refugees with the cost covered by the Bainbridge Quaker Local Meeting and donations.

Their day in Wensleydale began with drinks and biscuits at Carperby pavilion and then the freedom to enjoy the playing fields and children’s playground. Some played football and others had fun with the various sports equipment organised by Vanda Hurn.

There were also craft workshops: felt making with Andrea Hunter; face painting with Julie Edwardson and Sue Stokes; button making with Fran Flanagan; plus painting pebbles. Volunteers prepared a generous vegetarian lunch in the village hall and there were plenty of tray bakes for desserts.

Afterwards, they finished craft making before going with their new friends to Aysgarth Falls where there was a decent amount of water. Tubs of ice cream were provided by Gill Harrison from the Wensleydale Ice Cream Parlour.

The next day Jennie White received a thank you from one of the asylum seekers who stated: ‘You organized a wonderful organization for us yesterday. We had a lot of fun with my family. Your hospitality was also great. Food and desserts were also delicious. I want to thank all the participants, from the oldest to the youngest.’

Paddy’s funeral, following her death on April 26th 2022, was at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, on May 27th. One reason it will be remembered is because of the splendid black horses with plumes which pulled the hearse.

Her daughter Ro explained beforehand: ‘We are not sure if Paddy was joking or not (one could never be sure!) but she did mention this more than once to me, and on a separate occasion to my sister-in-law Nicola, that she would like her final journey to be in a carriage drawn by “black horses with plumes”. This has been arranged, and the horses will be setting off from Hamiltons Tea Room, where Steve, Sandra and some of the regulars will raise a cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows to her.’

Photos: The horse-drawn hearse at the church; at Hamiltons in Aysgarth; descending Chapel Bank followed by the family and friends; Paddy’s granddaughter Eleanor stroking one of the horses.

Ro gave the following tribute to her mother at the funeral:

Africa

Paddy was born on July 30th 1940 in Lindi, Tanganyka Territory (present day Tanzania).

She wrote of her earliest memories: ’I used to play with Nganya, my Ayah’s daughter, but don’t remember much about her. Ma had hoped I’d teach her European ways and was disappointed when she discovered us sitting on our haunches, swaying and clapping and singing some African chant’.

When she was five, she went with her parents to visit her mother’s family in Sussex, where her brother was born, and she attended school in Rye. They also spent time with her father’s family in Bangor, N. Ireland, where she went to her second school.The journey included travelling on a flying boat.

Many years later, when I took her to the Flying Boat Museum in Foynes, S W Ireland, the museum staff were very excited to meet someone who had travelled on one and she was treated to an Irish Coffee – although all she could remember [of the flight]  was being told off by her mother for pulling the hair of the lady in the seat in front of them!

In 1947 the family returned to East Africa, and some of Paddy’s fondest memories are from that time. Here are two excerpts from her written memories of this time:

‘We returned to Africa when I was seven and for a few months my mother taught me with materials supplied from Dar es Salaam as a correspondence course. I really loved this and would spend my break times climbing trees, examining the abundant insect life or just lying on my back revelling in the sunshine, the bird sounds and the work songs of the natives. There were no other white children, so my friends were African girls, who taught me some of their customs and dances. My parents gave me a little dachshund puppy, which was later run over by one of the lorries from the ill-fated Groundnut Scheme and I also had a tame monkey, which went everywhere with me.

‘I travelled down to South Africa for my next school, where I boarded. I found out later that I was in the same form as Sue McGregor (we compared notes when we met at the BBC). I was very happy there and made many friends. At weekends I went to stay with a delightful couple who had a house in the middle of a vineyard. She was the sister of a famous singer, Keith Faulkener, and had a superb voice herself. She trained the church choir and made me a member, along with two other girls. This wonderful woman would gather a whole group of children together at weekends and take them on exciting excursions to various beauty spots, to the seaside, to the top of Table Mountain by cable car and many other places I cannot remember. The school also arranged trips to the cinema and to the ballet, but it was after the ballet trip that the house mistress took me into her sitting room and told me very gently that my father had died and that I would have to leave the school’.

As her mother wound up her father’s business, farm and estate, Paddy attended a government boarding school for six months. She was very happy there and made many friends.

England

She and her brother Bernard travelled back to England with her mother and their lives became very different: ‘After a long sea voyage, we arrived in a murky Britain to find ourselves in the middle of a dock strike, so our trunks couldn’t be off-loaded. My mother’s brother hadn’t bothered to come and meet us, so it was a miserable introduction to the country that would henceforth be my home’. They travelled to Rye, where she was enrolled almost immediately at the Primary School, where there was ‘a non-stop regime of General Knowledge, Intelligence, Mathematics, English Language and other tests, all of which would feature in the Eleven Plus exam’.

She missed Africa terribly, and when she sang Jerusalem at school, she would change the words to ‘England’s green unpleasant land’.Since her father had died overseas, her mother was not entitled to a widow’s pension and was too proud to ask for help. There was enough money to buy a small bungalow in Camber, which was ‘in an area where she felt we’d be safe when she left us to our own devices when she went out to work. She had a bicycle with a child’s seat and cycled in all weathers to the golf club, walked across the links and banged the gong (an old artillery shell case) for Mr. Doughty the ferryman, who would row passengers across in his little dinghy for (I think) sixpence. She worked in the office of a concrete works and would keep tabs on us via a daily lunch time telephone call.

‘We spent a lot of our holidays in the (forbidden) Amusement Arcade, trying our luck with the penny-in-the-slot machines and the crane that never quite managed to pick up the goods. Most of the rest of our time was spent on the beach or in the sea’.

She would also climb around the walls of Camber Castle with other children and was often quite daring in these exploits. At home she had a strong preference for Meccano and the Hornby train set and had no interest in dolls. She also liked taking things apart to see how they worked.

Despite the major trauma of losing both her father and the country she loved, Paddy came ninth in the whole county for her Eleven Plus and went on to Rye Grammar School. However (in her own words):’The Grammar School was a let –down. We had all kinds of exciting subjects and sports and games, but I was aware right from the start that girls were not considered academically worth encouraging. We were told that only one girl would go to university for every 50 boys and on one notable occasion the Chemistry Master told us that the girls must be quiet because the boys couldn’t concentrate’.

Things improved as she went through school, and had an inspirational art teacher, Marjorie May. She passed A level Art and would have liked to have gone to Art College, but her mother was advised that Art Colleges were "dens of vice and iniquity", so she went to secretarial college instead.

BBC and family

In 1959 she joined the BBC as a secretary and worked in various departments before becoming a production secretary in Radio Drama in 1961 and a Studio Manager in 1964. She married a fellow Studio Manager [Roger Charlton] in 1966 and left the BBC to become a full-time mother when Ro(semary) and Alan were born in 1968 and 1970.

Paddy was very capable and became very adept at DIY. One of my earliest memories is of Paddy high up on a ladder removing paint from the eaves with the terrifying paraffin blow torch, with its fierce long flame.

In the mid-1970s, Paddy and Roger moved into a larger house that needed quite a lot of work, most of which they did themselves, including rewiring the whole house. Paddy did most of this when the children were at school and Roger at work. She described herself ‘holding a book in one hand and a wire in the other and working out what to do’, but the task was completed successfully. They also carried out most of the maintenance on the 1965 Morris Minor.

She made many of our clothes using her trusty hand-driven Singer sewing machine and knitted many jumpers.She started an Open University degree in 1982, while raising the family and working part time. While taking a Science Foundation Course she discovered a passion for geology. She graduated in 2000, and then went on to complete a postgraduate diploma. She made some very good friends from on geology field trips and excursions.

Wensleydale

Roger was given early retirement in 1992 and they moved up to the Dales two years later. Paddy made the most of her retirement, gardening, learning new skills (upholstery, spinning, scything), and some sailing. She played the viola in the Wensleydale Orchestra, which she and Roger have supported for nearly 30 years. She was able to resume her art studies and joined a ‘laid-back, but highly productive amateur group’ who have now been meeting for 20 years. She was one of ten finalists in the 2014 Oldie Magazine Artist of the Year, for her painting of the Poulnabrone passage tomb in Co. Clare, Ireland. While Paddy was still recovering from a knee replacement, I received a call from her ‘I’m on top of Addlebrough!’

The last few years have brought many challenges, including the death of her brother Bernard in August 2018, followed by Alan’s death just three weeks later after a long illness. I was very fortunate to be visiting in March 2020 and to spend both lockdowns working from Wensleydale. This unexpected additional time together was a precious gift at the time, and even more so now.

‘For a long time I yearned to return to Africa, but the intervening years I would be an alien there. Strangely enough, our move to the Yorkshire have brought such changes to what I still consider to be my country, that Dales has given me the same feeling of contentment as I felt in my early life and I think this is probably due to the fact that the inhabitants in both countries have had to contend with Nature in all its moods and have to deal with all the different natural emergencies on their own’.

On her family’s Facebook page Jeneba Kanneh-Mason commented that St Andrew’s Church at Aysgarth was ‘a magical place to perform’. And she certainly provided a glittering touch of her own magic when she played music by Bach, Mozart, Scriabin, and Liszt at St Andrew’s on June 7, during the Swaledale Festival.  After the Covid lockdowns and social distancing rules it was so wonderful to see the church full for what was a truly memorable and very enjoyable concert. 

Below: Jeneba Kanneh-Mason rehearsing at the church before the concert. And just part of a very full church.

The church was also full for the concert by the High Wire Baroque, led by harpsichordist David Gordon,  on Monday May 30. The nine musicians (including Malcolm Creese on the bass)  thoroughly enjoyed themselves as they showed how Baroque music was made for improvisation, and provided a ‘whistle-stop’ guide to how music had developed from the Middle Ages.

Above: High Wire Baroque.  Below: Malcolm Creese enjoying a jam session with two members of the Bammental School Symphony Orchestra (the German rules regarding photographing school children are that faces cannot be shown if there are less than five).

The 50 plus Bammental School Symphony Orchestra from southern Germany arrived earlier than expected to begin rehearsing for their afternoon concert at the church – much to the dismay of those starting work on their floral arrangements ready for the Platinum Jubilee Flower Festival. It was soon obvious that the heating needed for rehearsals and concerts did not mix well with flower arrangements which needed to be kept cold if they were to last for a week.

Not that the audience that afternoon were away of any problems for the performance by the orchestra was awesome, with the secondary school age musicians, led by their inspirational conductor, Ingo Schlȕchtermann, showing tremendous maturity in their music making. Below: Bammental School Symphony Orchestra during rehearsals and during the concert.

They had only just left the church when those local favourites, Leyburn Brass Band, arrived to provide a very entertaining and enjoyable evening. conducted by Rebecca Lundberg.

There was another treat in store for us on Thursday June 2 when pianist Richard Uttley was joined by violinist Callum Smart and French horn player Ben Goldscheider  (below) for an afternoon concert, delighting their audience with performances  of work by Ethel Smyth and Brahms.

That day there was also a guided walk from the church to see spring flowers and waterfalls, led by Robert Hall and members of Yoredale Natural History Society.

I especially want to thank Malcolm Creese and his great team for all their support with the Swaledale Festival concerts at Aysgarth church.

The next concert at Aysgarth Church is on Saturday June 18 when the Tier3 Piano Trio play music by Fanny Mendelssohn, Lili Boulanger, Joan Trimble and Rebecca Clarke.  This is part of the Wensleydale Concert Series.

Derrick Pickard (in red cap) unveiling the new plaque watched by his great grandson Eidur. On the left is John Dinsdale, chairman of Aysgarth Institute committee.

The festivities in Aysgarth on Sunday June 5 began with the  unveiling of a plaque commemorating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Villagers watched from the opposite side of the A684 as Derrick Pickard unveiled the plaque which has been inset into a wall to join two other jubilee plaques (silver and golden) and that commemorating the coronation of George V and Mary in 1911. All the jubilee plaques have been donated by John Pickard & Son of Aysgarth. There is a plaque on a bench on the other side of the road which commemorates the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II.

The Platinum Jubilee celebration was organised by the Institute committee – and provided the villagers with a great opportunity to once again gather on the village green for fun and games. There was certainly plenty of that thanks to those who led the children’s sports (Keith and Jean Percival and Jill Metcalfe). But first, the oldest members of the community needed to check that Paddington Bear and Her Majesty were okay! From the left, Irene Pickard, Jean Cockburn and Derrick Pickard.

The games included such old favourites as the sack race and the egg and spoon race – as well as the tug of war. For the Institute there are more photos but I have only clearly shown those when parents have given their consent.

During the afternoon Derrick, Irene and Jean presented the Platinum Jubilee mugs, purchased by Aysgarth Institute, to the children. The prize for the best decorated house was won by Becky, David, Arthur and Olly Clarkson, with that for the best hat going to little Lucy Bussey. Josie Dinsdale got the highest score (20 out of 30) for the Royal Quiz.   (Below left: Aidan receiving his Jubilee mug from Derrick. Right: Becky Clarkson received her prize from Steve Hamilton who, with his wife Sandra, judged the best decorated  house competition.)

And, of course, there was plenty of food. As usual the villagers put on a great display with visitors commenting on how good the baking was. The pride of place went to the Jubilee Cake created by Jan Vaughan. Jean Cockburn, with Irene and Derrick Pickard, cut it, and Molly helped Jan (centre) to distribute it. Lesley Taylor from Newbiggin provided the accompaniment for the National Anthem on her cornet – followed by the loyal toast with bubbly provided by the Institute.  And finally – a smashing ending when all those brave enough to participate in the egg throwing competition. (I hid behind a camera! Well, someone had to record this happy occasion after being so locked away from each other.)

The Flower Festival at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, to mark the Platinum Jubilee of our Queen was both stunning and thought provoking. It was entitled ‘Seven Decades: Celebrating the Reign of Queen Elizabeth II’ and many of the flower arrangements – by some who attend St Andrew’s and members of the Wensleydale Flower Club – were accompanied by the information provided by Barbara Hadlow. Below are my photographs of all the arrangements (with much of that information), and the displays created by children at the BAWB Federation of Schools.

At the main entrance: The Queen’s Green Canopy by Jan Vaughan

The Queen’s Green Canopy was created to mark Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee and invites people from across the United Kingdom to ‘Plant a Tree for the Jubilee’. As well as inviting the planting of new trees, The Queen’s Green Canopy will dedicate a network of 70 Ancient Woodlands across the United Kingdom and identify 70 Ancient Trees to celebrate Her Majesty’s seventy years of service.

The Queen joined The Prince of Wales to plant a sapling propagated from a Verdun Oak, for the first Jubilee tree planting in Spring 2021 in the grounds of Windsor Castle, to mark the launch of the initiative. Verdun trees are oak and horse chestnut trees, planted in the United Kingdom in the aftermath of the First World War. Acorns and chestnuts were collected from trees on the battlefield at Verdun and sent to England to be distributed and planted as war memorials.

Welcome Table: The Coronation  by Liz Frisby

The Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, 2nd June 1953

‘The things which I have here before promised, I will perform and keep. So help me God’ (The Queen’s Coronation Oath. 1953)

Westminster Abbey has been the setting for every Coronation since 1066. On her way to the Abbey, Her Majesty wore the George IV State Diadem, made in 1820. In the Coronation Bouquet were lilies-of-the-valley from England, stephanotis from Scotland, orchids from Wales and carnations from Northern Ireland and the Isle of Man.

During the Coronation the Queen was invested with a number of ornaments symbolising the chivalric and spiritual nature of kingship. These included the spurs, swords and armills, followed by the orb, a ring and then the sceptres. One sceptre is surmounted by a cross representing temporal power and the other surmounted by a dove representing the sovereign’s spiritual role.After the investiture the St Edward’s Crown made in 1661, was placed on the Queen’s head. It weighs 4 pounds and 12 ounces and is made of solid gold. The Imperial State Crown was worn by The Queen on her return to Buckingham Palace.

Gallery Ledge: Coronation Souvenirs by Helen Witcombe

Top l-r: cup and saucer, Preston under Scar; green mug, Essex County Council. Middle, l-r: spoon, Colwall in Herefordshire; cup, saucer and plate, Caldwell in Richmondshire; glass mug, Leeds. Bottom l-r: glass mug from Leeds; cup, Newcastle; coin, Normanby School, Teesside; and the small book from Sholver near Saddlesworth.

North Door: Trooping the Colour by Juliet Barker

The custom of Trooping the Colour dates back to the time of Charles II in the 17th Century when the Colours of regiments in the British Army were used as a rallying point in battle and were therefore trooped in front of the soldiers every day to make sure that every man could recognise those of his own regiment.

When George III became King in 1760, it was ordered that parades should mark the King’s Birthday. This impressive display of pageantry is now held on the occasion of the Queen’s Official Birthday. It takes place in June each year on Horse Guards Parade in Whitehall.

Over 1,400 parading soldiers, 200 horses and 400 musicians from The Household Division, come together in a great display of military precision, horsemanship and fanfare.

Once the Queen has arrived at Horse Guard’s Parade she is greeted by a Royal salute and carries out an inspection of the troops, who are fully trained and operational soldiers wearing the ceremonial uniform of red tunics and bearskin hats. These bearskin hats are made from the fur of Canadian black bears. The five regiments of The Foot Guards have different coloured plumes in their bearskin hats to denote their regiment as follows – Grenadier (White, positioned on the left),Coldstream (Red on the right), Irish (Blue on the right), Welsh (White/Green/White on the left), Scots Guards have no plume.

Once the Foot Guards have marched past the Queen, she rides back to Buckingham Palace at the head of the soldiers, before taking the salute again at the Palace from a dais. The display closes with an RAF fly-past, watched by members of the Royal Family from Buckingham Palace balcony. A 41-gun salute is also fired in Green Park to mark the occasion.

N W Window: 1950s – Coronation Chicken by Anne Guy

Coronation Chicken or Poulet Reine Elizabeth, was invented for the foreign guests attending a banquet at Westminster School, London, after the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth II. The food had to be prepared in advance and food writer and flower arranger, Constance Spry, together with Rosemary Hume, a chef, who were both founders of the Cordon Bleu Cookery School in London, proposed a recipe of cold chicken in a curry cream sauce to be served with a well-seasoned dressed salad of rice, green peas and mixed herbs. The recipe won the approval of the Minister of Works and has since been known as Coronation Chicken.

N E Window: 1950s – Thee Ascent of Everest by Liz Piper

When the Queen acceded to the throne on 6th February 1952, Everest had not been climbed. There had already been seven major attempts to reach the summit and a further attempt was made in the Spring of that year by a Swiss team. They were nearly successful, reaching 28,200 feet, only 800 feet below the summit.

By then, plans were already in place for another British attempt in 1953. It was led by Col. John Hunt (later Lord Hunt), who assembled a very able and experienced team of climbers. After a period of build-up and acclimatisation in April and May, two pairs of climbers were ready to make an assault.

The first pair, Bourdillon and Evans, had trouble with oxygen cylinders and had to retreat only 300 feet below the summit on 26th May. The following day, New Zealander Edmund Hillary and Sherpa Tenzing Norgay from Nepal made their summit bid. Using a high level camp they reached the top at 11.30 am on 29th May. They planted the Union Jack for the Queen on the highest point on earth. It took another day for the climbers to return to their support camp and for the news to be relayed back to base camp. It was then sent by runner and wireless transmitter (in code to prevent a news leak) to the British Embassy in Kathmandu. Telegrams were then sent to Britain and the news of success was released to a rapturous public on the morning of 2nd June, the Queen’s Coronation Day.

Font: 1960s – Beatlemania by Kath Spashett

Beatlemania was the fanaticism surrounding the Liverpool rock band The Beatles in the 1960s. The group’s popularity grew in the United Kingdom throughout 1963, propelled by the singles ‘Please Please Me’, ‘From, Me to You’ and ‘She Loves You’.

The press adopted the term “Beatlemania” to describe the scenes of hysteria and high-pitched screaming by female fans, sometimes called ‘teenyboppers’ who assembled anywhere the Beatles performed or appeared. The behaviour of these fans was scorned by many and was even the subject of analysis by psychologists and sociologists! The Beatles surpassed any previous examples of fan worship and changed popular culture forever.

Pedestal by choir: 1960s – Investiture of the Prince of Wales by Juliet Barker

The tradition of investing the heir apparent of the British monarch with the title of “Prince of Wales” began in 1301, when King Edward I of England, having completed the conquest of Wales, gave the title to his heir apparent, Prince Edward (later King Edward II of England).

Prince Charles was made Prince of Wales and Earl of Chester by letters patent on 26th July 1958, but the official investiture was not held unit 1st July 1969. The ceremony took place at Caernarfon Castle.

During the investiture ceremony, the letters patent were read aloud in Welsh and stated that 20 year old Prince Charles Philip Arthur George would receive the title, style, honour and privilege of the Principality of Wales and Earldom of Chester. The Queen attired her heir with a girdle, sword, coronet, ring, rod and kingly mantle, in that order.

Prince Charles then declared: ’I, Charles, Prince of Wales, do become your liege man of life and limb and of earthly worship, and faith and truth I will bear unto thee, to live and die against all manner of folks.’

Front of altar steps: 1970s – Decimal Day by Barbara Hadlow

For centuries, Britain relied on a coinage system of pounds, shillings and pence. Twelve pennies made a shilling and 20 shillings a pound. It’s hard to imagine for those under 50, but it was a complex arithmetic that many wrestled with every day.

In 1961 a special committee was set up to think about whether Britain should introduce a decimal currency. On 1st March 1966 the Chancellor of the Exchequer, James Callaghan, announced that pounds, shillings and pence would be replaced by a decimal currency, with 100 units in a pound.

So what should those units be called? The committee had thought about cents and dollars, but eventually decided to stick with pounds and pence. They proposed five new coins, with designs and shapes that were similar to the old coinage.

Decimal Day was set for 15th February 1971 when the new coins would be introduced and Britain’s monetary system saw its biggest change for more than 1,000 years.

Altar: 1970s – Silver Jubilee by Jane Ritchie

The Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II marked the 25th anniversary of Queen Elizabeth II’s accession to the thrones of the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. The actual anniversary of The Queen’s Accession on 6th February 1952 was commemorated in church services throughout that month.

The full jubilee celebrations began in the summer of 1977 with many street parties and parades taking place throughout the country.The Queen also embarked on a large scale tour, having decided that she wished to mark her jubilee by meeting as many of her people as possible. No other Sovereign had visited so much of Britain in the course of just three months. Official overseas visits were also made and during the year it was estimated that the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh travelled 56,000 miles.

On the evening of Monday, 6th June The Queen lit a bonfire beacon at Windsor which started a chain of beacons across the country. The next day vast crowds saw the Queen drive in the Gold State Coach to St Paul’s Cathedral for a Service of Thanksgiving. Afterwards she attended a lunch at the Guildhall, in which she made a speech declaring ‘My Lord Mayor, when I was twenty-one I pledged my life to the service of our people and I asked for God’s help to make good that vow. Although that vow was made in my salad days, when I was green in judgement, I do not regret nor retract one word of it’.

Lady Chapel: 1980s – Royal Residences by Nikki Gaskell

The collage showed the two royal residences that the Queen spends holidays at: Balmoral Castle and Sandringham House.

Balmoral Castle – The Scottish home of the Royal Family. It is used as the private residence of the Queen and her family, who take residence in the castle each summer. The Castle was purchased by Prince Albert for Queen Victoria in 1852. However the castle was deemed too small and a bigger version was built adjacent to the original. Work began in 1853 and the new castle was completed in 1856. The castle sits on the 20,000-hectare Balmoral estate in Royal Deeside.

Sandringham House – It has been the private home in Norfolk of British monarchs since 1862. The house was the venue of the first ever Christmas broadcast. It remained as such until Queen Elizabeth II changed the broadcast to a televised version in 1957, filmed in the library at Sandringham. The Royal Family spend Christmas here and can be seen making their way to Church each Christmas morning.

Lady Chapel: 1980s – Miners’ Strike by Jane Ritchie

The miners’ strike of 1984 – 1985 was one of the most bitter industrial disputes Britain has ever seen. The year-long strike involved hardship and violence as pit communities from South Wales to Scotland fought to retain their local collieries.

On 12th March 1984, Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM), called a national strike against the pit closures. Britain was to witness a fierce, hard fought battle involving the government, police, press and the NUM.

A key confrontation occurred in the ‘Battle of Orgreave’ when one mass picket on 18th June 1984 was 10,000 strong and the pickets were met with police in riot gear, police horses and dogs. Thousands of miners were arrested, fined, imprisoned or sacked, some never to work again.

On another occasion a coach load of pickets arrived in our Yorkshire Dales village of West Burton – they had meant to go to West Burton Power Station in Nottinghamshire!

Lady Chapel window: 1990s – Harry Potter by Jean Styles

Harry Potter is a series of seven fantasy novels written by British author J K Rowling from June 1997 – July 2007.

Since the release of the first novel – Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone – the books have found immense popularity, they have attracted a wide adult audience as well as younger readers and are often considered cornerstones of modern young adult literature.

The books have sold more than 500 million copies worldwide, making them the best-selling book series in history and have been translated into eighty languages. The original seven books have been adapted into an eight-part namesake film series.

Lady Chapel ledge: 1990s – The Royal Yacht Britannia 1953 to 1997  by Joan Ford

‘Looking back over forty-four years we can all reflect with pride and gratitude upon the great ship which has served the country, the Royal Navy and my family with such distinction’. (Her Majesty The Queen)

Britannia was the first Royal Yacht to be built with complete ocean-going capacity and designed as a Royal residence to entertain guests around the world and also double as a hospital ship in time of war. She was launched from the John Brown & Company shipyard in Clydebank on 16th April 1953 and was in service from 1954 – 1997.

For over 44 years the Royal Yacht travelled more than a million nautical miles to become one of the most famous ships in the world. When she was decommissioned on 11th December 1997, it marked the end of a long tradition of British Royal Yachts, dating back to 1660 and the reign of Charles II. Today Britannia is permanently berthed at Ocean Terminal, Leith in Edinburgh and is a visitor attraction and exclusive evening events venue.

Lady Chapel ledge: 1990s – State visit to South Africa by Barbara Hadlow

One of the highlights of the Queen’s reign was meeting Nelson Mandela in Cape Town in March 1995, when the she paid a State Visit with the Duke of Edinburgh, as the guests of the President.

The Queen had last toured South Africa as a young princess in 1947 with her parents and sister. She returned following the end of apartheid and white minority rule as British Head of State and as Head of the Commonwealth. Though she had flown to South Africa, the plan was to arrive, officially, by sea, as in 1947. Therefore the Queen joined the Royal Yacht at Simon’s Town naval base the night before. The voyage into Cape Town took Britannia past Robben Island, where Nelson Mandela had spent much of his adult life in prison; now here he was, waiting on the red carpet to greet her as she walked down the gangway!

This proved to be a highly successful tour and the Queen described it as one of the outstanding experiences of her life.The Queen and Nelson Mandela were known to enjoy a warm friendship. In fact they became so close he was one of the few people permitted to call her by her first name.

Entrance to Lady Chapel: Collage of Family Life by Margaret Proctor

South facing windows

2000s – Eat your 5-a-Day (NHS) by Eve Peacock

On 23rd March 2003. the 5-a-day campaign was launched by the government, following a recommendation by the World Health Organisation (WHO), to encourage people to increase their consumption of fruit and vegetables to at least five portions a day.The WHO recommended eating a minimum of 400g of fruit and vegetables every day to lower the risk of serious health problems, such as heart disease, stroke and some types of cancer.

2000s – Golden Jubilee by Ray Wilkinson

‘Gratitude, respect and pride, these words sum up how I feel about the people of this country and the Commonwealth – and what this Golden Jubilee means to me’.(The Queen)

A packed programme of events took place in 2002 to celebrate fifty years of The Queen’s reign. The central focus for the year was the Jubilee weekend in June which began with a classical music concert in the gardens at Buckingham Palace. There was a Jubilee Church Service at St George’s Chapel in Windsor and a National Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral which followed a Ceremonial Procession from Buckingham Palace. Events culminated in a pop concert at Buckingham Palace with performers including Paul McCartney, Bryan Adams, Elton John and Shirley Bassey. The evening ended with a spectacular fireworks display and The Queen lighting the National Beacon, the last in a string of 2,006 beacons which had been lit in a chain across the Commonwealth.

2010s – 2012  Summer Olympics by Mandy Banks

The opening ceremony of the 2012 Summer Olympics took place on the evening of Friday, 27th July in the Olympic Stadium in the East End of London, during which the Games were formally opened by Queen Elizabeth II. The artistic spectacle to showcase the host nation’s culture was directed by Danny Boyle and was entitled ‘Isles of Wonder’.

The opening ceremony was immediately hailed a tremendous success and received widespread acclaim.10,768 athletes from 204 National Olympic Committees participated. The United States won the most gold medals (46) and the highest number of medals overall (104). China finished second with a total of 91 medals (38 gold) and Great Britain came third with 65 medals overall (29 gold).

Nicola Adams was the first woman in history to win an Olympic boxing title and Chris Hoy is the most successful Olympic cyclist of all time. [At the 2012 Games] He won two gold medals.

The Olympic symbol is based on a design first created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1913. The five interlaced rings represent the union of the five continents of the World and the meeting of athletes from throughout the world at the Olympic Games, whilst the colours are those that appear on all the National flags of the World at the time of its inception. The Olympic rings made their first appearance at the Games of the VII Olympia Antwerp in 1920.

West window: 2010s – the Queen’s 90th Birthday by Mary Sutherland

The Queen celebrated her 90th birthday on 21st April 2016 and her official birthday on 11th June 2016. Her Majesty’s actual birthday was spent in Windsor where she met well-wishers during a walkabout in the town centre, before unveiling a plaque marking The Queen’s Walkway. Later in the evening, Her Majesty, with the Prince of Wales, lit the principal beacon which set in train a series of over 900 beacons across the country and worldwide to celebrate her momentous milestone.

On 10th June the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh attended a Service of Thanksgiving at St Paul’s Cathedral. Prayers at the service were led by people representing aspects of Her Majesty’s life and role. Sir David Attenborough read Paddington Bear creator Michael Bond’s personal account of growing up to be 90.

On 11th June, The Queen’s Official birthday, Her Majesty was joined by members of her family at The Queen’s Birthday Parade on Horse Guards Parade, followed by an appearance on the balcony of Buckingham Palace with a Flypast.June 12th saw a huge street party and parade take place on the Mall – The Patron’s Lunch – a celebration of over 600 charities and organisations that the Queen was Patron of.

Baptistry: 2010s – The wedding of William and Kate by Susan Fawcett and Christine Tuer

HRH Prince William of Wales married Catherine Middleton on 29th April 2011 in Westminster Abbey. They first met in 2001 while studying at the University of St Andrews. They began dating in 2003 and announced their engagement on 16th November 2010. Prince William is second in the line of succession to the throne.

The Queen gave her formal consent to the marriage and said she was ‘absolutely delighted’ for the couple. She declared that the wedding day would be a public holiday throughout the United Kingdom.

Lining the aisle of Westminster Abbey were eight 20 feet-high trees – six English Field Maple and two Hornbeam. Catherine carried a bouquet of Myrtle, Lily-of-the-Valley, Sweet William, Ivy, Myrtle and Hyacinth. The Dean of Westminster conducted the service, the Archbishop of Canterbury married the couple and the Bishop of London gave the address.

Baptistry: 2010s – The Duke of Edinburgh. 10th June 1921 to 9th April 2021 by Susan Fawcett and Christine Tuer

HRH Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, was the husband of Queen Elizabeth II. As such, he was the consort of the British monarch from her accession as Queen on 6th February 1952 until his death on 9th April 2021 two months before his 100th birthday, making him the longest serving consort in history. He was also the longest-lived male member of the British royal family.

He retired from his royal duties on 2nd August 2017, aged 96, having completed 22,219 solo engagements and made 5,493 speeches.Prince Philip was a patron of over 780 organisations.

He launched the highly successful Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Scheme in 1956. He was especially interested in scientific and technological research, conservation and the environment and the encouragement of sport. He played polo until 1971, when he started to compete in carriage driving, a sport which he helped to expand; the early rule book was drafted under his supervision.

In 2017, Her Majesty appointed The Duke of Edinburgh to be a Knight Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order in recognition of his years of service.’He is someone who doesn’t take easily to compliments but he has, quite simply been my strength and stay all these years’ said The Queen, in a speech to mark their Golden Wedding Anniversary ‘and I owe him a debt greater than he would ever claim, or we shall ever know.’

BAWB Federation Displays

School children at the BAWB Federation schools (Askrigg, Bainbridge and West Burton) created two special displays to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee

Thornton Rust Kennel Field Trust has started a 100 club as a fund raising effort to save the Kennel Field  not just for the villagers but for all those who love wildflowers and a special view over Wensleydale. (Above: Looking down from the Kennel Field to Thornton Rust)

The field, which is accessed from a footpath south of the village, acquired its name from the kennels which were used by the Wensleydale Harriers from the 1920s to the late 1970s.

The grassland in it had never been “improved” and so in spring there is a rich tapestry of wild flowers from marsh marigold in the wet areas to cowslips, early purple orchids, dog violets and pignut, the latter attracting tiny, black chimney sweeper moths.

The Kennel Field Trust was set up in 1999 to bring the field into public ownership and to restore it so that all could freely enjoy it.  Villagers have put in many hours of voluntary work including restoring and maintaining a traditional barn, the mash house and an 18th century lime kiln. The kennels,  however, were  beyond redemption.

The Trust received one of the first grants awarded by the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust and has received another grant in 2017. For the first two decades this millennial project had sound finances partly due to income from agri-environment schemes. But that is no longer the case.

As the Trust is a charity if it cannot afford to pay the insurance the field would have to be sold to the highest bidder.

“This would mean access to enjoy the flower-rich grassland and fabulous views would be gone, and without the Kennel Field link people would no longer be able to walk the circular path above the village,”  the Trust’s chairman, John Dinsdale, informed the villagers this week.

The cost of participating will be £12 a year, with the chance of winning one of three prizes at the quarterly draws.  The objective of the fund raising is to cover the cost of insuring the field and the buildings within it which now costs about £450 a year.

For more about the Kennel Field see https://www.facebook.com/KennelFieldTrust

An ARC News Service report on the meeting of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority‘s (YDNPA) planning committee on Tuesday January 11 when the applications discussed were: a proposed glamping site at Askrigg; and alterations at The Stables at Marske.

The members of the public (including myself) allowed to attend either part or all of the planning committee meeting complained about the acoustics in Grassington Devonshire Institute. The situation was made worse on January 11 because all the members had to wear masks even when they were speaking. But regularly those of us sitting at the back and furthest away from the amplifiers have found we could not clearly hear someone who was only two metres away from us.

Askrigg. –

Almost all of the members voted to refuse an application by Richard Alderson to have three glamping cabins, two with hot tubs, on a field by his house on the south-eastern side of Askrigg.

Mr Alderson told the committee that he had lived and worked in the National Park area all his life but his work had dried  up due to the pandemic. “We realised we needed another stream of income to secure our long-term stability,” he said. He had initially considered having a camp site but this would have probably meant up to six cars being parked there at any one time.

He said he had been advised to consider luxury low-key cabins which would be environmentally friendly. The income from these, he said, would not only help them but enable his family with their children to move back into the area later. He added that this would “help to stop Askrigg becoming a ghost town”.  He told the committee that the glamping site would also sustain local businesses and commented:  “We believed we had identified a niche opportunity.”

He pointed out that there had been no objections from the wildlife conservation officer. The YDNPA’s building conservation officer had no specific objections but had requested that consideration be given to the impact of new development upon the character of the conservation area.

The Highway Authority had, however, recommended that the application should be refused as the public highway leading to the site was, it stated, insufficient in width to accommodate the increase in traffic. Access would be via Silver Street and the unmade Cringley Lane.

The planning officer reported: “Silver Street is narrow and single width with houses and  high garden walls to either side. This leaves nowhere for on-coming vehicles to pull off the road to pass each other.

“Silver Street emerges onto the main road at the centre of Askrigg. The parish council and residents report that it is dangerous due to the lack of visibility.”

This was emphasised by David Blake, a retired professor of music, who, after 39 years of living in Askrigg, had moved with his wife to Cringley House four years ago. He said he was speaking on behalf of his neighbours, several of whom attended the meeting.

They were concerned, he reported, that they had not been informed that the application was on the agenda for the last meeting of Askrigg and Low Abbotside Parish Council and so they had not attended it. 

Mr Blake said the disturbance when work was being carried out on site was likely to be extreme and there would be continued disturbance to residents once the glamping cabins were in use. In addition, they believed the road was not suitable for heavy works traffic, and the additional vehicular use could make it difficult for emergency vehicles to gain access.

“This endeavour is entirely out of keeping with the environment [and]the landscape,” he said.

When recommending refusal the planning officer listed not only the highway issues but also that the proposed timber cabins would harm the appearance and the character of Askrigg Conservation Area and the surrounding landscape; and would cause overlooking, noise and disturbance that would be detrimental to the amenity of those living nearby.

Committee member Allen Kirkbride (from Askrigg) told the committee that the application had caused a lot of debate in the village. He summed up the arguments for and against the application before stating that he would abstain from voting. 

Marske. –

A planning officer visited The Stables at Marske last year to check on concerns raised by Marske and New Forest Parish Council which included the possibility of the holiday accommodation being used as a “party house”.

His presentation at the planning committee was barely audible but he was heard to say that after monitoring the situation there was no evidence of The Stables being used as a party house.

Oil tanks had, however, been installed to the rear of the Grade II listed former stable block and a wall increased in height so as to screen them without planning permission.

The committee agreed that the oil tanks were necessary for the heating systems and should remain. They also agreed with the planning officer that the section of wall which had been altered looked rough and unfinished, and was possibly unsafe. It should, therefore, be repaired to standard agreed by the planning authority.

The application by the Heritage Property Group (Marsk) Ltd also included alterations to the car parking layout so as to increase the number of spaces from 17 to 34.

In his report the planning officer stated that there had been no increase in the number of accommodation units and added: “The proposed increase in car parking spaces would litter the grounds of the listed building with parked cars when in full use, which would be substantially harmful to the setting of the building and amount to over-development of the site.” He believed the increase could lead to traffic conflict on holiday change-over days.

The applicant had altered the application after being advised to have 20 car spaces which would be two car spaces per unit.

Like the planning officer, members Kirkbride and Richmondshire District councillor John Amsden emphasised the need to ensure that a local farmer could still access a private farm track. For this reason the proposed parking spaces close to that access were removed from the plans.

Richmondshire District councillor Richard Good said the parish council was particularly concerned about parking on the site and the construction of the wall. He told the committee that there was a serious parking problem in Marske especially when walkers left their cars there.   

A plaque with the names of 12 more servicemen from Aysgarth parish who lost their lives during World War I has now been installed on the north wall of St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth. (Above: Nick Gaskell with the new plaque.)

The information about the servicemen was found by Penny Ellis during her detailed research prior to the 2018 Commemoration of the Centenary of the Armistice and was then checked several times to ensure accuracy.

The original plaque, installed by John Pickard and Son of Aysgarth just after the Great War, listed 20 servicemen. After World War II a plaque with four names was added and then one in memory of Captain Philip Guy RM who died in Iraq in 2003.

Installing the new plaque included taking down all the existing plaques and reorganising them to be in sequential historical order. When the frame for the original Great War plaque was removed large wooden plugs were revealed (right).

“That’s the way my father taught me,” commented David Pickard, while his son, John, and son-in-law James Guy, worked on moving it. They were grateful they didn’t need such plugs this time. (Below: James Guy working on removing the old frame, watched by John Pickard and Nick Gaskell.)

Aysgarth Parochial Church Council (APCC) plans now to refurbish the area beside the plaques.

Nick Gaskell, who is overseeing the project for Aysgarth Parochial Church Council, stated: “Currently, on Remembrance Sundays, the Act of Remembrance is conducted around the plaques. There is very little room for clergy, officials and wreath layers, to conveniently access the area to lay wreaths. As a result, the wreath laying procedure is awkward and rather undignified.”

Leeds Diocese has given approval for just the three short pews beside the plaques to be removed with suitable parts of them being used to construct a wooden memorial structure. This work will be carried out early next year.

The Rev Tom Ringland said: “With Remembrance continuing to be such a significant feature in society, I’m delighted we will be able to create a more accessible and appropriate memorial in St Andrews’ church, including the addition of recently discovered names of the fallen. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the project.”

The project has been funded by local donations. Once the joinery and plumbing work is complete the APCC plans to have good lighting installed by the plaques.

For Penny Ellis the research continues. She has added 19 additional names to the Roll of Honour for all who served from Aysgarth Parish bringing the total to 212 men and women. The WWI Roll of Honour can be viewed on her website www.thoralbythroughtime.net.

The church has been decorated ready for the Remembrance Service at 10.45am on Sunday November 14. This includes the waterfall of poppies in front of the east window.

Above: Quaker Houses at Bainbridge

For several months I have been immersed in researching the fascinating  history of the Wensleydale and Swaledale Quaker Trust.

The persecution of Quakers in the late 17^th century has left a surprising legacy in Wensleydale as the heritage exhibition at Bainbridge Meeting House from September 17^th to 19^th celebrates

The sufferings Quakers endured – including being imprisoned for not paying church tithes – led to the wealthier members of the Religious Society of Friends such as Francis Smithson of Richmond remembering the poor and homeless in their wills.

Smithson and his nephew, lead mining agent Philip Swale, left land (Smithson’s at Carperby) which provided the funding for Trusts in their names. By the late 18^th century there were five Trusts as others left land and property in their wills.

These five trusts have now been incorporated into the Wensleydale and Swaledale Quaker Trust. This has inherited eleven houses for rent in Wensleydale, some dating back to the 17^th century.

Quakers in the 17^th century had a significant impact upon local architecture one of the best examples being Countersett Hall where the founder of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers), George Fox, stayed.

Countersett Meeting House dates back to 1710 at a time when that hamlet was mainly inhabited by Quakers who helped to finance the construction of the ‘Quaker Bridge’ at Semerwater. Hugh Dower will be at that Meeting House from 2pm to 3pm each day September 17^th to 19^th to talk about the Quakers at Countersett.

There’s still a lot more research I want to do about the Wensleydale and Swaledale Quaker Trust – but first I wanted to create a broad view of the impact of Quakers on these dales for the exhibition. I plan to be at the exhibition each day so will try, with others, to answer any questions.  There will also be a notebook in which visitors can write comments or share their memories.

One who already has done so is Pat Daykin who, with her husband, ran the Victoria Arms at Worton for many years. She has recalled how, as a young teacher in 1956-7, she helped the pupils at Bainbridge School walk to Bainbridge Meeting House to have their dinners.

White Rose Candles in Wensley has survived flooding and lockdown to celebrate its 50th birthday as a business.

These days it is run by Jane Hammond and Sandra Hewitt who are partners in the business with the founders, Jennie and Mick White. (L-R: Mick and Jennie White, Jane Hammond and Sandra Hewitt)

“I can’t believe that a pair of dozy hippies have run a small business for so long, ” laughed Jennie. For she and her husband were hippies who dropped out of university and went in search of an alternative lifestyle.

They started candle-making in a cellar in their home in Pudsey in 1971. It began when they were offered quarter of a ton of paraffin wax “at a good price”. They had never made candles or run a business before.

At lot depended upon Mick having a scientific background and being an inventor. “He’s amazing. He invents and makes things, anything from scrap,” said Jennie.

And Jane and Sandra have found him just as helpful. They described him as brilliant and said he had saved the company a lot of money thanks to his ability to create the equipment required.

“Mick will always come if we ask him to help with something,” Jane added. Jane, who lives in Wensley, began working at White Rose Candles in 2008 and it was Mick who taught her how to make candles.

But much has changed since the days when Jennie could happily create candles using dried flowers and essential oils.

Jane explained: “Years ago you could just blend your own oils together and Jennie made some marvellous scented candles with essential oils but we are not allowed to do that anymore without getting special labels done and sending data sheets off, and somebody else has got to produce the information for us to put on the label, which you then send to the printer. So it’s a very expensive way of doing things now.

“You are constantly keeping up with the different rules and regulations to make sure any ideas you have are okay.”

Now they use fragrance oils instead and have to ensure their labels list every ingredient.  They also had to stop making candles that looked like cupcakes because, according to Trading Standards, they looked too much like food and a piece might be bitten off and choke a child.

There is still plenty of creativity, however. “Sandra is incredibly creative. We tend to have our own areas of expertise and we work really well together,” Jane said.

One of Sandra’s specialities is painting  Dales’ scenes on candles which she began several years ago to mark Yorkshire Day.

The last few years have been tough. First the business was flooded in 2019 and they lost about 80 per cent of their stock. Then there was the lockdown due to Covid-19 last year.

The pandemic also put a stop for a while to their regular orders from churches and two cathedrals for advent and Christmas candles.

Another major problem was that Jane and Sandra could not work so physically close to each other, and once they could open the doors to customers they had to ensure there were never too many inside the shop at once. This means both have to be on duty on the four days the shop is open (Wednesday to Saturdays each week) as monitoring the situation and selling would be too much for one person.

And that came after surviving lockdown. They are very grateful to Jane’s daughter, Emily, who built a website for them at a reasonable price so that they could advertise their candles throughout the country. “It was a godsend. We did really well with that during lockdown,” said Jane.

Sandra, who lives in Leyburn, added: “It was surprising. We didn’t really advertise it. We had it on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. We tried to keep up with that sort of thing. That’s how people find you now.”

Very different to the way that Jennie and Mick advertised their candles in magazines and at country shows. Sandra commented that they wouldn’t have time now to go to country shows and Jane added that they couldn’t afford the cost of renting a stand or the insurance these days what with all the regulations about risk assessment.

They still make candles and sell them at the watermill in Wensley leased to the business by the Bolton Estate.

The Whites were invited to look at the mill around 1978 when they were searching for  premises in a rural area.

Jennie said: “It was very, very derelict. Two trees were growing out of it, the floor boards had rotted, and there was no gas, water or electricity, or windows. We were given three years rent free to repair it. But it was an enormous step of faith. We came in February and Wensley was carpeted in snowdrops.

“We could never have run the business if the Bolton Estate had been greedy. They have charged modest rents and just let us get on with it. In many ways we owe a lot to the Bolton Estate.”

For Sandra and Jane it has become a way of life. Jane described how she can get an idea of a new product at bedtime, make a note on her iPad, send it to Sandra next morning, and they would be working on it before they got together at the mill.

Jane said: “I like being able to see something from the very beginning to the very end rather than being just part of [a production line]. Sometimes you see it right from the original concept through to it going on the shelf and somebody buying something that you thought of – it’s really satisfying.”

Two hands holding the world with the caption “We have no planet B” caught the attention of many who attended the preview of the Loving Earth exhibition at Bainbridge Quaker Meeting House.

Eleanor Scarr, whose family farms around Askrigg, commented:  “It covered everything for me – not just about trees or bees or cows or all the arguments people put forward [about climate change]. We all have to be aware and do what we can. Farmers have a lot to think about and also make a living at the same time. No easy answers I fear.”

The exhibition, which is open from 10am to 4pm from Friday July 16 to Tuesday July 27, includes many of the textile panels which will be on show at the national Loving Earth exhibition in Glasgow during the International Climate Change Conference (COP 26) in November.

After visiting Bainbridge Meeting House , one of the organisers of the national project, textile artist   Sue Tyldesley, described the  exhibition there as stunning and beautifully displayed.

She said: “It is not grand scale but is a hugely effective community involvement led by local Quakers and I hope it can be a model we promote generally. “Bainbridge Quakers have involved local schools and children did some excellent panels, some of which might form part of our ongoing [national] exhibition.  They brought in local people from different walks of life to choose and panel and talk about it. I hope Bainbridge Quakers might write up the model of what they did.”

On the Loving Earth website it states:  [This] project celebrates people, places, creatures and other things that we love but which are threatened by growing environmental breakdown. It offers a way to help people engage creatively and constructively with the issues, without being overwhelmed!”

The Bainbridge exhibition organisers said: “This is a wonderful opportunity to see the national exhibition. “Although many people are now concerned about climate change, they may feel powerless to do anything about it. The Loving Earth Project aims to show that making small steps can give them a direct stake in saving the planet. Hundreds of people in the UK and overseas have joined in this project to help to build momentum for action to prevent climate breakdown.“

“Initially a Quaker-led initiative, people of all ages are invited to design and make a textile image of a place, person or creature that is precious to them and is threatened by climate change, or an action they are taking in response. Nearly 200 beautiful panels have so far been created in a variety of styles and textile techniques.

“Everyone’s opinions, reactions and feelings are important. We are excited to be amongst the first groups to have the exhibition on loan and to be able to involve as many people from our Dales community as we can. We look forward to seeing you during the exhibition.”

A Powerpoint presentation featuring John Craven will be shown during the exhibition at Bainbridge Meeting House.

The Chief Executive of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, David Butterworth,  stated:  “The evidence that climate change is affecting the National Park is clear.  We can see it in the movements of flora and fauna.  We can see it in that one-in-one-hundred-year floods are happening much more frequently.“

Increasingly urgent political decisions need to be taken nationally and internationally to address climate change. But we also need to look at what can be done locally; with the Government’s recently announced funding promoting the changes that are taking place in upland farming being a good example. We can also all look at our own lives and ask, ‘What is it that we can do to make a change?’

“The ‘Loving Earth’ exhibition will help to keep the climate emergency in the public eye and I hope it will inspire those who come to view it to see that people can, and are, making a difference.”

Live music returns to Aysgarth church on Saturday July 17 thanks to the Wensleydale Concert Series.

The concerts are at Aysgarth church because the organisers, Carol Haynes and Liz Sowter, believe it is well suited for Covid-safe audiences. All the concerts will be full length with only a brief interval but, due to the pandemic, there will be no refreshments.

There will be two concerts a month in July, August and September, beginning with Thomas Guthrie (baritone) and Daniel Grimwood (piano) presenting Schubert’s The Wanderer Fantasy, Op.15 and Die Schöne Müllerin.

Daniel returns a week later on Saturday July 24 for a Trio Chamber concert with Peter Cigleris (clarinet) and Gemma Rosefield (cello). The programme will be Weber’s Grand Duo Concertant, Op.48 for clarinet and piano; Mendelssohn’s Sonata for Cello and Piano No.2 in D major, Op.58; and the Clarinet Trio Op.114  by Brahms.

On Wednesday August 11 guitarist Scott Bradley will present a concert which will include J.S.Bach’s Lute Suite BWV 997; John W Duarte’s English Suite Op.31; Johann Kaspar Mertz’s Hungarian Fantasy;  and the world premiere of Simon Runcorn’s Pretchistenka.

The piano recital by Philip Sharp on Wednesday August 25 includes music by Handel, Beethoven, Mahler, Debussy, Messiaen and Stravinsky.

Dvořák’s Slavonic Dances and arrangements of Brahms’ Hungarian Dances are included in the programme on Monday September 6 played by Robin Michael (cello) and Daniel Tong (piano).

And finally, on Wednesday September 22 pianist Alicja Fiderkiewicz returns to Aysgarth church for a concert which will encompass compositions by Schumann, Chopin (including Barcarolle), Bacewicz and John McLeod’s Hebridean Dances.

The concert organisers stated: “After an awful year we hope you are well and looking forward to an exciting programme of music this summer. It was a terrible year for musicians too and we have invited as many musicians as possible who had concerts cancelled last year.”

Last year, with funding from the Coop Community Fund they had planned to provide transport from different parts of Wensleydale using minibuses.

They can’t do that this year due to the pandemic but are willing to help those who might need to be accompanied by a friend or a carer by providing one free ticket. It might also be possible to pay for a taxi but for this they need to be contacted well in advance.

They don’t intend to sell tickets at the door as they have done previously. Instead tickets need to be booked in advance. For details see the website  or phone 01969 663026.

Covid guidance will be posted on the website before each concert. “We want people to feel and be safe,” the organisers said.

The white Peace and red Remembrance Poppies have again been mounted on the railings outside the Quaker Meeting House at Bainbridge.

Those who regularly attend meetings there said: “Why do we wear white poppies on Remembrance Day? We wear them to remember all the victims of war, to challenge militarism, and to build a culture of peace, remembering that, today, 90% of these victims are civilians.

“The custom of wearing white poppies was started in 1934 by the Peace Pledge Union, whose aim is to work against the causes of war, finding other solutions to international problems.

“Many people suffered from refusing to bear arms, being imprisoned, and even killed, for their beliefs. Locally, “The Richmond 16” were imprisoned in Richmond Castle for refusing to bear arms. Many Quakers and other Conscientious Objectors served as ambulance-drivers and stretcher-bearers in both world wars, and the movement continues to work actively for peace around the world.

“Today, the right to refuse to bear arms in enshrined in the Declaration of Human Rights, and on the 24th October, fifty nations signed up to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, adding them to landmines, cluster bombs, and gas, as illegal under international law.”

White poppy sales can be purchased from the Peace Pledge Union  https://shop.ppu.org.uk

All the stained glass windows have been installed since St Andrew’s Church was  rebuilt in 1866. Even that which had been in east window of the chancel for centuries was not re-installed.

Instead that of the coats of arms of Richard, Lord Scrope of Bolton Castle and James Metcalfe of Nappa Hall was carried off to St Jude’s RC Church at Ulshaw Bridge near Middleham. The small window had been  originally placed in St Andrew’s to commemorate the Battle of Agincourt in 1415 at which both Lord Scrope and James Metcalfe led men from Wensleydale. Today there are two replicas of that window at St Andrew’s. One is in the clerestory windows on the south side of the chancel and the other on the south side of the church near the Lady Chapel.

As you enter the main entrance look left to see two windows in the Baptistry.  The window immediately on the left, on the south side of the church, illustrates the first confirmation (Acts 8:14-17) and the calling of Barnabas and Saul (Acts 13:2-3). (left)

That behind the font, on the west side (above right), illustrates the parables of the talents and going forth to sow. This and the Rokeby window were donated by Elizabeth Dunn: that in the Baptistry was in memory of her father, Lawson Dunn and  her mother.

In the Baines’s Directory of 1823 for Thoralby Lawson Dunn was listed as a portrait painter while  Morris Lord Rokeby (3rd Lord Rokeby) was living at Littleburn in the same village. There was a close relationship between the Dunns and Lord Rokeby and when the latter died in 1829 he left Hill House, Thoralby, to Lawson. Lawson died a few weeks later. Lord Rokeby left substantial legacies to the Dunn family including Lawson’s daughter Elizabeth.

To see the Rokeby Window (left) walk straight across the back of the church and look left as it is on the north west elevation.  This is dedicated ‘To the memory of the right hon: Morris Lord Rokeby late of Littleburn.’  hence being known as the Rokeby Window.

The main sections depict the healing of the centurion’s servant and the parable about the workers in the vineyard.

(Information about the Dunn family and Lord Rokeby provided by Ann Hartley.)

North side of church:

The window (left) near the War Memorial plaques is in memory of William Purchas (1841-1919) and his five sisters. The Purchas family were Lords of the Manor for several generations.

Towards the east end of the north wall is the Doctors’ Window.  (right)

This illustrates the raising of the widow of Nain’s son and commemorates the life of Dr Matthew Willis who selflessly served Dales’ folk until his death in 1871.

To the left  of this window are memorials to three of his successors including Dr William Pickles who was awarded a CBE in 1957 for his pioneering work on the spread of epidemic diseases which he carried out in Wensleydale.

East end of the church:

The East Window  is a memorial to William and Ann Robinson of Redmire and Edgley and their children. It was unusual for the period as it was generally considered ‘high church’ (i.e. verging on Roman Catholicism as it depicts the Crucifixion).

The main panels of the window show the Passion of Our Lord and the Ascension, the central panel being the Crucifixion. In the top part of the window are depicted the Lamb of God, the Dove (Holy Spirit) and the Pelican, drops of whose blood, as it pecks at its own chest, symbolise the Blood of Christ. Underneath are several figures obviously of the Apostles and Evangelists.

The dedication at the bottom is now hidden by the Reredos. It reads: ‘In memory of William and Anne Robinson of Redmire and Edgley and their children, Ralph Robinson and Isabella Robinson of The Cliff, Leyburn, and George Place Robinson of West Burton MDCCCLXVI.’

The window was given by Henry Thomas Robinson, son of William and Anne, also of The Cliff, Leyburn. It was installed at the rebuilding of the church in 1866.The red marble columns in the clerestory of the nave were his gifts also. Henry died in 1886 and his four daughters then gave the Reredos and altar in memory of him and his wife, Elizabeth, who died in 1868.

Vestry window:

This window can only be seen when a member of the church with a key is present.

It depicts the story of the Good Samaritan and was given by the Rev John Winn (Vicar from 1827 to 1873) in gratitude for his safe deliverance from a vicious attack by robbers at his home, Nappa Mill near Askrigg, in 1860.

In the Lady Chapel

East Window:  This window is in memory of George and Ann Wray, their eight sons and their sons and children who died before 1871. They include Ann Fawcett Fraser‘ The Heroine of Cawnpore’

The four musicians shown at the top, below the eagle, are a harpist, a pipe player, a violinist and another harpist

South East Window:  (left) Jesus with Martha and Mary. In memory of Melesina Wray who died in Calcutta (Kolkata)  in 1860 and her husband, George Octavius Wray, died in 1893.

South West Window: (Above right) Jesus healing the sick when a man is let down on his bed through the roof (Mark 2:2-8). This window is in memory of the Rev John Chapman of Thornton Rust and Newfoundland who died in 1851.

South West near Lady Chapel:

This window was designed in 1905 by Caroline Townshend – a British stained glass artist of the Arts and Crafts movement.

The panel on the left shows Jesus washing the feet of his disciples, and the other side depicts him blessing the children who were brought to him.

The window is in memory of Fenwick William Stow MA, vicar of Aysgarth parish 1873-1905.

Do take time to look for all the squirrels!

The famous Edwardian Rock Garden in Aysgarth, Wensleydale, now belongs to the local community thanks to it being gifted to the parish council by Adrian and Rosemary Anderson.

left: Rosemary and Adrian Anderson with Cllr John Dinsdale in the Rock Garden.

The Andersons bought the Grade II listed Rock Garden in 2012 and have maintained it and kept it  open to the public throughout the year. This year, however, they wanted to sell their house in Wensleydale and settle in York but didn’t want to put the Rock Garden on the open market in case a new owner would keep it as private land.

They had researched gifting the 0.14acre walled site to the National Trust or English Heritage but when no solution was found they approached Aysgarth and District Parish Council and its chairman, John Dinsdale.

“John has been so enthusiastic from the start,” said Mrs Anderson. “But it is a big responsibility looking after it all the time. The people in Aysgarth have been so supportive.”

Cllr Dinsdale said: “When Adrian and Rosemary Anderson approached me regarding Aysgarth and District  Parish Council taking over the control and maintenance of the Edwardian Rock Garden, I put it to the parish council and we decided we would be honoured to preserve an important part of the local history for the community.  Not only is it a unique, beautiful and calm place, but it is of national importance.”

The Andersons were invited to address the parish council in November 2019. In February this year the councillors studied an independent report on the structural condition of the Rock Garden and considered that the recommendations made in it were relatively minor and not costly.

The councillors approved accepting the Rock Garden as a gift and for the necessary legal work to be carried out.

The ownership of the Rock Garden was transferred to the parish council on September 11 and a few days later the Andersons took Cllr Dinsdale and two other parish councillors around it to explain about its management and to hand over tools.

In her book about the Rock Garden Mrs Anderson wrote: “It was constructed by the Backhouse firm of York and is a rare surviving example of their work. The Rock Garden was designed as a kind of ‘walk through grotto’ with huge waterworn limestone blocks rising to about eight metres in places, low stone lintels and narrow winding paths.

“A mountain stream and cascade add to the alpine atmosphere and at the rear of the garden the visitor emerges into an open south facing lawned area with mixed borders that provides views of adjacent fields and trees.”

It continues to be open to the public but with the request that social distancing is observed. The public enter at their own risk and it is unsuitable for disabled or wheelchair access due to the narrow and uneven paths and steps. Admission is free and there is a donation box near the entrance which is at the west end of Aysgarth village.

The Parish Council are looking for volunteers to help with weeding and general maintenance  the odd afternoon contact John Dinsdale  Tel: 07805285346.

It was the headline that caught my attention: ‘Working Men and Poultry Keeping’. During the last decade of the 19th century several articles by the editor of Fowls, the Rev G.T.Laycock, were published in The Church Monthly.

He obviously admired the men who raised chickens in their backyards: ‘The backyard poultry keeper is invariably a man of resource. He has learnt what thousands of country cottagers have yet to learn – how to make the best use of his outdoor opportunities. How ingenious are his contrivances; how excellent his plans for economising space. Everything seems against him, and yet by care, attention and ingenuity he surmounts all difficulties and his fowls in their appearance and productiveness are his reward.’ (1895)

In an article in 1892 he wrote: ‘Many of those who habitually gaze upon smiling fields and picturesque landscape would be utterly astounded could they behold many a working man’s  poultry yard in the midst of a busy town. A flagged floor instead of greensward, and walls fifty feet high in place of hedgerows. Everything against him, in fact, but one – the keen interest of the owner and a fixed determination to succeed against all odds. And many do succeed.

‘The fowls that denizen such yards are not the puny, washed-out looking creatures most would think. The egg record is pretty sure indicator of a healthy state and many a town dweller’s egg record, when compared with that of his country cousin, knocks it altogether into a cocked hat. And how useful these eggs have proved too. For breakfast, tea or supper they are never out of place. Good nourishing food and appetising withal.

‘The next-door neighbour, too, who complains about the cock crowing, can generally be consoled with a half dozen sent now and again. The shop ones, he knows, offend the olfactory sense, and a too close inspection reveals a distinct portion of an embryo chick. Chanticleer may crow and the hens cackle throughout the livelong day. Their incessant rejoicings, instead of being a nuisance, are listened to with delight: they are, in fact, regarded as harbingers of the approaching gift.’

Laycock described some of that ingenuity by quoting an article in Fowls – a a penny weekly journal exclusively devoted to poultry-keeping.

“The very  cheapest [poultry]  house we know of is a large, empty ‘sugar-barrel’. This you can obtain at any good-natured grocer’s for a small sum, 1s. 6d we should think at the outside: a price surely within the reach of any working man. Thoroughly cleanse it from all sticky matter, for your own comfort and to save your clothes from damage. Then obtain half a dozen bricks and, having laid them evenly on the ground, set your barrel on its side firmly on top of them.

“This will serve not only to keep it steady but will also prevent the damp from rising through the floor. To prevent the tub from lurching, secure it by a couple of holdfasts to the wall. In one end of the cask cut out a square hole of moderate size for the door, fix it with a couple of small hinges, and attach a clasp and padlock for security.

“Above the door bore five or six holes for ventilation. At the further end of the barrel make a nest out of a couple of bricks placed at right angles to keep in the hay, and be sure you put in a nest egg or two to encourage laying. The house is now complete.

“Now for the perch. This can be manufactured out of a good stout broom handle, sawn off to the right length and well secured. We say, advisedly ‘well secured’ as there is nothing which fowls dislike so much as a shaky roost. Let the floor of the barrel be thickly covered with fine sifted mould or dry ashes, and beaten down smooth; as this will make a splendid floor, and the dry earth and ash prevent smell.

“Roof over the barrel with a piece of stout felt. Don’t buy the cheapest; it is not the cheapest in the end. You can get the very best for about 4 1/2d. per yard. Nail it securely on, and then give it a good coat of tar and sprinkle some fine grave upon it, and you will have a roof that will last for years.”

He especially recommended keeping pure breeds as these could be sold at a higher price and were more beautiful and ornamental. He stated later that it was better to keep to one variety rather than ‘a hotch-potch of mongrel blood’.

Several pure breeds were mentioned in articles: Minorcas, Redcaps, Leghorns, Langshans, Andalusians, Black Hamburghs (sic), Buff Orpingtons,  Plymouth Rocks (left) and  Wyandottes.

The latter, he said, had a combination of all the virtues: a splendid layer ever in winter and a very good table fowl. But he added: ‘For laying purposes pure and simple there is nothing better than a Minorca.  They lay very large white eggs … and lay well all the year round.’ They were, however, only moderate table birds he said. He also accepted that the Langshans were good table birds and excellent layers of dark brown eggs.

In 1895 he was full of admiration for Brown Leghorns. He said the first Leghorns – white ones – had been introduced to England from Italy in 1872. He loved the colours of the Brown Leghorns and wrote that they had hardy constitutions, were excellent egg-layers and reasonably good as table-birds. He added: ‘They seems to thrive here, there and everywhere; on the farm, the country run, or the backyard of the workman’s cottage they will render  a good account of themselves. ‘

That year he noted that the main aim was egg production and for that a cock was not necessary. He added:  ‘This omission will save annoyance to the neighbours, over-the-garden-wall conversations, complaints to the newspapers on the cock-crowing nuisance, solicitor’s letters, and a sundry visit or two to the police court.’

By then he was also full of admiration for Brown Leghorns. He said the first Leghorns to be imported from Italy in 1872 were white. The brown ones came later and he believed the darker colours were better for small town yards.

Women and girls were, of course, also involved in taking care of chickens and in 1898 there was an article by a Mrs R Browne. She left backyards to men and instead focussed on those living in the suburbs or had a small house in the country. She also believed that a profit could be made from poultry-keeping and wrote: ‘ The keep of a hen throughout the year is on average three halfpence a week. You should make by your eggs about three or four shillings a week.’

She wrote: ‘Cochins, Dorkings, Hamburghs and Minorca fowls are all good breeds but, for a beginner, I recommend Brahma hens crossed with a Dorking cock. This breed are fast growers, surpassing in size any other breed and producing splendid table poultry. They are also hardy, good winter layers, exemplary mothers; and they seldom get out of condition . Brahma hens, if regularly and rightly fed, and warmly housed, will often lay nearly every day in the winter and, if pure bred, are known to lay 30 or 40 eggs before they want to sit.’

She advised that it was best to keep only young birds, and also described how to feed and house them. Her henhouse, however, was far more mundane. ‘A henhouse with five or six hens and a cock to start with, need not to be more than five yards square, with a slanting roof six or eight feet. It must be well ventilated, with nests on the ground and rough bark poles for perches. You must see that the boards are well tongued together and tarred, to keep out wind and rain.’

She told her readers: ‘Poultry keeping can be made a profitable and pleasant occupation for a lady provided she looks after them herself; insists on the strictest cleanliness, regularity in feeding… and does not leave them to the tender mercies of a house-boy or an over-worked maid-of-all-work.’

The illustration (below) for her article showed a girl dressed more for going out to tea than feeding hens!

Very definitely a different audience to Laycock’s working men!

The local musicians who led Dales folk dancing right through the night in the early 1900s are celebrated in a book full of fascinating detail and music published as part of the Yorkshire Dales Folk Dance and Tunes Project at the Dales Countryside Museum (DCM) in Hawes.

The author, Bob Ellis of Gayle, has entitled it There was None of this Lazy Dancing, quoting a concertina player, Sam Fawcett of Baldersdale (1878-1960). Fawcett said: “When we get a drop of beer… and got into full blast, there was none of this lazy dancing!” (Pictured on front cover are Peter and Jackie Beresford.)

And a popular accordion player, Harry Cockerill (1914-1994) who farmed in upper Langstrothdale told of how he would milk the cows on the way home from an all-night dance.

Bob doesn’t just give detailed biographies of musicians such as Cockerill, Brian and Jackie Beresford and their family, and Dick and John Wallbank, but also transpositions of their music some of which was almost certainly unique to the Dales.

He can assert this because of the meticulous research he has carried out since 2011. “Although the project was my idea, it was prompted by comments and suggestions made by Fiona Rosher [the DCM manager]. I was already playing a lot of British and European folk dance music and wanted to add a local element to my repertoire.

“I discovered there were only two people in the Dales (both quite elderly) who were still playing that type of music and that it was in danger of dying out,” he said. Those men were Tim Boothman from Threshfield whose late wife, Rosie, was the daughter of Jackie Beresford, and Sam Fawcett’s son, Septimus.

The result is the most complete record to date of Dales musicians and their music in a very easy to read and enjoyable format. Ellis has drawn together all previously published material and, through his own research, been able to add that which has never before been published. As more is coming to light he plans to post it on his website (www.dalestunes.org.uk).

The book is in A4 format which has allowed him to print a tune per page along with what is known about its history. One of Peter Beresford’s tunes can be traced back to an itinerant bagpiper in Vienna in the 17th century.

Ellis points out that most of the Dales musicians couldn’t read music. They learnt tunes by ear and then adapted them to the needs of the barn dancers.

The music begins with that of William Calvert (1780-1847) thanks to Lynn Wood of Haworth acquiring his tunebook at an auction in Leyburn in 2002.

Calvert’s family probably paid for his gravestone at Spennithorne churchyard but for the Dales Minstrel, William Bolton, friends raised the funds for his gravestone at Burnsall churchyard when he died in 1881.

Many of these Dales’ musicians came from very straightened circumstances but they provided something very important for Dales folk.

Bob comments:“Dances provided opportunities for people in the scattered neighbouring villages to meet up, exchange news, socialise and enjoy themselves. No wonder village dances were popular – few other events in the lives of Dales folk provided a relief from the drudgeries of daily life, an opportunity to enjoy yourself and socialise and, for the younger people, a chance to meet members of the opposite sex with a view to finding a partner for life.”

Bob is sure there was a Dales’ style of dance music. When quoting Sam Fawcett that there was “none of this lazy dancing”, Bob writes: “To cater for this energetic dancing, the musicians adopted a vigorous, unadorned style of playing that focused more on rhythm than melody.”

He has included a detailed section on Morris and Sword dancing in the Dales. He states: “Whilst not entirely unique to Yorkshire because isolated examples have been recorded in the Shetland Islands and on the Isle of Man, all the other known longsword dances in Britain originated in villages in Yorkshire (87 in all) or in neighbouring counties. The teams in the Dales that survived longest were at Kirkby Malzeard, Bellerby and Hunton.

“An unlikely organisation that helped some of the longsword dances to survive the lean period during the first half of the 20th century, when many teams stopped dancing, was the Women’s Institute, which encouraged the creation of women’s teams in some local villages. In 1929, for instance, Middleham W.I. …came third in a longsword competition held at Castle Howard.”

Bob (left)has been playing the melodeon since 1994, has organised Melodeons in Wensleydale weekends at the DCM as well as two traditional dance evenings for the Friends of the DCM.

His book can be laid flat so that musicians can easily read and play the tunes. And those who buy the book (£20 plus £4 postage) will be able to download and play the audio files. For more information see www.dalestunes.org.uk.

Pip Pointon

Jean Cockburn (93) and Irene Pickard (85) have been friends in Aysgarth for over 65 years and not even a pandemic can keep them apart, especially on the 75th anniversary of VE Day.

Jean slowly made her way into the centre of the village twice that day. The first time was after the National Moment of Remembrance for which she and many others stood at their doorsteps while the Last Post and Reveille were played on the speakers at Aysgarth Institute. She then joined Irene for a short walk and to sit and chat on the benches on the village green. There they watched children with their parents taking part in the Fairy Door Trail organised by James Metcalfe and which raised £30 for Yorkshire Air Ambulance.

At 3pm Winston Churchill’s Victory speech was played over the institute speakers. At 9pm Jean made her way into the village centre again – this time to join about 40 others who had gathered to listen to the Queen’s speech and  We’ll Meet Again  broadcast from the Institute. The activities were organised by Aysgarth Institute and social distancing was maintained.

Many had decorated their houses and windows for the occasion and these were judged by Steve Jack from Aysgarth Garage. He reported that it was not easy to judge the displays with slim margins between them but declared the winners of the best dressed house as Jane and Michel and those for the best dressed window as Max and Molly (ably assisted by their parents Rachel and Nick).  Each winning household received a box of slimline Quality Street chocolates.

It all added up to a very sociable, enjoyable and memorable day.

Above: Jean (left) and Irene meeting each other at the village green — and then enjoying a suitably distanced chat (below).

Above: Irene and Derrick Pickard with their son David. 

Below: Jean with her son Stuart just after the two-minute silence. 

Above: the VE Day celebration display created by the Pickard family.

Below: Jill and James Metcalfe, with their son Richard above.

Above: Max and Molly (at back) who, like several other children in the village, had a great time decorating their homes (with a little help from their parents). Their efforts won them the prize for the best dressed VE Day window.

Above: Lily-Anne and Aiden.

Below:  the window decorated by Charlotte and Abigail.

Above: Thomasina with her dad, Jason.

There were two French flags and the Welsh flag flying in the village that day – the former as the households had connections with France, such as Jane and Michel’s (below). Theirs won the competition for the best dressed VE Day house.

Below: And there were some who had been very busy that morning. Steve getting ready to deliver packed lunches prepared at the Hamilton’s Tea Shop to elderly people in mid Wensleydale.

Below: Scenes from around the village

From The Church Monthly: In April and May 1892 the Vicar of Aysgarth, the Rev Fenwick Stowe,  reported on how a ‘miners’ strike’ had affected the train service in Wensleydale, and the Rev Theodore Wood recounted how he had a ‘duet’ with a nightingale.

The Rev Stowe wrote in the Aysgarth Parish Magazine in April: ‘ The principal event of March in our Parish was the Confirmation on the 18th. It had been arranged for our [35] candidates to go to Askrigg, but three days before the date fixed the afternoon trains were taken off, and the Bishop of Ripon most kindly consented to hold an additional Confirmation here, as we could not vey well go to Askrigg. So the great miner’s strike was productive of some good after all. The Bishop gave a most beautiful address and everything passed off  as well as possible.’

It is likely that the Rev Stowe was referring to the closure of the Durham mines from February until June 1892. In 1891 the Durham Coalowners Association had proposed reducing the miners’ wages by 15 per cent as the low price of coal had led to a loss of profits. In January  1892 Durham Miners’ Association refused to accept any reduction in wages or to go to arbitration. So, on February 27, the owners closed the mines. The man who mediated the settlement three months later was the Bishop of Durham, the Rt Rev Brooke Foss Westcott. The owners agreed not to reduce wages by more than 10 per cent and that no miners would be victimised. Bishop Westcott was known for taking a practical interest in the miners. His last sermon was at Durham Cathedral during the service for the Durham Miners’ Gala on July 20 1901 and he died on July 27.

From Rev Wood’s An April Ramble: If our ramble takes place after the 15th of the month we ought to hear the nightingale; provided, of course, we dwell in a part of the country which nightingales favour with their summer residence. It is quite a mistake to suppose that these birds only sing by night; for they sing at almost any hour of the 24, if only they are far enough removed from the dwellings of man.

I always challenge them to a competition by whistling a few soft notes, and then waiting for an answer. In a few seconds, at the most, this always comes: for the nightingale is very proud of his own vocal powers, and ever ready to enter the lists with a competitor. So we whistle and reply to one another, the bird and I, for a minute or two, and then the nightingale grows excited and comes a little nearer; and we carry on the duet until he comes nearer still, and finds out the trick that has been played upon him. And then, I regret to say, he gives vent to a perfect torrent of abuse, in tones which no one would ever have imagined could possibly have proceeded from a nightingale’s throat.

Shakespeare tells us that the hen bird is the vocalist.

‘The nightingale, if she should sing by night,

When every goose is cackling, would be thought

No better a musician than the wren.’

But here Shakespeare is wrong, for it is the cock only that sings; and his impassioned strains seem designed first to win the heart of his little brown lady-love, and then to cheer her as she patiently sits on her five olive-green eggs.

From A May Ramble: A nightingale is singing away merrily. Somewhere hard by, but so cleverly hidden that it takes a keen eye to detect it, is his nest, with his homely little mate sitting upon her eggs. So long as her labour of love continues, so long  will  he continue to cheer her with bursts and snatches of melody. But as soon as the little ones appear his vocal powers will leave him; and then for ten long months he will be as voiceless as his mate.

Here … is another nest, a hedge-sparrow’s, this time with three pretty pale blue eggs already gleaming out  upon the warm lining of moss and hair. Let us hope no wandering cuckoo will detect it, and place one of its own eggs therein; for in that case the poor hedge-sparrow will lose all hope of bringing  up her family. The young cuckoo, almost as soon as he is born, will realise that there is not sufficient room in the nest for its rightful occupants as well as himself; and, taking advantage of his superior strength, he will push them over the side, one after another, until he is left alone in the usurped dwelling. Strange to say the bereaved hedge-sparrows seem careless of the fate of their offspring, and bring all the food which should have  gone into the five  little gaping beaks to be devoured by the murderous cuckoo! The mother cuckoo, meanwhile, having laid her egg, seems to lose all further interest in it, and never comes near the nest again; so the parent and child remain for ever strangers.

I once found two cuckoo’s eggs in the same nest – a very rare event. I wondered if both cuckoos had hatched out? Probably they would first have thrown out their fellow-nestlings, and then have had a duel, in the course of which the weaker of the two would have shared the same fate. For the young cuckoo grows so fast that in a very short time there would have been no room in the nest for both; and I am quite sure that one pair of hedge-sparrows could never manage to find food enough for two such voracious little creatures.

What is that bright green inset which flew up from the patch of sandy ground just at our feet? Here is another running rapidly along a foot or two in front. We make a quick dab at it – for it takes to flight almost as readily as a blue-bottle fly – and find that we have captured a tiger-beetle. He tries his very best to bite us, and those big curved jaws look sharp and powerful enough to pierce at least the skin of our fingers; but we know how to hold him, and he has recourse to his other means of defence – a curious odour, vey much like the scent of the sweet briar, which he is able to pour out at will. Having admired his armour of green and bronze and gold we let him go, to resume his ravages among  his fellows. For the tiger-beetle is aptly named and is one of the scourges of the insect world.

For more about the Rev Theodore Wood see Memories of a beetle collector

Sources: “The Story of the Durham Miners” by Sidney Webb, The Labour Publishing Co Ltd, 1921

Wikipedia – about Bishop Westcott

“The Church Monthly” including the “Aysgarth Parish Magazine”, April and May 1892 with permission of Aysgarth PCC

The work by Thornton Rust villagers  to conserve the ecology and history of the Kennel Field has now been celebrated with an interpretation board thanks to a grant from the Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT).

The interpretation board (above), produced by Shelley Designs, was installed on the renovated Mash House by Paul Sheehan of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority and two Kennel Field Trustees, David Preston and Deborah Millward.

The board includes photographs of the Mash House (used to cook food for Wensleydale Harriers hounds) and a mid-19th century field barn before they were restored by villagers with the help of one of the first grants awarded by the YDMT over 20 years ago. The kennels used by the Wensleydale Harriers from the 1920s until the late 1970s were, however, beyond redemption.

The grassland in the Kennel Field had not been improved and so in spring has a rich tapestry of wild flowers from marsh marigold in the wet areas to cowslips, early purple orchids, dog violets and pignut, the latter attracting tiny, black chimney sweeper moths.

In 2017 the Kennel Field Trust won a highly recommended award of £4,000 in the Conservation, Heritage and Environment category from the YDMT when the latter was celebrating its 20th anniversary celebration.

This has been used to carry out environmental improvements in the Kennel Field, erect a new fence, purchase a wooden bench which is now near the Mash House and produce the interpretation board. The artwork engraved on the bench by Daniel Thornton-Grace was created by one of the trustees, David Pointon.

Another trustee and its treasurer, Graham Darlington, wrote much of the text for the interpretation board.

At the meeting of the Kennel Field Trust on January 22 it was agreed that, following the untimely deaths last year of David Pointon and Graham Darlington, to ask their respective widows, Pip Pointon and Penny Noake, to become trustees. Lynda Denny also agreed to become a trustee with the added responsibility of taking over as treasurer.

The Trust’s chairman, John Dinsdale, and Deborah asked Pip and Penny if they would like a tree planted in a corner of the Kennel Field in memory of the service their husbands had given. Both agreed and asked if Janet Thomson (another trustee) would also like a tree for her husband, Mike Thomson, who died in January. This offer has been accepted.

The Kennel Field Trust was set up in 1998 to bring the field into public ownership and to restore it so that all could freely enjoy it. There is an 18th century field lime kiln near the western entrance and details about how that was used are included on the interpretation board.

The Kennel Field can be accessed from the car parlk in the Outgang, the lane opposite Thornton Rust village hall. Villagers have carried out extensive restoration work at the Outgang and there is an interpretation board by the car park to explain how the area was used by farmers in the past.

ARC News Service reports from YDNPA planning committee meetings in 2019 with settlements in alphabetical order.

Pip Pointon reports on the YDNPA meetings on a voluntary basis as part of the Association of Rural Communities commitment to local democracy in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

John Blackie – At the beginning of the meeting of the planning committee in August 2019  the chairman, Julie Martin, asked everyone to stand for a minute’s silence in memory of John Blackie. She said: “He has made an enormous contribution to this committee over the years and an enormous contribution to his own community.”

February 2019

The split in the committee so evident at the December meeting was less apparent this time – but was clearly visible in the voting concerning the proposed new agricultural building at Throstle Nest Farm, Thornton Rust. There again the decision depended upon the chairman of the planning committee, Richmondshire District councillor Caroline Thornton-Berry, voting with seven others in line with the officer’s recommendation to refuse the application. Most of the elected representatives voted to approve it. But this time, at least, there was a more open debate compared to the meeting in December.

Conversion of barns and traditional buildings:

After tensions ran high in December about barn conversions the planning committee found that even the most straight forward of applications were on the agenda at the February meeting.

When asked about this by Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock the Authority’s head of development management, Richard Graham, replied: “I am concerned that officers’ interpretation of policy is somewhat determined by members’ interpretation of policy. So, in the interests of consistency in decision making… it is for the best interests of the Authority that these are brought to the committee.”

All five of the applications for converting traditional roadside buildings were quickly approved: three  from Wharfedale and two from Arkengarthdale –  for the Old Butcher’s Shop at Langthwaite, and Neddy’s Barn, East of Eastfield on the  Arkengarthdale Road.

Dan Gracey, the agent for the owner of the Old Butcher’s Shop, described it as an interesting little building in the centre of Langthwaite. The back of the building facing the beck is lower than the front and that will contain two bedrooms and a bathroom. The kitchen and living room will be in the upper floor which is level with the road at the front.  Mr Gracey said the owner had worked closely with the planning officers to achieve an acceptable design.

The planning officer told the committee that the conversion would maintain the character and appearance of the building and would not harm its setting within the village.

North Yorkshire County councillor John Blackie welcomed both this application and that for Neddy’s Barn as Arkengarthdale so needed local occupancy housing.

Richard Coates read a statement by his son, Thomas, about why he wanted to convert Neddy’s Barn into a two-bedroom dwelling. Thomas recalled that when he attended Arkengarthdale School there were 34 pupils and now, he said, there were only three. He explained he had gone on to qualify as a joiner and had the skills to work on the conversion himself, making it affordable to him.

He said: “I would like the chance to preserve this building for the future while also providing a home for myself. This is my one chance to remain in the Dale.” He added that he would maintain the agricultural character of the barn and there would be minimal impact upon the landscape because no external alterations or extensions were needed.

Cllr Blackie commented: “Wasn’t it wonderful to hear somebody of the age of 21 prepared to stay in the Upper Dales for the rest of their life.”

Askrigg – February

Three representatives of the Askrigg Foundation charity  had to wait several hours before the planning committee considered – and unanimously approved –  an application to create three affordable dwellings for rent in perpetuity at the foundation’s buildings in Askrigg.

“It’s great isn’t it? So pleased with the decision and all the support we had. Now the hard work starts in earnest,” commented Betsy Everett.

This approval means that the charity can not only renovate the retail unit and relocate the office to the ground floor, but also convert the upper two storeys into residential flats and the rear building into a cottage. This is the third community-led housing scheme in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the others being the three-home scheme completed in Hudswell last year, and a four-home scheme at Arkengarthdale for which planning permission has been granted.

Askrigg – March

A large field barn at Long Shaw near Bainbridge may be beautiful and large enough for a family home but converting it would be against policy the planning committee decided by an eight to seven vote.

Edward Scarr told the meeting that it would make a suitable family home given its location on the family farm. “It would be ideal for my work. We have four young children under the age of six and want to convert the barn into a family home.”

He said that he and his wife, Gwen, had always lived and worked in Wensleydale and converting the barn would enable them to raise their family on the farm. Mrs Scarr attended the meeting with their daughter Faye who was born in late February.

They heard several committee members speak in support of the planning officer who had stated that the YDNPA’s policy required that to be suitable for conversion a barn had to be in an existing settlement or building group, or be close to or adjoining a road.

He reported that the barn at Long Shaw was 110 metres from a road and would require a long track to be created and a significant length of walling to be moved to provide access to a road.

He added: “Although the proposed works to the barn are relatively well designed, it is in a very prominent and exposed position in the landscape. Its conversion to a permanently occupied dwelling would have a negative effect on the landscape that arises from the replacement of a simple, unadorned traditional farm building with a dwelling that has car parking, lighting, curtilage development, new access road and significant alterations to the existing roadside walls and the character of the road itself.”

Julie Martin agreed that this would be an intensive use of the barn which would have an impact upon the landscape. “It has been demonstrated there is a need but not at that location. The applicant has been asked to explore an alternative option,” she said.

Mr and Mrs Scarr had been told that, as it was accepted there wasn’t sufficient housing at the farm for the required number of agricultural workers, it was possible that an application for a new build dwelling at Yorescott Steading , where the ewes were lambed, would be acceptable. To this North Yorkshire County councillor John Blackie remarked that a new build might have more impact upon the landscape than a sympathetically converted barn.

Another North Yorkshire County councillor, Richard Welch, pointed out that many farmhouses were far from a road. “In ten years time you wouldn’t know it was a barn conversion,” he said.

Eden District councillor William Patterson agreed and asked if the YDNPA was going to pay for the upkeep of such buildings in the future – or would the owners be expected to keep them up as a national asset? He and others were concerned that if it was no longer needed for agricultural purposes and was not converted into the dwelling it would fall into disrepair and disappear.

“Is it true that we would rather see a non-designated heritage asset [disappear] when there is a family who wish to make use of it?” asked Lancashire County councillor Cosima Towneley. “I can not think of a better way of using an agricultural heritage that will otherwise go to waste,” she added.

Austwick – March

Permission was granted almost as quickly for the conversion of a detached stone building at Fleet House in Wharfe, near Austwick, into a one-bedroom dwelling either for holiday let or local occupancy.

Austwick Parish Council supported the conversion because it would reinstate some traditional features and secure the future of the redundant small barn by creating a viable use.

It did, however, ask that there should be conditions regarding external lighting and for the removal of all permitted development rights. These were included by the planning officer.

Cllr Towneley asked about parking especially as the parish council had requested that there should be clear, workable, enforceable and permanent provision for at least one car parking space. Richard Graham, the head of development management, said that the Authority could not regulate that.

The planning officer had told the meeting that the barn was adjacent to a non-metalled road within the hamlet of Wharfe and the design of the proposed conversion was considered to be high quality.

Aysgarth – November and December

David Peacock had applied for permission to convert Yore Mill into two apartments, six holiday let apartments and one local occupancy apartment in conjunction with a visitor centre, some business, light industrial and retail use and the re-instatement of the hydro-electric turbine.

Aysgarth and District Parish Council had told the Authority that it supported the application and  would appreciate it if the application dealt with quickly as the  listed building was in a dangerous condition and needed to be restored and maintained as soon as possible.

The North Yorkshire Highways had, however, recommended refusal because of the absence of adequate on-site parking spaces. It noted that if those staying at Yore Mill parked in the YDNPA  car park they would have to cross the bridge where there was no formal footway. “Pedestrians would be expected to walk in the carriageway to the detriment of road safety,” it stated.

When recommending refusal the planning officer stated: “The proposal to convert Yore Mill into a mixed used development without sufficient dedicated car parking would cause congestion in and around the Aysgarth Falls area and displace car parking from the nearby public car parks which would be to the detriment of road safety and the amenity of residents.”

The applicant’s agents had informed the Authority that there were some late developments regarding car parking provision and so asked that a decision should be deferred to the next meeting.

As officers considered this was appropriate in the circumstances it was unanimously agreed to defer the application to December 10.

December – In December members were informed that Mr Peacock had come to an agreement with the YDNPA to pay for a new space at the nearby national park centre car park and to buy nine annual passes, as there were only three car parking spaces at the Mill. As the officers said that this went some way towards alleviating the car parking problem the committee approved Mr Peacock’s application to convert the Mill.

The offices said that finding a future use for the Mill as soon as possible was necessary to prevent the fabric of the building declining any further.

Barbon – March

“This is  our first conflict with the Yorkshire Dales National Park,” Cllr Robert Groves, the chairman of Barbon Parish  Council told the meeting. Barbon in Cumbria became part of the National Park in August 2016.

The parish council had objected to an outline application for a single storey dwelling on some land in Moorthwaite Lane, Barbon.

Cllr Groves explained that the site had serious drainage problems and  added  that previously the refusal of planning permission for any residential development there had been upheld at appeal because any building would fill in one of the open spaces in the village which were an important part of the character and appearance of Barbon.

The planning officer explained that as Barbon was in one of the new areas of the National Park  the application had to be considered in accordance with the South Lakeland District Council’s Core Strategy. He said this had changed since the last application regarding that site and the new policy allowed for “infilling” development between residential properties.

He told the meeting that the applicant’s plans included flood alleviation measures,  and that the low profile of a bungalow would not be harmful to the distinctive characteristics of Barbon.

Lancashire County councillor Cosima Towneley said she hoped the Authority would be quite strict about the design when that was submitted for approval.

She abstained from voting but all the rest of the members voted to approve the application.

Barden – February

The application to convert the former Wesleyan chapel at Barden to a local occupancy dwelling or holiday let and the provision of pedestrian access to the existing car parking area was very quickly approved. The planning officer  reported that there would be four bedrooms and four bathrooms with the garden, including a  hot tub, in the existing enclosed area outside.

Storiths – the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees had applied to convert Harry’s Barn at Storiths into a single bedroom dwelling for local occupancy or holiday let. This again had a small enclosed area outside sufficient to accommodate a hot tub. The planning officer pointed out that the piggery attached to the barn looked to be in poor structural condition but was still an undesignated heritage asset as was the rest of the barn.

Cllr Blackie asked how such buildings were defined as undesignated heritage assets. Mr Graham said this term had come into use about six years ago. “Many of these buildings are over 100 years old. With the materials and traditional construction methods they often have a history. They may look somewhat dilapidated but you can describe them as a heritage asset because of their contribution to the landscape.

Eden District councillor William Patterson then jokingly asked if all the heritage assets had asbestos roofs.

Beamsley – November  and December

The majority of the members refused the advice of an officer to approve an application by the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees for Bolton Abbey Estate to change the use of a dwelling, barn and agricultural buildings to form offices, storage buildings and workshops at Red Lion Farm, Beamsley partly because this would mean a tenant farmer and his family would have to move out of their home.

Colin Winterburn told the committee: “It seems to us that the Estate are intent on removing the indigenous population. We farmed 144 acres until we got notice to quit on 100 acres.”

He said they still had 44 acres on which 60 cattle would be kept. If they have to move they would also have to close their farm shop.

Joanna Winterburn had told the committee: “This is a frightening experience for me, my family and it affects a lot of other people all in aid of creating storage and offices.

“Without successive tenancies the young generation will move out of the area in search of security, taking with them the skills passed on through countless generations.”

Richmondshire District councillor John Amsden said it wasn’t right to kick a tenant farmer out to provide storage facilities and commented later: “It’s the farmers who keep the landscape looking lovely for tourists. They don’t do it for you lot, they do it for a living and it’s a very hard living.”

The Chatsworth Settlement Trustees’ agent, John Steel, said that several members of staff and equipment had been displaced when the Tithe Barn on Bolton Abbey Estate was restored. Of Red Lion Farm he stated: “This site offers a very convenient location on a single complex that can accommodate the Estate maintenance teams.”

He added that the Estate was offering the Winterburns an alternative home and compensation that greatly exceeded the statutory minimum and alternative farm buildings but would not allow any more buildings to be constructed.

He continued: “The 44 acres we believe cannot generate sufficient income to support two full-time workers. The farm shop … opens three days a week and the income generated has never been of sufficiently high level where it needs to be taken into account for reviews. Whilst the long-standing tenant is facing change it is a change that will not make the family homeless nor deprive them of the ability to continue farming.”

But North Yorkshire County councillor Robert Heseltine quoted the Tenant Farmers Association (TFA) that neither the new home nor the compensation being offered would guarantee that the Winterburns could continue farming as they currently do and stated: “If this application is successful it will be the final nail in the coffin of this Dales’ farming business. “

They had, he said, farmed with the security of an Agricultural Holdings Act tenancy and added: “It appears there is a break down in the trust needed between the landlord and tenant. What is needed is [time] to reconcile their differences.”

He reported that there were alternative sites as there were hundreds of traditional and modern agricultural buildings on the Bolton Abbey Estate many of which were either not used or under-used.

Ian McPherson asked how anyone would feel if someone came along and said their home was needed for storage purposes and pointed out that even if the shop wasn’t economically viable it was being used and was highly valued by the community. Both he and Mrs Manners Armstrong questioned how approval could be in accord with human rights legislation.

Mrs Manners Armstrong pointed out that interference with someone’s human rights had to be justified as in the public interest. “I do not agree this is justified as in the public interest,” she stated. She, like other members, did not believe the officer’s recommendation was in line with the Authority’s policy regarding change of use as the modern farm buildings were not redundant.

She added: “To approve this would be in conflict with our first purpose – to conserve and enhance the natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage of the National Park. And if a Dale’s farm has been in functional operation for 300 years is not a cultural heritage I don’t know what is. To me we have to protect this – this is very important”.

Or as Mrs Winterburn said: “We have worked all our lives to pass this farm onto our children. Should the application be granted not only our lives but the Dales’ communities and the lives of future generations will change for ever.”

December – Planning officers told members that it could be shown there was a continuing need for the premises for farming and that there were exceptional consequences for the Winterburn family as well as losing a community shop if the  application by the Bolton  Abbey estate was approved.  The majority of the members voted to refuse the application.

Carlton in Coverdale – February

Cllr Peacock told committee members that they should go and see the high standard of workmanship Andrew Dent had carried out when converting the former Church of England School and Good Shepherd Church in Carlton in Coverdale before making a decision about some of the uPVC windows he had installed.

But the majority of the members refused his retrospective planning application as they agreed with the planning officer that by replacing the late 19th century windows at the front and the side of the building with uPVC ones he had harmed the character of what was described as an un-listed heritage asset.

Planning permission was given in 2011 to create an extension and two local needs dwellings side by side facing the highway. Mr Dent explained that he bought the building in 2013 and decided to have one dwelling in the front and one at the back so that he did not need to break through external and internal walls to create doors. He also installed uPVC windows rather than wooden ones which, he told the planning officer, would have cost about £50,000.

“The south facing windows did not have any frames. The glass was just set into the stone. It would be impossible to create the original look. New windows were, therefore, essential,” he said. He added that only by installing the uPVC windows could he meet the fire escape regulations. He described the uPVC frames as being a neutral, earthy colour rather than yellow.

Cllr Blackie told the meeting that the windows were installed four years ago but only came to the notice of the Authority when Mr Dent wanted to bring the planning permission in line with the latest policy which allows converted buildings to be used for short term holiday lets as well as local occupancy even though he plans that the dwellings will later be for two of his three sons.

Mr Dent not only offered to sign a legal agreement but also asked for the same planning  condition as had been approved some years ago on the uPVC windows installed in a Grade II listed building in Carlton. This required any future reglazing to be agreed with the Authority.

The planning officer reported that the internal conversion of the building carried out by Mr Dent was considered acceptable in principle and there was no longer any need for an extension. It had been agreed he could retain the uPVC windows at the back.  She maintained, however, that the windows to the front and side of the building could have been upgraded far more appropriately and showed members pictures of alternative solutions.

Mr Dent said about his work on the church and his former school: “It was so important to me to get the details correct and in keeping.”

Carperby – July

Aysgarth Station, Carperby

Approval was given for new track to be laid at the former railway station, across the road bridge and along 200m of the former track bed which overlooks the National Park’s car park.

The owner of Aysgarth station, David Smith of West Coast Railways, will lease the former track bed from the Authority now that planning permission has been given. The approval was also for him to make private use of the railway for storing and moving locomotives, carriages and goods vehicles.

His agent, Steve Davies, who is also a director of the Wensleydale Railway, told the committee that Mr Smith’s plans for the old station would provide the best opportunity to reconnect Aysgarth station with Redmire.

This was queried by Richmondshire District councillor John Amsden who said the latter would only be possible if someone was willing to invest £1 million pounds per mile.

Like other members he did not feel that there would be much noise from the site especially as the approval only allowed for 12 locomotive movements a day, 36 days of the year. A planning officer stated that steam operations would be limited to one to two days a year.

It was  pointed out that there was already a lot of noise and pollution due to the National Park car park and the number of people who visited Freeholders Wood, the SSSI which almost surrounds the station site.

The planning officer said  that 35 trees will be removed many from along the sides of the raised track bed by the car park. She explained that area had been colonised by trees as the track had not been used for so long.  One of the conditions will be a landscaping plan to show where replacement planting would take place, she told the committee.

Ian McPherson, the Authority’s member champion for the environment, said he would support the application but asked that the progress of the project should be carefully  monitored. He added that the landscaping plan was important to ensure that wildlife corridors were protected. He noted that in certain areas of Britain Network Rail was destroying vast tracts of trees against the wishes of the Department of Transport.

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch pointed out that Mr Smith’s company owned the carriages at Hellifield which were now covered in graffiti. “Are you confident that this is not going to end up the same?” he asked.

Mr  Davies assured the committee that he was.

He said: “Two years ago we sold Aysgarth Station to what turned out to be the best possible buyer [Mr Smith].

“The Wensleydale Railway was in a significantly difficult financial situation. Aysgarth was a major millstone around our necks. We were servicing a £200,000 outstanding mortgage. The station building was falling down and there was actually no way the station could be realistically retained as part of the commercial portfolio of the railway.

“The sale of the station allowed the railway to pay off significant debts and it is an absolute fact that since that sale we have not looked back.

“We, as a board of directors, agreed that because Mr Smith had such ambitious plans for the site that we would support him in delivering this planning application. So I am effectively on secondment, if you like, from the board of the Wensleydale railway. And our vice chairman, Carl Les, has formally endorsed our support for this project.

“The second element of this project and with the mechanics of this application is that we believe that this provides the best possible opportunity to reconnect Aysgarth with Redmire. Mr Smith has the resources and personal ambition to start taking the track back towards Redmire.

“If you grant this application what you will not find is this is will become moribund and yet another undelivered major project. So your faith in the project will be met by a full investment to make this a reality.

“The sale of Aysgarth station …. caused a rift within our membership [and to]  those who were absolutely convinced that Aysgarth [station] represented the jewel on the way to Hawes and Garsdale the sale was unthinkable and there was significant resistance.  The successful delivery of this project will, I think, go a huge way towards healing some of the wounds. It will show that Mr Smith and the Wensleydale Railway did not make a bad decisions and that we are going to be in a position to optimise the chances of re-connecting Redmire with this station.

“I think we have gone a long way in satisfying the statutory requirements, particularly in terms of ecology, but the key issue is that although this is fundamentally a private venture it undoubtedly has major public benefits.”

Cautley near Sedbergh – April

Permission was granted for a barn at Cautley Thwaite Farm to be partially converted into a local occupancy dwelling or short-term holiday let.

Sedbergh Parish Council had questioned leaving part of it as a barn as it felt converting all of the building would better ensure long-term maintenance of a heritage asset,  provide valuable family scale accommodation and that it would remain as a single planning unit.

The planning officer, however, stated: “The retention of part of the byre (including internal stalls) in the southern end of the building is supported as this area contains older timbers and furniture that pre-date the barn itself. It is likely that some materials used in the construction of the building were salvaged from an older barn on or near the site. By not converting this area to habitable accommodation, allows the historic features to remain in place as evidence of the past history of the building.”

She added that the existing access to the barn could be used to provide a parking area behind the barn as a new dry-stone wall would be built to screen them from open view.

Cracoe – September

The majority of the committee agreed that two extensions can be added to No Name House in Cracoe despite the objections of the parish meeting.

North Yorkshire County councillors Robert Heseltine recognised that Cracoe Parish Meeting seemed to be very much against the application but added: “Every concern that the parish meeting has brought has been overcome by the applicant in negotiation with the planning officer.”

The parish meeting’s objections included: the proposed extensions would overcrowd an already narrow lane; the proposed number of two parking spaces would be disproportionate when the number of bedrooms was increased from four to five; there were no extra parking spaces nearby; and the positioning of a flue for a new wood-burning stove. It stated it would not object to the replacement of the rear conservatory with just one of the extensions if its  height, size and roof pitch were the same.

The planning officer reported that the garden room which will replace the conservatory was not significantly greater in size, would be largely screened by a tall fence, and would not overshadow the neighbouring property.  The applicant, Richard Johnson, had agreed to place the wood-burner flue higher up so that smoke from it could not affect the neighbours.

The two-storey cat-slide extension on the other side of the house followed local precedent and would not, the planning officer said. have a negative impact upon neighbouring properties. He added: “Overall, it is considered that the proposal will have a sympathetic appearance within the site and the setting of the neighbouring listed building.”

As some residents were concerned about the future use of the garage the conditions included that this could not be converted into living accommodation without the written approval of the Authority.

Cracoe – December

A request by Craven District councillors Robert Heseltine and Richard Foster for a site visit was turned down by the committee. Cllrs Heseltine and Foster argued members should see for themselves how  a proposed new agricultural building at Meadow Croft in Back Lane, Cracoe, would have a negative impact on the landscape and the amenity of neighbours.

But the majority of the committee agreed with  North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch and Lancashire County councillor Cosima Towneley that the planning officer had worked hard with the applicant to find a suitable site. The officer explained that the original application for a larger building submitted by James Bowdin was refused because it would have been on a much more prominent site and 20m from a neighbouring property. This application for a smaller building next to Mr Bowden’s house would be 24m from a neighbouring property.

A neighbour, Helen Pullin, however, told the committee that due to the building being on higher ground it would still be overbearing  even if dug in by 200mm to help reduce its height, and the trees to be planted to create screening would be only 15m from her property. Like Cllrs Heseltine and Foster she maintained that the building would still have a negative impact on the landscape.  They agreed with Cracoe Parish Meeting that there were better sites for the building and that it would still be too large.

They also asked how a smallholding of two acres and 30 sheep was sufficient to qualify for an agricultural building.  “Are we setting a precedent?” asked Cllr Foster.

The head of development management, Richard Graham, responded that the applicant was also a self-employed dry stone waller. He, therefore, needed the building not just for storing winter feed and lambing in spring, but also to store agricultural machinery.

Craven District barn conversions – April

Six out of the eight barn conversions in Craven District approved by the  planning committee on April 9 will be primarily for holiday accommodation.

David Staveley, however, made it very clear that he wanted to convert Lane Head Laithe at Throstle Nest, Eshton, into a three-bedroom home for him and his wife on the family farm. North Yorkshire

County councillor John Blackie commented: “I don’t think any member could make a more compelling case for the approval of this application than David Staveley himself. What better case can you make for a redundant building.”

The Highways Authority had, however, objected because it did not believe there was sufficient visibility at the access onto the road. The planning officer reported that about 12m of the boundary wall would be set back to improve visibility.

And Mr Staveley stated: “We are very aware of the danger as we have been using this as a farm access for 19 years.”

Even a planning officer described Nether Hesleden Farm Barn near Litton as being in the open countryside and it is in the Littondale Barns and Walls Conservation area.

He explained that the power supply to this roadside barn could be undergrounded from Nether Hesleden Farm, that there would be little change to the exterior of the building, and that the garden had been reduced to the minimum. He added that the converted dwelling would be used primarily as a holiday let.

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch said: “I can’t think of a more classic example of what defines a roadside barn. I can’t see any problems with it. It ticks all the right boxes in the right places.”

The application to convert Ellis Laithe at Grisedale Gate Farm near Threshfield was solely for conversion to a holiday let. The planning officer stated that only the existing openings would be used and the proposed parking and external area would be modest and contained within the existing width of the walled lane to the south. No extension is required.

An application to convert this barn into a home for a farm worker was refused by the committee in December. The planning officer told the committee that the Authority was discussing with the applicant the possibility of applying to build a family home at the farm. Ellis Laithe will now become part of the farm’s holiday letting business.

Stirton-with-Thorlby Parish Meeting had told the Authority that not all residents were happy with Manor Farm Barn in Thorlby being used solely as a holiday let. As with most of the other applications the owners, Trustees for Roman Catholic Purposes Registered (TRCPR) had applied for both local occupancy or holiday let in line with the Authority’s conservation policy for roadside barns and those within settlements.

The agent for TRCPR, Robert Hodgkiss, told the committee that the application was not contentious and was in accord with national and local policies. It would, he said, have a sustainable use within the village once converted.

Three of the applications were made by the Chatsworth Settlement Trustees (Bolton Abbey Estate). For speed of approval none matched those dealt with by the planning committee in February.

The Trustees applications to convert the former Wesleyan chapel at Barden and Harry’s Barn at Storith were submitted on January 7 and approved by the planning committee on February 12 which might be a record! Both will have hot tubs installed as they will be primarily for holiday accommodation.

Those two applications did not require any amendments whereas the three submitted on January 17 did. The amendments to the plans for the Shippon at Stank House to the west of Bolton Abbey included moving the hot tub to a less obvious position!

Permission was granted for the conversion of both the Shippon and the barn at Stank House, which is already used as a holiday let. The access to the complex is via an existing private driveway.

The third application from the Trustees was for the conversion of Laneside Barn at Hazlewood to the east of Bolton Abbey. This is near two cottages on what the planning officer described as a very quiet lane.

She said that the proposed garden and parking would be contained in the yard serving the barn and so would be screened from public view.

The eighth successful application was by the artist Victoria Russell to convert a toft barn at Starbotton into a studio and dwelling (see below)

Embsay – March

Permission was granted for four bedroom dormer bungalow for  local occupancy to be built in Millholme Rise, Embsay.

Cllr Vince Smith attended the meeting on behalf of Embsay with Eastby Parish Council which had objected to the application. He explained that the parish council believed the height of the proposed building would set a precedent for higher builds in that area.

The parish council also wanted an area of hard standing to be created on the site before construction began so that vehicles were not parked on the road especially as it was close to a junction and a bend. But the planning officer said it was not possible to do that as any hard standing would hamper the developer’s ability to construct the building.

She told the meeting that the applicant, who lives next door to the site, had asked for a  higher ridge height so as to have space for two bedrooms in the roof space. She said the overall ridge height would be the same as for the original approved scheme with a negligible difference in the height of the eaves.

Fremington – March

The committee unanimously approved the application by Mr and Mrs Peter Catchpole to convert Little Barn at High Fremington in Swaledale into a one-bedroom local occupancy dwelling.

Mrs Catchpole explained that they were living in rented accommodation and wanted a Dales home of their own.

Several residents had, however, objected and they were represented by Chris Whittaker. He disagreed with the planning officer that there was sufficient visibility splay from the proposed access as it was near to a blind bend and crossroads. Nor was it always a quiet road for, he said, during a cycling event 4,000 riders had raced up it.

He did not accept that the proposed extension was not significant as it would increase the size of the barn by 42 per cent and added that the amenity of those living in the house close to the barn would be affected.

The planning officer reported that the neighbouring house was 3.9m away on the other side of the narrow road. The plans had been amended so that the windows overlooking that house were smaller and glazed, he said.

He stated: “It is recognised that the proposal would introduce a degree of domestication into a site that currently exhibits a largely agricultural and undeveloped character. However, the proposal is relatively small in scale and, further to amendments to the scheme, is not considered to adversely affect the immediate setting of the barn. It should be noted that the wider landscape impact of the proposal is negligible given the lack of public views from longer distances.”

He also believed that the package treatment plant would not affect the two properties to the south of the barn.

The conditions include creating a photographic record of the barn before conversion and a written scheme of investigation regarding excavation and archaeology as the external work would be close to Fremington Dyke. This was one of the linear dykes in Swaledale which formed part of the boundary of an early, post-Roman, British political area or kingdom (Out of Oblivion).

Gaisgill – May

Despite a plea from a farmer for more time the committee refused planning permission for a wooden cabin at Gaisgill to continue to be used as a temporary dwelling for a further three years.

Neil Plant of Rayne Holdings said that the smallholding at 3 Rayne Cottage, Gaisgill, was being developed and the wooden cabin was still needed. “Just give us a chance. Three years is going to make a difference,” he said.

Eden District councillor William Patterson supported him and stated: “I can’t see the problem with giving the chap a chance to build up a small holding.” And North Yorkshire County councillor John Blackie added that many Dales farmers had started their farms that way.

But the head of development management, Richard Graham, reminded the committee that in December 2017 it had approved enforcement action to be taken for the removal of the cabin as the three-year temporary permission given in 2013 had expired.

A planning officer had told the committee that when Mr Plant had requested pre-planning advice in October 2018 he had been told that he had not shown there was a functional need for a full-time worker to live at the site and that the business could just as well be run from one of the nearby converted barns owned by Rayne Holdings.  The officer added that the current and previous owners had had two and a half years to remove the cabin from the site.

Authority Member Julie Martin commented: “We don’t have any clear evidence that this is needed for a agricultural worker and we don’t have evidence at this present time that this is a viable business. We do have evidence that there is alternative accommodation. I think we have to follow through otherwise we undermine our own decision [in December 2017].”

Eden District Council granted permission in May 2019 for the change of use of one of the two barns from a holiday cottage to an unrestricted residential dwelling.

The committee voted by ten votes to seven to refuse the application.

Garsdale – March

Permission for an outbuilding beside Rose Cottage in Garsdale to be converted into one-bedroom short term holiday accommodation was granted very quickly as the application was not considered by the committee until after 6pm. (The meeting began at 1pm.) The planning officer quickly explained that it was a 19th century former garage alongside Rose Cottage within a roadside group of stone build cottages on the A684.

He said that the proposal represented a reasonably sensitive conversion and would not have a detrimental impact upon the landscape, residential amenity or highway safety.

Garsdale – May

Cllrs Blackie and Peacock questioned the length of track required to provide a barn conversion in Garsdale with safe access to the A684 at Aye Gill Farm.

They compared the length required (about 160m) with that proposed for a barn conversion at Long Shaw near Bainbridge which was refused in March this year.  The track for that would have  been 110m long.

The head of development management, Richard Graham, emphasised that the barn near The Hill in Garsdale was a roadside barn in accordance with the Authority’s policy. That at Long Shaw was not a roadside barn and a length of walling would needed to be moved back from the road to provide sufficient visibility at the access, he said.

The planning officer reported that there would be no loss of walling at the access onto the A684 at Aye Gill Farm

Remarking on the photographs shown of the proposed track to the barn in Garsdale, Cllr Peacock said: “This looks to me like a farm track.” She noted that drivers in some small cars would have difficulty negotiating it and that the officer had not included any recommendation about improving it.

The planning officer described the building in Garsdale as being a substantial early 19th century bank barn standing beside the A684 some 7k to the east of Sedbergh. “It stands in an isolated and locally  prominent position on top of a bluff. The barn structure is basically sound and no rebuilding of walls is necessary,” he said.

The owner has agreed to demolish the additions to the barn which were added in the 20th century.

The committee unanimously approved the application to convert the two-storey stone barn into a three bedroom dwelling for local occupancy or short term holiday letting.

Gayle – February

It was agreed that a large roadside barn “in the wilderness” along Beggarmans Lane near Gayle can be converted and extended to create a “horse assisted learning” business.

The planning officer told the committee: “The applicant’s therapy is geared towards people who have experienced post traumatic stress disorder as well as people with stress and other mental health issues. As well as horse-assisted learning the applicant [Caroline Penman] would use the building as a base for Paleo eating, Craniosacral therapy and mindfulness. The location has been chosen by the applicant for its tranquility and wild nature which is considered to aid the therapy.”

The two-storey Dodds Hall Barn is around two miles south of Gayle and has a stone walled enclosure which will be used for car parking. The planning officer reported:

“What is proposed in this location is a very high intensity employment use requiring the erection of a large first floor extension to the building and the erection of stables, [two] shepherds huts  and an outdoor interaction area in the surrounding land. The whole field would also be used for equestrian purposes.”

He added that the addition of a large extension, the fact that the barn was not adjacent to or within an existing settlement and that the business was not land-based, meant that the application was not in accordance with policy and so any approval would require a departure from the Local Plan.

Although it was reported that Ms Penman had run a similar, successful business in Cyprus the planning officer warned that there was a degree of risk should this venture fail once Dodds Hall Barn had been converted.

The senior listed building officer had reported: “The external stairs and floating FF extension with balcony and covered GF terrace underneath has a harmful impact on the heritage significance of the barn’s and Dales vernacular architecture in general, and would be visible from the road.”

The committee, however, accepted the planning officer’s  argument that the proposal had been relatively well-designed to work with the site itself to minimise its landscape impact and impact on the building. He said: “Whilst the extension to the building is significant, it is relatively lightweight and would only provide internal living space to one floor with the ground floor forming a sheltered area [for  horses].”

He added: “This is a relatively unique site and a unique proposal that would result in economic and social benefits in the locality and has support from the parish council.”

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council had told the committee: “It offers a completely new dimension to the all-important tourist sector in the Upper Dales – horse assisted learning. The site and the surrounding landscape entirely fits the description of a wilderness, although the town of Hawes is just seven minutes’ drive away.”

The planning committee approved the application for the conversion and extension of the barn to provide visitor accommodation and manager’s dwelling, a change of use of land for equestrian purposes, provision of  all weather riding surface, car parking and erection of stable building.

Grassington – May

The  committee very quickly approved a planning application for alterations to Yarnbury House in Moor Lane, Grassington, even though the parish council had asked the Authority  to investigate the true intentions of the applicant.

The committee heard that Grassington Parish Council strongly suspected that this was an attempt to change the use of the property to another shooting lodge without having to make a formal application for change of use – something it would oppose.

The parish council said that the application gave the appearance of wanting to enhance and increase the living accommodation and added: “How can this be done when the bedrooms will be reduced from four to three, but more features such as a boot room and a drying room are added, together with the conversion of the double garage?”

The application included altering the outbuildings and garage to become ancillary living space to Yarnbury House.

The planning officer reported that there had been lengthy discussions with the applicant and that the proposed scheme had been significantly amended so as not to cause substantial harm to the listed building.

She added: “Neighbours have raised the issue that the house may become a shooting lodge or used for some kind of shooting enterprise and that the applicant is a sporting company not a private resident. The agent has confirmed that the site will be used as a private domestic dwelling.”

The agent, Maria Ferguson, emphasised this at the meeting. She said that her client had bought Yarnbury House so that he and his family and friends could enjoy the countryside and sporting activities.

Grassington – June

The majority of members agreed with the planning officer that the proposal by Jason and Claire Simpkin to use a large field and construct two buildings for a small campsite would have too much of an impact upon the landscape.

The officer commented: “The concerns with the current proposal are a matter of scale rather than a matter of principle.”

She said that a modest campsite and one building for facilities in the northeast section of the field adjacent to the B6265 Hebden Road would be acceptable. The Simpkins planned to use all of a one hectare field on a plateau above the River Wharfe for approximately 25 seasonal pitches. They proposed two buildings, one to provide facilities for the campers, and the other to include the manager’s accommodation. Mr Simpkin told the committee that Grassington did not have a campsite.

He read a letter from the Grassington Chamber of Trade which noted that there had been a dramatic drop in the footfall of tourists in the town in the last couple of years and that the creation of a family friendly campsite would lead to an increase. “I hope this development will enable a greater range of visitors to Grassington, especially young families,” Mr Simpkin said and added that his plans were in line with the National Park’s statutory purposes.

He had informed the Authority that a smaller campsite would not be a viable business. He argued that having a manager on site would help to alleviate some of the concerns raised by residents such as the possible increase in noise and nuisance, and the impact of lighting.

North Yorkshire County councillor John Blackie agreed that having a manager living on the site would be helpful and added: “I am amazed that Grassington hasn’t got a camp site. Campers spend far more in the local economy than any other form of tourist and so keep the shops and services going.”

Other members, however, accepted the officer’s contention that a two-storey stone building to house an office and reception on the ground floor and a self-contained manager’s flat on the first floor was too much. The planning officer did not accept that a seasonal site for 25 tents needed a manager to supervise it, especially as there was a site for 24 tents at Kettlewell which did not provide such accommodation.

She reported that the proposed new buildings would replace a static caravan and the dilapidated remains of a railway carriage. She said there was also concern about the possibility of campers walking along a road to the village where there was no footpath as that would be the shortest route to the pub.

Grassington – September

The first and second floors of a former butcher’s shop in Grassington can be converted into a two-bedroom dwelling the committee agreed.

An internal passageway will be created to provide access to the apartment, the planning officer said. She added that the external alterations would be minimal being the insertion of three roof lights, the re-opening of a blocked-up window and the re-use of an existing door.

She commented: “The proposed development would see the loss of the upper floors from a potential business use, but there is still a large ground floor shop remaining together with two quite substantial store room areas.” The applicant had pointed out that the upper floors had not been used for 20 years.

Some residents had queried  the siting of wheelie bins behind the premises but the planning officer said that the land did belong to the applicant. “Whilst the storage of wheelie bins in this location is not ideal, they would not have such a harmful impact on the amenity of neighbours to warrant the refusal of planning permission,” she stated.

Grassington Parish Council objected to the  application because there was of the lack of parking in that area. The planning officer reported that the occupier of the dwelling could obtain a parking permit for the National Park Authority car park nearby.

Committee member Craven District councillor Richard Foster, commented that even though there was a lack of parking spaces in Grassington the conversion of the upper stories of the shop would be a great use of that space.

Approval was given on the basis that the applicant would sign a legal agreement restricting use of the flat  to the local occupancy criteria set out in the Authority’s Local Plan or to short term holiday let.

Grassington – December

The committee unanimously approved an application for a single storey lean-to extension at the rear of a house in Main Street, Grassington, and for stone steps and a wrought iron handrail at the front.

The planning officer reported that the applicant had explained that the steps beside an existing wall were required to provide safe level access down a slope which was steep and slippery in bad weather.

Grassington Parish Council had objected to the steps because they would not be in keeping with the village and would create an obstruction and therefore a danger to road users. It added that the steepness could be mitigated by walking where the slop was less severe.

Grinton – November and December

The planning officer had recommended refusal of the Porters’ application to convert Shoemaker’s Barn because they had not proved a need for an agricultural worker’s dwelling at Grinton and because: “The proposal would lead to the creation of a fake and prominent ‘traditional barn’ that never previously existed which would result in a harmful and disruptive effect on the understanding of the historic landscape and the significance of the Barns and Walls Conservation Area.”

Richmondshire District councillor Richard Good commented: “I find it difficult to say that we need to keep it like that because it is in a conservation area… because it is ugly.”

John Akrigg, the agent for Chris Porter and his wife who had applied to convert Shoemaker Barn to create a family home for themselves, said: “Without the retention of the people who possess the skills to safeguard these landscape features the Dales that we all love and fight to protect cannot be sustained. One day the Swaledale [sheep] may be the icon for the Dales but the herds will have disappeared.”

He added: “This Authority is aware of the fragility of hill farming and is committed to work with stakeholders to safeguard its future. If members support this application today they will do something positive and send a message to other young people that they have a place here.”

Cllr Kirkbride argued that the Porters wanted to restore the barn to how it had looked years ago. They would do this, he said, by removing concrete extensions, lifting the roof slightly to the height it had been before a fire many years ago, and re-inserting windows where they had been previously. “This will turn an eyesore into a home for a young family which is going to live in the Dales and farm in the Dales,” he said.

The alterations over the years had meant that less than 30 per cent of the original barn remained but another member, Jocelyn Manners Armstrong, said: “I do think the applicants are in a difficult position here and it is partly the way our policies are constructed that puts them in that position and, therefore, we have a bit of responsibility to try and help. On one hand we say there’s not enough of the original building left for us to say it is a traditional building [that can be converted]. On the other hand we say that it would be a new build in the open countryside. There is an interesting traditional building which they do want to restore.”

She explained that she had voted against the Porters’ application in December partly because it was for a holiday let or a family home. But this time it was for an agricultural worker’s dwelling and she, like many other members, accepted there was a need.

The planning officer stated that there wasn’t evidence that the land at Grinton did require a full-time worker even though the proposal included a new agricultural building to house rams over winter and lamb sheep in the spring. The new agricultural building would be sited behind the barn.

He said that Porters should consider creating a new dwelling on land owned by their extended family at Oxnop or at Gunnerside – or apply to add an extension to their present home at Grinton.

Cllr Kirkbride pointed out that the farm enterprise had land from Grinton to Gunnerside and so needed agricultural workers at either end as well as at Oxnop. For that reason the agricultural need should be based upon the farm enterprise as a whole he said.

Member Ian McPherson commented: “Given the need to support and nurture and enhance farming in the Dales and in view of the fact of the reports relating to individual members of the family and their health concerns…. I feel the benefit of the doubt should be given to the applicants.”

December –  The majority of the committee again voted to approve the application to convert Shoemaker’s Barn into a dwelling.

Planning officers stated that the conversion of the derelict barn into a home on the basis there was a need for an additional home for the farm business and that it would get rid of an eyesore were acceptable reasons even though they had previous had felt it was an unnecessary development.

Hawes, Halfway House – February and October

The committee was told that four cars being parked on the former track bed at Halfway House near Hawes might prejudice the re-opening of the railway between that market town and Garsdale.

Ruth Annison, who convened the meeting at Hawes last summer to discuss the re-opening of that six miles of railway, told the committee: “Halfway House is one of the very few critical sites for railway reinstatement. The possibility of access and parking for four cars encroaching on the track way is a serious matter so that I have already given formal notice that, if necessary, we will report this application to the Secretary of State.”

A professional engineer, Tony Smare, said that it looked as if establishing a new train service on the former branch of the Settle-Carlisle railway was achievable, and asked if alternative parking at Halfway House could be investigated before the application was approved. Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock agreed with him.

The application was for full permission to convert the barn attached to Halfway House into a separate local occupancy dwelling.  The planning officer said that as the Authority’s policy was to support the reinstatement of the railway line the application had been advertised as a Departure to the Local Plan for a period expiring on February 22.

He reported that the conversion of the barn would have a neutral impact upon the landscape and that a dry stone wall would be built to divide the present garden between the two dwellings.

He told the committee that although the existing car parking area on the former track bed would be increased to accommodate two more cars the track bed would remain unaltered and would be reversible should the railway be reinstated.

The head of development management, Richard Graham, reported that the owners of Halfway House also own the track bed there, using some as curtilage and some for parking. Neither he nor the Authority’s chief executive officer, David Butterworth, felt the issue was big enough to be considered by the Secretary of State.

Mr Butterworth commented: “In the 21 years that this Authority has been in existence I don’t think there has been a single application that a Secretary of State would even consider calling in. I don’t think this one will be either. So it’s up to members to make a decision.”

Cllr Blackie asked, however, that the representations made at the meeting should be carefully considered and if there any issues that couldn’t be resolved the application should be brought back to the committee.

The majority of the committee, however, accepted Mr Butterworth’s advice and voted in favour of the officer’s recommendation.

October –

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council asked the committee to hold a site meeting at Halfway House so that the members could see for themselves how dangerous the access was.

In February the committee had approved an application to convert the barn next to Halfway House into a local occupancy dwelling. The owner then applied for it to be used for short stay holiday lets as well.

Allen Kirkbride  agreed with the parish council that, as the access was by a corner on the A684, it would be far more dangerous for short stay visitors who didn’t know the area well than for anyone living there permanently. It was also pointed out that the Highways Authority had objected each time to the application because of the access.

Like the parish council Mr Kirkbride also wanted to see the barn converted solely for local occupancy.  “This was specifically for local occupancy. [The owner] could have said in February that it would be dual purpose. Now he comes along and changes his mind. “

The majority of the committee, however, disagreed with him and the new application was approved.

Hawes – February

An enforcement notice will be served on the owner of Bainbridge Ings Caravan Site at Hawes for the removal of camping pods which were described by Cllr Blackie as grey-painted abominations and by a planning officer as “wholly alien features within the landscape”.

The planning officer read the following letter from Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council:

“Councillors were appalled at the ‘Pembroke’ pods that have been installed which look completely out of keeping on the site at Bainbridge Ings. The bright orange fencing around the stone chipping base adds to their unacceptable appearance.

“It was pointed out they have been installed close to Old Gayle Lane, along which many local people and visitors enjoy a circular walk on mainly flat ground, often with young children in push chairs, starting and finishing at either Hawes Town Centre or Gayle. At this time there are few leaves on the trees by the edge of the site so they are in full view.”

The parish council had objected to the loss of almost all the camping pitches on the site and pointed out that many regular visitors had said they could no longer afford to stay there. (A glamping pod on the site is advertised at £249 per week.)

At the planning meeting Cllr Blackie said that in the past the site had been covered with tents during the summer and that campers were the best supporters of the local economy.

He described how the parish council had been heavily involved in seeking modifications to a previous application by David Khan of The Lodge Company North.

The planning officer reported that the four Lune Valley pods included in that application had been considered acceptable due to  their dark stained timber, curved shape and being arranged in an informal circle.

She said that the four Pembroke pods,  however, were larger and have an unusual shape –  “akin to a portacabin with a triangular insert bisecting the body and protruding above the flat roof. The structure is clad in a dark battleship grey material with orange wood panels. Each pod has a horizontally boarded timber enclosure around it and the pods are laid out in a line.

“The structures have an uncompromising and unsightly appearance, lacking any aesthetic or architectural merit,” she added.

Mr Khan told the committee that the Pembroke pods were lower in height than those originally planned and so would be easier to screen. He said that a comprehensive planting scheme had been agreed with the Authority.  He had been assured by the supplier that the orange fences would weather to a cedar colour. He explained that he had invested heavily in the site and needed a variety of accommodation to attract people.

The committee, however, unanimously agreed with the planning officer that the Pembroke pods did harm the natural beauty and visual quality of the National Park landscape as they were highly visible and incongruous, and represented poor design. Mr Khan was given three months to comply with the enforcement notice to remove them along with the fences and the hard standings, and to reseed the affected area with grass.

Hawes – March

There was applause when the majority of the committee voted to refuse an application to convert the Methodist Chapel and Sunday School into five holiday lets. This, however, was contrary to the planning officer’s recommendation and so has been referred back to the meeting in April.

The planning officer stated: “The willingness of the parish council to set aside the problematic elements of this proposal illustrates the dilemma at the heart of this application. The buildings are part of the town’s heritage and as such are worthy of retention and a viable economic use that would ensure their future. However, it is difficult to envisage a new use that will not have the same parking and access problems as this proposal.”

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish councillor Sheila Alderson told the meeting: “There is absolutely no parking outside the chapel.” Both she and Jack Sutton, who lives near the chapel, said that the small area of parking at Town Foot, opposite the doctors’ surgery, was used by residents who had nowhere else to park their vehicles. When that space became full vehicles were parked on the pavement.

“You take your life in your hands when you try to access Hawes,” commented Mr Sutton.

The meeting was informed that the developers, Matthew and Sally  Faulkes with Ian Morton and Heritage Apartments Ltd,  had proposed that five annual parking permits at the Dales Countryside Museum (DCM) car park could be purchased for those staying at the holiday lets.

The agent, Rachel Ford, explained that the conversion of the building would cost over £500,000 so local occupancy was not viable. The application was, she said, compliant with the Authority’s policy and the provision of more  holiday lets would bring more visitors to Hawes and so be good for  local businesses. She maintained that the holiday lets would not have an impact upon residents and  that there would be a reduction in traffic compared with when the building was used as a church.

Cllr John Blackie disagreed stating that it had mainly been used on Sundays and many people had walked to it. Both he and Mr Sutton questioned that those using the holiday lets would want to walk 300m with luggage from the DCM car park especially when it was raining.

Cllr Alderson said the parish council was very concerned about Chapel Lane, which it described as an important access road for local residents, being blocked when people were unloading or loading luggage at the proposed  holiday lets. The parish council could not understand why the Highway Authority had not objected to the application.

The planning officer explained that according to the National Planning Policy Framework a development should only be prevented or refused on highways grounds if there would be an unacceptable impact on highway safety, or the residual cumulative impacts on the road network would be severe. He added: “The Highway Authority has no objections but requires a Construction Management Plan to be provided to include parking for operatives, the loading, unloading and storage of plant and materials.”

He said that the developers had shown that the building was no longer needed by the community and could be sensitively converted.

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch commented: “I couldn’t think of a more insensitive conversion for the local residents and  how it will affect their  lives. We are creating a nightmare for local residents.”

Another North Yorkshire County councillor, Robert Heseltine, compared the development with trying to pour a pint into a quart pot.  And Allen Kirkbride added: “A large use [of this building] with lots of holiday cottages is going to make life in Hawes quite unbearable at times.”

The parish council had pointed out that the government through its Homes England Agency was now actively promoting community-led developments  of affordable housing with very substantial grants. This made an affordable housing scheme  for the Methodist chapel far more viable. “We would be prepared to accept some of the drawbacks if we saw clear benefits for the community,” Cllr Alderson said.

Cllr Blackie told the meeting: “The parish council has no doubt that no change is not an option but it questioned what is proposed is the best use. The word that comes to mind is over-development. Simply – there is no room for what is proposed. Something on a lesser scale would have been more acceptable.

“But they want to squeeze every square inch out of the former Methodist chapel. The trouble is with doing that – they will spill over their requirements to compromise the amenity of local residents who live in that very densely constrained area just near Town Foot. There are 14 houses – some are holiday lets and some are used by local residents. They have a right to enjoy their amenity.  Something less ambitious, something less profit-making would actually be more acceptable.”

Before the application was discussed by the committee Cllr Blackie said there had been a complaint from the applicants concerning whether or not he should be involved in speaking or voting. “There is a clear threat that if I do, the applicants may well wish to take legal action against the Authority. I want to say that I have never ever in 21 years of sitting on this planning committee – or at Richmondshire District Council –  had a complaint made in this way.

“I have never been accused of bias in the way that the applicant has accused me of bias. The bias comes from the fact that I had and I still run holiday cottages.”

He said he had taken legal advice many times and been told that he could take part in deciding holiday cottage applications so long as he had no financial interest. He explained that he had made it clear that he had expressed a preliminary view on the application in writing and verbally previous to the meeting, but had come to the meeting with an open mind as he was legally obliged to do.

“This seems to be an attempt to fix the jury but I have done absolutely nothing wrong. Threatening both me and the National Park is undermining the planning process.”

When she addressed the committee Ms Ford stated concerning that complaint that it had never been their intention not to have Cllr Blackie involved or to speak but to make the Authority aware  of some issues.

Ms Ford, who is the head of planning for the Leeds-based agents Bowcliffe, had written to the Authority previous to the meeting  that Cllr Blackie was biased against the application because he ran a holiday cottage company in the Dales. She had also complained about his behaviour at a site visit where, she said, he broke the code of conduct by using that as an opportunity to lobby against the plans.

She stated: “If Councillor Blackie proceeds to vote on the application …., to vote against the proposal and if his vote turns out to be decisive, then my clients will have no option but to explore potential legal claims against the council. I strongly suggest that Councillor Blackie plays no further role in the decision making process for my client’s application.”

From Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council report:

Methodist chapel. – The councillors and others at the meeting agreed that strong representation should be made to the planning appeal hearing concerning the former Methodist chapel.  The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) refused an application to convert the chapel and hall into five holiday lets.

It was agreed that the key issues were the lack of parking, severe congestion caused by bad parking,  and the increase in the number of holiday lets rather than affordable housing.

One man who lives near the chapel stated: “We are completely surrounded by holiday lets. We have lost all our privacy.”

He and the parish council also emphasised that the lane behind the chapel was a public highway.

Affordable homes. –  The meeting was told that three out of ten dwellings in Hawes were now holiday homes or second homes.  Andrew Fagg said: “In four years’ time it is conceivable that there will be fewer than 50 pupils at [Hawes Primary] School.

Hawes –  June

Permission to convert a barn close to the business park at Hawes into a home for a local young family has been recommended for refusal by a Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority planning officer because it is, she argues, in the open countryside.

Pictured: l-r the lairage agricultural building, the barn proposed for conversion, a building in the business park and the sewage works.

In her report to the YDNPA planning committee meeting on Tuesday June 11 she describes the barn north of The Shearlings off Hardraw Road as a high quality non-designated heritage asset which makes a positive contribution to the landscape in an area that is readily accessible by visitors walking the Pennine Way.

In this she follows the advice of the Authority’s senior listed building officer who states: “This barn is a key feature in this location, along this very popular public footpath. It is not a roadside barn, but a landmark building set in the middle of a field, with a very fine landscape backdrop.“The proposed domestic conversion of this building would therefore have a negative impact, in particular the creation of a residential curtilage with car parking, extension and new openings.”

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council, however, completely disagrees.

It has informed the planning committee:“The applicants, a local couple, Ashley and Katie, who have two young children attending Hawes Primary School … are committed to remaining in Hawes for the rest of their lives and they have set their heart on converting the barn at The Shearlings and making it their family home.

“It is located on Ashley’s father’s farm holding, his father being Neil Iveson, one of the most renowned of sheep dealers in the North of England.” Ashley had told the parish council that he worked from home using the Superfast Broadband service in Hawes, in a highly specialist position within the horse racing industry.

The parish council explained: “This occupation allows him some time to help his father gather sheep for sale at the various Auction Marts in the Yorkshire Dales and beyond, especially Hawes Auction Mart, or to supply them to customers on the firm’s books. Accordingly the converted barn would be very convenient for this dual role. The extension proposed for the barn would be to provide a home office for his work.”

It continued: “Several [parish councillors] commented that this is exactly the type of young local family we need to retain in the Upper Dales, and [that] this is what the YDNPA in its policies and its public messages has been broadcasting in the media for 18 months now.”

The parish council pointed out that the barn was off the road to the Upper Wensleydale Business Park, was opposite the Community Fields and near the 120 unit Brown Moor Caravan site, as well as sitting neatly within the enclave of Brandymires. Hawes Fire Station is 50 yards away.

The parish council stated that the barn had not been used for some 15 years and the access to it would be hidden by the extensive lairage agricultural building used to hold sheep in transit. (Which cannot be said for the nearby sewage works.)

The parish council had supported the YDNPA planning committee when, in February this year, it accepted the recommendation of a planning officer to approve the conversion of a large roadside barn “in the wilderness” along Beggarmans Lane near Gayle to create a “horse assisted learning” business even though he said this was not in accordance with policy.

The application was for the conversion and extension of the barn to provide visitor accommodation and manager’s dwelling, a change of use of land for equestrian purposes, provision of all-weather riding surface, car parking and erection of a stable building.

And at its meeting last month the committee approved an application for a barn in Garsdale which a planning officer described as being a substantial early 19th century bank barn beside the A684 which was in an isolated and locally prominent position.

Meeting on June 11:

A young couple’s request to convert a barn at Hawes into their family home was turned down by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee on Tuesday June 11.

Ashley Iveson told the committee: “I ask you to give me and my family an opportunity to live and work on the farm holding that’s been part of my family for generations – and an opportunity to live in a town that we love for the rest of our lives. I would not like to raise my children anywhere else.”

Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council and North Yorkshire County Councillor John Blackie supported him in the assertion that the barn could not accurately be described as in the “open countryside” as it was close to Brandymires and the caravan park on Hardraw Road, and to the business park, Hawes Fire Station, the water works and the sewage works. It is even closer to Mr Iveson’s father’s lairage agricultural shed.

Mr Iveson said he was particularly disappointed at the way in which the planning officer had criticised this large shed. She had reported: “The shed is in an unfortunate position and is a visual detractor in the area. It is important that this does not set a precedent for further harmful development.”

Mr Iveson commented that the Authority had given planning permission for the shed: “It seems to me that the officer is using her obvious dislike of the shed against my completely separate development,” he said.

The Hawes and High Abbotside Parish representative, Jill McMullon, told the committee that she met many in the community through her work with the Upper Dales Community Partnership. She said she had previously served as a Richmondshire District councillor and had chaired that council twice and been a member of its planning committee for ten years.

She said: “At Richmondshire District Council we always tried to take the local community with us at planning. Now that’s not always possible but our track record was far, far better than yours.”

The Iveson family was, she said, a perfect example of the young family the National Park needed to retain if there was to be a bright future for the local community in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales.“What is the point of the National Park making a priority of retaining and attracting young families to the Upper Dales, shouting this from the roof tops, and then coming forward with a report which seems to go out of its way to scotch the aspirations of a couple and their children to live in our community for the rest of their lives?”

She added that the report completely missed the point that the barn and the lairage shed belonged to the same farming business. “This application is a test of the real intention of the National Park Authority – are you going to walk the walk, or are you just talking the talk?”

Committee member Ian McPherson, however, said that once again there was a conflict on the committee between personal views and policy. He quoted the planning officer’s report which stated: “The barn in question is a field barn surrounded by agricultural land. It is not located within the settlement boundary of Hawes as defined in the Local Plan. It is not within a group of buildings. It is not a roadside location (it is approximately 90m from the Brunt Acre Industrial Estate road) and it is not served by an existing track. For these reasons the development does not comply with policy.

“The dwelling would not provide rural workers accommodation nor be an affordable property.” Mr Iveson had emphasised that, if converted, it would be a local occupancy dwelling, not a holiday let.

In her report the planning officer stated: “The barn in question being located immediately adjacent to the Pennine Way and within walking distance of the amenities and facilities of Hawes town centre would make an ideal camping barn. There is therefore an alternative economic use for the barn that would not require the level of intervention proposed by this development.”

Cllr Blackie commented: “I am bewildered about the suggestion [for] a camping barn. A camping barn, in my view, would create for more upheaval in the landscape than a domestic dwelling. It would also attract cars to be parked indiscriminately in the industrial area.”

He pointed out that in May the committee had approved a barn conversion where a 190m track was required to provide access to a road and reminded the members that there were different interpretations of the Authority’s policies to those of the planning officer. “Today I think she has got it wrong,” he said.

Cllr Blackie, Allen Kirkbride, a parish council member of the committee, and Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council emphasised that the barn was on a farm holding and that the proposed extension would provide an office for Mr Iveson who works from home as a specialist horse racing reporter as well as helping his father with the lairage business.

Committee member Jim Munday said he had read the parish council’s submission with great interest. “It’s full of character, it’s full of Dales’ interest, it’s got a hero and a heroine, and there’s a lot there which one empathises with.”

But he also felt it perpetuated the myth that the Authority refused many applications for barn conversions. “We’ve approved 110 barn conversions in the last three years and refused only nine. We like to say Yes and we usually do,” he added. He agreed with the planning officer that the committee should refuse Ashley and Katie Iveson’s application.

After seven members voted to refuse the application with four wishing to approve it, Cllr Blackie noted that, following the local elections, two Richmondshire District councillors had not yet been appointed to the Authority’s planning committee. He, therefore, asked for the decision to be deferred to July so that the two new members might have a chance to consider the issue.

The legal officer Clare Bevan said, however, that the committee had already decided not to approve the application.

After the meeting Julie Martin, who chaired the meeting, stated: “I feel very sorry for the applicants in this case. We have a flexible policy, which has already seen more than 150 traditional buildings converted to residential and business uses. “It was very clear that this proposal would not meet the criteria set out in the policy – not least because it has no access to a road. Whoever has been advising them has really let them down. I strongly urge people to please come and talk to our planning service at the earliest opportunity, so as to avoid this sort of disappointment and expense.

“Not all barns are suitable for conversion, particularly those away from the roadside in prominent positions. If there’s a doubt about whether or not a conversion is within policy, pre-application planning advice will clear it up before any expectations or hopes are raised and before any money is spent on professional services.”

Mrs Martin (a trustee of the Friends of the Dales) was deputy chair of the planning committee until Caroline Thornton-Berry stood down as a Richmondshire District councillor.

Hellifield – June

“This is where I would like to retire to in a few years’ time,” Michael Stapleton told the committee concerning the proposed conversion of a barn at the farmstead at Little Newton, Hellifield, near Long Preston.

The planning officer explained that the main problem with that at Little Newton was the relatively poor condition of the barn including the partial collapse at the first-floor level on the front wall. The original plans included taking down and rebuilding the front wall.

The planning officer pointed out that this was in conflict with the Authority’s policy that buildings should be capable of conversion with no more than minor structural work.

She added: “Furthermore, much of the historic significance of the building is due to the evidential value of the windows and doors visible on this frontage, which would be lost if the front wall was rebuilt.”

Part of the barn had once been a farmhouse.After an independent assessment it was agreed that the walls could be retained by using special shoring systems.

Hetton – April

The small village of Hetton in the  Yorkshire Dales had  to retain the services of a Queens Counsel at considerable cost in its bid to stop Michelin-star chef, Michael Wignall and his partners, from turning the Wine Cave at the Angel Inn into a fine dining restaurant with the loss of 16 car parking spaces.

Andrew Armstrong, representing Hetton cum Bordley Parish Meeting , told the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee last month, that the parish meeting had felt obliged to do this because residents believed that a considerable increase in on-street parking would have an unacceptable impact on highway safety and the community.

The planning committee was told that Michael and Johanna Wignall and their partners, James and Jo Wellock, wanted to create a fine dining restaurant at the Wine Cave. But their plans included the removal of 16  car parking spaces in the rear yard, the construction of a rear extension,  and the creation of a landscaped courtyard.

In March the planning committee did approve plans for internal and external alterations at the Angel Inn including extensions at the rear. Hetton cum Bordley Parish Meeting objected because, it said, the increase in guest bedrooms would lead to more cars being parked along the road especially if the parking area behind the  Wine Cave was no longer available.

The parish meeting was so concerned when the planning officer recommended approval for the applications by Wellock Property Ltd that it asked Lichfields Planning Consultancy for advice.  Justin Gartland, the chairman of that consultancy, told the committee in March: “It is not acceptable practice to suggest that the parish meeting should secure its own consultancy.”

The parish meeting’s representative, Andrew Armstrong, said: “Hetton parish meeting has been obliged to go to the length of employing the Queens Counsel who represented [the Authority] at the 1995 planning appeal.” The Authority’s decision at that time to refuse a planning application involving the Angel Inn was upheld at the three-day appeal on the grounds that it would be detrimental to highway safety and the amenity of the local community. Mr Armstrong said that the same issues still applied.

Carl Tonks of the cTc transport consultancy told that meeting that a survey had been carried out in September 2018 using a nationally accepted data base. This had shown, he said, that there would still be significant capacity for car parking within the area even after the proposed alterations at the Angel Inn and the Wine Cave.

The parish meeting, however, argued that the survey had been carried out at a quiet time in the village and when the rear car park at the Wine Cave was operational.

Also at the March meeting Charles Reeday, a farmer whose house is next door to the Wine Cave, told the committee that the alterations to it would greatly affect his garden and home. “We already suffer noise from the Angel across the road but the rear of our house is away from this.” They would not be able to escape the noise if the back of the Wine Cave was developed, he added.

Another resident, Richard Jackson, said the increase in noise and light pollution would have an impact on the neighbours. Mentioning the expense of employing a QC he said: “We are wondering how and why the National Park is still considering to give approval. What more is it  possible for the village and the parish meeting to do?”

As the majority of the committee at the March meeting did not accept the planning officer’s recommendation to approve the application the decision was referred back to that on April 9.  The head of development management, Richard Graham, reminded members that the traffic survey had been carried out in accordance with a nationally  accepted model to industry standards and that evidence would be needed to counteract that.

North Yorkshire county councillor Richard Welch commented: “This is the over development of the site and detrimental to the residents and other road users. It will also have a detrimental impact on the residents’ amenities.”

The committee unanimously agreed with him and refused permission for the application.

Horton in Ribblesdale – November

An application for nine new houses and a barn conversion at Horton in Ribblesdale was approved with the strong recommenation that a pedestrian footpath to the village should be provided.

The chairman of Horton in Ribblesdale Parish councillor Martin Hanson told the committee that the need for a footway along the B6479 could not be ignored. “This is an extremely fast piece of road despite being a 30 limit. The parish council has sourced and provided a permanent speed camera on a location directly opposite this development and it showed a peak speed of 75mph. In Horton there is no highway lighting. All the lighting is footway lighting sorted out by the parish council. If there is no footway we can’t put in footway lighting.”

The committee asked for a footway to be included in the site plans. But it would be up to Highways North Yorkshire to provide a footway which linked it to the village the planning officer said.

She also told the committee that there would be a serious impact upon the access to the development site if the present lean-to on the barn was not removed. North Yorkshire County councillor Robert Heseltine said that  replacing the lean-to at the front of the barn with a new one at the back did not respect the integrity of the building.

The access to the development will be at one end of a terrace of  four stone and slate terrace cottages which will comprise the local affordable  housing on the site. The five open-market self-build houses will be in a loose farmstead layout, the planning officer said, with one being a new-build farmhouse-style dwelling and four others to look like modern agricultural buildings with timber cladding and metal roofing sheets.

Member Neil Swain  said the latter should be relatively easy and cheap to construct allowing people to build their own homes.

Ian McPherson, however, did not  like the distinct separation between the affordable homes and the open-market ones.  The planning officer explained that this was for purely practical reasons as Craven District Council  will hold the freehold for the affordable homes as the Registered Provider.

She reported that shares for those four houses would range from 25 per cent to 75 per cent subject to the income levels of the prospective purchasers and ownership would be capped at 80 per cent. The district council will enter into legal agreements so that those houses will remain affordable for perpetuity.

Like Cllr Hanson, Craven District councillor Richard Foster commented that it was a shame that it had taken so long since the development was planned in 2012 because now the village’s  school and  shop had closed. He and other members hoped the development would encourage young families to move into the area.

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch, however, asked if young couples would want to move to the village as there was no school for their children and an irregular bus service.

A local resident, Julie Rose, also questioned the likelihood that young families would want to live there. “The only people who want to move to the village now either want second or retirement homes,” she said.

She told the committee that the development would not be in keeping with the style of the surrounding residential properties especially as there would be three different designs on the site which, she argued, would not blend together.

The planning officer reported that the developer had amended the scheme so that the affordable houses and parking area would not be as close to existing houses and so have an impact upon the amenity of neighbours.

Before the debate began there were declarations of interest by North Yorkshire County councillor David  Ireton and Cllr Heseltine. The chair, Julie Martin, declared an interest as a trustee of the Friends of the Dales which had responded to the consultation on the development. She said she had taken no part in preparing that and so would vote. Cllr  Welch said he would speak but would not vote as he had attended discussions about the development at county council meetings. There was a need for transparency in the eyes of the public he said.

Ingleton Quarry – December

David Parrish explained that due to a recent appeal court decision the a decision concerning the application by Hanson Quarry Products Europe Ltd to extend its permission to continue working at Ingleton Quarry until until December 2025 instead of ending in May 2020 should be deferred and this was agreed.

The Friends of the Dales had objected to the proposal to extend the operational life of the quarry. It stated: “The 2015 application secured an extension until May 2015 to allow reserves remaining in the quarry to be extracted. We are now told a further five years are needed. The quarry should close to schedule and be restored.”

The chairman of the Authority’s planning committee, Julie Martin, is a trustee of the Friends of the Dales.

Killington – March

When an 18th century barn at Aikrigg partially collapsed during a severe storm the owners were heartbroken, Ian Dawson, the chairman of Killington Parish Meeting told the planning committee.

He explained that the owners had been given permission to convert the barn into a home for themselves and a base for their business. “We would welcome this new couple,” he said.

They had applied for permission to reconstruct the partially collapsed barn to form a dwelling but the planning officer pointed out that this would now amount to a new open market home which did not comply with the South Lakeland Core Strategy.

South Lakeside District Council had given permission in 2014 for the two other barns on either side of that which collapsed to be converted into open market dwellings. They are in a remote location near Killington.

Ian McPherson argued that the impact of the barn on that group of buildings, the beneficial impact on the visual quality of the surrounding landscape, the reason why it collapsed and that South Lakeland District Council has approved similar applications were valid material considerations for approving the application even if it was not in accordance with policy.

Cllr Towneley agreed and added that there would be considerable loss in the archaeological heritage of the hamlet if the barn was not reconstructed.

Twelve out of 15 of the members voted to approve the application. As this was against the officer’s recommendation it was referred back to the April meeting at which the majority of the committee again voted to approve the application.

Keld – October and November

A young farmer, Chris Rukin, explained to the committee the problems he and his family would have with condensation if  the bathroom window in the converted barn they were living in was removed and blocked  up.

The planning officer stated that the modern window, which was installed without permission,  was at odds with the traditional agricultural character of the building. When this was  combined with the proposed extension [on that gable end],  the result would be a complicated and unbalanced appearance detrimental to the significance of the Barns and Walls Conservation Area,” he said.

He told the meeting that officers had worked with the Rukins to create an acceptable proposal for the single-storey extensions and removal of the bathroom window. That proposal was approved in July this year – but then the  Rukins applied to keep the bathroom window.

Mr Rukin explained that the problems with condensation had become severe once he and his wife were living there permanently. As he was working on the farm there was a lot of washing. “The condensation was getting into the walls and starting to smell. When it was used as a holiday cottage there wasn’t the same level of showers and baths. Since the window has been installed we have had no problems. We don’t want to go back to that situation.”

Allen Kirkbride, North Yorkshire County councillor Robert Heseltine and Richmondshire District councillor John Amsden agreed that such a young farming family deserved their support.

And Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong said: “In my opinion this would be seen as unreasonable and disproportionate to refuse permission for this very specific reason when there is a legitimate basis for requiring it [the window].”

The chairman of the committee, Julie Martin disagreed and stated: “As the cultural heritage champion I believe we should take a strong line and refuse it.” She said that she appreciated the damp issues but the officers had been exceptionally helpful and accommodating.  Part of the deal struck earlier in the year, she explained, had included the removal of the unauthorised window. “Its a bit like reneging on the deal to come back to retain the window,” she added.

The deal was for a single-storey extension on the east elevation to provide additional ground floor living accommodation, and a single storey lean-to extension on the south elevation to provide toilet and wash facilities for the campsite on the farm.

Eleven out of 16 of the members voted to grant permission for the extensions and retaining the bathroom window. The reasons they gave were that the window didn’t materially harm the appearance of the building and that it was necessary .

As this was against officer recommendation the decision was referred back to the November meeting.

Langcliffe – May

There were gasps when an enforcement officer showed the committee a photograph of the fully fitted modern kitchen inside “The Old Dairy” beside Cowside Barn at Langcliffe.

She said that when she visited the building in June 2017 she was told it was mainly being used as a kennel facility even though there were some kitchen units, a sink, a cooker, a bed and a sleeping bag alongside the designated area for dogs. She was told that the only time it was occupied was when additional care was needed for the dogs and new litters.

When she went there in November 2018, however, she found that the building had been converted into a three -bedroom dwelling house. Two of the bedrooms are en-suite and there is a bathroom and living area. All the windows and doors had been replaced with uPVC double glazed units. Outside there are hanging baskets, decking, a BBQ, washing line and garden furniture.

The enforcement officer showed photographs of how the interior of the cabin looked in 2017 – and then those taken in November 2018 which so surprised the committee members, especially the black and white kitchen with large extractor fan.

She reported that the owner intended to apply for a Lawful Development Certificate to prove the lawful use of “The Old Dairy” as a dwelling house from March 2013 to December 2018.

She stated: “Despite the owner’s assurances that the outbuilding has been occupied as a self-contained dwelling house since March 2013, no supporting evidence to prove the lawful use of the building has been forthcoming. The fact that there was a bed and basic kitchen facilities within the building does not demonstrate that the building has been occupied as a self-contained unit of accommodation .

“At the time of visiting in 2017, the building did not appear to be in use as habitable living accommodation. It appears that, prior to the works being carried out to convert the building in late 2017, it was used as an ancillary out building and as kennelling facilities in connection with Cowside Barn.”

The enforcement officer added that a smaller building had been constructed without planning permission next to “The Old Dairy”. She said that when she visited in April 2019 there were seven dogs and three litters (24 puppies) in that building.

Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock commented: “So many people in the Yorkshire Dales never do anything without asking for planning [advice or] permission. To me it is only right that we respect that.”

For that reason, she said, the Authority should take enforcement action when something had been done without planning permission.

The committee agreed that the Authority’s solicitor should serve an Enforcement Notice to secure the cessation of the use of “The Old Dairy” as a dwelling house; the removal of internal fixtures and fittings including the kitchen units and appliances; and the removal of the decking and fence.

The original recommendation was for a three-month compliance period but the committee agreed this should be extended to six months to provide time for those living there to find alternative accommodation.

Langcliffe – August

Langcliffe Parish Council disagreed with the Authority’s planning department about how contemporary design can be introduced to traditional buildings.

It objected to the application to the plans for re-instating a cart entrance with timber and glass at The Barn in Low Fold, Langcliffe, because, it said, “glazing on the front elevation would introduce a negative modern feature to the traditional neighbouring building design, and would impose a visual impact on the historic village.”

The planning officer, however, quoted the Authority’s Design Guide which states: “alterations to dwellings present an excellent opportunity to introduce contemporary designs and materials even on traditional buildings.”

The applicant, Kevin van Green, said he and his wife had carefully studied the Design Guide, employed an architect with decades of experience of traditional stone properties,  and  liaised with the planning officer when working on a high quality design which reflected the setting of the village.  They plan to use it as their family home.

The planning officer noted that the proposed design would mean that previous unsympathetic alterations which had affected the barn’s original agricultural character and appearance would be removed including replacing a flat roof on a single storey extension at the rear with a more traditional catslide roof.

Mr van Green said that the proposed alterations would reduce the amount of glazing by 20 per cent. In addition, it had been agreed, following the parish council’s objection, to reduce the amount of glazing on the cart entrance.

He told the committee: “We believe that the barn presents an opportunity to show how contemporary design can fit comfortably into the surroundings. Our design will greatly improve the functionality of the interior spaces allowing light in. It is in keeping with the area given that  glazed cart entrances are not a new concept to the Yorkshire Dales National Park.”

With just one abstention  the members voted to approve the application. This included the demolition of the existing porch and chimney; installation of metal balustrade to balcony and four new rooflights and a flue to the roof; and the replacement of windows, doors, guttering and downpipes.

Long Preston – December

Permission was granted for the construction of 16 new affordable homes off Green Gate Lane in Long Preston even though the parish council had felt this would be over-intensive use of the site.

The planning officer explained that in 2014 and again June 2017 permission was given for 13 affordable homes to be built where there had been a large industrial building and a yard. The new application was for eight affordable homes for rent, and the others to be affordable through shared ownership with a Registered Provider retaining the freehold so that they can never be sold outright. She said that the total number of bedrooms had only increased by one.

Long Preston Parish Council stated it did not object to the affordable housing development but, besides what it viewed as over-intensive use of the site, was very concerned about the safety of children walking to and from school as the roads and lanes around the school were narrow with no paths or pavement.

Cllr Welch agreed with the parish council that the access into Green Gate Lane from Maypole Green was very narrow. Like other members he emphasised the need for affordable homes and said: “We have lost two schools [in this area] in the past few years. We would rather have extra houses than lose schools.”

The planning officer pointed out that there was a footpath from the development site to close to the school.

Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong pointed out that the plans included no bungalows for elderly people and asked if any lifts would be installed to help people access the second floor flats. “We are supposed to think about housing for life. And sometimes even young people need lifts,” she commented.

Mr Graham said that suggestion would be considered. And the planning officer added that the application included a mix of housing to allow for various needs. The housing varies from three-bedroom houses to  one-bedroom flats.

Mallerstang – August

The telecommunications mast at Hazel Gill Farm, Mallerstang can remain an Iron Grey colour.

When Eden District Council gave approval for the construction of the telecommunications base station in October 2016 one of the conditions was that all of it should be Olive Green in colour. EE UK Ltd, however, had erected a mast which is Iron Grey.

The members shown a photo of this and unanimously agreed that it blended into the landscape as well as an Olive Green one would. The planning officer noted that it would be even better if the white antennas were also painted grey.

Mallerstang Parish Meeting had agreed with the two objectors who were concerned that varying the conditions on the mast at Hazel Gill Farm would have an impact upon that further up the dale at Castlethwaite.

The planning officer stated that the landscape context of the Castlethwaite site was different and added: “Any proposal to vary the condition controlling the colour of that tower would have to be considered on its own merits.”

Maulds Maeburn – August

It was unanimously agreed that a causeway will not have to be constructed to the rear of a new house beside the River Lyvennet at  Maulds Maeburn.

This had been one of the conditions included when Eden District Council approved the plans in July 2016 for the construction of a house in the garden of 1 Stepping Stones. The objective was to provide  a safe escape route if there was serious flooding.

The site is within the Environment Agency’s flood zones two and three and the original application required the provision of a Flood Risk Assessment. It was for that assessment  that the causeway was included – but it would have been over the village green and Crosby Ravensworth Parish Council would not give permission for it.

Mike Archer told the committee that after he applied to have the condition removed there were 15 letters of objection. These included the request that the application for the house should be reconsidered now that Maulds Maeburn was within the Yorkshire Dales National Park; that no new houses should be built in flood areas; and that the proposed house would harm the character of the village and the Conservation Area and create parking and access difficulties.

Mr Archer said that many of the objections had been made as a result of an anonymous email being widely circulated. That email, he said, had shown an image which misrepresented the design of the house. He added that the house would fit in with traditional buildings in the village and would be built in accordance with the requirements of the Flood Risk Assessment.

The planning officer reported that Authority could only agree to lift a condition but not revoke the approval given by Eden District Council.

Maulds Meaburn – October

A large number of the issues raised by Crosby Ravensworth Parish Council about the application to build three terraced houses  on land adjacent to the village institute in Maulds Meaburn had been dealt with before the meeting said the chairman, Mrs Martin.

The planning officer reported that outline permission had been granted by Eden District Council in September 2016.  He said that in accordance with some of the points made by the parish council the present application stated that the window and door frames must  be made of timber and not white UPVC; porous surfacing material should be used on the access road and car parking area so that surface water will be retained on the site and not contribute to any flooding along the road; and the front gardens should be enclosed by a traditional dry stone wall.

The parish council had argued that six parking spaces was inadequate and that could lead to parking congestion by the village institute. The planning officer’s report stated that one more parking space has been added and that the houses should be built to a high quality design that reflected the  local character.

The planning office reported that some of the other issues raised by the parish council had already been dealt with by the District Council when outline planning permission was given.

The planning committee approved the application.

Ravenstonedale – December

Mr Graham assured members that the Flooding Authority would be asked again if sufficient measures would be undertaken to ensure that the construction of a local needs house in the garden of Coldbeck House in Ravenstonedale would not increase the possibility of flooding in that area of the village.

The majority voted in favour of permission being granted once that assurance was given. Both Ian McPherson and Cllr Welch emphasised that the main problem was the possibility of flooding and a resident, Diane Palmer, told the committee that on that issue the Authority had a duty of care.

This had formed part of the objection made by Ravenstonedale Parish Council which was presented by Scott Thornley. It had argued that the construction of the house would have a negative impact upon spacious layout of what was possibly the oldest part of the village and is a Conservation Area. It disagreed that this was an “infill site” and was concerned about the impact not only on neighbours but also the remaining section of the historic mill leat as well as how  removing several  trees would affect the red squirrels.

The planning officer maintained that this would be an infill site in accordance with Eden District Council’s planning policy. He said the applicant had modified an earlier application due to the issues raised by the parish council and residents. The proposed house was now smaller and there would be a flood attenuation tank below ground on the southern side of the site plus a permeable surface for the car parking area.

He said that the high retaining wall around the existing garden would severely limit views into the site and restrict any impact upon neighouring properties.  He added that the mill leat would be retained.

The applicant, Christopher Kelly, told the committee: “We have worked hard with the National Park officers and we believe that this new house in this location would have minimal impact.”

Reeth – October

Two committee members put forward a very common sense solution to how to protect the amenity of neighbours once a new garden has been developed behind the Burgoyne Hotel: create a deep cultivated bed along  the boundary wall.

Some residents of Hill Close had objected to the development of the garden because it would be so easy for hotel guests to look down on them over a wall which is only 1.3m high. The planning officer told the committee that the material consideration was the severity of the impact on the amenity of neighbours. He had, therefore, suggested imposing conditions to mitigate the impact.

One of these was that a screen wall or fence should be erected two metres from the boundary. The hotel owner, Ian Hewitt, explained that this and a condition excluding the public from the chef’s garden were overly onerous. He wanted the chef’s garden to be part of the hotel experience for their guests.

Lancashire County councillor Cosima Towneley was the first to suggest a flower bed and then Jim Munday said: “The simple thing is to have a cultivated bed along the wall of an appropriate depth to prevent anybody from looking over the wall.”

The committee agreed and also felt that there wasn’t a good reason to exclude the public from the chef’s vegetable garden. They were told by the planning officer that the vegetable plots would enable the hotel to grow its own food which would assist in the viability of the business.

Residents were also concerned about the possibility of large events being held in the garden accompanied by loud amplified music. Mr Hewitt told the committee  that the grass area of the new garden would not be suitable for  marquees  and added: “We don’t intend to have events there.”

The conditions, however,  included that there should be no formal functions or events  in the new garden; no tents, marquees or other temporary shelters;  no playing or broadcasting of amplified music or speech; and guests not being allowed to be in it after 10pm.

Once the amendments to the conditions had been agreed the majority of the members voted to approve the application for change of use of the land.

Permission was also granted for the demolition of a single storey detached outbuilding at the rear of the hotel. The planning officer explained This narrow brick building with rusty corrugated metal roof was built as a shower block during World War II when the hotel had been requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence. The space created by its demolition would be used for guest car parking Mr Hewitt said. As it is one of the few structures built for military purposes in the National Park during that war there must be a full archaeological recording of it before it is demolished.

Sedbergn, Gypsy and Travellers’ site – May

The 21-day site for Gypsies and Travellers at Scrogg Bank Field, Cautley Road, Sedbergh, has been a complete “godsend”  Sedbergh Parish councillor Ian McPherson told the committee.

Cllr McPherson, who has been a member of the Travelling and Settled Community Respect Group for ten years,  proposed that only a five-year temporary permission should be granted for the site and this was unanimously approved. The application was for permanent permission which Sedbergh Parish Council objected to because, it said, this would enshrine the use of the site by Gypsies and Travellers for the long-term.

The provision of the site covers the period when Gypsies and Travellers are going to and returning from the Appleby Fair. Cllr McPherson told the committee: “This field over the last five years has been a complete godsend.

“It means that instead of Travellers being here, there and everywhere and putting their horses to graze on the school playing fields and using ditches [as latrines] has largely ceased. Without this field it is felt that matters would return to the bad old days.”

The committee was told that when in use the site for no more than 100 caravans at one time will be supervised at least twice a day by South Lakeland District Council (SLDC)  officers and the Police. An enclosed skip and bin bags will be provided and the SLDC will clear away litter and waste afterwards. Portable toilets will be provided.

John Bucknall, a trustee of Pendragon Estates which owns the two farms adjoining the site, told the committee: “The Gypsies have their own codes of cleanliness. Some, in preference to using the sanitary facilities provided on site, use the hedgerows, adjacent fields and our farm entrance as latrines.”

He recounted how last year one of the tenant farmers found  teenagers had driven a ewe into a gill and appeared to be attempting to steal two lambs. Some horses had also been put to graze on a farmer’s field. “Grass is gold. These are our best meadows,” Mr Bucknall said.

“We live in a state of virtual siege in the house and on the farm while the Gypsies are encamped. We cannot leave house or farm unmanned at any time and we feel at constant risk of intimidation and trespass. Our tenants are in constant fear of stock being injured or stolen,” he added.

He understood the need to provide such a site and appreciated the achievements of the public meetings. He said he had been able to discuss their difficulties with Billy Welch, the Gypsy leader [Shera Rom] at one of those meetings.

“As the conditions of the fair constantly change, I support the five-year temporary permission,” he said.

Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock commented that Sedbergh was fortunate to have such a site. She explained that Bainbridge village green was now a managed site for the Gypsies and Travellers over the period of the Appleby Fair when there was no charge to use the public toilets. Residents did often feel intimidated she said and found it difficult when generators were being run until midnight.

Eden District councillor Ian Mitchell did not take part in the discussion and did not vote as he is a member of the Appleby Fair Multi-Agency Coordinating Group. This year Appleby Fair begins on Thursday June 6 and ends on Wednesday June 12.

Sedbergh – May

Unanimous approval was given for the conversion of a barn in Joss Lane, Sedbergh,  into two dwellings for either holiday  lets or local occupancy even though a degree of rebuilding may be necessary.

A planning officer told the committee that some of the single storey walls and the upper part of a gable wall were unstable. “The majority of the walling and the most important features of the barn would be retained. The degree of rebuilding is therefore justified on heritage grounds,” he said.

But David Parratt, on behalf of his mother-in-law who lives in The Old House adjacent to the barn, stated: “We consider that the building appears unsafe and would require rebuilding.” He added that major intervention would probably be required.

Sedbergh Parish Council had initially objected to the application because, it stated, the barns exhibited apparent defects, including leaning walls, displaced masonry, open joints and cracked lintels.  After seeing amended plans it no longer had any objections.

Mr Parratt was also concerned about the impact upon the amenity of those living in The Old House especially if the new dwellings became holiday lets, and that a package sewage plant had not been included in the plans. The committee agreed that the latter should be included.

The agent for the applicant, Ian Swain, said that The Old House would not be overlooked by the new dwellings as the barn was at an angle to it.

Ian McPherson, who is a Sedbergh parish councillor, commented that he regularly walked past The Old House and the barn. “The barn has been crying out for renovation for a long time. In my view it would make an excellent holiday let or local occupancy dwelling.”

Sedbergh – June

Approval was given for the 18th century bank barn in  Howgill Lane at Sedbergh to be converted into a local occupancy two bedroom dwelling.

The planning officer told the committee: “The building in question is a characteristic Dale’s barn that is prominent in public views when travelling along Howgill Lane. However, the proposed conversion scheme has been sensitive to the character of the building and amounts to minimal external change to both the structure and its surroundings.”

Sedbergh Parish Council had stated that it considered the development would improve what was currently an eyesore on the outskirts of the residential centre of the town and at the same time retain a heritage asset in a sympathetic manner. It would provide valuable accommodation for a local family subject to the appropriate 106 restrictions.”

Sedbergh – August and September

The only time  members disagreed with an officer’s recommendation at the meeting concerned  the application for change of use of the two upper floors the premises at 6 Finkle Street, Sedbergh, to a two bedroom flat with a new external door to provide access to the ground floor of the flat, plus change of use of the remaining ground floor and the basement from retail and storage to A1 retail.

The majority of the members decided that turning the upper floors back to residential use did not constitute “new build” and so the owner should not have to sign a local occupancy legal agreement as requested by the planning officer.

Cllr Kirkbride said that, in this instance, the Authority’s Local Plan was wrong and several agreed with him that the economic well-being of Sedbergh had to be considered.

The planning officer, Mr Graham and the Authority’s legal officer, however, all argued that changing the use of part of the first floor from commercial to residential meant that the two-storey flat did now require a local occupancy restriction in accordance with Local Plan policy.

Planning permission was granted in September 2016 for part of the first floor to be used as a café and the rear courtyard to be an al fresco dining area.

Jacky Baines told the committee that she had created a café in part of the first floor with the hope that it would attract more business to her ground floor shop. But the business had still became unviable and the ground floor is now rented to someone running a flower and gift shop.

She said that as she had bought the building in 2014 as an open market property (shop and flat) she would now make a considerable loss if she signed a local occupancy S106 legal agreement for the flat.

The planning officer reported that the proposed re-instatement of a separate ground-floor entrance to the flat was acceptable but he had recommended refusal of the application because Ms Baines had declined to sign a local occupancy legal agreement.

Simon Arnold, chairman of Sedbergh Parish Council’s planning committee, told the committee: “[The flat’s] use as a café was a tiny snapshot in the building’s life. It involved no structural change and only occupied part of the first floor and added: “When we heard that an S106 was being insisted upon we felt this was being unnecessarily incorrectly applied. “

It would, he said, deter new business activity in the town and so increase the risk of ground floor commercial properties being left empty. “We as a parish are keen to preserve Finkle Street. It sits in the traditional centre of our town. Anything that provokes empty properties [works] against the viability of the other businesses and creates a damaging first impression for people visiting the town. We feel that Sedbergh needs a mixture of housing. Small properties like this provide a valuable foothold on the open market.”

Sedbergh Parish councillor Ian McPherson, who is a parish council member of the Authority, said he had asked for the late submission from Mrs Baines’s agent to be circulated. He told the committee he had not participated in any discussion about the application beforehand.

The agent, Barbara Hartley of Garsdale Design Ltd, stated that when they were first advised by telephone by the planning officer that a local occupancy legal agreement was required for the flat they had asked that the parish council should be informed. This request was refused and so Garsdale Design had done so.

She quoted the Local Plan policy which stated: “that new housing within settlement boundaries on sites of up to five dwellings will be restricted to local occupancy.” She said: “The flat at 6 Finkle Street is not new. The top two floors have been used as residential for the major part of the building’s life. We do not think that the intent of [the] policy was ever to re-designate the occupancy of existing dwellings when, for a relatively short period in their lives, they have been used for an expansion of a ground floor business.

She continued: “A negative planning decision on this application will have major implications for Sedbergh. It will set an undesirable precedent for the business community. There will be a reluctance to expand any business knowing that if that expansion fails and they wish to reinstate the residential use this will have huge financial repercussions for them. It has much wider implications for Sedbergh and its effort at attracting new business to the town.

“One of the main remits of the Authority is to support sustainable communities. We agree that housing type and occupancy is one of the remits. But in the service towns such as Sedbergh the economy and the viability of business has equal importance.”

This point was picked up by several members of the committee and led to Lancashire County councillor Cosima Towneley‘s proposal to approve the application without a legal agreement as there were, she said, material considerations. These were that the flat had been designated as residential not long ago and that a legal agreement would restrict local economic growth and create commercial disbenefits.

Neither the legal officer, Claire Bevan, nor Mr Graham were convinced. And the chairman, Julie Martin, commented: “We need to be clear on the reasons.”

Cllr McPherson stated: “I am normally a sticker for absolutely sticking to policy, but I am not certain that this is new housing as required by [policy]. There was certainly a new use but there has been a very rapid… request to revert back to the original use. I am not really convinced, and I don’t think others are convinced either, that this is the kind of new housing that was envisaged when this policy was made.”

He added that to apply the policy would create a situation that would seem quite ridiculous to third parties. It could be interpreted, he said, as being against local people who find themselves in a situation where they could suffer financial loss.

Cllr Kirkbride said: “We should be there helping communities. I am a great believer in local housing but the policy we have is totally wrong. We need to do something when the time comes [to preparing the new Local Plan] to alter this.”

North Yorks County councillor David Ireton also queried the policy as he, like several other members, felt this was clearly an example of a shop with accommodation above it.

Jim Munday, however, argued that anyone who bought the property and ran the shop on the ground floor would qualify for local occupancy. And Mr Graham commented that the policy was part of the Local Plan which was only adopted in 2016. “It is not the purpose of this committee to make up policy on the hoof. We are taking the first steps to create a new Local Plan but this is the policy at the moment.”

He added that the policy was part of the Local Plan which was only adopted in 2016. “It is not the purpose of this committee to make up policy on the hoof. We are taking the first steps to create a new Local Plan but this is the policy at the moment.”

To this Cllr Towneley said: “Officers recommend but it is this committee to decide and we can do that in any way shape or form that we wish.”

Ms Bevan countered this with: “But [members] still have to decide in accordance with what the law says, which is in accordance with the Local Plan unless they identify material considerations.”

Eight members voted to approve the application without a legal agreement. The four who voted against this included the chairman.

Mr Graham said that as this was against officer recommendation the decision would be referred back to the September meeting.

September –

The majority of the committee again voted in favour of allowing the two upper floors of 6 Finkle Street in Sedbergh to become a residential flat again without the imposition of a legal agreement that it must be for local occupancy. (Such agreements can include holiday lets.)

The head of development management, Richard Graham, reminded members that at the August meeting a planning officer had recommended refusing the application because the owner had refused to sign a legal agreement.

The majority of the members, however, agreed that turning the upper floors back to residential use did not constitute “new build” and so did not require any legal agreement. They were also concerned that the imposition of such a legal agreement would have a negative impact upon businesses in the centre of Sedbergh.

As that was contrary to the officer’s recommendation the issue was referred back to the September meeting.  Mr Graham said that the housing policy was aimed at delivering more affordable housing for local people. He did not accept the possible “material considerations” put forward last month but rather suggested others which could be used to support a decision that was not in accordance with policy.

He said: “Changing the use of the upper floors to residential in the circumstances in this case would not have a material effect upon the delivery of affordable housing for local people. The proposal would create a two-bedroom flat which, in this location, would be a relatively affordable form of accommodation and is less likely to become a second home or a holiday let than a house would be. But, of course, that cannot be guaranteed.

“There is a wider consideration here that [such a legal restriction] would hamper flexibility of businesses to use their premises and that may frustrate some of the economic objectives of the Local Plan.”

Jim Munday argued that imposing a legal restriction was in accordance with the Authority’s Local Plan especially as it wanted to attract more young people to the National Park.

But seven of the 13 members disagreed and confirmed the decision to approve the change of use of the two storeys without a local occupancy legal restriction.

Sedbergh – August

The conversion of a potting shed into holiday letting accommodation was described by the chairman, Mrs Martin, as a novel application.

Cllr McPherson pointed out that this would be invisible to the public but set within the beautiful gardens at Greenbank. He described the latter as an interesting house with extensive gardens which were open to the public several times a year.

The application for one-bedroom accommodation and including a small extension was unanimously approved by the committee.

Settle – June

The committee quickly approved the application by Andrew Morrell to convert a Grade II listed barn at Cleatop Park, Settle, partly to be used as a holiday let, and partly to create a private garage and artist’s studio.

Mr Morrell had originally wanted to add a glazed artist’s studio on the east elevation but this did not conform with the Authority’s policy which is based upon conserving traditional barns.

Smardale – April

Violent and anti-social incidents at a care home for vulnerable children in Smardale have created so much fear in that small community that the residents appealed  to the planning committee not to allow even more youngsters to reside there.  But their request has been refused.

Gloria Venning told the committee in March that the trained staff at Cloverdale, run by A Wilderness Way Holdings Ltd,  weren’t even able to control two children. She reported that the Police had been called when a staff member locked herself and another child in a safe room while a distressed teenager was left wandering around the area with a knife. She said there had been six incidents at Cloverdale so far including arson and anti-social and sexual behaviour.

“In less than two years this property has been transformed from a family home … to an offenders’ institution,” she said.

The planning committee accepted the request of Eden District councillor William Patterson to hold a site meeting mainly to see how difficult it was to reach Smardale. Cllr Patterson and residents pointed out that the nearest Police station was 30 miles away and the only route into Smardale was via a single-track road.

At the meeting on April 9  however, the planning committee by eight votes to six, gave approval for change of use from a dwelling house to a residential institution capable of housing six children.

At that meeting Cllr Patterson refuted a statement by a committee member that the residents of Smardale were prejudiced.

“If the people of Smardale were prejudiced they would have fought for it not to be there in the first place,” he said.

Rosemarie Lees on behalf of Waitby and Smardale Parish Meeting told the April meeting: “We agreed not to oppose the original application for four vulnerable children to be there – indeed we sought to welcome them.” She said the planning officer  had trivialised the residents’ major concern – the fear of crime.  “The fear is real – the incidents are serious,” she said and added.

“We have totally lost confidence in the management of Wilderness Way. The company does not communicate with residents.”

She and others pointed out that the nature reserve at Smardale was being publicised as a major tourist attraction by the YDNPA. But visitors would have to walk past Cloverdale to reach it.

Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock was especially concerned that the application was for the change of use of Cloverdale from a dwelling to a residential institution.  She warned that members needed to be very careful as they didn’t know what sort of applications might be made in the future.

The agent for A  Wilderness Way Holdings Ltd told the committee that the objective was to make Cloverdale similar to a family home for the vulnerable children residing there.  She said that Ofsted, which inspects and regulates the services at Cloverdale, had asked that it should have the capacity to take up to six children in an emergency.

A Certificate of Lawfulness was issued in December 2017 confirming it could be used to provide care and accommodation for no more than four children under the age of 18 with the support of two carers on a 24-hours shift rota basis. To be able to accommodate six children with six adult carers Cloverdale needed to become a residential institution.

The agent added that the aim was to have a care home where the children could enjoy the wonders of the National Park.

The planning officer stated: “The proposed use would deliver a significant social benefit for the wider community in that it would provide care and respite for children/young people to recover from experiences that have rendered them vulnerable. Cloverdale is considered to be an appropriate location for such a use given its rural setting being ideal for therapeutic care and being remote from the home areas of children/young people where there may be significant risks to the success of their care.

“Concerns based on the fear of crime are not compelling given the lack of a reasonable, cogent evidential basis linking the use with criminal activity and given that the Police are satisfied with the applicant’s Statement of Purpose and admissions process.”

The chairman of the Authority, Craven District councillor Carl Lis, said that the Police and Ofsted were the experts – and Ofsted had asked for the residential capacity to be increased.

Committee member, Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong, stated: “This is an excellent location making a positive contribution to these children’s lives.”

And another member, Jim Munday, added: “This is about providing a safe home for vulnerable children. What is missing … is serious dialogue between the applicant and the local population. It’s important that the applicant and local population sit down and talk this through.”

Stainforth – March

Residents asked the committee to refuse an application for a hot tub in the garden of a holiday cottage beside Stainforth’s 18th century Grade II listed bridge because the noise made by those using it detracted from the enjoyment of the natural environment and tranquillity of the area.

Cllr Richard Welch supported them and stated: “This should be refused as it is beside a historic bridge and a footpath and so did affect the quality of life and the tranquillity of the village.”

But the majority of the other members accepted the planning officer’s argument that there would not be a detrimental impact on the visual amenity of the area, nor would the heritage significance of the bridge be affected. One of the conditions, however, is that it should only be in use between 9am and 9.30pm.

The application by the owner of Bridge End holiday cottage for the replacement of two existing sheds and the siting of an electric hot tub was, therefore, approved.

Frank Underwood, on behalf of Stainforth Parish Meeting, explained that the electric hot tub would replace one which was heated by a  wood burner.  On occasions those using that hot tub had created a lot of noise he said. He added that the National Park was also responsible for the social and well being of residents.

“How a hot tub is fostering the social and well being of the local community escapes me,” he commented.

A resident, Viv Mills, told the committee that 19 residents – almost one fifth of the community – had sent in letters of objection and added: “It is clear from the number of objections that it doesn’t fit in with the historic nature of the area.”

She said that Bridge End was unique in the village because it was the only holiday cottage causing problems and the daily time limit on the hot tub would not solve these as it could be in use all day.

The owner, Lianne Butler, said a higher fence would be installed to screen the garden. The hot tub was, she added, near the pub’s beer garden, brought in business for the pub, and attracted families to stay at Bridge End.

Starbotton – April

Despite a warning by a parish council that the conversion of a barn at Starbotton would lead to further inappropriate development in a conservation area created to protect a medieval “toft” system the planning committee approved the planning application by artist Victoria Russell.

Kettlewell with Starbotton Parish councillor Ian Macefield  told the committee  that Tom Lear Barn was an integral part of Starbotton’s medieval toft (croft) system.

“The toft system is the key charm, character and essence of the village,” he said.

The planning officer agreed that the barn had a very high heritage significance as there was evidence of it originally being of cruck construction and so likely to date from the late 16th century.

She said there  had been extensive negotiations over the design to produce a sensitive scheme which would also enable the owner  to use it as an artist studio as well as a two-bedroom local occupancy dwelling.

The parish council had objected to the original plans because they included a glazed gable which, it said, was out of character with the barn and other buildings in the conservation area.

This was not included in amended plans. Instead there will be patent glazing providing light to the first floor. The planning officer stated: “Although patent glazing can be a significant feature on a roof, on this building it will appear as a single strip of glazing running the length of the rear roof and will avoid the requirement for several roof-lights or new windows which would alter the simple character of the barn and impact on historic fabric.”

A committee member, Julie Martin, pointed out that the Authority’s senior listed building officer had commented extensively on the application but that had not been included in the planning officer’s report. She noted that this had happened with several reports to the committee that day.

The parish council had also objected to the proposed access. The planning officer explained that access via Back Lane or Long Lane had been considered but it was concluded these  green lanes of medieval origin were too narrow and unsuitable for modern vehicles. It was also unlikely, she said, that Ms Russell would obtain legal right of access down those lanes.

Instead the application included using a track across the toft but stopping a short distance from Tom Lear Barn. The medieval wall line is to be reintroduced in order to separate the majority of the field from the proposed parking and garden, she said.

“It is considered that the important landscape setting of the barn and the Conservation Area will therefore be retained, with some enhancement in the form of the reinstated medieval wall line compensating for the introduction of the track within the field,” she added.

The parish council, however, had stated: “The proposed track will have a serious visual impact, being visible from the footpaths above the village. In addition, the track and the soakaway  on a medieval toft will require earthworks on a potentially important archaeological site.”

Cllr Macefield said that Back Lane was at least 8ft wide and was already being used for access to Tom Lear Barn and the Quaker burial ground. He added that a vehicle with good ground clearance could be driven over the hump back bridge along that lane.

The parish council was also concerned about the installation of a cattle grid as this, it maintained,  would be an alien feature in a medieval village setting.  It added that a cattle grid was not especially good at controlling stock and would present a danger to children and small animals.

Swarth Moor – July

The farmers who have grazing rights on Swarth Moor near Helwith Bridge in Ribblesdale were not  consulted before Natural England applied to the Authority for permission for a restoration project which which will include the creation of water-filled ditches.

The planning committee heard that Natural England’s project would involve the  construction of peat bunds for rewetting raised mire and the excavation of three mitigation ponds for great crested newts, as well as a viewing platform and a boardwalk.

Stainforth and Horton-in-Ribblesdale  Parish Councils had objected to the application because: the grazier’s hadn’t been consulted; the ponds could be extremely hazardous to the livestock being grazed on the common land and  the impact of an increase in the number of visitors on the wildlife on the moor especially the roe deer. These concerns were also raised by Austwick Parish Council.

Colin Newland of Natural England told the planning meeting that since submitting the application the agency had met with Swarth Moor commons rights holders. He said he had been told that they were concerned about the long term management of the moor and the impact on graziers’ livelihoods.  “One of the outcomes of that is that we will take forward a Countryside Stewardship Scheme for the common,” he said.

Committee member Allen Kirkbride, who is chairman of Askrigg Parish Council, commented: “It seems that the farming community who graze this area have been just an after thought for Natural England who should know better.”

He agreed with North Yorkshire County councillor Robert Heseltine that a few decades ago landowners were given tens of thousands of pounds to grip and drain the peat moors. “Now they are being given tens and thousands to fill it in,” he said.

Another parish council appointee, Chris Clark, spoke from his own personal experience: “We’ve blocked 125 hectares and the results of that have been an increase in biodiversity, improved irrigation, and carbon sequestration. On top of that we have had absolutely no problems with the stock getting stuck or drowned.”

The committee was informed that, as common land was involved, Natural England would have to obtain the consent for its plans from the Secretary of State. It was, therefore, expected that the graziers would make representations to the Secretary of State.

A planning officer told the meeting that the project was aimed at halting and reversing the long-term decline of a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)  by enhancing the lowland raised bog. “This is a national priority habitat which is very rare in the National Park and uncommon elsewhere,”  he said. The project also aimed at protecting the home of a population of great crested newts. He added that roe deer were not legally protected. He maintained that the project would have a positive impact on the condition of the SSSI.

The majority of the committee voted to approve the application.

Thornton Rust – February

A Wensleydale farmer was refused permission to construct a new agricultural building even though the committee was told by a parish council chairman that there was no chance of finding a site nearby that didn’t flood.

The planning officer stated that as the farmer,Nigel Thornborrow, did not want to reduce the size of the proposed building at Throstle Nest Farm on the A684 near Worton, he should locate it further away from the road.

Cllr John Dinsdale, chairman of Aysgarth and District Parish Council, Mr Thornborrow,  Cllr Peacock, and Cllr  Blackie, all tried to explain to the committee that the farmhouse and buildings were on a hill surrounded by fields that flood regularly, as does the road. Mr Thornborrow had applied to demolish two old farm buildings and replace them with one large one. This, Mr Thornborrow said, would house his farm machinery and also his livestock when a barn nearby flooded.

When shown a diagram of  how much larger the building would be compared with those to be demolished many members agreed that it would be too close to the road and have a harmful impact upon the landscape.

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welsh commented: “I think it would stick out like a sore thumb”.

The parish council,  however, had told the committee: “The current agricultural buildings [are] in an unattractive derelict and potentially dangerous state and need replacing urgently. The proposed replacement building is in line with the existing building and should cause no concern.

“The Council consider the proposed development to be a planning gain as it will improve the landscape visually and will assist with the development of a local family business.”

Threshfield – August

An application to sub-divide Sunnybank at Threshfield into two dwellings was unanimously approved.

Threshfield Parish Council had informed the committee that it did not support the application because, when approval was given for the single-storey extension in 2009, it was meant to be maintained as a single dwelling with single ownership. It was also concerned about the access from the B6265.

The application was for creating a home for the disabled applicant in that extension. He has agreed to sign a  local occupancy legal agreement.

The planning officer stated: “The proposed development will increase the housing stock in Threshfield and provides a single store residential unit which is ideal of a disabled resident.”

When Craven District councillor Richard Foster proposed approval he pointed out that there were very few bungalows in the National Park.

Threshfield – October

Permission was granted for a shed to be replaced in a garden at Park Grange Cottage.

Threshfield Parish Council had objected to the application because, it said, the new shed would be bigger than the existing one and so too big for the area. It would also be higher than the existing shed.

The planning officer told the meeting that the footprint of the new shed was smaller than the existing one and the ridge height would be 20cm higher. He stated that the new one would fit in the same space which was bounded by three walls. “The proposed development will result in an improvement to the appearance of the site,” he said.

Above: Olwyn (left) and Kate Chorley with the type of gifts which will be useful.

Two Richmondshire families have joined forces to provide many homeless people in nearby towns and cities with useful gifts that will help them over Christmas and into the New Year.

Olwyn Chorley of Thornton Rust and her daughter Kate and Jackie and Andrew Potter of Richmond are collecting vital items for the gift packages which will be distributed in Darlington, Leeds, Middlesbrough, Newcastle and other towns.

Mrs Chorley said: “We would be really grateful for donations of new or second hand items that we can include in our packages. The packages will be life-sustaining, but, just as importantly, they will send out the message to rough sleepers that people do care and are thinking of them.

“Although we don’t want to be prescriptive, some suggestions of useful items are: homemade, new or second hand gloves, hats, scarves, socks and jumpers (knitters get busy), unwanted warm coats, packs of toothbrushes and toothpaste, combs, tissues, chapsticks, nail clippers, plasters and antiseptic cream, sanitary towels, baby wipes, hand sanitizer, small LED torches with spare batteries, sleeping bags, emergency foil survival blankets (very cheaply purchased online), cereal bars, peanut butter, ring pull cans of tuna, bottles of fresh water and Christmas treats.

“However, I am sure that there are many other items that could be helpful, bearing in mind that the homeless have limited storage space and everything will be gratefully received. If you would like to include a card or message for the recipient then this will reinforce the feeling that people care.

“Rough sleeping must be pure misery, especially during these harsh winter months, and no one actively chooses this way of living. People sleeping on the street are almost 17 times more likely to have been victims of violence. Homelessness can be the result of severe disadvantage, abuse and mental or physical health problems but it can happen to the least likely individuals due to a series of unfortunate life events.

“More than one in three people sleeping rough have been deliberately hit or kicked or experienced some other form of violence, including being sexually assaulted and urinated on and they are over nine times more likely to take their own life than the general population. They are at grave risk of developing physical and mental health problems and addictions and the average life expectancy of a rough sleeper is 44 years.

“I was recently talking to a young homeless man in London whose teeth had been kicked in, unprovoked, by a group of suited city workers. What is that about? Less than a year ago he owned his own house and earned over 20k working as a self-employed plumber.

“Charities such as Crisis, Centrepoint and Shelter do a fantastic job in supporting those in need and tackling the complex issues underlying homelessness but they can’t reach everyone. People who live on the streets report feeling invisible, worthless and that no one cares. Homelessness is something that we are quite removed from in the Dales; but we are a caring community.”

She added that Mrs Potter is spending all her spare time knitting. In September Mr and Mrs Potter raised over £1,300 for Crisis and have been invited to attend the Crisis Carol Service at Newcastle Cathedral in December in recognition of their contribution.

Kate Chorley is collecting items from her university friends at Nottingham. In Wensleydale items can either be left in Mrs Chorley’s garage at Stall House, Thornton Rust. Mrs Chorley is also willing to collect items and can be contacted at 01969 663531 or email ol@thorntonrust.plus.com. Those living in or close to Richmond can contact Mrs Potter at 07792 857074 or email jackiepotter24@outlook.com.

Mrs Chorley commented: “We know that small gestures can have a big impact.”

Above left to right: The Rev Tom Ringland, Bishop Nick, and the Rev Penny Yeadon

There was a party atmosphere at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, on Monday (November 4) as members of the Penhill Benefice churches welcomed their new vicar, the Rev Tom Ringland.

His institution by the Rt Rev Nick Baines, Bishop of Leeds, was witnessed by the Diocesan Registrar Peter Foskett, the Dean of Ripon Cathedral the Rev Canon John Dobson, Area Dean the Rev Canon Penny Yeadon, several local clergy, and the Readers and Churchwardens of Penhill Benefice.

The Rev Yeadon also deputised for the Archdeacon of Richmond and Craven, the Ven Jonathan Gough, as he was too ill to attend. It was she, therefore, who placed the Rev Ringland’s hand upon the handle of the entrance door  (pictured below) and officially inducted him into ‘the real and actual possession of this church and benefice with all its rights, responsibilities and opportunities for ministry.”

He was then presented with the keys by the Churchwardens who, with the captain of the bell ringers Stuart Huntington, went with him to the tower where he rang one of the bells nine times to signify that he was taking up his pastoral charge.

The Rev Ringland had been welcomed not only by church members but also by representatives of the local communities served by Penhill Benefice. These included North Yorkshire County councillor Karin Sedgwick and parish council chairmen.

When the Churchwarden of St Martin’s at Desford in Leicestershire, Nev Hammonds, commended the new vicar to the benefice he pointed out that the Rev Ringland did face one particular challenge: “He is a keen cyclist and the hills here are a little larger…”

Quite a few from the Rev Ringland’s previous parishes at St Bartholomew at Kirby Muxloe and that at Desford attended the service although one group was left stranded in Leicestershire when the minibus it had hired did not appear.

During the service the Bishop told the large congregation that the teachings of Jesus, especially in the Beatitudes, showed that Christians don’t have to conform to the world. Instead they should have a prophetic witness.

“There’s only one measure of the faithfulness or the integrity of the Christian church and that is when people look at us, when they touch us, when they hear us, … they see some representation of Jesus. The church does not exist to save the church. The church exists to save the world out there,” he said.

He added that this might mean sacrificing the culture and ways of worship of the church so as to meet people where they were. And part of the job of a vicar was to enable that to happen.

After the service most of the congregation stayed to enjoy the homemade canapes and to chat with friends.

In his first letter to his new benefice Mr Ringland said he grew up near Canterbury. It was after he graduated in Geology from Durham University that he felt drawn to the Christian ministry.He volunteered in a church in the East End of London for a while and then spent a year in Sudan and Kenya in Christian relief work before beginning ordination training at Trinity College Bristol.

He met his wife, Bev, in Bristol and they were married during his first curacy in Crawley, West Sussex. The youngest of their four children is 19. During his ministry they have lived in Coalville and then, for the past 13 years, at Kirby Muxloe.

He wrote: “Bev grew up in Wharfedale, and it’s thanks to her that I’ve come to enjoy wide open spaces and long walks! We’ve also done a bit of cycling together, but the terrain in Wensleydale looks a little tougher than we’re used to.”One of their sons and their two Labradors, Islay and Skye, have moved with them to the Vicarage at Carperby.

Pte William Thomas ‘Tot’ Dinsdale;  Pte Thomas Spence;  Major Donald Herbert Rose MC and Sgt Ernest Moore; Col John William Lodge; and Pte John Percival. Plus Aysgarth Parish and WWI

Pte William Thomas ‘Tot’ Dinsdale

‘Granddad was never the same man again. He was gassed [mustard gas] towards the end of the war. When the Armistice came he was in a hospital somewhere in the Midlands. He was there for a long time. He just got out before the hospital was decimated by Spanish Flue,’ said John Dinsdale of Hawthorn Farm, Thornton Rust. (John is the chairman of Aysgarth and District Parish Council). He continued:

‘Granddad went back to farming at Sedbusk but he was never a fit man. He was always short of breath. If he did anything strenuous he was jiggered. When the lads [his sons] got to be 12 or 13 they did most of the work.

Above: Tot and Charlotte Anne Dinsdale with their children l-r Thomas (John’s father and also known as ‘Tot’), Alice, Jim, Dorothy, Jack and Margaret.

Below: The kettle presented to Tot Dinsdale by High Abbotside Parish Council in recognition of his service during WW1

Pte Dinsdale fought with the 1/4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment throughout most of the war apart from when he was recovering from being wounded, John said.

‘He joined up at Hawes when they first started recruiting – I think there were 15 or 16 of them from the Upper Dale and then they all marched to Leyburn with the rest from the Dale. He thought it was the right thing to do. He was 19 or 20.’

The 4th Yorkshires first experience of trench warfare was during the Battle of Ypres from April to June 1915. The front line battles the battalion was involved with included Armentieres from August to December 1915, the Somme from August to November 1916, Ypres October 1917 (Tot returned to the battalion in time for Passchendaele) to February 1918, and Aisne in May 1918.

At Aisne on May 27 1918 the battalion and others fighting alongside it was decimated by a massive German attack. That was the end of the 4th Yorkshires as a fighting unit during WW1. (from 4thYorkshires.com).

Like many others who returned home after the war Tot found it difficult to talk to anyone about it other than those who had also fought in the trenches. The two he turned to were Anthony and Jack Fawcett, his brothers-in-law, from High Abbotside.

John said: ‘They would go into the far room and shut the door. I’m pretty certain they were talking about the war but as soon as anyone went in they shu7t up. They never talked to us about it. But granddad did talk to my Uncle Ernie – his son-in-law.’ (Ernest Metcalfe)

Anthony ‘Ant’ Fawcett was given a small book of Common Prayer and Hymns Ancient and Modern by his sister Annie (later Mrs Pratt) in February 1914 and he carried that with him throughout the war. From the state of the pages it is obvious that he read some of the hymns a lot such as No230. (See Penny Barker’s address in Remembrance Service at Aysgarth Church)

Family photo courtesy John Dinsdale. Other photos by Pip Pointon.

Pte Thomas Spence

Pte Thomas Spence of Walden and West Burton was one of those who did come home from WW1 but then died during the flu epidemic. ‘He was gassed and later got the flu. He died at home,’ said his grand-daughter, Frances Sledge of Leyburn.

For his wife, Fanny, and daughter, Grace Kathleen, his death meant that they had to leave their home in West Burton. Fanny took her daughter back to her family in Wharfedale. They either lived with Fanny’s parents (William and  Deborah Gill) at the post office in Buckden or they stayed with her aunt and uncle at Fold House Farm in Kettlewell.

It was to those addresses that his medals (the British War Medal, the Victory Medal and the 1914-1915 Star) were sent and the family carefully stored them in the boxes and envelopes in which they came.

Tom was born at Hargill Haw Farm in Walden where his father, John farmed. He had four siblings: Margaret, Grace, Sarah and John. In the 1911 census he was described as a 15-years-old draper’s apprentice.  By 1915 he had enlisted with the 4th Battalion Yorkshire Regiment (Green Howards).

On April 1 1915 he wrote to his mother, Margaret Spence,  from Newcastle-on-Tyne: “Dear Ma, I arrived safe and sound, but I got a very pleasant surprise, we are of (sic) across before the 18th of this month. Dont fret or worry I shall be alright…. Tell uncle Kit I am of but dont forget I shall come safely back again. I had a very enjoyable time at Northallerton…. Tell Mr Roulden I shall write to him soon now, to let the School children know how we get on. … I am in the Pink of health. I am  your loving son Tom. Remembrance to all at Burton.”

His battalion had moved from its home base at Northallerton and, just as Tom said, was sent to France on April 18, and straight into battle in the Ypres sector. The regiment saw action at the Battle of the Somme in 1916 which was probably  when he was gassed. He received his honourable discharge certificate and silver badge after being in hospital in August 1916.

He married Fanny Gill at Skipton registry office in August 1918 but died on April 18 1819 aged 23. He was buried in Aysgarth churchyard four months before his daughter was born.  In the 1911 census her grandmother, Deborah, then 57-years-old, was described as being in charge of the post office at Buckden.  Deborah’s husband was then 71-years-old.

“He was a shoemaker. He had a long beard and lived until he was in his nineties,” said Mrs Sledge. Below: William Gill with his daughter, Fanny Spence, and grand daughter.

Major Donald Herbert Rose MC and Sgt Ernest Moore

The Festival of Remembrance at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, in November 2018 provided an opportunity for Hugh Rose of Leyburn and Catrina Cloughton of Thornton Rust to remember their father: Major Donald Herbert Rose MC (above).

Major Rose was born in 1885 in Lincolnshire, went to what was then Ceylon in 1910 and became a tea and rubber planter. He joined the Ceylon Planters Rifle Corps (CPRC) in 1911. Lance Corporal (Rifleman) Rose was among the 237 from the Corps who were sent to Egypt in October 1914. They initially helped to defend the Suez Canal against Ottoman Turkish attack.

In December that year they joined the Wellington Battalion of the newly formed Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (Anzac). They made such a good impression that many were sent for officer training. Rose did his in Egypt with the 1/6 Essex Regiment. In August 1915 the regiment was sent to Suvla Bay, Gallipoli. Those who survived were evacuated in December 1915, first to guard the Suez Canal and then to fight the Turkish Army through Egypt into Gaza.

Major Rose commanded the company which was the first to enter Gaza City. From there they went to Damascus where he and his company marched into the city 200 yards behind General Allenby and Lawrence of Arabia. He finished in Baghdad and returned to Ceylon in 1919.

He remained there until the early 1950s by which time he was married. On returning to England they finally settled in Thornton Rust when his wife Joan became the assistant matron at what was then a sanatorium at Thornton Lodge.  He died in 1963.

“Trina” Cloughton also shared the sad love story of her maternal great uncle Sgt Ernest Moore.

He grew up in Tudhoe Colliery in Co Durham, the only son of John and Alice Moore. John was from a mining family but attended evening classes after he left school when he was 14. He worked his way up to becoming a mine’s inspector.  His job included making sure there was no gas in the mines said Trina.

When Ernest joined the Durham Pals (18th Battalion Durham Light Infantry) at Craken Hall on 29 December 1914 he was 20 years and 10 months old and listed his occupation as “shop assistant”.

After training the Durham Pals were sent to Egypt late in 1915 to defend the Suez Canal. They were then moved to France in March 1916 for the “Big Push”. Sgt Moore survived the Battle of the Somme but was killed in action on 19 May 1918. He was buried at Caestre Military Cemetery in France.

He had hoped to return and marry his girlfriend and had given her a bracelet as an “engagement” present before he went overseas.

Mrs Cloughton said: “He was ‘engaged’ to one of my grandma’s sisters, Emma Musgrave. He and Aunty Emma loved poetry. He sent her a book of poems each Christmas. They are suede covered and wouldn’t have been cheap.”

Emma cut out the “In Memoriam” notice in the local newspaper and stuck it on a page in one of those books. The notice read: “Roll of Honour. MOORE. – In cherished memory of Sgt. E. Moore (Durham Pals), beloved son of Mr. and Mrs. J. G. Moore, Tudhoe Colliery, who fell in France May 19th, 1918. Safe in our Father’s home until the day breaks and the shadows flee away.”

And the poem on that page was God’s Acre:

I like that ancient Saxon phrase, which calls

  The burial-ground God’s Acre….

God’s-Acre! Yes, that blessed name imparts

  Comfort to those who in the grave have sown

The seed that they had garnered in their hearts,

  Their bread of life, alas! no more their own….

Below: It is likely that Sgt Moore is the man with a cigarette standing at the back with his arm resting on a friend’s back. He does look older and battle weary compared to that above which was probably taken before he left England for the Western Front.

Aysgarth Parish and WWI

In December 1918 the vicar of Aysgarth, the Rev William K Wyley wrote in the parish letter: “I wonder if, in the years to come, November 11 will overshadow the 5th as a day greatly to be remembered.”

He was, however, very aware that dalesfolk were in the midst of the great Spanish Flu epidemic and that the WW1 peace agreement had not yet been signed.

Two soldiers, L/Cpl John Wood of Carperby and Driver William Metcalfe of Aysgarth, were given compassionate leave when their wives became ill with the flu. Both women died, Eleanor Metcalfe (22) before her husband got home.

Soldiers began to be demobbed in early 1919 and this led to Mr Wyley publishing an interesting ‘advert’ in the parish magazine: “The Employment Exchange at Northallerton has asked me to state that it has on its Registers women discharged from War Service and suitable for several classes of employment.”

It was acknowledged that women had an important part to play in reconstruction. The role that women had played during the Great War was recognised when limited suffrage was granted to them in 1918.

In October 1918 Mr Wyley commented: “We are approaching the time when, as a nation, we shall realize more fully what a tremendous change the war has made in the social, industrial and religious life of England.”

In that letter he reminded everyone about the great need of economy in the use of oil and especially coal. “I know that very many of us are reducing our fires to a very low minimum, and where wood fuel is available I am sure we shall be careful to ‘do our bit’ in this respect for our country.” He had regularly emphasised the need for food economy and, in June 1917, explained why (below).

WW1 had a massive impact upon the lives of everyone and not just because of the ravenous war machine in France and Belgium. The parish magazines not only listed those who had enlisted – but also those who were killed.

When war first broke out local people didn’t know how to respond. Initially events were cancelled but it didn’t take long for people to realise that they could use the church’s flower festivals and other celebrations to raise money for the War Working Parties or to be sent direct to hospitals caring for the war wounded. Concerts, jumble sales and tea parties were also held.

In May 1915 there was a bold headline: “200,000 Eggs wanted weekly for the wounded.” The National Egg Collection had been launched with the request that each household should send one each week to help the recovery of wounded soldiers. The West Burton and District Scout Troop took on the job in the parish and by late November had collected 6,144 eggs. These were sent to military hospitals in France and Malta and some to wounded soldiers at Leeds Infirmary.

Right: published in the Aysgarth section of The Upper Dales Parish Magazine in December 1917

Children helped with collecting sphagnum moss for dressing wounds, made items of clothing and, in November 1917, were encouraged to collect horse chestnuts for munitions and also waste paper. Mr Wyley reported that within two months he received half hundredweight of horse chestnuts and four hundredweight of waste paper.

The times of services had to be adjusted when lighting restrictions were introduced in February 1916 following air raids by Zeppelins. And the shortage of manpower was beginning to have an effect. In July 1918 Mr Wyley wrote: “May haytime be favourable and health and strength sufficient to tide over the shortage of labour.”

Conscription was introduced in January 1916 and in July 1917 he wrote: “I am glad to say that the local Tribunal has granted exemption to our Sexton on condition that he is released as far as possible for agricultural and other work of National importance.

The signing of the Peace Treaty in July 1919 led to celebrations throughout the country and the Empire. But in Wensleydale the hay harvest had to come first. Mr Wyley commented: “I hope that when all the hay has been led each village… will do something to mark our rejoicing over the Peace and our gratitude to the men who won the possibility of it.”

This has been edited from the Aysgarth sections of the  Upper Wensleydale Parish Magazines 1914-1918. Aysgarth parish consists of Aysgarth, Carperby, Bishopdale, Thoralby, Thornton Rust and West Burton.

Below: The peace celebrations in 1919 at The Rookery in Bishopdale  (courtesy DCM)  The Rookery no longer exists.

For more stories see the WWI section of the Thoralby Through Time website.

Col John William Lodge

The biggest military funeral at Aysgarth church during WW1 was that for Col John William Lodge with the band of his regiment and the detachments of two battalions being present. The firing party fired volleys over his grave and buglers sounded the Last Post. He was 60-years-old when, on leave at his home at The Rookery in Bishopdale, he died on 23 August 1917, after a short illness.

He had served in the Boer War and from 1906-1912 had commanded the 3rd Battalion of the Yorkshire Regiment. At the outbreak of the 1st World War he had immediately returned to the battalion as a major and in May 1916 was appointed to the command of a Garrison Battalion. (Information and photo courtesy Wensleydale Remembered)

Pte John Percival

There wasn’t a military funeral for Pte John Percival but there is a military gravestone. He was 21-years-old when he died and was buried on 12 April 1918.

This obituary was published about him:

“He enlisted when he was 19, and after being trained at Rugeley Camp, went to France in April 1916, and was through the battle of the Somme, being badly wounded in the hand in September 1916. He was sent back to England for treatment, and made a sufficient recovery to enable him to return to service.

“As he was a competent motor driver he was transferred by the authorities from the Yorkshire Regiment to the Motor Transport, Army Service Corps, in June 1917. In this work he did good service until October last, when he was badly gassed, and was seriously ill. He returned to England, and was in the 1st London General Hospital, Camberwell, until November 27th, when he was officially discharged from the Army as physically unfit for further service.

“A relative went to London to bring him home. He was very weak, and while crossing London an air raid was proceeding, and the journey was several times interrupted. Arrived at Aysgarth he was very happy to see his home and family, and seemed to revive for a while, but the gas had seriously damaged his lungs and recovery was seen to be impossible.

“Though relatives and friends nursed him tenderly day and night there was no progress towards health. The funeral was largely attended by sympathising friends, and some beautiful wreaths and affectionate messages were sent.”

A waterfall of poppies is once again cascading over the reredos at Aysgarth church ready for the Remembrance service on Sunday.

The waterfall and a large exhibition were created last year as part of the church’s celebration of the centenary of the signing of the Armistice in 1918.

The part of the exhibition which remembers the local men killed during World War 1 is still in place. All the other information gathered about men and women from the church parish (Aysgarth, Bishopdale, Carperby, Thoralby, Thornton Rust, Walden and West Burton) who also served during that conflict is in two books beside it.

A lot of the information was collected by Penny Ellis and she has continued her research this year. This has enabled her to update the Roll of Honour and some other pages on her website, Thoralby Through Time. She has added five names to the Roll of Honour with the total now standing at 198.

Those she has added are: Elizabeth Ewbank of Swinithwaite and Aysgarth, VAD nurse; James William Fryer of Bishopdale, Driver 52nd Liverpool; Thomas Fryer of Bishopdale, Gunner Royal Garrison Artillery; Joseph Powell Hammond of Thornton Rust, Private Northumberland Fusiliers; and Mark Hammond of Aysgarth, Gunner Royal Garrison Artillery.Mrs Ellis has also found more names of women shown on some photos in her “Home Front” section and added photos of the commemorative cup and saucer produced for the peace celebrations at the Rookery in Bishopdale in 1919. Her research continues.

On Sunday November 10 the Remembrance services at Penhill Benefice churches are: at Castle Bolton at 9.30am; at Preston under Scar at 10.45am; and at Aysgarth at 11am.

by Juliet Barker

The harvest was well and truly celebrated at St Andrew’s! We gave thanks to God for the beauty of our natural world and for the social ties that bring us together as friends and neighbours in a fantastic Flower Festival.

Our flower arrangers are renowned for their creativity, skill and imagination but they excelled themselves in their displays celebrating some of the local organisations in our parish. Who knew there was so much going on in  our villages? (To see more pictures click on the photo)

A children’s session of fun and games attracted a low turnout but, led by a roller-skating scarecrow (Steve Hamilton), we all had huge fun rescuing the animals in Noah’s ark, passing round the potatoes and finding the harvest mice hidden in church.

In the evening we had a full house at the Falls Café for our hog-roast and ceilidh, with music provided by the inimitable Roosters Band. It was a great joy to see so many young people, including children, join in the dancing with great enthusiasm – and then come to church the next morning to round off our celebrations with a Harvest Thanksgiving Service, led by Rev Kathy Couchman. Her moving and memorable sermon struck a chord with many of us and was much discussed afterwards.

Thank you everyone who gave their time, energy, skills and money to make our Harvest Celebrations such a success. We raised over £800 and renewed our fellowship with members of the parish – and beyond!

We will continue to collect tinned and dried food for Caring For Life until the end of October: a list of suggested items and a box for offerings can be found at the back of the church.

Photo: one mouse escaped and almost came to a sticky end on part of the Jervaulx Screen! or was an adult just playing after all the children  had gone?

Forty years after Brian McGregor was elected as an Aysgarth and District Parish councillor for Thoralby his daughter, Sandra Wilman (55), has been elected to join him.

Thoralby was one of the five parish councils which had to have an election this month as there were more candidates than required.

This was the first election at Thoralby in 40 years – and the village did it in style with a 70 per cent turnout. The highest turnout anywhere else in Richmondshire was the parish council election at Bellerby (58%).

At the meeting of Aysgarth and District Parish Council on Thursday (May 16) Richmondshire District councillor Yvonne Peacock congratulated Thoralby for what she described as an “absolutely fantastic” turnout.

Cllr Wilman received the highest number of votes (64) beating her father by seven. The other councillor elected was Linda Cooper who has served on the parish council for several years.

Asked why she decided to stand for election Cllr Wilman said: “I want to give something back.” When she was growing up in the village she remembers so many children from there attending school but now there are far fewer.

She worked with her husband in his family’s joinery business in Bradford for many years and now they have retired to Thoralby. So her two sons went to school in Bradford, and her two grandchildren also attend school in Bradford.

Above after the service on April 7 : Front Row l-r – Richard and Ann Wilkinson, Jean Cockburn and Rona Trowell. Back row – Anne Moore, Martin and Pauline Beckett and Frank Trowell.

Aysgarth Methodist chapel was full on Sunday April 7 for its final service before its official closure on April 22. 

The few remaining Methodist chapels in mid and upper Wensleydale were represented as well as St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, and the local community.

The service was led by Dr Richard Wilkinson who for many years was a local Methodist lay preacher as well as being the organist at St Andrew’s Church.

He spoke of his own sadness about the closure of the chapel which, he said, had been a wonderful centre for the village. He reflected on the history of the chapel and the local man to whom it has been a memorial – the Rev Sylvester Whitehead who served for ten years as a missionary in China and who, in 1904 became the President of the Wesleyan Conference.

The present chapel was built by local craftsmen in 1900. It replaced a cottage on the site which had been used for services since 1766.

Dr Wilkinson remembered those who had ministered there and recalled the annual nativity plays in which the village children participated. “These were a wonderful experience for all of us, led by Jean Cockburn and Rona Trowell,” he said.

Mrs Cockburn started the nativity plays in 1966 four years after taking over the chapel’s Sunday School. For 20 years or more she has assisted Rona Trowell with the nativity plays and all age worship services.

“I ‘m very grateful that I’ve had over 90 years of being a chapel member,” said 92-years-old Mrs Cockburn as she shared some of her memories (see below). She is one of the five remaining members of Aysgarth chapel who made the decision to close it.

Another was Pauline Becket who told the congregration: : “We have reached the end of a long road and we have to look for a new direction.”

She sang a solo at the beginning of the service, and there were two duets by Emma Cloughton and Colin Bailey. The organist was Diane Hartley.

After the service Mrs Cockburn was presented with a bouquet of flowers by Mary Hugill as a thank you for all she had done at the chapel for so many years.

Most of the congregation remained in the chapel afterwards for the buffet tea.

Jean’s reflections:

When Richard asked me if I would say a few words about our chapel my first thought was “No Way” – but I thought of the years I’d asked him to play [the organ] and he never refused so I had second thoughts and decided I just couldn’t refuse.

I seem to have been involved with chapel all my life, sitting with Mam firstly and then in the choir, with Dad [Cecil Riggs] playing the organ.  Occasionally Mam allowed me to take my panama hat off and put it on the window ledge, but in the 1930s not wearing a hat would have been frowned on. Everyone wore their Sunday best for Chapel, and trousers for women wouldn’t have been acceptable at all.

The heating for the Chapel was a coal boiler which Dad had to go every Sunday morning whatever the weather down the steps into the cellar to light the boiler.

Each year members and friends went round Christmas singing, always walking – Hestholme where the Vicars lived then the houses up to Aysgarth, cups of tea and biscuits at a few of them. Then the next night finish Aysgarth and Thornton Rust where Hannah at Low Gill had a lovely spread for us.

For me Christmas singing was the highlight of Christmas. It stopped a lot of years ago, maybe because everyone got older, and maybe because we’d not got Dad with his tuning fork.

Some verses from the poem Jean wrote several years ago about her memories of Aysgarth Chapel:

I learnt pretty early that Sundays were Chapel,

No playing games for me,

It was Sunday School, Chapel then Chapel again

And in the middle up to my Aunty’s for tea.

The Aldersons, Sayers, Thompsons, Pedleys

All were sat in the centre

With Grandma Riggs on the very front seat

To hear the preacher the better

Ben, Jim & Alice took Sunday School each week,

For the boys and girls of Aysgarth who were not always meek.

The boys carved names on Chapel pews and led old Jim a dance.

But faithful soul that old Jim was, he didn’t stand a chance.

The Sunday School trip was a must each year

To Redcar, the sands and the sea,

Paddling and building sand castles,

Then into a cafe for tea.

The old ones now have passed away

But still our Chapel remained

With a host of happy memories

Of many happy days.

and she has now added this final verse –

But now our Chapel’s closing,

And we all feel very sad

But we’ll trust God for the future

And thank Him for all the years that we’ve  had.

In the 1950s Frank Knowles was Wensleydale’s archetypal news photographer – and until Sunday February 17 60 of his magnificent black and white photographs are on show at Tennants Garden Rooms in Leyburn. These include his favourite news picture – the one he took of the Queen Mother when her train stopped at Harrogate Station (left)

He was working for the Ackrill Group of newspapers based in Harrogate and had gone there to process the glass slides which were then used as negatives. He was asked to go to the station and try and get a photo of the Queen Mother.

“Everything was cordoned off. There wasn’t a soul on the platform but I got on alright. It was a long train and I had to go right down the platform. Eventually I found the Queen Mother. She was sat at the window, had her glasses on, her ledger open and was writing in it.

“I bowed my head to be respectful and I pointed down at the camera. She [signalled to me] to wait a minute and I thought ‘Oh, all the security people are going to come and catch me.’ She just took off her glasses, put them to one side, closed the ledger and she posed. And I took that picture. I was absolutely amazed. I thought how nice it was of her. She could so easily have waved me out of it. I was quite prepared that if she did tell me to be off I would have done so without taking a picture. I think it’s a good picture.”

Frank was 15 when he left Harrogate Grammar School and joined the Ministry of Aircraft Photographic Laboratory in Harrogate in 1943. His job entailed making 8×6 inch contact prints from whole plate glass negatives. He explained: “Many of these were photographs of new and secret aeroplanes and were subject to Official Secrets Regulations.

“When the Ministry of Aircraft moved back to London I started as a printer with the Ackrill Group.” He did his two years National Service in the Army during when he continued his interest in photography. He even took the official photos of his Company Commander, Officers and NCOs for recording purposes.

THE LIFE OF RILEY

“When I returned [to the Ackrill Group] from National Service, I started using a press camera in earnest in both Harrogate and Thirsk. Soon after this I was asked to cover the Wensleydale area. It was the life of Riley. I cannot think of any better job in the world – to be given a camera and told to go up into the beautiful Yorkshire Dales and record the people and events. I had a completely free rein as long as I sent in a supply of pictures each week.”

Those provide a remarkable glimpse into the life and times of the dale which became his home. They include house fires, train crashes, local gymkhanas and dramatic winter weather.

“Perhaps the most memorable and scary event was being with a bomb disposal team on the moors and actually touching a live 100lb German bomb prior to it being detonated,” he commented.

The bomb disposal unit from Portsmouth had been sent to Wether Fell near Hawes in 1957 to deal with the bomb. The unit took five weeks to reach it but Frank had only a fraction of a second to photograph the 200ft-high plume of debris when it exploded.

It was even harder for him to estimate the right moment to take a photograph when one of the largest prepared explosions in England took place in Redmire Quarry in 1952. His photograph showed the rock face bulging outwards due to the impact of the 3,750lbs of explosives when they were detonated inside a tunnel.

“I had to follow a lot of ambulances to get one good story,” he told me. One ambulance took him to the Blea Moor tunnel near Ribblehead station where, in April 1952, the morning express from Glasgow to London had crashed. He was the first pressman at the scene and took some moving photographs of not only the crash, complete with discarded pram, but also of a mother and her baby waiting with other slightly injured passengers for transport.

Frank didn’t chase fire engines. Instead he often beat Leyburn’s retained firemen to a fire.

“The firemen then had only basic equipment and no radio pagers,” he said. “They had to rely on the siren and if they were working out of town they couldn’t hear it. The fire engines were not much better than Green Goddesses. When I heard the siren I went to the fire station to find out what sort of fire it was. The fire engine was quite ponderous and could not go as fast as my van.”

THE FIREMAN’S ASSISTANT

One day only two turned up at the fire station, a fireman and himself! They loaded a couple of extinguishers into his press van and went to a house in Leyburn where a settee was smouldering. “The fireman and I carried it out into the garden and he put the fire out.” Not surprisingly Frank has no photographs of that fire scene.

But he did get others such as in Bedale when a car burst into flames behind Mr Brears’ ironmongery shop. The man who had been working on the car was in flames as he ran for help. Frank arrived in time to photograph people using new buckets from the ironmongery as they helped quench the flames.

“I was also involved in life and death situations,” he said. “On one occasion I helped a farmer to deliver a calf with a difficult birth. I pulled on a rope around the calf’s legs. Another time I took some photos of a fire where an old gentleman died. The photos were used by the police at the inquest – obviously they were not published.

“I was fortunate that I had a good relationship with the police. On one occasion I provided transport to take an officer on to the moor to try and rescue a swan [which had fallen] down a mineshaft. Unfortunately it had to be shot as no one could get near enough to rescue it.“

The police once asked me to keep an eye out for two young boys who were missing from home in Sunderland. When returning to Leyburn from Hawes Sports, I saw two youngsters near Bainbridge. I returned to Hawes, picked up a police officer and we caught up with the boys who turned out to be the missing pair. They had been camping near the river. I looked after one while the officer took to the other boy to their camp to collect clothes etc. I received a letter of thanks from the grateful parents.”

JUST ONE CHANCE

Photographing action shots was not easy in the days when photographers had to use heavy quarter-plate glass slides as negatives. “With a modern camera you can keep your finger on the trigger! I had only one chance – I either got it or I didn’t. You didn’t have a second chance because you had to change slides. It was quite a performance between one shot and another. I could change a glass slide in 10 seconds. You had to keep careful track of which ones were unused and which ones were used. Otherwise you could spoil the ones you had already taken.”

“With that camera I had to focus manually. It had what you call a focal-plane shutter. You had to wind a nob on the side and a shutter came down and a blind with a slot in it. You adjusted that slot as to how little or how much exposure you wanted to give it. You didn’t quite know what you were doing but you just knew by experience to put it at an eighth of an inch wide or an inch wide if it was bad light. It was quite a skill really.”

Photographing gymkhanas was a particularly difficult job. He had to decide, before a horse jumped a fence, if the rider was likely to come a cropper or not. If he aimed at photographing the final part of the jump it was possible he wouldn’t get an interesting photo at all. He did capture the moment at Bellerby one year when a competitor’s horse “carried all before him” and destroyed a jump.

In addition to carrying the large camera and a box of glass slides he also had to take a heavy pack to recharge his flash unit.“It was terrible when you were going off to take snow pictures. You had this great weight on your shoulder,” he said.

He was always expected to cover bad weather stories, however dangerous. In December 1952 he heard about a multiple pile-up outside Leyburn. As he reached the scene his own van skidded on the black ice and was damaged.

“It was happening so fast no one could run up the hill to warn people. You had to keep leaping out of the way. It was like one of those funny films,” he said. In all 11 vehicles were involved including two large Army trucks and the seven-ton army recovery lorry sent to rescue them. Above: Frank and his camera in the 1950s.

In February 1956 he joined a post woman, Marion Bowes, from Ulshaw Bridge, to photograph her trying to deliver letters during a four-day snow storm. Together they battled their way up to Sowden Beck farm where they found Mr and Mrs Banks feeding their sheep. Marion had just one letter to deliver and when Mrs Banks opened it she commented: “You needn’t have brought that.” It was a notice of a rent increase!

Frank then had to take his slides to Harrogate for developing. “I would fight my way out of the dales and when I got to Harrogate there wasn’t a flick of snow. If I didn’t have the photographs with me they would not have believed me.”

In 1953 he married Betty Wray whose father and uncle ran the ironmongery business in the centre of Leyburn. He joined the family business in 1960 and continued to manage it, even after it was taken over by new owners, until he retired in 2004.

He will be 90-years-old on January 31 but is as determined as ever to continue taking good photographs. He uses what he describes as a glorified digital camera which has a zoom lens but no interchangeable lenses. “It’s a lot lighter,” he said with a chuckle.

Above: Frank pointing out the difference between the glass slides he used in the 1950s and, on the right, a modern SD card on which over a thousand photos can be stored. Photo by Gilly Knowles.

He also showed me his excellent action photo of cyclists racing towards Leyburn during the Tour de France in 2014.

“Even today it depends on what the photographer wants and how he is going to get it,” he commented. Both he and his daughter, Gilly, took pairs of steps with them so that they could be above the crowd to take photos of the Tour de France.

A FAMILY TRADITION

Photography has become a family tradition for the Knowles. Frank explained: “One hundred years ago my mother was employed as a photographic finisher at Davey’s, a well-known Harrogate photographer in James Street.

“My son, Andrew, was the official photographer and line artist for North Yorkshire County Council. His son, Ben, is a professional photographer and his daughter, Abi, is also an accomplished photographer. Gilly continues the theme by embarking on a degree course in photography. Four generations working with photography. I think we may have photography in the blood!”

Gilly added that, as a family, they produce a calendar every year. The photographs for these are contributed not just by Frank, Gilly and Andrew but also by Ben and Abi.

It was Gilly who introduced Frank to Leyburn Band when it was re-started in 2003. She plays 2nd horn – while Frank takes the photographs. “I must have two to three hundred pictures of the band,” Frank said.

One of the regular venues has been Tennants Garden Rooms. He described how Rodney Tennant (chairman of Tennants Auctioneers) had allowed him to photograph the band from anywhere he wanted. And it was Rodney who encouraged Frank to hold an exhibition there of his 1950’s press photos.

The curator at the Garden Rooms, Harriet Hunter Smart, worked with Frank to organise it. Together they chose 60 out of the 200 that he and Gilly have made digital copies of. One of those photos is of a crowd at Middleham and in the front is Rodney in school uniform.

Harriet was keen to have photos for which there were stories. “It was quite a job writing full captions,” commented Frank.

The exhibition includes the photo he couldn’t take – that of his own wedding.

“I must have taken over 1,000 wedding photos over that ten years,” said Frank. Some people still remind him that he took their wedding photo.

Gilly is looking forward to hearing peoples’ comments at the exhibition. Those who took the opportunity to visit on January 18 so as to meet Frank were very impressed.

ARC News Service: An application to deepen Swinden Quarry received unanimous approval at the meeting of the  Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority ’s planning committee on Tuesday December 11.

Tarmac applied to deepen the quarry by a further 50m by removing an additional 11.3 million tons of limestone. This will extend the life of the quarry from 2030 to 2039. Although restoration work would  be completed by 2041 the 144m deep lake would take 27 years to fill once pumping stopped, the committee was told. 

Tarmac’s  area director, Stephen Barker, told the committee that the appearance of the site would not be altered. He said Tarmac was determined to remain a good neighbour an stated: “We can’t deny that quarrying has an impact upon the local community but we believe much of that impact is positive.”

They had, he said, consulted extensively with the community over a two year period and made some significant changes and commitments in response to the feedback they had received.

He explained that they planned to expand the rail operations and reduce the amount of road haulage.  The company would continue to be involved with bio diversity and environmental projects in Upper Wharfedale as well as supporting community projects, he said and added:

“Early in the consultation it was made apparent to us that the potential impact to the ground water and the springs and wells that supply drinking water was a concern. We have agreed to pay Yorkshire Water to install mains water to Cracoe village and to outlying properties [including Rylstone]  following the granting of planning permission.”

One of the conditions of the planning permission is that the company will sign a legal agreement which includes funding mains water supply to local residents and the reduction in road transport from 800,000 tons in 2019 to 25,000 tons a year between 2030 and 2039.

Also included is the extension of the existing provisions for independent arbitration if there are any disputes over water supply, subsidence or blasting vibration. Adequate insurance cover will be provided to cover any remedial works resulting from any adverse impacts of quarrying.

These conditions cover many of the issues raised by Cracoe Parish Meeting. The parish meeting did, however, feel that the company’s hydrology and hydrogeology report was flawed and there were insufficient monitoring wells. A Cracoe resident Dr Richard Muir explained to the planning committee why there were concerns that the lake could become alkaline.

The parish meeting had welcomed the undertaking that there would be no heavy traffic from the quarry on Saturdays and had also asked that HGV transport should not start  until 7.30am. The hours of haulage approved the the planning committee, however, were from 6.30am to 5pm Monday to Fridays.

David Parrish, the Authority’s Minerals Officer, told the committee: “There are clearly economic benefits by extending the life of Swinden Quarry – by the direct and indirect employment and to the local economy.”

North Yorkshire County councillor Richard Welch pointed out that each day everyone depends on quarried products both within and outside our homes. He remembered the days when residents packed liaison meetings because they were so concerned about issues at the quarry. Now there was often no need to organise such meetings.

This supported Mr Barker’s statement that Tarmac took its obligations to the community seriously. Mr Barker said: “We recognise that some people object to the concept of quarrying in the National Park but there is a clear local and regional need for the materials we produce. We believe we have designed a scheme that protects the local landscape, secures local jobs and minimises our environment impact.”

Above: Jean Cockburn (in the foreground) and Rona Trowell with the children who participated in the Aysgarth Chapel Nativity this year.

Christmas won’t be quite the same in  Aysgarth without its annual children’s nativity at the Methodist Chapel. With the chapel due for closure in 2019 the last nativity was held  on Sunday December 9.

A few days later I sat with Jean  Cockburn (92) as she searched both her father’s diaries and her own to pinpoint exactly when she started organising this very special community event.

Finally we found her notes in November and December 1966 about the rehearsals for the first nativity play in the chapel. By then she had already been running the Sunday School for four years.

“I used to go to Kendal to buy suitable plays as there was a nice little religious bookshop there,” she told me.

It was pointed out at this year’s nativity that the parents of several of the children taking part had also previously participated in the plays – and some of the grandparents too.

For the past 25 years Rona Trowell has helped to organise the chapel’s Nativity event. Both she and Jean were thanked by Frank Trowell.

In recent years Rona and Jean have introduced some very creative changes to the nativity story adapting it to the abilities of the children taking part. This year’s was a very good example with the older children (Charlotte, Thomasina, Abigail and George) providing the narration and impressing everyone with their singing.

The younger children (Sebastian, Douglas, Aidan, Lily-Anne, Jacob and Will) had great fun enacting the arrival of the nativity characters. The congregation also thoroughly enjoyed the  instrumental solos by Amy and Sophie.

Andrew Souter accompanied the carol singing on the organ. The collection of £160 was shared between the charities Action for Children and Children in Need.

Below top: One little shepherd comes out of hiding!

bottom: Jean with Amy and Sophie

The new national energy efficiency regulations for rented property will have a major impact upon Dales’ communities Aysgarth and District Parish Council was told at its July meeting.

The chairman, Cllr John Dinsdale, reported that when he contacted local estate agents he learnt that 14 properties which had previously been rented had now been sold, some probably for second homes.

“We can’t lose so many rented properties,” he said.

He had invited Bernard Spence to describe what it had been like trying to bring a rented property up to the required standard so as to obtain an Energy Performance Certificate (EPC) rating of at least band E.

Mr Spence explained that the new regulations had come into force in April this year and an estate agent had informed him that his property in Aysgarth (above) could not be advertised for let until it had been upgraded. Like many properties in the Dales this is an old stone-built house and so is especially difficult to upgrade to modern standards.

He did manage to upgrade it sufficiently but told the councillors:“Higher required EPC changes planned in the future will make it difficult for me to continue to let the property without increases in rent.”

District councillor Yvonne Peacock said she would discuss the issue with the legal department at Richmondshire District Council. “We need to keep young people living and working in the Dales,” she said. The issue will also be brought to the attention of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority by District councillor Caroline Thornton-Berry.

Reading Room. – The council was informed that at an extraordinary meeting of Thoralby Parish on June 18 it had been decided that a grant of £10,500 should be made from the Thoralby Moss account towards the cost of repairing the village Reading Room.

Cllr Brian McGregor also reported that at a Thoralby Parish site meeting it had been agreed that it was not feasible to create a car parking area in Low Green Lane as there was insufficient ground area.

Westholme. – The council received the following response from the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority concerning the trees that had been felled at Aysgarth Luxury Lodge Holidays (previously Westholme Caravan Park):“After checking that this isn’t a conservation area and that there are no TPOS in force, the matter [was referred] to our Senior Trees and Woodlands Officer who referred onwards to the Forestry Commission given the amount of felled wood.

“Apparently, it is permissible to fell five cubic metres per quarter and the FC feel that no offence has been committed. The FC will, however, contact park management to give guidance on tree felling requirements, although it may be that the work is now complete. There is no breach of planning with respect to tree felling.”

Thoralby – Cllr McGregor told the meeting that Low Green Bridge needed a hand rail and netting or chicken wire as its surface was slippery. North Yorkshire County Council’s highways department reported that following an inspection it did not consider that the railway sleeper-type bridge needed to be replaced at present.

Cllr McGregor reported that the new tarmac on the road from Aysgarth Garage to Thoralby was 50 yards short of Tom Gill bridge where the road surface most needed to be repaired.

Aysgarth. – The highways department had informed the council that the speed limit sign on the west side of Aysgarth was past its sell by date and needed to be replaced. A new vehicle activated sign will be installed during the present financial year.

The clerk will ask the highways department if it will install bollards outside Flatlands or if this could be done by a resident. The council agreed that bollards are needed to stop cars being parked on the grass verge.

The highways department will also be informed about the bushes which are overhanging Dyke Hollins Lane near the Doctors’ Surgery as these were scratching cars.

The chairman, Cllr John Dinsdale, was thanked for repairing and varnishing benches. He said that the bench by the bus shelter in Aysgarth was beyond repair and so the Coronation plaque would be moved to another one.

Next meeting. – will be in Aysgarth Institute at 7.30pm on Thursday September 13.

John Warren and his wife Judith on their 60th wedding anniversary

Architect John Cecil Turnbull Warren (86) was as happy using his remarkable skills and insights for the refurbishment of West Burton CofE School as he was restoring the Royal Crescent in Bath, advising on the conservation of the Al Gaylani Mosque in Iraq or as an UNESCO World Heritage inspector advising on the suitability of a site for the Terracotta Army in China.

John was a modest man who will be remembered for welcoming everybody to Quaker meetings at Countersett and Bainbridge, where he served as an Elder, Trustee and on the Council of the Wensleydale Friends. So it was no surprise that the Friends’ Meeting House in Bainbridge was packed for his memorial service.

He was born in Surrey, attended Collyers’Grammar School in Sussex, and won a scholarship from the National Coal Board to read Mining Engineering at what is now Newcastle University. After a year he changed to Architecture.

He divided his National Service between the RAF and working as a miner at the Rising Sun Colliery at Seaham Harbour.

“He never lost his love of the colliery experience and his admiration for the men who worked underground,” his daughter, Rebecca Brown said.

In later years he captured his experiences in an exceptional set of paintings of miners at work which were exhibited at Fairfield Mill near Sedbergh in 2012. As an artist using pen and ink, watercolour and oils his work was exhibited at the Royal Academy Exhibitions on several occasions.

He married Judith Kershaw in 1957 and, after a period travelling in Turkey studying Ottoman architecture, he set up his own architectural practice (the Architectural and Planning Partnership) in Horsham, West Sussex. Over the years the practice won numerous awards, expanded to having offices from Brighton and London to Baghdad and Mumbai and, during the 1980s, employed about 120 people.

In the 1960s and 1970s, when most Local Authorities were destroying historic architecture, he was consistently involved in the conservation of historic buildings and took this expertise to the Middle East, where he both designed new buildings and conserved historic houses and mosques.

He made annual explorations of remote and inaccessible desert regions in the Middle East and India recording and researching ancient churches and mosque, some of which have now been destroyed or damaged beyond recovery.

Back in England he was also involved in preserving the vernacular buildings of Sussex and he became the founding architect of the Weald and Downland Open Air Museum at Singleton. He was fundamental to its development as one of the most important museums of vernacular architecture. One of the books he wrote was about such vernacular buildings.

This led to a close friendship with surrealist artist Edward James on whose land the museum was site. He helped James to transform his house at West Dean into a college of teaching and conservation of the fine arts which it remains today.

In the 1970s John was the joint founder of the Amberley Chalkpits Industrial History Museum in West Sussex (now the Amberley Museum and Heritage Centre). He was the chairman of the trustees in the 1980s and 1990s.

His architectural and conservation advisory roles throughout the 1980s to the 2000s included with UNESCO, English Heritage, the Built Fabric Advisory Committee for Chichester Cathedral and Nominator for the Aga Khan Awards. He was also a Fellow of the Centre for Conservation Studies at the University of York, lectured at several British universities and supervised and examined a number of PhD theses in the field of historic buildings.

When he retired to Wensleydale in the late 1990s he continued to work on architectural projects whilst also lecturing, writing and painting. He undertook several projects in Wensleydale including the internal modernisation of West Burton CofE School and advising on the conservation of Nappa Hall near Askrigg.

He was a Member of the Royal Institute of British Architects, and a Fellow of the Royal Town Planning Institute, of the Society of Antiquaries and of the Royal Asiatic Society.

John leaves his wife, his two children, Philip and Rebecca and their spouses, and four grandsons, Christopher, Matthew, Francis and Alex.A Wensleydale Friend said: “John is missed by so many – in Wensleydale, in Britain and throughout the world.”

Judith died on January 17 2019. She will be buried next to John in the Quaker burial ground in Bainbridge on Friday February 1 at 11am followed by a memorial meeting in the Meeting House at 11.30am.

There were refreshments afterwards in Sycamore Hall, Bainbridge, where she lived and was cared for and supported over the last year of her life.

Below: The family think this was John’s selfie, in the days before mobile phones.

Pianist Yasmin Rowe captivated her audience at St Andrew’s, Aysgarth, on April 21 with a memorable performance for the Wensleydale Concert Series which encompassed music by Bach, Bartok, Beethoven and Schumann.

She is well known for her eclectic performances and this was certainly true in the first half with the complete contrast between Bach’s Partita No 2 in C Minor to her commanding and dramatic rendition of Bartok’s Suite for Piano Op.14.

One of the most memorable performances of the evening, however, was the second movement of Beethoven’s Sonata No 7, Op. 10. She fluently used the full range of the keyboard to share the phases of melancholic depression offset by those fleeting moments of joyful, tingling highs.

She finished with an exuberant and thoroughly enjoyable performance of Schumann’s Humoreske Op. 20.

This was an excellent start to this year’s Wensleydale Concert Series (WCS). On May 12 Tanya Anisimova is presenting a solo cello recital at Aysgarth church which will include works by JS Bach, Marais, Kodaly and herself. Carol Haynes of the WCS has arranged Anisimova’s first visit to the UK.

Her itinerary includes leading a masterclass in Carperby village institute on Saturday May 12 and a cello workshop on Sunday May 13. Anyone who participates in the masterclass and workshop (costing £65) will receive a free ticket to the concert at Aysgarth church. Anisimova is also giving a solo recital at Ushaw College Chapel in Durham on Saturday May 19, followed on the Sunday by a Schumann Cello Concerto study day with the Cobweb Orchestra at Eldon Community Centre. For more details about her British tour see the Wensleydale Concert Series website.

The next three WCS concerts are all at Aysgarth church: the Treitler Quartet with pianist Nico de Villiers on Saturday June 16; a clarinet and piano recital by Peter Cigleris and Martin Cousin on Thursday July 12; and a recital for violin and piano by Martyn Jackson and Petr Limonov on Saturday August 11.

There are three more concerts in the series this year two of which being afternoon ones in Carperby village hall: The New World String Trio on Sunday September 9; and an afternoon of baroque instrumental and vocal music with the Eboracum Baroque on Sunday November 4.

Two favourites of the WCS series, pianist Daniel Grimwood and violinist Fenella Humphreys, return on Saturday September 29 for a chamber music concert at Aysgarth church. As part of a fundraising idea of the WCS (which is now a registered charity) they have agreed to participate in a concert with two amateurs – Michael Cave, a superbly talented flautist, and Carol Haynes (making her debut as a cellist in a chamber concert).

It is now possible to buy a season ticket for this year for £75 which is equivalent to a saving of two concerts on the advance booking price of £12.50 or three concerts at the door price of £15. See www.wensleydaleconcertseries.co.uk for more information.

The Easter Sunday service at St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth has become a great family favourite and this year there was lots of fun for the children – and a special farewell to organist Richard Wilkinson.

He has been the organist for 20 years and many contributed to the farewell gift which was presented to him by John Foster (above – L to R, Rev Yeadon, Richard and John) .

John commented: “To be a church organist is a big commitment – much more than just playing on Sundays. Richard has brought to it an encyclopaedic knowledge of church and organ music. He has served us incredibly well.”

Members of Aysgarth Methodist chapel were at the service because Dr Wilkinson has been a local preacher in the Methodist circuit since 1987.

There were also many families because of the special Easter activities for children. They and the adults thoroughly enjoyed the Rev Penny Yeadon’s talk in which she used, with the help of some of the youngsters, Easter eggs to explain the Easter story and the importance of Christ’s resurrection. Then the children had gone into the Lady Chapel to paint hard-boiled eggs and create their own miniature gardens. Some members of the church had certainly put a lot of work into making it a fun service.

When it ended everyone accepted the Rev Yeadon’s invitation to sit and listen to Richard play the Chorale Improvisation for Organ No 65 by Siegfried Karg-Elert: Nun danket alle Gott (Now thank we all our God). He was warmly applauded – and then the children with their parents and grandparents went outside to enjoy rolling the eggs they had decorated.

Later Richard (who never accepted payment as an organist) said: “I would have very gladly paid the church for the privilege of playing at St Andrew’s because it’s a marvellous organ and they are super people there. I love playing at the services.

“It is a Victorian organ but it is, in fact, remarkably like the organs of the Bach day – astonishingly similar. So it is perfectly possible to play Bach satisfactorily on it.”

The organ was installed in 1880 by M Abbot of Leeds from a design by J M Bottomley of Middlesbrough.

Richard will be playing at a few more services at St Andrew’s before he and his wife, Ann, move to Warwickshire on June 1. Geoff Hirst is now the chief organist at St Andrew’s.

Below: Richard and Geoff chatting before the service

and a little boy concentrating on rolling an egg