february 2010

Your letters

A window to 1947

The article, ‘The wildest of winters’ (Dec), brought back many memories. I was sixteen at the time and remember vividly struggling through the deep snow on my way to and from work. However, a short while ago I was shown an old diary kept by my daughter-in-law’s grandfather who was a keen cyclist and walker. He recorded, rather wistfully, that he had been unable to visit the Dales for several weeks because of the dreadful weather conditions prevailing during the early months of 1947. Once the weather began to improve he seized the chance to cycle up to his beloved Dales to enjoy a walk round Semer Water from Cray. His brief comments and the extracts from the diary of a Dales farmer he visited are a dramatic and moving reminder of the unimaginable hardships endured by both man and animals on remote Yorkshire farms at the time:

March 12, 1947. It had been a very hard winter; frost and snow for more than eight weeks. There was still a considerable amount of snow in the Yorkshire Dales, piled high in the lee of limestone walls and gleaming on the fell tops. Bark on the base of trees and hedges had been eaten away by sheep and rabbits. Sheep buried under snow drifts had been dug out by shepherds; others lay dead in the fields, their eyes picked out by crows. Farmers lost hundreds of sheep and now, at lambing time, are losing more young as many lambs are stillborn.

March 17. The thaw has started, what ghastly sights there will be when the white shrouds uncover the poor victims of the storm. We have all had losses, many of us have sheep missing which we are hoping against hope have strayed, though I fear the strayed sheep will be found dead.

March 22. It is distressing to see the condition of the ewes; some are so weak they fall into the beck when they go for a drink. More sheep are dying now than during the storms.

March 29. This has been a day we will remember for some time. We decided to bury carcasses and we started sledging them down over the snow. There are a few old ewes without eyes wandering around sightless – the handiwork of the crows.

April 2. Our first lambs have arrived, poor weakly things. It is a case of feeding by hand. The mothers have no milk and in many cases simply leave their offspring to fend for themselves.

April 8. Snowing again this morning; surely not another dose. The fodder position is desperate. Everyone talks of empty barns and all my neighbours are borrowing from each other. We thought we had it rough but pity the poor fellows in the floods. If one looks round it is always possible to find someone in a worse plight.

April 9. Weather outlook better now but sheep are still lambing and dying. They require a tremendous amount of work feeding them and feeding the lambs on bottled milk but it is necessary if we are to weather the storm.

April 11. The spring weather we have all been waiting for at last arrives. The men are whistling at their work and it is a long time since I have heard them in such good heart.

How awful it must have been. A bit of Global Warming might have been welcomed back then.

Peter Shutt, Snainton

Two wheels from four

I refer to the most enjoyable article in the October issue regarding the Jowett car. Many histories of this marque have appeared over the years, and much reference has been made to the initial years of its development by Ben and William Jowett. However, mention is rarely made of the connection between Jowett and the Scott Motorcycle, also manufactured in Bradford.

It was Ben and William Jowett who manufactured, under licence, the first six motorcycle frames, enabling Alfred Scott to commence production of the Scott motorcycle, resulting in a continuous production of over sixty years.

John S Thompson, Beverley

Leeds pub’s colourful past

Regarding Stephen Ellmen’s query (Jan) about the Whip pub in Leeds. Below is a section from my book The Old Inns and Pubs of Leeds (2nd edition) but brought up to date for a speech I made to the AGM of the Leeds Civic Trust about five years ago.

“The Whip, tucked away in an alley off Duncan Street, was said to have sold more beer in its inter-war heydays than any other pub in Leeds; some ninety barrels or 25,000 pints in a week. It was the classic city centre beerhouse which catered for men only. It was only as late as the 1970s that ladies were admitted and toilets were installed for them to comply with the law. In 1995 the Joshua Tetley Pub Company that owned the Whip decided to change its name and came up with the ludicrous one of the Fiddler’s Elbow. No one could give a clear indication as to its meaning and the only reference to it was found in the Penguin Slang Thesaurus which gives ‘in and out like a fiddler’s elbow’ as ‘copulating enthusiastically’.

The name change caused an uproar in the city and the company was forced into changing it back to its original name at a cost of more than £8,000.”

Barrie Pepper, Leeds

Enjoy with care

I read with interest the article in the November Dalesman regarding the use of the Three Peaks as a means of fundraising for many charities, and long may they keep up the good work. But please spare a thought for the local rescue team that has the unenviable task of going to the needs of those getting themselves into trouble while fundraising or just enjoying the area. I refer, of course, to the Cave Rescue Organisation (CRO) which in 2010 celebrates (for want of a better word) its seventy-fifth anniversary of becoming operational.

It is a generally held misconception that the CRO only assist cavers that have had some mishap or other underground, but it falls to us to help many Three Peaks’ walkers too.

To date this year – mid December – the team has attended fifteen incidents on Ingleborough, seven on Penyghent and five on Whernside. Not all of the incidents were Three Peaks fundraisers but with the total number of incidents to date for this year standing at eighty-three it is proving to be our busiest ever. It is ironic that the number of caving incidents we have attended remains relatively small and this year totals fourteen. Ours is the busiest cave rescue team in the British Isles. Most of the other incidents are in the Malham area, at Ingleton Waterfalls and all places in between.

Please bear in mind we are also a charity, with no government help, staffed only by volunteers. We encourage people to enjoy walking the Three Peaks and the other areas of the Yorkshire Dales, and if you require more information about us, visit our website www.cro.org.uk.We have a number of events this year including our own Three Peaks Challenge and, of course, we always need funds.

Roy Holmes (forty-six years in the team)

Days of the dakota

I very much enjoyed reading the feature on Dakota aircraft by Helen Johnson (Nov). I recall that in the summer of 1958 I took my first air journey and holiday abroad, bound for Switzerland, with a small group of walkers. On that occasion I remember our aircraft was in fact a Dakota and was being operated by Hunting-Clan Airlines.

Although our particular aeroplane had obviously gone through the process of modification for its role in the civil airline business (pressurised cabin, improved heating etc), I feel fortunate that I was able to experience a flight aboard this famous type of aircraft, albeit for only a short journey (Heathrow to Basle). Whilst aboard, we were afforded the additional privilege of being allowed a peep onto the flight deck. This, of course, is rarely permitted these days.
I understand that a number of Dakotas still remain in operation in the UK and elsewhere, although it has been some time since I have been lucky enough to spot one in flight.

Roger L Tyler, Moulton, Northants

The power of Castle Hill

What a pleasure it was to read of Castle Hill in ‘A Dalesman’s Diary’ in the December issue. I was born only a couple of miles away from it, so spent many happy hours there before the war. My father was a keen cricketer and often played on the local ground, with my mother and brother watching. I still have a great love for the game and used to bowl when I got the chance at school.

During the war our house was often showered with shrapnel from the batteries on the hill. In fact, we had more damage from them than we had from the German bombers going over to Manchester.

I married a farmer in 1954 and lived on the moors above Outlane. In 1966 our farm land was taken for the M62 and so we moved to Nottinghamshire.

We still visited Yorkshire to see my parents regularly and took them up to see the Castle and the wonderful views. The last time was when my father was ninety and not long before he died. He was in such a hurry to go and visit it, we didn’t notice that he was still wearing his slippers until he got out of the car.

Mrs Joan Morton, Retford, Nottinghamshire

Spreading the word

When I have read my Dalesman I always pass it to my sister-in-law who then passes it to a gentleman who goes to Bosnia two or three times a year with medical supplies. This photo (below) was taken in a library at a university in Bosnia where they enjoy reading the Dalesman.

Frank Norton, Bradford

Walking to Wass

I was interested to read Pauline Hall’s inquiry in the December issue regarding the commemorative monument to Queen Victoria near Wass.

The monument still exists and is in good condition. It is the Mount Snever Observatory, built for John Wormwold of Oldstead Hall to commemorate Queen Victoria’s Accession to the throne in 1837. The inscription is a little worn but is still readable – to remember it after fifty years, virtually word for word, is quite an achievement.

It is perfectly possible to walk to the monument from Wass – about one and a half miles (2.5 km) and a rise of some 330 feet (100 m). The following websites give full details: www.yorkshirewalks.org/diary05/diary129.html
www.theaa.com/walks/monks-and-an-astronomer-at-byland-abbey-421245.

John Ovenston, Husthwaite, York

I used the Wass monument-Oldstead-Byland-Wass route as one of my training grounds for walking marathons, between 1980 and 2000 after which I retired from challenge walking. From Wass it was an easy steady ascent to the monument (Mount Snever Observatory) and it was certainly in good condition then, outside at least. I have no reason to believe anything untoward has happened to it since. The route was modified slightly several years ago. I trust this is of help.

Norman L Clark, Thirsk

If Pauline Hall’s questions about the monument to Queen Victoria’s diamond Jubilee relate to the observatory (disused) as stated on the OS Landranger Map 100, then I can assure her that it is still standing and, thanks to the farmer and his wife at the nearby Cam Farm, it is in excellent condition.

It is still accessible from Wass, however the last overgrown 200m to it are not on a right of way but I don’t think anyone would object people going to see it, if of course, they respect it.

Richard Coates, Kirkbymoorside

We welcome readers' letters, which should be sent to:
Dalesman, The Water Mill, Broughton Hall, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 3AG
Or email: paul@dalesman.co.uk

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