March 2009

Your letters

Family at High Fell

I was interested to read Mr Nunn’s letter entitled ‘Passion for Author’ (Jan) relating to the works of Alfred J Brown. It reminded me of over fifty years ago, when my parents and I (think I was about sixteen) stayed with a party of friends at High Fell and had a wonderful Christmas there – the event was recalled by A J Brown in his book Farewell, High Fell (pages 105 and 106) and the party of guests to whom he refers included my family and friends and also my godmother and her husband. The guest A J Brown mentions as having a 'mild heart attack' was my godmother’s husband.

My godmother and her husband lived in Goathland for some time and actually owned the house used to illustrate the December 2008 article headed ‘Your favourite Yorkshire places’ (page 63) and my parents and I stayed with them on many occasions. At the time it was reputed to be haunted by a witch, but I never saw any sign of her.

These articles and Mr Nunn’s letter have inspired me to search out my copy of Farewell High Fell and read it again. I still visit Goathland regularly, although nowadays I tend to use Richmond as a base for a visit to the Dales.

Ann Thompson, York

Still stopping at Ruswarp

In response to Mrs D Ibbott’s letter (Nov) concerning Ruswarp Railway Station, I would like to inform her that it is still in use. However, I would point out that it is on the Esk Valley Whitby to Middlesbrough line, not the long-defunct Whitby to Scarborough line. The section of the Esk Valley line between Whitby and Grosmont is also used by the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
G W Wood, Whitby

G W Wood, Whitby

Colder climes

In 1945 my husband joined the staff at Ripon Cathedral as a minor canon. In June 1946 our first daughter Alison was born. That winter of 1946/7, the snow lay on the ground for about six weeks. We were living on the Harrogate road quite a long way out of the town and I never got out with my daughter in her pram for the whole of that time. My husband would wait for the snow plough to come along and walk behind it into the town every morning. I cannot remember anything quite like it before or since.

Muriel H Lander, Berkhamsted, Herts

Back in Bramhope

I was intrigued by the article ‘The man who saved Christmas and William Winstanley’s Christmas revival’ (Dec) and more so by the pen-and-ink sketch of the old Puritan chapel, Bramhope. I have photographs (right) taken in 1939 – one of the exterior confirms the accuracy and detail of the sketch in Dalesman by Stanley Bond. One of the inside shows the box pews (for squire and family and the like), the double-decker pulpit and in the foreground, the font.

I believe our visit was a conducted tour by a local historian, for the Bramhope Youth Club, and that the chapel is reputed to be the only place of worship built in England during the period of the Commonwealth.

Reverting to the outside view, behind the trees on the right of the photo lies Bramhope Hall, then in the occupancy of Mr McKay, a Leeds merchant, in the grounds of which stood the chapel. Post-war the hall was expanded to become the Posthouse Hotel, and later, the Holiday Inn. I wonder who, therefore, now owns and cares for the chapel?

Bramhope teeters on the edge of Wharfedale, with the landmark spire of the Methodist chapel visible on the skyline, across the dale, from as far as Almscliff Crag, some four miles away.

Even so, the village was fast becoming a dormitory for Leeds, when my parents moved there in 1934. The old inhabitants regaled us with the tales of the great blizzard of February 1933, when a bus was marooned on the main Leeds-Otley road, for three days, and how, before Arthur Thornton started his bus service in 1921, the only way to Leeds was by a mile-long field path, down to Arthington Station.

In the mid-1930s, there was rapid development at the lower end of the village, towards Leeds, and Golden Acre Park. A hoarding by the roadside advertised semi-detached bungalows ‘from £299’. But mind you, the superior ‘Ashton’ houses on the main road at Adel were only £560.

Michael Holey, Dorset

A walk through time

The article about Thomas and Fred Compton and their jaunt in 1941 (Dec) got me thinking: could I follow their walk and if so how far was it? Using my map programme on the PC, I tried to follow their route. Walking towards Halton I left the road at the last bridge before the village; on the Settle road I left it just before Penyghent House and went up from there.

From the top I headed south coming down via the Pennine Way then turned left towards Dalehead, which I assumed was Penyghent Farm.
After crossing the road I headed for Fountains Fell via Gingling Hole and the cairn on Knowe Fell. I guessed the cleft they saw was Tennant Gill, so I followed the road to Thoragill Beck House then crossed and followed Cowside Beck back to Arncliffe.

This walk measures 171⁄2 miles (28 km), although I would guess they probably walked a little further due to wandering. Although one would probably see more people while walking it now, as opposed to 1941, it’s still a lovely day’s walking in the heart of God’s country.

John Craven

Christmas past

Your article ‘Nowt so queer as folk music’ in the January edition prompted me to look out copies of Christmas carols that were popular in the middle of the last century. My father was an organist and choirmaster in various churches in south Leeds over a period of many years, and on Christmas Eve, and indeed on other occasions around Christmas, his choir members would sing carols in local streets accompanied by lanterns on poles and sustained by mince pies, cake and sherry from the occupants of houses outside which they sang.

Few people seem to recall these carols which included Hail Smiling Morn, Bethlehem Star, Adoration and Ring out ye Bells – all published by James Broadbent and Son of Boston Spa – and Chiming Christmas Bells, using the words of While Shepherds, published as part of the Dewsbury Series of Christmas Music by Pearce Brothers of Ravensthorpe, Dewsbury.

I would be most interested to know if these carols are still used in Yorkshire today, as my local community has no knowledge of them whatsoever. Were they simply traditional in the West Riding?

J M R Overend, Dorridge, Solihull 

A fine memorial

In January’s magazine Mr H H Hill of Doncaster asked readers if they could locate a memorial plaque that carried his brother Frank’s name, which he suspects is now at the Yorkshire Air Museum at Evington airfield. Unfortunately, some of the points in his letter are not right. He states that, in 1939 when the war broke out, the first bomber squadron to be formed was No 10, based at Dishforth. Actually, bomber squadrons had been forming since way back in World War One and No 10 Squadron formed on 1 January 1915.

Mr Hill also states that the Whitley bomber that his brother lost his life in was returning from a raid on Berlin. This is true but it had only been over Berlin to drop propaganda leaflets on the night of 2 October 1939. His brother, known as Jock, was a wireless operator/air gunner who helped to push the bundles of leaflets down the flare chute. Sadly, he did not have an oxygen mask on and collapsed, so the pilot, Fl Lt J W Alsop, had to bring the aircraft down to 9,000ft (2,750m)so that Jock could recover consciousness.

On the way back to Dishforth the pilot of the Whitley K aircraft, serial number K9018, became lost and asked for a position from the radio direction finding equipment on the ground. He was told that he was 180 miles (290 km) from St Abbs Head, which placed him way out over the North Sea. This was the last message received and, after a period, those on the ground calculated that the aircraft must have run out of fuel and gone down in the North Sea. No survivors or trace of the aircraft were ever found. This was No 10 Squadron’s first loss of an aircraft during World War Two.

Some months later a memorial service was held in Dishforth village church where a suitable plaque was placed to the memory of the crew. This plaque was eventually removed and presented to No 10 Squadron which is still active and based at Brize Norton with its VC10 transport aircraft.

Guy Jefferson MBE

Swapshop

I have 73 copies of the Dalesman (Aug 1969 to April 1976 with gaps) free to a good home in return for a donation (£10 suggested) to Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.

Hugh Firman, 23 Lynton Drive, Shipley,
West Yorkshire, BD18 3DJ
hugh.firman@calderdale.gov.uk

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Dalesman, The Water Mill, Broughton Hall, Skipton, North Yorkshire BD23 3AG
Or email: paul@dalesman.co.uk

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