Timeline York Plus Newsletter no 7


 

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Autumn 2009

 

 

 

Newsletter No 7

 

This Newsletter is distrubuted to the Timeline York Plus groups and to the libraries in the Greater York area.

 

 

SOCIETY & GROUP ACTIVITIES 

 

All Saints Long Marston Parish History Group

This year has been another successful one with increased visitor numbers coming to All Saints’ Church, Long Marston to see our archive and record collections and themed exhibitions. During the year we staged ‘The School’, ‘The Battle of Marston Moor’ and ‘Altar Frontals and Communion Plate’.

Our group took part in York’s first Civil War Festival. The Sealed Knot set up a living camp outside the Church and our special exhibition about the Battle of Marston Moor created a lot of interest.

Our collection of archives and records continues to grow and much work is planned for the winter months to ensure that even more information is available for visitors when we open again in April 2010.

Contact telephone:  01904 738456.

 

Bishopthorpe Local History Group

The hoped-for publication of our booklet “Who’s Who Underground” will probably not be ready until 2010. We have been side-tracked, but excited, by having a designated archives room in our refurbished village hall although, at the moment, it is merely the Group’s name on the door of an empty room. We have had talks with Wallis of Clifton Moor on the installation of secure storage cabinets and we hope to have them in place by Christmas. After this we will begin to transfer our archives. Our next open meeting is on Thursday 29 October at the Methodist church at 7.30pm when Ivan Martin will give a talk entitled “Go with the Flow”.

Contact: Diana Forrester on 01904 705396 and Linda Haywood at lshaywood@O2.co.uk

or the website at www.bishopthorpe.net/mt/history

 

Cawood Castle Garth Group

From July 7th-12th, a second archaeological dig was completed on Cawood Castle Garth.

With permission from English Heritage, an earthwork feature in the centre of the site was investigated. Four pits in the earthwork produced substantial numbers of early roof tiles. These could have been dumped after the demolition of the castle or are possibly the remains of a collapsed building on the Garth.

A fifth pit, based on reopening the test pit which was started last year beside the Bishopdyke canal, produced a variety of pottery finds dating from medieval times to the present day. Below this was a layer of clay infill, possibly indicating a connection between a large moat called the New Cut and the Bishopdyke canal. This is still to be confirmed.

Please contact Margaret Brearley at cawoodcgg@googlemail.com or on 01757 268666.

Visit our web page http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/cawoodcastlegarth

 

The Claxton & Sand Hutton Local Heritage Group

The Claxton and Sand Hutton Local Heritage Group came into being under the auspices of the Parish Plan, prepared and adopted in 2008. This small embryonic group has produced a Local Heritage Trail, much of it centred on the history of the Walker family of the original 19th century Sand Hutton Estate and Hall and the subject of a talk by author Edward Waterson on October 21st at Sand Hutton Village Hall .  A Local Heritage Open Day at the Village Hall in June 2009 was very well attended, and many memories were shared! A major attraction was a unique scale model of the Sand Hutton and Claxton goods and passenger light railway, in operation in the 1920s and long since gone. The Group continues to draw upon a wealth of local history, much of it documented in the millennium publication ’Claxton and Sand Hutton Reflections’ available from Bill Heath ( Bill@Lawnswood.co.uk). For further information about the Group and its activities, please contact Anne White 01904 468550.

 

Derwent Archaeology Group

Surveys on the deserted village of Scoreby have produced some dramatic results. Aerial photographs have shown an interesting field which we walked and where we found a lot of medieval pottery. Investigation is continuing at the possible water-mill site in Dunnington. The group took part in an exhibition to coincide with the 50+ festival in Dunnington entitled “What do we do?”

Contact Kay Wheater: 01904 489407 for more information.

 

Dringhouses Local History Group

Our programme of talks and visits continues to be very popular: recently we have had group visits to Dringhouses Without and to the hamlet of Middlethorpe and Middlethorpe Hall. We continue to receive donations of photographs and documents for our archives and to carry on our research. Currently we are focussing on the six Second World War servicemen whose names are on our war memorial. We advertise our events as far afield as Acomb and Copmanthorpe and are always happy to welcome new members and visitors. Our Knavesmire and Dringhouses leaflets are still in demand and we continue to respond to sundry requests for information.

Telephone York 703970 for more information.

 

Dunnington Through the Ages

The Group is investigating the tradesmen’s families, their houses and the many changes that took place within the parish in the 1800s. A diary, kept by a boot and shoe maker, gives an insight into village occurrences such as a visit by the Prince of Wales: our intention is to produce a book. We also produced a display for the “What do we do?” exhibition.

Contact Marilyn Jones on 01904 488433 and drmarilynjones@aol.com

 

Friends of Hob Moor

We have been working with York City Council to try to tackle the large mass of creeping thistle which has been invading important ares of the moor. It is being strimmed by hand regulary. This procedure will be repeated next year, supplemented by careful use of weed killer. Also with the Council, we have jointly commissioned and funded a study of Hob Moor's flora and fauna which will identify prioperites of conservation. A new colour leaflet will be available later in the year.

 

Details of events can be found at http://www.friendsofhobmoor.org.uk/Events

 

Friends of Hagg Wood

We were awarded a Breathing Places grant in the spring and have had great fun orginizing our five projects. BTCV have been clearing the rhododendrons in the Breathing Places for five days and conclude their work with a bonfire. We've paid for the erection of a new finger-post on the village green pointing the way to Hagg Wood and Hassacarr Pond. We had an enjoyable 'Community Fund Day' with drumming, woodland crafts and an historical/nature history walk, with refreshments. We've designed a new flyer, describing the Breathing Places area, with lovly photographs of birds and leaves to help identfy speices. Lastly, we've been working on the hedgerow survey - it'll be an interesting historical document when completed. Some of our group have been involved in field-walking and other exploration work, orginized by Derwent Archaeology Group, on the site of the deserted Medieval village Scoreby. We're planning an illistrated talk on the 'History of Holgate Windmill' on Wednesday 25th November at 8:00pm in the Reading Room, free to members, £1.50 for non-members

 

If you would like to involved in any of our projects, please phone Linda on York 489127

 

Haxby Local History Group

In early summer we had an entertaining talk on the subject of “The Georgian Gentry of York”.

June saw our open day in the Memorial Hall which proved very enjoyable. The following meeting was the first opportunity to use our new projection equipment, when one of our members presented an enlightening illustrated talk on the “Disappearing Images of York”.

A number of visits have been well supported and have included a history tour of Rufforth including battle sites in the area. We also have arrangements in hand to visit a windmill and for a second visit to the Minster Stonemasons’ Yard.

Members are currently updating the grave records in our local churchyard and plans are being made to compile a photographic record of the existing Joseph Rowntree School before demolition in 2010.

Our newly-enhanced Newsletter “Nostalgia” has been complimented by readers and among the many items of local activity and interest we hope to include profiles of members of the Group.

For more information contact  Ian Mason, Secretary: ian@ianrmason.wanadoo.co.uk

 

North Duffield Conservation and Local History Society

The compilation of our new history of the village is progressing slowly. We have started our winter programme of speakers, after visits to Sledmere House, Aughton Church and a trip on the Pocklington canal. More developments are taking place in archaeology: we were asked by the York Archaeological Trust to undertake a survey of land in our area to ascertain why indications of past human habitation only occur on the sands and gravels of the Lacustrine Drift and not on the silts and clays or on the alluvium near the River Derwent. This request was made since all three types of soil occur very close together at North Duffield and crop marks indicate an Iron Age / Romano British settlement on the edge of the present village.

We have had two well-attended presentations in the Village Hall and one at the primary school, all given by Dr. Jon Kenny. With a grant of £150 from the Ouse and Derwent Communities Investment Partnership, we purchased measuring tapes and other items to conduct field walks together with other members of the TimeLine York Plus community and then with children from year six in the ND primary school. We hope to continue the survey on another field in the future.

Contact: Tony Stevens 01757 288941

 

Poppleton History Society

We plan to conduct a full landscape survey on the Scheduled Ancient Monument site in Nether Poppleton, coupled with an archaeological and historical weekend on Saturday October 30 / 01 November 09, which will be centred on the Tithe Barn. We will host speakers from the Sealed Knot and present displays and talks on the Barn and its history. All are welcome to visit and learn about landscape surveys and the Tithe Barn’s chequered past.

We staged a most successful Banquet to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the accession of Henry VIII, with 80 people sitting down to a typical Tudor meal in the Tithe Barn.

The History Society continues its varied monthly presentations between October and May each year. Presentations start at 7.30pm, at the Methodist Church Hall on the Green in Upper Poppleton, on the first Wednesday of each month. For further details contact 01904 338610.

We have a History Society website as a subsection of the www.poppleton.net website.

 

Stillingfleet Chroniclers

We had a successful film show, with afternoon tea, in April when we showed our findings on the history of the houses/occupants of Stillingfleet to a packed house.  The film show, "The Changing Face of Stillingfleet", consisted of pictures from as early as the 1870s to present day, showing the changes to the buildings, along with details of the families and a description from the 1910 Valuation Act.  This was the first time we'd used our new multi-media projector and big screen. We will continue researching the rest of the houses and possibly stage another show when we've gathered more material.

We are currently preparing a framed list of vicars for the church, from 1200 to present day.

Jocelyn Appleyard  01904 728484       J.Appleyard@tesco.net

Yvonne Clarke        01904 728877       etyvonne.clarke@lineone.net

 

Stockton and Hopgrove Local History Group.

The oral interviews continue with 18 completed tapes and transcripts safely in the filing cabinet. These interviews are now playing a part in our preparatory work for the Village Book project which is slowly moving forward. The chapter headings have been agreed and designated Village authors are (hopefully) working on their contributions. 

Contact has been developed with local landowners to allow us to walk their fields for assessment purposes. We can also become familiar with the life stories of some of the farmers.

Considerable research has taken place into “The Stockton Forest Riflemen”, a volunteer unit accepted into the British Army on 28th August 1803. It seems that the original pay list consisted of one captain, one lieutenant, one ensign, four sergeants, four corporals and fifty-six privates, all coming from the local farming community.

In 1803 the Riflemen completed three weeks’ duty in the defence of Scarborough due to the peace with France having broken down again!

In archaeology we have been fortunate to spend just one valuable day to continue research into the Roman Villa site. Using geophys equipment, a 20m x 20m square was evaluated; results are pending. Finds within the square were interesting and an adjacent area consolidated our view that the field had been inhabited many years ago. We propose to formulate a specific plan of action to finally prove/disprove the Roman Road theory.

Contact: Terry Briggs:Tel. 01904 400013 or Steve Burton: Tel. 01904 400066

 

Strensall Local History Group

The Group is very fortunate to have been given a local history archive compiled over several years by the late Dr & Mrs Slater, long-time Strensall residents. The archive is large and will take some time to catalogue and evaluate. We are very grateful to the Slater family for their donation of this valuable resource of information on Strensall. Our meetings since March have included a presentation by Jon Kenny on excavations at the Romano-British site at Broughton near Malton, films on the restoration of Fairfax House and the early days of Joseph Rowntree School, and a guided walk around the Marston Moor battlefield. The first talk of the new session is by Eric Houlder on Sutton Hoo.

For more information contact: 01904 794540 or 01904 490413

 

York Young Archaeologist Group

We meet at the Yorkshire Museum, or out at a particular site nearby, on the second Saturday of the month.

Contact: Helen: helen@bachelor5884.freeserve.co.uk or

Jon Kenny: jkenny@yorkarchaeology.co.uk

 

Other Groups’ Contact Details

Acomb Local History Group Contact:  John Terry  01904 798956

Bishop Wilton Local History Group  Contact:  M & K Pratt  pr@bdub.co.uk

Friends of Skipwith Common  Contact: Brian Elsey  01757 288939

Holgate Windmill Preservation Society  Contact: Jen Hay on 01904 792638

Hungate Excavation (Hungate Community Archaeology Group)  Contact:  Liddy Dalesman 01904 332784

Naburn Local History Group  Contact: Iris Wells (iriswells@btinternet.com)

Pocklington and District History Society Contact: Andrew Sefton asefton@gmail.com

Skelton Local History Group Contact: Nancy Spratt 01904 470507

South Ainsty Archaeological and History Society   Contact:  01904 744263 or 705478.

Tang Hall Local History Group Contact: Jane Burrows  01904 345942 or Wendy Simmons 01904 410982

 

MEETINGS SCHEDULE 

Timeline York Plus holds regular meetings hosted each time by one of the member groups.

The next meeting is scheduled for 2.00 pm on Saturday 13 March 2010. The meeting will be at Stockton on the Forest. Details will be circulated nearer the date. 

THE COMMUNITY ARCHAEOLOGIST 

Dr. Jon Kenny is the Greater York Community Archaeologist. His e-mail is: jkenny@yorkarchaeology.co.uk. Also make contact via the York Archaeological Trust at 47 Aldwark, York: Tel. 01904 663035.

Jon maintains a WIKI website (http://yorkcommunityarchaeology.pbwiki.com) on behalf of Timeline York Plus, giving details of archaeological activities in the Greater York area. It also includes more news of the Groups in this Newsletter. 

This newsletter has been edited by Elizabeth Smith and Ted Kendall. Comments and enquiries may be sent to the various Groups’ contacts where given, or to Ted Kendall at: gande.kendall@sky.com or telephone 01904 338610.