All Saints’ Long Marston Parish History Group

During 2012 we have hosted six Open Days in the Church.   Our three special exhibitions have been well received by our visitors as have the Church and Parish Archive and Records   Our stands at both the North Yorkshire Archives Fair and The City of York Family History Society Fair were very busy.

The 2013 season will be our seventh year and details of our Open Days will be available in the New Year.

For further information contact: 01904 738456. Website is  www.longmarstonhistory.org.uk

Bilbrough History & Archaeology Group

The group held two Open Days in Bilbrough Church.  The last one for this year,on Saturday 08 September, was better attended, possibly due to a reminder flyer sent round the village.  Roger is researching 6 Bilbrough families and the sites of wells in the village.  Following a recent small but enthusiastic meeting to discuss the way forward for the group (which has operated without a formal committee or bank account since early 2008), we have fundraising plans for a history display board in our village hall.  By early 2013 we hope to have uploaded some history on the new village website: www.bilbroughvillage.co.uk 

Contact: Roger Weatherill 01937 830204 or Fiona Pearson 01904 289728.

Bilton-in-Ainsty with Bickerton LHG

Our open weekend went well on the 30 June /01 July. We had lots of interest and the visitors seemed to enjoy the 17th century exhibition and cameo performances from The Sealed Knot Society: our thanks to all who attended. Our second event, which was part of the York Medieval Festival, also attracted many visitors who enjoyed a tour of our church here at St Helen's in the company of expert Dr Chris Tuckley. We are looking forward to next year and our annual open weekend in early July.

Contact:  Susie Pilling: email:  antrose17@gmail.com

Bishopthorpe Local History Society

Over the summer months we held two talks and a village walk.

Our final open meeting is on Saturday 03 November at 2.30pm in the Village Hall, Main Street, Bishopthorpe. Ken Haywood will give a talk entitled “Chocolate Letters”, about men from York who fought in the 1914–18 war and were sent gifts of chocolates by the Lord Mayor. Entrance fee will be £3, to include refreshments.

Contact: Diana Forrester 01904 705396. More details on our website www.bishopthorpe.net/mt/history

The Claxton & Sand Hutton Local Heritage Group

Much excitement was generated by the June visit to Sand Hutton School of the narrow gauge steam engine ‘Synolda’, en route from Ravenglass to the National Railway Museum ‘Railfest’ celebrations. One hundred years ago ‘Synolda’ ran on Sir Robert Walker’s garden railway at Sand Hutton Hall. Photographs of the visit can be seen at. http://photoreflections.co.uk/heritage-group/synolda-visit-s-sand-hutton/

In late summer, the Heritage Group undertook a field walk in a field local to Claxton. Many pottery artefacts were found, some of which were identified as possibly medieval or earlier. The Group has recently learnt of the local discovery of a small Roman copper alloy bell. These finds will encourage us to extend our field walking when the opportunity arises!

For further information about the group and its activities, please contact Anne White 01904 468550, or view the Claxton and Sand Hutton Parish website: www.claxton-sandhutton.org.uk.

Dringhouses Local History Group

Our programme of talks, walks and visits continues to be well supported and we have recently responded to several requests for information about our local history (one enquiry came from Australia!)

We are currently collecting ideas from members about their “treasures” of Dringhouses: the end product will be a photographic archive of the village in 2012. In this connection we were very sad to lose our principal photographer who died in August. Many of his pictures are in our archives and form a very important part of our record of present-day Dringhouses.

We contributed time, effort and materials to a Jubilee display held in our local library and a few of us have taken a strong interest in some archaeological work on the Knavesmire. We are also beginning to think about what we might do to commemorate the 100^th anniversary of the start of the Great War.

Contact Elizabeth Smith on 01904 703970, or 708770.  Our website is http://dlhg.weebly.com

Friends of Hagg Wood

We planted a Jubilee Copse in the wood in February and had a Jubilee Party in July to celebrate.  Red, white and blue bunting made the trees and gazebos very festive on a beautiful sunny afternoon.  There were singers with guitars and the audience was encouraged to join in with drums - there was even a didgeridoo.  A lovely time was enjoyed by all and we have been encouraged to have another party next year.

We think we’ve discovered a missing medieval township in Dunnington, not mentioned since the Domesday book.  The publication by Stephen Moorhouse and Barry Wright is on hold until Barry completes his PhD, but watch this space!

Contact:   01904 489127 or check our website: www.fohw.org.uk for further details of our activities.

Holgate Windmill Preservation Society

We have had a record number of visitors this year, with Santa on the first two weekends in December still to come.  There was an exciting day in June when the Lord Mayor officially opened the mill and the sails turned, much to the delight of the gathering of supporters and fund-givers.

Funding has enabled us to get professional assistance to set up the mill for producing flour; we will be complying with all the food and safety standards and learning how to manage this amazing piece of machinery.  Technical problems still need resolving and many heads are being scratched!

North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service are making the mill one of their training locations so rest assured that you can make a safe descent from the upper floors, via the opened sack hoist doors, should the need arise. 

The Society received a grant from Biffa Awards for the sailframes and has now won an award as a Cultural Facility in their Building Communities Awards.

Contact: Jen Hay on 01904 792638; website: www.holgatewindmill.org

Poppleton History Society

As part of the development of the A59 Poppleton Bar Park and Ride site, the local firm of On-site Archaeology is undertaking a full survey of the site. Work began in September and will continue into the New Year. It is hoped that remains of the suspected Roman road will be discovered. A briefing about the project was presented in Poppleton by the company and the residents of Poppleton were invited to participate in the various stages of the work including: geophysical survey, trench digging, field walking, artefact washing and sifting as well as report writing. We hope to present a report on the whole project at the next Timeline York Plus meeting.

Our monthly meetings and talks resumed in September and the schedule of talks can be found on our website: www.poppleton.net  then select History Society. All are welcome.

We are members of the OASIS project (University of York) which records the more localised reports on investigations of archaeological sites.

For further details, contact 01904 338610

North Duffield Conservation and Local History Society 

Our excavation (as part of the Festival of British Archaeology) to prove crop marks, went very well. Supervised by Jon Kenny  and Hanna Baxter, some 40 people took part and we found a large ditch, a circular feature (which might be a compound or roundhouse) and 14 pieces of Iron Age pottery. These pieces are being examined and the black, food residue found inside them will be analysed later.

The school children dug three test pits again this year but found very little. They also spent an hour throwing pebbles using our model trebuchet. The information and activity pack on North Duffield during the Iron Age is now complete and has already been given a test run by the school.

The 5-metre replica roundhouse is now ready for thatching and we are trying to source the material. Our milestone refurbishment is completed and the stone has been set in concrete with a new, replica, cast iron plaque fixed.

On 08 and 09 June next year we are holding a History Fair on our village green including “Comitatus” (the Roman and Iron Age re-enactment company). Member societies of societies of Timeline York Plus are invited to take part by displaying information about their activities.
Contact: Tony Stevens 01757 288941.Our website is www.ndchs.org.uk

Strensall Local History Group

The Roman road geophysical survey recommenced as planned in the Spring, but due to the variable weather since then, nothing else has been attempted. However, we do have permissions to survey other nearby fields, when conditions allow. Our recent meetings have included presentations on the history, flora and fauna of Strensall Common, and on the Rowntree Society. Two outdoor meetings were arranged: a walk around buildings in York associated with the Rowntree family and another walk, this time around Strensall using our recently produced Village Walk pamphlet. Future meetings will include presentations on the Merchant Adventurers’ Hall, the life and times of George Hudson, and our annual social evening and quiz.

Contact:  Alan on 01904 491335.

Stockton on the Forest and Hopgrove Local History Group

We have recently enjoyed a walk around Stamford Bridge to learn about the 'forgotten battle' which occurred immediately prior to the Battle of Hastings.  This is highly recommended and there are plenty of other 'Battle' walks available. Contact us for details.

Timeline York Plus stalwarts will recall that in 2010 we excavated what we believed was a Romano-British Farmstead (we call it the 'villa field'). We have secured funding to get the pottery found on the site expertly examined and hope to get a full report by the end of this year. We are excited to announce that Peter Connolly (Director of Hungate Dig) will be guest speaker at our next meeting on Thursday 29 November 2012, commencing at 7.30.  We welcome anyone who is interested to join us on that evening - Peter is a wonderful speaker and he will be providing us with the very latest information from the reports on Hungate.  Mince pies, mulled wine and a friendly atmosphere will hopefully entice lots of people along - the more the merrier.

Contact : Joy.jmoseley@f2s.com

MEETINGS SCHEDULE

Timeline York Plus holds twice-yearly meetings, usually hosted each time by one of the member groups.

The next meeting is scheduled for 2.00pm on Saturday 09 March 2013. The meeting will be held in the Tithe Barn, Nether Poppleton, hosted by the Poppleton History Society. More details will be circulated to groups nearer the date.