Archive | Villages, Towns and Cities RSS feed for this section

Hannah Hauxwell Daleswoman

By on April 13, 2009 in Our Yorkshire, Villages, Towns and Cities, Yorkshire Folk

Book Cover

It is hard to believe that it was in 1970 that the Yorkshire Post ran a story that outed a new Star. After the newspaper article Yorkshire TV screened a documentary ‘Too Long a Winter’ about a middle aged, female, Yorkshire Dales Farmer.  Hannah Hauxwell was to capture the hearts of a watching audience as she recounted her life that could have existed in the 18th or 19th centuries but was actually being lived in the then current times. In her remote 78 acre hill farm in Baldersdale, without running water or electricity, Hannah Huaxwell became an author and soft spoken TV hit.

A follow up documentary programme almost 20 years later showed Hannah still in the farm with the odd extra cows but  with her strength failing. A ‘Winter Too Many’ told of the decision to move into a cottage in Cotherstone where Hannah at 82 still lives today.

Favourite Quotes from Hannah.

Hannah comments on being a ‘celebrity‘
‘Don’t be daft, I’m just a plain Daleswoman. I’m just as I am. I don’t think of myself as anything special – if I did, I’m sure someone would give me a good shaking.’
‘Ooh, that was all a while ago. I shouldn’t think anyone will remember me now. I certainly wouldn’t go to the end of the village to see me…’

Commenting on the reality of farm life and a winter that lasted until May.
‘In summer I live in winter I exist’.
‘It would have been nice to have a bit more money, but I’ve always cut according to my cloth,’
‘Once, I went for a whole three weeks without seeing anybody, and another time, for two and a half weeks. Of course, I missed people.’

On moving in to a cottage in Cotherstone 1988
‘You can’t live somewhere all your life and have all those memories and walk away without being distressed – there’s chains that bind.’
‘I miss the trees the space and the water’

On being asked about her new washing machine –
‘I don’t know if it works, because I’ve never tried it. I do it by hand. It’s not one of my favourite jobs, but that’s how I’ve always done it.’

Continue Reading →

Comments { 5 }

Conisbrough Village and Castle

By on April 7, 2009 in Our Yorkshire, Villages, Towns and Cities, Yorkshire Sport and Pastimes

conisbrough-castle

Conisbrough near Doncaster was the setting for Sir Walter Scotts ‘Ivanhoe’. Using the Castle as the basis for a Saxon stronghold during the reign of Richard 1st the tale about chivalry and knighthood daring-do led too a TV series in the 1960′s.  The castle is not the oldest part of Conisbrough as St Peters Church is the oldest building in South Yorkshire dating from AD 650-700. At the time of the Norman conquest the manor was held by King Harold and consisted of the church and 28 vills or villages. In the 16th century the castle suffered neglect and eventually became a ruin. In 1990 the Conisborough castle was floodlit and became a tourist attraction.

Conisbrough was one of the important royal manors of Yorkshire. Its Court Rolls provide us with a unique account of the working lives and relationships of its inhabitants. The Rolls survive in large measure across eight centuries. This project aims to show what can be done with such remarkable documents. Through it, you can discover the historic workings of a manor and learn more about Conisbrough and how its past has contributed to its present.

Conisborough In 20th Century

Coal mining started in 1867 at Denaby and was the deepest mine at the time. Soon Cadeby started just across the river then in 1912 a terrific explosion cost the lives of 35 miners followed by a further 40 fatalities amongst the rescue party in a second explosion. The colliery closed in 1986
Continue Reading →

Comments { 0 }