Dalesman February 2012

January 25, 2012

My trips this month span the breadth of North Yorkshire, with visits to Leyburn, Thirsk, and Sutton Bank.

Castle Bolton is a visitor attraction near Leyburn

Castle Bolton, once a fearsome Mediaeval stronghold, now a peaceful visitor attraction

In Leyburn, Alix Warland and Martin Crowson were typical of so many people I meet in the Dales.  For every person who can trace their family back over generations in the same village, there’s someone else who has moved in because they fell in love with the Dales.  And that love has caused them to throw themselves wholeheartedly into learning about their new home, and supporting its community.

As we drank our coffee, we fell to discussing the shopping in Leyburn.  Martin described it as “A totally difference experience to a lookalike high street.”  And, he commented, “There are three food stores, including one of the finest independents in the country.”

I had to agree.  I’ve bought things in Leyburn that I couldn’t find in other towns.  For instance, the household goods store in the former town hall, smack in the centre of the market place, is an Aladdin’s cave for the homemaker.

And Leyburn is a hidden gem for quality clothes and shoes, as well as food.

In fact, as I walked back to the car, a shop caught my eye, I nipped in for a browse – and came out with a new skirt.

A result for Leyburn!

Find out more about visiting Leyburn at www.welcometoleyburn.co.uk

Prof Dominic Powlesland

Prof Dominic Powlesland has spent decades studying the prehistoric landscape of Yorkshire

Over at Sutton Bank, Professor Dominic Powlesland, of the Landscape Research Centre, was explaining what they discovered when they dug a Bronze Age burial mound at Boltby Scar.  Such burial mounds pepper the Moors, and, he says, the remains of many more lie beneath the ploughed fields of the Vale of Pickering.

Traditionally, they were believed to be the burial place of an important personage, but Dominic’s work now points, he says, to longer term use as a burial site over hundreds of years, perhaps for a family or clan.

The barrow they dug at Boltby, he thinks, may be indicative of similar practices for other, similar looking barrows.  He says it revealed, “A long and complex history of both construction and robbing.”

They identified six phases of the life of the barrow.  Phase 1 was a stone ring, with large irregular limestone blocks laid on bed of pebbles.  They think it may have defined the area of a flat cemetery.  There was evidence of burning – perhaps funeral pyres?

Phase 2 was a turf mound within the stone ring.  There was lots of charcoal in the turf – carbonised hazel shells, indicating domestic activity.  Carbon 14 dating gave an age of around 1920-1730 BC.

They called phase 3 the ‘yellow mound’, as a thick deposit of yellow-brown clayey soil had been laid over the charcoaley soil of phase 2.

Phase 4 was a pebbly mound that covered over the yellow clay and extended to the stone ring.  It was made of clean silty soil with a layer of pebbles on the surface.

Phase 5 placed a wattle fence around the mound, with limestone slabs leaning up against the fence.  The vertical slabs of pale limestone, high on the escarpment, would have been visible from a considerable distance.

At phase 6, the whole mound , fence and stone rings were buried with a thick layer of fine silty soil.  Covering the limestone dimished its visibility in the landscape, but made the mound taller.

Dominic thinks that these phases probably developed over hundreds of years, starting around 2000 BC, in the early Bronze Age.  That is why he believes that it was used for many burials, not just one single person.

Whatever the significance of the mound to its original builders, the mound continues to draw people to it even today, around four thousand years later.

Read more about Dominic’s work at www.landscaperesearchcentre.org

Later this year, an exhibition of the findings at Boltby will be staged at Sutton Bank Vistor Centre.

Advanced student Alex Coode learns about historic ironwork at C Topp and Co

Advanced student Alex Coode learns about historic ironwork at C Topp and Co

Meanwhile, today, Chris Topp’s ironworks near Thirsk are attracting visitors from far and wide, who come to learn about his work with historic iron.

Although Chris also designs and makes brand new items, he has been involved with restoring historic iron work for decades.

He also does ‘practical archaeology’: making a replica of a historic artefact, in order to discover how it was made.  Much of this work has been filmed for TV, and he’s been involved in projects relating to a Roman Well, the Titanic, the Mary Rose, and even the Eiffel tower.

So when it was decided to form a body to provide proper training and qualifications for people working on valuable historic ironwork, it was natural that Chris should be involved.

The National Heritage Iron Group has been formed in order to provide training for a new generation of blacksmiths to continue learning the historic skills to care for our ironwork heritage.

www.christopp.co.uk

www.nhig.org.uk

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Dalesman January 2012

December 23, 2011

For the start of 2012, Dalesman looks at two very traditional sets of people.

Doreen Wardle, speaker of East Yorks dialect

Doreen Wardle, speaker of East Yorks dialect

Doreen Wardle lives in Harome, and speaks the dialect of East Yorkshire.  Like other north-east coastal speakers, her voice had a sing-song rythm that you need to ‘get your ear in’ to understand.

Soon, though we were laughing,  and when it was time to leave, initially I was sorry to part with her.  But I remembered that she’d mentioned  that she enjoys views of two thatched cottages from her home in Harome, so I decided to take a walk around the village.

I was fascinated by the range of different building materials there.  I’m used to villages that are mainly built of one material: bricks in the Vale of York, limestone in the Dales.  Roofs are usually of clay pantiles, slates, or ‘thakking stones’.  But in Harome, quite a few buildings were thatched, including the well-known gastro-pub ‘The Star’.

Other houses were built of brick, or of stone.  One very ancient looking little cottage had lovely Yorkshire sash windows.

And one house looked like a modern build, but still had a thatched roof.

I think it will be worth finding out a little bit more about the houses in Harome.

Peter Meese calls the dancers

Peter Meese calls up the dancers to perform in Kirkby Malzeard Church

And over in Kirkby Malzeard, the men were celebrating a very ancient tradition: Plough Sunday.  Unusually, in Kirkby, a sword dancing troupe dances in Church to mark this day – the return to work after the Christmas break.

But the sword dancers don’t stop for Christmas: Boxing Day is one of their fixed dates for dancing.  Spokesman Ted Dodsworth says: “People are waiting for us.” Fellow group member  Peter Meese says, “we dance it innumerable times, up and down the village.”

Kirkby Malzeard has boasted a sword dancing team for many generations, but the dancers’ outfits have varied over the years.  Ted says, “I asked a chap who danced in the 1930s about the uniform.  He said you got a pair of trousers and used your own belt.  The trousers were ‘one size fits all’ and I’ve got a photograph of a freat wide pair of trousers.”

“In the 1950s, they wore flowered skirts.  It was a women’s team, and I’m told it’s very difficult to do the dance wearing a skirt.”  Ted adds, “Womens’ teams weren’t ususual.  After the Great War, there was a shortage of men, and Cecil Sharp taught women so that the dances wouldn’t die out.”

Today, the team is back to a traditional all men group – smartly dressed in matching trousers, shirts and waistcoats.  And very smart they look too, while dancing to the Glory of God.

Read more about the Highside Longsword dance team at  http://www.teddodsworth.talktalk.net/hl/highside.htm

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DALESMAN DECEMBER 2011 – Christmas in Yorkshire

November 27, 2011
CHRISTMAS TREE IN APPLETON WISKE

APPLETON WISKE CHRISTMAS TREE

Yorkshire is famous for its celebrations of Christmas, and in the December 2011 issue of Dalesman there’s no shortage of people to be found celebrating it – ranging from traditional candle makers, to the folk checking on Santa’s progress in the Space Age.

Last year, we had a lot of snow, and I was glad that for one story, I had only to walk around the corner, to meet friends and neighbours round the Christmas tree in my own village.

But usually, I have to travel to meet people for Dalesman, and when there’s snow around, it’s nice to know that people would help me if I got stuck.  So one chilly morning, I went to meet Swaledale Mountain Rescue Team on a training exercise.

They were practicing for an underground rescue.  As the rescuers squeezed into the dark underground space, I realised what a comfort it must be when this team turns up to a real accident.

They produced a stretcher and strapped in the chap impersonating an injured party, carefully wrapping him in blankets, and even supplying some glasses to protect his eyes from falling debris.

They explained that their plan is always to hand the casualty over to the Ambulance Service at the nearest point the Ambulance can reach.  They are not there instead of professionals – they simply volunteer to help people in the difficult areas that a normal ambulance can’t reach.

But sometimes it can take a long time to reach an ambulance, and some volunteers have trained in high level ‘casualty care’, learning the skills of a paramedic, to try to stabilise injuries, and in worst cases, keep people alive, until the professionals can reach them.

These skills came in handy a few years ago, when an Army helicopter crashed – just where the team happened to be training.  The speed of the care they were able to give is believed to have saved lives, and served to cement an already good relationship with the Army.

The team numbers around forty fully trained members, with a maximum of twelve trainees.  Controller Paul Denning explains: “We generally want about 20 to 25 people to an incident.  It can take 8 to carry a stretcher – and if it’s a long way, we need two lots of people to take it in turns.  Then we need a casualty carer, drivers, a navigator, someone on radio communications – it soon gets to needing 20 people.  That’s why we want so many people on call, as not everyone can just leave work.  We work on the basis that about half of our people can respond to any one incident,

They also frequently work with colleagues in neighbouring teams such as Wharfedale, Cleveland, and Kirby Stephen.  A common task is helping the Police to search for vulnerable people who have gone missing.

On training exercises, volunteer ‘casualties’ spend hours lying still, waiting to be found, then carried over a series of obstacles.  Helen says, “It can get quite cold as a casualty – you have to watch for hypothermia.”  Husband Tim is the training officer, and spends his time thinking up scenarios to test skills not just in practical matters like how to strap a patient to a stretcher, but also in leadership, communications, and teamwork.

Surprisingly, their work is not part of the state funded Emergency Services, and they have to fundraise to buy their equipment.  Funds are also needed for vehicles, fuel, radios, rescue gear such as ropes, which wear out, and medical equipment which gets used up.  Paul says, “It costs around £30,000 a year to run the team.  And we’ve just bought 2 new vehicles, that cost £95,000 for both.  We got a grant towards them, and we did 5 years of saving and fundraising.

Paul advises careful planning; tell someone where you’re going and when you expect to return; take food; warm, waterproof clothing; compass; map; and torch – even in summer, as the weather can change.  The torch, he says, also helps them to see where you are.

But things can go wrong for even the best prepared walker, and Paul says, “When we’re not training, most of us are out on the hills at weekends.  It’s nice to know that if we got into trouble, someone would come.”

Learn more about Swaledale Mountain Rescue at http://www.swaledalemrt.org.uk/Index.asp

Lovely though the mountain rescue volunteers were, I was reluctant to become one of their rescues if I could avoid it.  So when  the day came for my visit to RAF Fylingdales, and the snow was deep, I had to postpone my visit, as the road was, I was told, impassable..

But the work of Fylingdales went on uniterrupted: they know they get severe weather, and a core team of staff lives on site to keep things running.

By the time I could get there, the snow had been replaced by thick fog.  The big radar array, the SSPAR, loomed like a black pyramid in the fog.

I couldn’t see much in the fog, but the motto of Fylingdales translates as ‘We ar watching’ – and they’d seen me coming.   But the Military Policeman who approached me was friendly – and invited me in to lunch.

The rest of the day was full of contrasts: the space-age technology looked like the set from a movie – James Bond, perhaps, or Star Treck.  But while minding their equipment, the staff are also minding the wildlife that thrives in the peaceful seclusion of the perimeter fence.

And Santa?  They post Santa’s movements on a dedicated website, following his moves from the North Pole.  See http://www.noradsanta.org/

From the Space Age, I moved to a tradition that’s probably as old as humanity: making candles to light the dark.  Candles are still popular at Christmas – after all, it’s a festival held at the darkest time of the year.

It was a pleasure to meet Mick and Jennie White and their apprentice Jane Nicholas.

Mick and Jennie came to Wensley in the 1970s to built a candle making workshop in the old mill.  Since then, they’ve become part of the fabric of the Dale, combining their business with a philosophy of trying to make people’s lives better in whatever way they can.

The result is a warm-hearted workplace, full of laughter, colour, and the warm, joyous light of the candles.

For more information about White Rose Candles, see http://www.yorkshirenet.co.uk/craftgde/whiterosecandles/

Like the Whites, many people in Appleton Wiske contribute their time and energy to making life better for their neighbours.  The people who volunteer to organise a the  Christmas Tree are providing a beacon of light and welcome in the bleak, chilly days of midwinter.

When we gather around the tree in the chill night air, our songs rising into the black emptiness of the winter sky, I feel the fellowship, not only with neighbours, but with generations before me who have bravely sung into the darkness – sung of their faith that the light will return.

CAROL SINGING ROUND THE TREE IN APPLETON WISKE

CAROL SINGING ROUND THE TREE IN APPLETON WISKE

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Dalesman October 2011

September 29, 2011
fungi fruiting bodies on dead wood in Dalby Forest

fungi on dead wood

For Dalesman this month, I’ve had the privilege of meeting some very knowledgeable wildlife experts: David Hodgson, who has spent hours lying in the cold, wet dark , studying wildlife in caves, and Brian Walker, a retired forest ranger.

I spent a fascinating morning with Brian, now retired and enjoying spending his time on nature study and conservation.  His many years with the Forestry Commission have given him a deep knowledge, and conversation ranged over the lifestyles of fungi, the sustainable production of timber, conservation and climate change.

Fungi are neither plant nor animal, but something else.  Unlike plants, they cannot make energy from the sunshine, but must feed like animals.  But unlike animals, they cannot move, and they reproduce by spreading spores.  The toadstools and mushrooms we see carry the spores, which grow into new individuals.

Sometimes fungi live in partnership with a plant.  In these cases, said Brian, “None are destroying or weakening each other, but they’re interdependent.”

Other fungi are involved in decay, but this is a vital part of recycling nutrients back into the soil, so that new plants – and trees – can grow.

Many fungi are poisonous because fungi produce complex substances different to other plants or animals.  However, like the rainforest and the coral reef, this makes them a rich hunting ground for new chemicals that can have medicinal uses.

For instance, penicillin came from a type of fungus, and, said Brian, “There’s a fungus that makes people sick if they eat it and drink alcohol.  From that, they’ve developed a medicine for alcoholics.”

When working for the Forestry Commission, Brian worked closely with many other groups to promote conservation and biodiversity.  He commented that the expertise within the Forestry Commission meant that the forests were managed to the best known practice, for economic and sustainable timber production, for conservation, and to provide access for people to enjoy the forests.

He saw this practice as vital as the climate changes.  He stressed that conserving biodiversity means giving space to everything, not just species that we might find attractive.  For instance, he commented, “People dislike birds of prey because they eat the birds that come to their bird tables.”

He added, “The idea that there’s a unique British environment that can preserved can’t be done.  Dalby used to be a rabbit warren, now it’s a forest.  Things will change, and we must allow adaptation.  For instance, buzzards are moving south, and the honey buzzard is moving north.  We’re into change, it’s inevitable.”

However, he was upbeat, and thought that forests can accept change, and in fact, that change is a vital part of the life of the forest.   He commented that as areas are felled to harvest timber, particular species move into these areas.  He said, “There’s a bird called the great grey shrank, that comes in winter.  It might, with climate change, nest in Britain.  It loves the areas we fell, because it sits in the treetops, but forages in the open areas.  If we didn’t clear fell areas, there wouldn’t be these parts of the forest for them.”

The progression of natural change means that plants grow in clear felled areas, gradually filling them again.  But as new areas are harvested for timber, new clear areas are formed.

It’s all part of maintaining the biodiversity that Brian sees as key to protecting all species.

Read all about it in Dalesman

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Dalesman Magazine, September 2011

August 30, 2011

The new Dalesmans are out, with yet more insights into what makes Yorkshire such a great place to live, work, or take a holiday.

UNIVERSITY OF YORK DEPT OF ARCHAEOLOGY

The Archaeology Department is in a historic building in York

For this month’s edition, I visited Nicky Milner, an archaeologist at York University whose work had unearthed tantalising evidence that raises the question of whether there was a stone age settlement near Pickering.

She’s been working on the archaeology of Star Carr for decades and says, “The more we find, the more questions we bring up.  It’s my dream to get back and dig again.”

They have found remains of a house and a waterside ‘platform’ –  perhaps a pier, boardwalk, or wharf – towards one corner of a roughly traingular promontory jutting into the lake.  Test pits show more human acitivity on the rest of promotory.  Might there be more houses there?   Was it a base camp, a summer hunting lodge, or even a village?

It’s exciting because current thinking says that at this time, human activity in Yorkshire was limited to small groups of itinerant hunters.  But to build a platform requires lots of people to come together, and work together.  So this work could revolutionise beliefs about stone age society.

The stone age seems so long ago – but other evidence shows these people to be very like us: discoveries of beads show that they liked to make themselves look good, just as we do today.

Nicky and her colleagues are desperate to discover more – and time is running out.  Laboratory work this winter has proved that the valuable organic remains, having survived for 11,000 years, are beginning to decay.

The race is on to dig and find out more before the evidence is lost forever.

Read more about Nicky’s researches in Dalesman, and at www.starcarr.com

Woodalls of Malton is in the Market Place

Woodall's of Malton is housed in a historic building in the Market Place

Over in Malton, Winston Kobylka is doing his part to preserve traditional craft skills.

He says that he’d heard that Woodall’s was for sale, so went along to take a look.  He says that he walked in, liked it, and asked to buy it ‘just like that’.

He’s scathing of people who ask questions about business plans and how much money he expects to make.  “I’m not in it for that,” he says, “It’s that we’re sustainable and make ecological products which will safeguard the future.”

He believes that everything can’t be made abroad for ever, and hopes that Woodall’s will help to keep skills alive in Britain.  But, they are still dependent on imports for raw materials, and he says, “Sadly, economic times have us battling against costs of cotton, sisal and hessian.  Some is produced in the UK, but the majority is sourced overseas.”

And he adds, “Hessian or jute may spend 4 months at sea, during which time the price changes several times.  It’s to do with the futures market, currency fluctuations, and forward trading.”

It’s likely he knows what he’s talking about: he listed some of his previous jobs.  As well as working in historic building conservation, he’d done photography, basketry, technical work for the Department of Transport, translating, supply chain management, and, most recently, teaching economics.

Now he’s adding rope splicing to his many skills, but when he walks around his shop, he’s like a child in a toy shop, revelling in the sheer variety of the stock.

“Look at the glove cupboard,” he said, showing a large double cupboard filled with all sorts of gloves.  And the halters – for animals ranging from bulls to ferrets.  There were racks and racks of different sorts of string and rope, trays and drawers of knives, scissors, and equipment for sheep and lambs.

Woodall’s is one of those shops that’s full of ‘useful stuff’, and the more you look, the more you see.  And it’s well worth asking too – assistant Dilys has been there for twenty one years, and knows what’s there.

Many customers are farmers, and Winston says, “Canvas and tarpaulin covers for horse drawn wagons were the backbone of this business.  Now we use a lot of PU and PVC for tarpaulins, but still the main business is these covers, mainly for agricultural use.”

Covers to protect from weather will always be useful – and so too is the rope to tie them down.  Winston says, “The history of rope is fundamental to all industries.”

Woodall’s is in the centre of Malton,  www.gwoodall.com/

Roger Sedgwick, third generation farmer

Roger Sedgwick, dairy farmer, tests his grass for silage

Later  I ventured over the Pennines to Sedbergh, where I visited the Sedgwick family.   I was struck at how different the landscape was to the Moors and Pennine Dales that I see from my home in the Vale of Mowbray.

My nearest hills are the North York Moors, flat-topped and dark with heather.

The hills at the Sedgwicks’ farm on the Howgill Fells were very different: much higher, rounded, and a uniform soft light green colour.  From the distance of the lower slopes, they looked as if clad in apple-green velvet.

Roger explained they had rights for grazing the high fells, in addition to their own farmland lower down the hill.  His father Geoff keeps the Rough Fell sheep that are adapted to the area.  But he explained that many of the families that had farmed the fells in his youth have now given up farming.  The land is concentrating into fewer farms – who are keeping fewer sheep.

This could lead to the landscape changing again.  I consulted the Yorkshire Dales National Park website to find about the Howgills, and it said that, centuries ago, forest was cleared to make way for sheep farming.  Without the sheep, maybe one day this forest might return: Roger commented that gorse that had been cleared was now growing again on the fell.

Aside from the sheep, Roger also commented that administrators over the years had caused confusion in their location:  “We were in the West Riding of Yorkshire.  Now we’re under Cumbria County Council, we have a Lancaster Post Code, and we’re in the Yorkshire Dales National Park.”

Now, debate is raging as to whether more of this area should be taken into the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  There are views on both sides, and only time will tell who wins.

Meanwhile, there is no doubt that the Howgills are a strikingly different – and breathtaking – landscape.

Like all English landscapes, it’s a landscape that has been shaped by farming, and farming now is changing.  Smaller farms need to diversify to survive, and the Sedgwicks plan to do this by making ice cream.

However, it may not be such a new development after all.  Geoff recalls his father being involved in a number of business ventures: “He was a master cabinetmaker,” recalls Geoff.  “I came across someone with furniture he made, dated 1895, the year he came here.”

“He was into lots of things, though.  For three years, he had three farms – he gave two of them up after a few years.  He was also an insurance agent, and sold dips.”

He also built himself a nice new house, that the family now lets out to holidaymakers.

Roger adds, “He was also in the local Militia.  He guarded the King and Queen’s train at Sedbergh in 1917.  They stopped at the station and slept in the train overnight.”

Roger also says, pointing at a field now grazed by his cows:  “My Grandfather was also at Gallipolli.  When he came home, he walked up from Sedbergh Station in the evening, and next morning, he was ploughing that field.”

Nowadays, Roger cuts silage to feed his cows in winter, and his pastures are full of rich grass.  On the higher slopes, open with no fences or walls, his father Geoff’s Rough Fell sheep graze.

Roger now hopes that his latest addition to the family’s ventures, ice cream, will keep the family farming for another generation.

See www.holidaysedbergh.co.uk

email: sedgwick665@btinternet.com  Telephone: 01539 620252

Geoff’s Rough Fell Sheep are featured in “Kendal Rough Fell Sheep: the breed, the people and the furture”, published by the Rough Fell Breed Association, www.roughfellsheep.co.uk

Read everything in full in Dalesman Magazine, in print only, from good newsagents, or visit  www.dalesman.co.uk for a money-saving subscription.

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Dalesman, August 2011, Living with a Windfarm

July 29, 2011

Introduction

I’ll be upfront about this: windfarms have been controversial for a long time, but I didn’t really look into the debates until there were proposals in my district.

As is common when a windfarm is proposed, there was a hotly-argued campaign, both for and against.

It’s easy to find lots of news reports about these campaigns.  And it’s easy to find websites claiming that living near a windfarm is not nice.  But they are written mainly by people campaigning against a windfarm being built, not by people who have actually experienced living near a wind farm.

It’s difficult to find reports of living near a windfarm by people who are actually experiencing it.  After a windfarm is actually built, media reports tend to disappear.  Is this because there’s actually not much to say?  Is it because it’s like when other new developments arrive?  For instance, new supermarkets often generate opposition at the planning stage, but after it’s built, people get used to it, then they end up shopping there.

Or, are the suggestions that windfarms make people ill true, and these people have no strength for further complaints?

I wanted to find out what it was like to live near a wind farm after the hype had died down.  And this was surprisingly difficult to do.

Here is an account of how I did it, and what I found out.

Method

I aimed to be as impartial as possible, and avoid ‘putting words into people’s mouths’.  I simply asked, “Tell us what it’s like to live near a windfarm.”

I began in late 2009, tracking down the addresses for parishes with windfarms in them, and contacted the Parish Clerk, asking him/her to display a poster asking people to get in touch with their windfarm experiences.  I contacted 23 parishes in total.  Some were in Yorkshire, Cumbria, and Co Durham, because these are areas where many windfarms are springing up.  I also contacted parishes in Cornwall because this is the site of some of our oldest-established windfarms.  These people would have real, long term, practical experience of living near a windfarm.

The result was: nothing.  I got the odd email, one or two phone calls – but mainly, a resounding silence.

Disheartened, I picked on two windfarms that I could easily travel to: Knabs Ridge near Harrogate, and Lissett Airfield near Bridlington.  I searched online and in the telephone directory to find people in these areas who I could call.  These people gave me other contacts, and gradually, I built a collection of comments.

I can’t say that I had a statistical sample – but I did try to find as many people as I could, and to ask the open question ‘tell me what it’s like to live near a windfarm.’

They could have answered ‘no different to before it was built’ – and a few did.  But many did not.

wind turbines at Lissett

Lissett windfarm

Findings: Knabs Ridge

I tried to get an overview, by asking a ward councillor what she’d heard from people in the area.  Cllr Hill said that she felt there was divided opinion, but she had heard  that, “Many people had to have their TV satellite dishes changed because of the towers.  And there’s noise – a whoosh whoosh for those living near, but I can’t say how close.”

She also commented that on one occasion, Felliscliffe Parish Council had contacted the windfarm operators to complain about the noise – and that the company “knew immediately what was wrong, and they fixed it immediately.”

“The community fund has been paying out.  It was controversial, the borders of it spread out and out.  Parish Councils can’t ask, but community groups can.”

On the whole, though, she felt: “It’s not an ongoing problem.  It’s like when a large new estate is built – it’s a fait accompli.”

I rang quite a few people from Kettlesing and Felliscliffe, who I found at ramdom in the telephone directory.  Many were not keen to speak to me- when I said ‘windfarm’, they became silent.  I am not in the habit of harrassing members of the public, so I apologised and left them be.

Of those who did speak, few would give their names.

One man emailed to say that he enjoyed seeing the turbines as he drove past on his way to work – he thought they looked beautiful.

Mike Lowsley, who lives in Harrogate, represented the Ramblers’ Association when they objected to the windfarm being built.  He said, “I’m no longer on the committee , so I can’t speak for the RA.  But on a personal level, I think the impact is even greater than we expected.  There are a number of smaller windturbines – less than 6kW – on farms in Nidderdale, but they don’t seem to have the same landscape impact.  It’s a question of scale.”

A member of staff at a nearby restaurant on the main A59 road said that she’d noticed no effects from the windfarm.  “No-one’s said anything to me,” she said.

A lady living in the nearby village of Kettlesing said, “The windfarm doesn’t affect me very much, as I’m in a dip, and I don’t see them from my house.  I’ve never noticed any noise.  But the A59 is a busy, dangerous road, with traffic most of the time.  The traffic noise outweighs the noise of the windfarm.”

But, she added, “Nobody wanted it.  It is an eyesore, to be honest.  The person affected very badly had a house under the windfarm.  She got no compensation.  She moved away.  It took 3 years to sell, and it went at a giveaway price.”

One man summed up the general feeling when he said, “We live in the AONB, and we’re not allowed to do anything without special permission.  The windfarm is only 25 feet from the AONB.  We had a lovely view, then these things popped up, whining, with red lights flashing at night.  Although we’ve got used to it, we’d definitely prefer them not to be there.  The people who want them live miles away.”

Many people said that they felt that their opinions, and those of the district planning authority, had counted for nothing.  The District Council had refused planning permission for the windfarm, but this was overturned at appeal – and people said they felt this was a ‘done deal’ from the start.

One man was prepared to give his name: Peter Kershaw.  He said, “We live at High Moor Farm, about half a mile from Knabs Hill.  The wind farm looks on top of us because it’s that big – we’re about a field away.  No-one else is really in line like us.  We’re on the east side, the westerlies blow over to us.  There’s no one to the west.  On the southern side, there’s nobody for a mile or so.  There’s only us who seems to be in this bit.”

“It’s noise as much as anything.   When they’re operating, you get a whuff-whuff-whuff.  In certain wind directions, it’s horrendous.  Most prevailing wind is from the west, so we get most of it.  The next neighbours are about a mile away, the sound’s dropping off that far.”

“And you get blade flicker when the sun’s setting – it drives you mad.”

“We’ve complained, but it’s like banging your head against a brick wall.  This last year, we’ve given up.  For the last 8 to 9 months, we’ve not bothered complaining.”

“We had Harrogate Council on it – even though she offered to come out on nights when it was windy, we got nowhere, so we’ve given up.”

Peter and his family run a caravan holiday park, and, he said, “It’s cost us a lot of trade, we think , though they won’t accept it because they say it’s down to the recession, which started two and a half years ago.  [Knabs Ridge  began operating in September 2008.]  Though in other recessions, we’ve not dropped off.  Caravanning holds up when people can’t go abroad.”

A spokesperson for Harrogate Council said, “We have just two complaints and they were from the nearby caravan park.  These complaints were not progressed as the residents didn’t provide us with any details and the complaint has been closed.  No doubt they moved on too if they were only holidaying.  So they are the only two complaints we have on record.”

Findings: Lissett

I’d say that at Knabs Ridge, the majority of people I spoke to didn’t like the windfarm.  At Lissett, opinion was much more divided.  People living in Lissett village said they had no problem with the windfarm, while people a short distance up the road complained.  It seemed odd that feelings could be so different over such a short distance, so I took a trip to see for myself.

My main findings are published in Dalesman Magazine, August 2011, with extra information written here in my blog.

As soon as I parked my car and walked up Lissett’s main street, I could see why people in the village said they couldn’t see the windfarm, even though it was so close.  From the main street, I couldn’t see the windfarm, because a copse of trees happened to be in exactly the right place to block the view of it.

But would people hear noise, even if they couldn’t see the windfarm?  I walked around and asked people who I met – even banged on a few doors.  One man said that if the wind was high, and he was in his garden, he could hear it, but added, “It really doesn’t affect me.”  Everyone else said that they didn’t notice it: no problems at all.

Eddie Bartram lives in Lissett village and said, ”I was on the Parish Council during the planning phase.  I’m now retired from the Parish Council, so this is my personal opinion.  There are 32 houses in Lisset, at the time of the planning, there were 82 adults.  The Parish council did a straw poll, and 92% of 82 people were totally in favour, OR, didn’t give a toss.  5 households out of 32 were against it.  So we had no problem as a Parish council in supporting the application.”

“From a personal point of view, anything that cuts carbon dioxide gets my vote.”

From his home, he sees little of the turbines, because of the trees.  And, he said, “In the village where we live, we can’t hear a thing.”

“There’s a village nearby called Gransmore, about two and a half miles from the turbines, and they have an unobstructed view.  One family had a justified complaint – it was in clear view – I did appreciate that.  But they were outside our Parish.”

He added, “Two complaints dealt with strobing, if the sun is behind the blades it can be a problem to certain people – but it’s not a problem here.  They [objectors] also said it would interfere with TV, but we haven’t had any problems here.”

“Personally, I’ve had no problems from noise, TV interference, or strobing – no adverse effects.”

Eddie added, “There’s another element, a clawback in cash.  The windfarm people put £25,000 per year, for the 25 year life of the windfarm, into a pot.  They take claims for good causes.  It’s a good thing.”

“158 Squadron flew from Lissett, and lost 851 aircrew.  Novera [the windfarm developers] funded a memorial, now in the village’s keeping.”

“

The only thing I can remember from before the windfarm was that we didn’t get £25,000 a year.”

Eddie likes visiting Scotland, and is hoping to move there.  Therefore, his house is for sale.  He said, “When I see the wind turbines– they’re all over Scotland – when the blades are turning, I find them beautiful and comforting.  But when they’re stationary, I find them threatening.  I don’t know why, it’s illogical – but I’d rather see them turning.  Their proper place in life is motion.

There were several houses for sale in Lissett, but with the housing market currently moving slowly, it’s hard to say whether this was unusual.  And people who were planning on staying in Lissett, and even those recently moved in, all said they weren’t troubled by the windfarm.  The copse, and the position of the village relative to wind, sun, and the turbines, seems to have saved them from problems.

Along the road to Gransmoor, people weren’t so lucky.  Their position relative to sun,  wind and trees meant that they got shadow flicker in their homes (a strobe-like effect when the turbine blades move between the viewer and the sun), and noise was blown towards them.

The man universally acknowledged to have the clearest view of the windfarm, John Ost, had made a formal complaint.  Having done so, he was asked to keep records of when there was a problem.  This was necessary in order to see whether the windfarm was, or was not, operating within the rules set for it.

However, keeping those records was a job in itself.  John showed them to me: pages and pages of dates, times, and descriptions.  He is aware that keeping such records brings its own problems.  He said, “I can see that it is evidence, but I try not to listen out for it.  I only record it if impinges on us – I don’t want to get into obsessive behaviour.”

It’s also a lot of work: a complaint could easily founder if the complainant hadn’t the time, skills, or inclination for weeks and weeks of meticulous documentation.

John had taken the trouble to do this for noise, which was troubling him by keeping him awake at night.  However, when it came to shadow flicker, he gave up on the record keeping.  He explained: “They asked me to identify which individual turbine was causing the effect, so as to get the operator to turn that turbine off.  But it varies, as the sun sets at different spot on the horizon every day, so the turbine can be different –sometimes there’s two.  AND I don’t want to be looking out for things all the time, to report them so that they can do something – that’s very paranoid.”

So when shadow flicker strikes, he pulls the curtains.  He said, “It’s like an invasion into the house.  That sounds over the top, but we had a lot of it last week as it’s been fine weather.  We have to live with it and be stoical.”

I called the wind company, and their spokesman said that they had carried out action to reduce the noise, and that they were waiting for a module which would calculate when shadow flicker would be a problem, and turn the turbine off for that time.  He couldn’t say why this hadn’t been installed when the windfarm was built, as the company that now owns the windfarm is different to the one that built it.

John tries not to let it get to him.  He said, “I’m a cheerful chap, I’m bright and happy.  I don’t think I’m miserable, but you did ask me what the effects are and this is it.  I did consider asking for reduced council tax, but decided not to because somebody else would have to pay more.”

“I’ve not got used to it.  I did consider moving, but we do like it here.  When you asked if I want to put my name to this I thought maybe I was talking it down a bit – but maybe there’s someone who loves windfarms.  But we have no plans to move at present.”

“I’m not an embittered man, but if more are going to go up, they need to be very careful when they’re near to people’s houses.”

In February 2011, the spokesperson for East Riding Council said, “The council can confirm that we had a complaint of noise nuisance arising from the windfarm in August 2009.  A second complaint was made but no further contact was forthcoming from the complainant when asked for details.  The complaint has been dealt with by using the conditions of the Planning consent that allowed the Council to request a noise investigation to be carried out by the windfarm company.  Such investigations do tend to take some time as a period of noise monitoring needs to be carried out for a sufficiently long time to cover the types of weather conditions that prevail when the noise is reported to occur.  This was completed in 2010 and the noise consultant concluded that there were some weather conditions during which the noise did exceed the limits detailed in the planning consent.  Some mitigation measures were installed last autumn ie replacement of some bearings in the turbines and the programming of some turbines to shut down during specific wind speeds and directions.  Some further works are planned to be done when the necessary parts become available.  It is likely that a further period of noise monitoring will be carried out to confirm the results of the mitigation measures when completed. “

When I asked another lady living on the Gransmoor to Lissett road what it was like to live near a windfarm, she replied, “Not nice.  It’s like living among monstrosities, that overpower you.  We’re about half a mile away.  I can never get used to it.  They weren’t there and we had a view, now we’ve got a view of these things.  Whatever room we’re in, or in the garden or the yard, they’re there.”

A lady from Gransmoor said that she was particularly concerned about flicker in her house, as a family member suffered from photosensitive epilepsy.  She said, “When the sun’s shining, we have  to keep the curtains closed because of the the blade flicker reflecting on the wall.  And at night – you have the curtains closed anyway – the lights constantly flicker on and off.  [There are lights on top of the turbine towers at night.]  Plus there’s the extra flicker due to the blades passing in front.”

She added, “Then there’s the farce that people think that people in the community are getting free electricity.  NO WE DON’T.  In fact, we pay the green energy supplement –the ROCS- are added onto our electricity bills.”

Another lady in Gransmoor said that everyone in the village lost their TV reception when the windfarm went up.  The company paid for freeview satellite boxes for each house, but residents said that the TV reception still didn’t always work properly.

And, echoing Peter Kershaw’s comments, she said, “We’ve seen so much hassle that we’ve given up shouting.  It’s like banging your head against a brick wall.”

While issues such as noise and shadow flicker have affected some homes more than others, the thing that struck me was that so many people complained of bad feeling over the windfarm.  I was told that at the planning stage, some people had supported the windfarm, and others had opposed it.  Time and again, I was told, “It split the village.”  Divisions formed then had, it seems, not healed – the windfarm went online in 2009, and I visited in January 2011.  Others grumbled about the Community Fund.

I was also told that several houses in Lissett village are owned by the landowner who benefits from the windfarm – and that those tenants may therefore have felt that they didn’t want to comment on the windfarm.  However, I did not find anyone in Lissett who refused to speak: everyone I found in Lissett spoke postively about the windfarm.

Community Funds

It’s common practice for windfarm developers to set up some form of community benefit fund.  In fact, at the time of writing, guidelines were being set up for what this should be.

They should be a good thing – certainly Eddie Batram was a fan of the financial benefits of the Lissett fund.

However, like money everywhere, Community Funds seem to provide fuel for discontent.   At Knabs Ridge, one person called it a ‘farce’, as the area of benefit was extended until it included people who were deemed not to ‘suffer’ at all from the windfarm.

A council officer at East Riding Council explained how this can happen.  She said that setting the area of benefit was a decision for the wind companies, but that they sometimes ask for advice from the Council.  In this case, she said, “Given that we have a lot of windfarms, we don’t want one parish trapped between two areas of benefit, and will never get a windfarm.  So we say that if a windfarm is in a parish, don’t just consider that parish, but also consider those that get construction noise and visual impact.”

East Riding supplies the services of its Communities Officer to adminster the Lissett fund, keeping records, auditing etc.  She helps groups with their applications to the fund, ensuring that they provide the proper paperwork, and that applications are not for things that the council should provide.

Generalities

One lady, I don’t know where she was from, because she insisted on anonymity, got in touch to tell me I was being “naive or disingenuous – of course no-body’s going to say what it’s like, because we’re all trying to sell our houses.”

She went on to explain that if a complaint is made to the council, this has to be disclosed to potential buyers of the house.  Hence, ‘nobody was going to complain.’

Conclusion

After many hours speaking to people living near windfarms, I would say that my impression is that living very close – say within half a mile – of a windfarm is likely to be unpleasant.  There could be noise, shadow flicker, the ‘mesmersising’ effect of the moving blades, the sense of being overshadowed by huge towers, and possible TV interference.

Beyond that distance, being affected seems to depend very much upon wind direction, the position of the sun, and intervening features such as hills and woodland.  Some people will be affected, others won’t.

For those badly affected, there seems to be little remedy.  Making a formal complaint requires dedication and meticulous work over a long period, and therefore, many give up.

Financial compensation is little – maybe a reduction in Council Tax, and a community fund going to good causes, but not to individual property owners.

So I can see why people oppose windfarms near their homes.

With windfarms proposed in my area, I’d embarked on this research hoping that I’d find that I didn’t need to be worried.

But now I am.

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Dalesman June 2011

May 28, 2011

For Dalesman this month, I visited a primary school that has worked with the Post Office to provide a service after the village Parish Plan revealed a desire for a Post Office.

Pupils at Foston School serve in their Post Office

Pupils serving in Foston School's Post Office

Laura Glass, a teaching assistant at Foston School, in Thornton-le-Clay near Malton, says, “It was part of the Parish Plan – they wanted a Post Office, and we thought it would be a good way to help develop community links.”

While the children benefit from learning ‘real life’ skills, and villagers enjoy being served by the children, the services the school can currently offer are limited.  Basically, it’s stamps and cards.

Miss Glass says, “A kind lady from Halifax sent us some cards to sell, and at Christmas, the children designed some cards, which we printed.”

Miss Glass says, “We hope to expand it as time goes by – we’ll see how it goes.”

A spokesman for the Post Office explained “Any organisation can apply to become a stamp retailer, and we’ll provide stamps at a discount so they can make a small profit.  And to accept parcels, all you need is some scales and a template to measure the size, so that you can work out the correct postage.”

But the Post Office would charge to collect the parcels, unless the organisation was selling enough stamps to qualify for free collection.  However, parcels could be stamped and collected by an organisation such as the school or the pub, then taken to a main post office to be sent.  So if someone from the school was passing a main post office on the way home, this could be a next move for the school’s service.

When a community wants to save a Post Office that’s closing, then they can explore ideas, but if they wanted to open a brand new ‘Greenfield’ Post Office, then they would have to discuss this.  The spokesman explained, “We want to make it as easy as possible, but, the main criterion would be impact on other Post Offices – we wouldn’t want to take business away from an existing PO.  We’d also discuss suitable premises, a person to run it, and look at the business case so that we were confident it was sustainable.

Meanwhile, Consumer Focus (http://www.consumerfocus.org.uk/policy-research/post/background-briefings/post-office-local) says that “Post Office Local” –sometimes called ‘Post Office Essentials’ is being trialled.  It’s a system where a limited Post Office service is offered over the counter of an existing retail business, rather than at a dedicated Post Office counter.

I doubt very much that service users care what sort of counter their services come over, as long as they can access the services they need.  With the cost of fuel and transport ever spiralling, the more services that can be accessed without long journeys, the better people will be pleased.

I also had the pleasure of meeting Sue Lawson, a deeply thoughtful artist.  Sue is an artists’ artist, bringing immense depth and experience to her work

Sue Lawson, artist

Sue Lawson, artist

She studied art at university, where she did fashionable installations, and pieces reflecting concepts of fame and consumer society.  She enjoyed her time there, and the exuberance of the city, of watching people and their activities.

But when she moved to the Yorkshire Dales, the landscape was, she said, ‘a revelation.’  And she took to painting it.  She says, “It’s important to take reference from other artists, to learn.  But then you have to forget it and find your own way of looking at things.  It comes from within – then other people respond to it.  It’s like music – they’re closely related.  I can’t paint properly unless I listen to music.

She aims to capture the particular feeling of a particular place, at a particular moment – her memory of being there.  She says, “You can put more emotion into a painting than a photograph.”

“It is not so much intellectual as a feeling thing.  I put a lot of energy into it.”

Although she doesn’t paint outdoors, she spends lots of time out, walking, taking photographs, and soaking up the atmosphere.  People say that Sue’ s work reminds them of coming home with ruddy cheeks after a winter walk..

There’s a lot of texture in Sue’s paintings, and for that reason, she sells only original paintings, not prints.  She says, “Prints wouldn’t work for my pictures, because they don’t carry the texture.”

Sue works in layers, adding glazes – It’s surprising that pictures so full of vitality are the result of such long labours.  But, says Sue, “Struggle makes you appreciate things – it’s how the old masters worked.”  She uses oil paints that allow her to do this, and says, “If I don’t get the atmosphere, it doesn’t leave the studio.  It needs the madness and energy.”

Her aim with her pictures, she says, is “Escapism – a feeling of being in a place, and recreating the overall impact of that place when you were there.”

She has to keep painting, as her favourites sell, and, she says, “I’ve never had a house with a view, so I put the views on the walls.”

See Sue’s work at http://www.suelawson.co.uk/

Read both articles in full in Dalesman magazine, in print only.

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Dalesman May 2011

April 26, 2011

Dalesman for May 2011 features two enjoyable, but very different visits.

Holgate Mill was  a surreal sight: an eighteenth century windmill in the middle of a street of comfortable twentieth century semi-detached family homes.

Bob Anderton beside the huge cogs that harness the wind to drive the grindstones

Bob Anderton beside the machinery of Holgate Windmill

When it was built, Holgate was the height of wind technology.  It boasted a fantail, a vane mounted to the rear of the mill that automatically aligned the mill to face the wind.

Previously, windmills had been mounted on a  post sunk in the ground.  When the wind direction changed, the miller had to rotate the entire building, millstones and all, to face the wind again – a hard, heavy job.

Older mills had four sails, usually made of canvas like the sails of a ship.  Holgate had five sails for maximum efficiency.  The sails were also fitted with shutters, like venetian blinds.  In low winds, the shutters were closed to catch as much wind as possible.  In high winds, the shutters were opened up to allow some wind to pass through, and avoid damage to the sails.

Despite being the height of technology when it was built, when electricity became easily available, the miller preferred to use an electric motor, rather than rely on the vagaries of the wind.  Even today, after restoring the wind powered machinery, the preservation society will run one grindstone on wind power, and the other with an electric motor, so that they can work when the wind doesn’t blow.

One of the joys of eighteenth-century engineering is that, unlike modern electronics,  it’s all big and visible.  Inside the mill,  giant cogs and shafts transmit the power from the rotating sails to the grindstones.  Most of the gears are cast iron, still strong and serviceable after over 200 years.  But many of the hoppers, vats and beams are wood, and years of damp and insects have destroyed these.  However, these have been built anew: the members of Holgate Mill Preservation Society have achieved a great deal in ten years.

Bob attributes this success to a skilled team, generous funders, and their strategy.  Rather than try to do all the work themselves, they went to a professional millwright, Tom Davies, and applied for grants to fund the work.

Visitors to the mill need to be fit and agile, as access to all four floors is by ladder.  As you progress up the tower, the rooms become progressively smaller, and right up in the cap, the room is dominated by a huge toothed wheel, attached the sails.  When the wind turns that wheel, it would be easy for the unwary to get caught in the machinery.  The picture above shows Bob Anderton, the chairman of the preservation society,  next to the great gear that is turned by the sails.

Bob hopes that soon the mill will be grinding corn, selling flour – and even possibly adding a bakery.

He says, “We want to grind flour and sell it for people to use.”  As the mill is currently in use as a mini-community hall, the addition of food can only mean even more visitors to this very unusual windmill.

For further information, see www.holgatewindmill.org or Telephone Bob  Anderton on 01904 795851

Holgate Mill was once cutting edge technology.  By contrast, Hackfall was always meant to evoke the past, created as a romantic ruin.

PAUL MOSLEY, THE WOODLAND OFFICER, ENJOYS A WALK AT HACKFALL

HACKFALL IS A SEMI NATURAL WOODLAND WITH ROMANTIC RUINS DESIGNED BY WILLIAM AISLABIE

Hackfall was originally woodland that would have been used for timber.  In fact, said Paul Mosley, Hackfall’s officer, “It’s believed that the Aislabies originally bought Hackfall for the timber, and for a tufa quarry, which they used to clad several buildings at Studley Royal.”

The Aislabies who bought Hackfall were famous for their landscape design around Fountains Abbey, now a World Heritage Site.  But their landscape at Hackfall, where they built  romantic ‘ruin’ eye-catchers in the forest, is less well-known.

But in its day, it was famous.  Turner painted it, and Victorian tourist guides advertised carriages from Ripon Station to Hackfall.   But, after years as a Victorian pleasure ground, the timber was all felled in the 1930s.

It chanced that the land was then bought by someone who went against the advice at the time, which was to replant with fast-growing, commercial conifers.  Instead, the new owner bided his time, and let nature take its course.

It has resulted in Hackfall now being classed as the relatively rare ‘semi natural ancient woodland.’  The semi-natural bit is because, says Paul – that lucky man whose job it is to know Hackfall intimately – “Most woodland has always been managed, and at Hackfall there’s evidence of limekilns, charcoal burning, and sawmills all in the wood.  But the seedbank, and the wildlife, such as invertebrates, are still there.”

“And there’s lots of wildlife.  We had a moth expert who trapped 158 species in one evening.”

Hackfall is made even more interesting by the series of follies built by the Aislabies.  They act as ‘eyecatchers’ and ‘surprises’ to draw walkers around the wood.

Hackfall is also full of falling water, with so many becks, trickles and cascades, it’s quite difficult to tell what’s natural and what’s man-made.  Which, of course, was the Aislabies’ intention: to enhance the natural landscape to make it more beautiful, and more interesting.   Nearly three hundred years later, it’s clear that they knew what they were doing.

Hackfall is beguiling at any time of year – I recommend a visit.

See www.woodlandtrust.org.uk and www.hackfall.org.uk for more, and information on how to get there, where to park, etc

News since the article went to print: Paul Mosley says that Hackfall has won

the Nostra Europa Award for its  Conservation / Restoration.

See: http://www.woodlandtrust.org.uk/en/our-woods/hackfall/Pages/EuropaNostraAward.aspx?wood=5462

Or: http://www.europanostra.org/projects/50/

He adds that the restoration was achieved thanks to funding from The  Heritage Lottery Fund, The Hackfall Trust,  the Woodland Trust and volunteers,  the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, Yorventure and the North Yorkshire Aggregates Grant Scheme.

To read my articles in full, in print only, buy Dalesman Magazine, www.dalesman.co.uk

MOWBRAY CASTLE, AN EYECATCHER BUILT BY THE AISLABIES

MOWBRAY CASTLE, ONE OF THE MANY EYECATCHERS EVOKING THE PAST GLORIES AT HACKFALL

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Countryman April 2011 – How to Save the Village Pub

March 24, 2011
GEORGE AND DRAGON HUDSWELL IS OWNED BY A VILLAGE CO OP

THE GEORGE AND DRAGON WAS SAVED BY A VILLAGE CO OP

When researching how to save the village pub for Countryman, I ended up getting far too many comments to fit onto three pages.  Here are the extra bits that wouldn’t fit onto the pages….

Despite almost universal agreement that community pubs provide a social focus with very few of the ‘binge drinking’ problems seen in city centres, these much loved pubs just keep closing.  Why, and what can we do about it?

The British Pub and Beer Association publishes statistics on this.  The most recent report I found, for 2008, reported that, of a total of 57,500 pubs, 31% are independent, 53% tenanted or leased, and 16% were managed by a brewery or Pub Company.  This means that, in practice, 84% of pubs are run by independent, often family-based, businesses.  Each of these businesses, mainly because of the jobs it creates, is estimated to be worth around £80,000 a year to the local economy.

Furthermore, total average beer consumption per person has declined by about a third over the last thirty years.  But the bit that really hurts pubs is that thirty years ago, only a negligible proportion of beer sold was ‘off’ sales – bottles and cans to drink at home.  Nowadays, almost half the beer sold is through ‘off’ sales – beer that is not drunk in pubs.

This is why John Longden, of Pub is the Hub, describes a ‘tidal wave’ of change affecting pubs.  He is a practical man, clear about the fact that pubs close simply because costs exceed income, and that in some cases, traditional pubs simply are no longer viable.

However, many others are, and he says, “Pub is the Hub began with the concern that rural services were disappearing.  Often the last remaining business was the pub, and could we encourage good licensees to provide other services?”  Typically, these services attract more people, and he says, “Good licensees who do Pub is the Hub can increase turnover 30 or 40%.”

Pub is the Hub has also helped communities to take over their pub.  He says, “It’s a hard slog: you have to identify if the pub is sustainable.”

And, he adds, “Running a pub is not like running a shop.  Pub customers come in a great variety, and come in for different things.  There are special skills involved in running a pub.  You need to know how to do catering, how to purchase beer, how to do stocktaking, how to do rating (rates are complicated), insurance, gambling laws, employment laws, food hygiene, licensing laws, and so on and so on.  That’s why we always advise getting a professional manager.”

For those determined on taking over their pub, he advises getting good advice, be sure the business is sustainable, get a good solid business plan, and consider how to promote more activity in the pub.

He also advises having a clear plan for what happens if, despite all the hope and hard work, the community pub fails.  What happens to the assets, to shareholders’ money, and so on?

John says, “We offer impartial advice.  We’re currently advising around 107 groups around the country.  50% of the time we have to say ‘nice idea, but we don’t think it’s viable’.  But if it works, the rewards are there.  It gives a sense of spirit in the community, and if people feel it is their pub, they will use it.

There are various business models he’s seen used, and describes them:

1.  Try to purchase the pub as a co-operative.  “We’ve helped 30 communities to take over their pubs, and we’re presently advising about 16 more.  Things to look out for, he says, are to have a manager or tenant making the day to day decisions.  “There’s nothing worse than a group agonising over the menu, so best to get a manager.”  Also, you need to decide what will happen with dividends, what if the pub fails, and what if investors want their money back.  Once a co-op has ownership of the pub, they can hire a manager to run it on their behalf, or rent or lease it to an operator.

2.  A smaller group buys the pub.  This, says John, has been a popular route.  “Forty or more people come together to buy the pub.  Typically, they will invest between £500 and £10.000.”  John advises having a cap on investments, to keep the balance of power balanced.  “The same caveats as for a co-op, especially for what if it fails, apply,” he says.  He also describes how one group bought the pub, then sold a long lease to an operator, at a peppercorn rent.  The sale of the lease enabled the shareholders to get their money back.  “Then,” he says, “They pledged the freehold to the Parish Council, resulting in the Parish Council retaining control of the pub.”

This was useful when the main threat to village pubs was a change of use to housing.

3 The third way is ‘try before you buy’ – rent the pub.  The big advantage is that communities need less capital to do this.  Therefore, says John, “It’s what we’re recommending at the moment.  We’ve been working with breweries and pub groups to enable communities to take on the pub for a trial, at a set rent for a fixed period, perhaps, say, three years.  It depends on good terms for the lease/rent, and we have an advisor for this.”

One group, he said, did this.  They raised money that wasn’t enough to buy the pub, but was enough for a much-needed refurbishment.  He comments, “A lot of pubs close because they need refurbishing.”

Although pubs close, John points out that others open, and says, “Pub is the Hub tries to work with people to come up with solutions.”

Rural services that have added onto pubs include shops, post offices, playgrounds, allotments, libraries, internet access, school dinners and meeting rooms, and Pub is the Hub is now working to identify services that are needed, and matching them with a pub to provide them.  John says, “There’s no fixed way, you’ve got to go with the priorities in an individual area.”

John has hopes for the future of pubs that are at the heart of life in their communities.  But, he says, “It’s very, very hard work to run a pub.  You realise what heroes licensees are.  What we need to do is make it easier for them to make a living.”

At Hudswell, in North Yorkshire, villagers came together as a co-operative to buy their local pub.  After the pub re-opened, the co-op began offering other services too: a library, allotments, and a village shop.  Martin Booth, Secretary of Hudswell Community Pub Ltd, explains how they went about it:

“The pub shut in 2008.  The owners had bought it at the height of the property boom, and had a big loan.”  Martin says that there was a lot of sympathy for these people: they had worked hard and built up trade, but were victims of the credit crunch, and went bankrupt.

Thereafter, with the credit crunch in full swing, no-one else came forward to buy the pub.  So, he says, “We looked at setting up a co-op.  It took us a year from thinking of it to doing it.”

Crucially, having seen the figures from the previous owners, they thought the business was viable if they could only avoid big loan payments.  “That’s the advantage of doing it this way,” he says, “We raised capital from shareholders.  We had 200 investors, and raised £250,000.”

There are about 80 houses in the village, and Martin says, “Most of the rest of the membership is people within about 30 miles who like owning a share, and coming out here at the weekend.”

“We bought the pub for £210,000, and spent £60,000 doing it up.”  They had to refit the pub as all the contents and fittings had been sold off by the receivers.  They got some grant funding, which they used to improve the layout of the pub.  Without the grants, says Martin, “We would probably still have done it, but we might not have afforded such a good refurbishment.  There are some grants and loans available via the Plunkett Foundation and the Co-operative.”

Martin says, “Two things make it work.  One is we own the asset and have no debt, and the other is that we charge a realistic rent.”

Martin explains that they could have hired a manager to run the pub on their behalf.  The co-op could have participated in any potential profits this way.  But, says Martin, it would have been harder work, with the co-op having to take a much closer interest in the running of the pub.  This way, the tenants run the pub as their own business, releasing the co-op from worrying about day to day management.  They tenants take both risk and reward, meaning that they are self-motivating.

The rent will pay a dividend to shareholders.  But, says Martin “if the business were to struggle, we could lower the rent, and not pay a dividend.”

The tenants are Margaret and Jackie Stubbs, who run the pub as their own business.  Martin says, “We’ve fixed the rent for three years, so they know where they are.”  They are very experienced, and the landlords selected them from several applicants.

Setting up the co-operative, says Martin, “Took over my life.  We were meeting every two or three weeks, launching the prospectus, selling shares, refurbishing the pub, and looking for a tenant.  Now it’s up and running, we only meet once every 2 or 3 months.”

The co-op has also introduced ‘nice to have’ village services.  Martin says, “last December, we converted one room into a shop.  It’s a separate business, because we wanted Jackie and Margaret to concentrate on making the pub a success.”

In order to keep prices down, the shop is staffed by volunteers on two hour shifts.  The aim is less for profit, than simply to provide a service and break even.  Martin says, “We hope that it will eventually make enough to hire a manager.  Volunteers enjoy their shifts, but stock control, ordering, accounts and so on are onerous for volunteers, and two of our directors currently do this.”

They worked with a well-known independent retailer, Campbell’s of Leyburn, who act as wholesaler and advised on what stock to take.  Although the shop is staffed by volunteers, when the shop is shut and the pub open, Jackie and Margaret will serve customers with shop goods.  Many come in for a pint of beer and a pint of milk, and Margaret says, “We’ve had quite a bit of after-hours shop business.”

The pub has also used its land to provide allotments, and has an arrangement with the County library for a bookcase housing a small village lending library.  Martin doesn’t believe they contribute significantly to pub profits, but says, “We did them because we thought they were a good thing to do, and in a small way, they bring people in.”

Things have gone well, and Martin says, “The pub has built trade because we’ve had a lot of publicity for what we’ve done.  People have come once out of curiosity, and, because Jackie and Margaret have done a good job, customers come back again.”

Martin’s advice to others, he says, is “it’s an ideal solution, except you need volunteers to get started.”  When they started, with the pub closed, there was no-where to meet or put up a poster, and the group had to get out onto the street and leaflet every house to alert them to the project.  Now, the pub is full of posters and information.

Martin adds that, having bought the building, if the pub did fail, shareholders would still have an asset to sell and recoup some money.  “If we’d leased, we’d have nothing to sell if things went wrong,” he comments.

His other tip is to get a good manager.  He says, “This has worked because Jackie and Margaret have been so good.  We’ve been impressed with their enthusiasm and ideas.  They have a Fijian chef, and Fijian additions to the menu add interest.  And they had a Fijian summer festival, that went down very well.”

So what do Jackie and Margaret think of it all?  They are mother and daughter, who between them, have clocked up an impressive number of years of experience in the pub trade.  Jackie says, “This is exactly the type of pub we wanted – we wanted land for my Kune-Kune pigs.  And the allotments use the land constructively, and we hope to use the produce in the kitchen and shop.”

They have ideas to bring in new people.  Margaret says, “It’s the sort of pub where ladies can come in on their own, and get a friendly welcome.  If we’d had room, we’d have liked a tea room, but we do coffee and cake in the dining room.  We did a Hallowe’en festival, and we do the ‘Women of Hudswell’.  We did a pumpkin carving session with an art teacher.  There were 20-odd people in the dining room, all carving pumpkins.”

The children’s Hallowe’en party attracted more children than they had realised lived in the village, and Christmas Carol singing was popular too.  They have a walks booklet, and are considering a challenge run for next summer.

The library shelf has spawned a book club, and the after hours shop gives people an excuse to stop off for a drink while picking up essential supplies.  And, says Margaret, “When we had a musical theatre evening, we had someone stopping in the village who’d been a West End show. That raised £500 for charity.”

So, getting together enough shareholders to buy the pub, then renting at a rent to enable good tenants to make a living sounds a success.  But what if you’re not blessed with enough spare cash in the village to buy the pub?

At Cherry Willingham in Lincolnshire, villagers took over their pub with much less capital, by leasing it.  But if the last tenant couldn’t make a go of it, what’s different about a community group?  Barbara Mawer, who is licensee and runs the pub, explains what happened: “The pub kept closing.  New landlords would come, but after about six months, it would change hands again.”

Eventually, locals thought the pub would close, and, says Barbara, “Someone thought that if we could get enough people together, we could take it over.”

They formed a syndicate of 43 people, with four directors.  Barbara, who under previous management was a barmaid, is one of the directors.   She says, “We asked for pledges of £100 to £1,000, and raised £14,000, to take the lease for five years.  We’ve been running it since May last year.”

“It’s a village pub,” explains Barbara, “with a restaurant that we also use for functions, for instance the drama group, bingo nights, and so on.  We run parties, get the cricket and football teams in, and it’s going from strength to strength.”

Barbara believes that the syndicate is doing better than previous tenants because, she says, “The last few licensees weren’t interested in food.  The restaurant wasn’t open a lot of the time.  Food brings in lots of new custom, and the Sunday carvery is fully booked.”

The syndicate agreed to re-invest their dividend in the pub, and Barbara says, “It’s important to keep motivated.  One of the syndicate does a business plan, but everyone has different jobs.  It helps with ideas to move on.  I took a course to become the licensee, and run it from day to day.  Someone else does the cooking, and another syndicate member has improved the grounds.  We have a committee of six members who do functions.  It helps to bring in fresh ideas.”

As John advised, they have a ‘what if it fails’ clause, and Barbara says, “We had to put up a bond to get the lease, but if we have to pull out, we get a 60% cash refund.  If we do make a profit, it gets shared.  We have a five-year lease, and at the end of that, everything has to be re-negotiated.”

She says, “We have a good village. Our community is very close, and we all join in together.

Barbara’s tips to others thinking of doing a similar thing are to have a good business plan.  And, she says, “It’s long hours, but well worth it.”

So, even though we have cuts and credit crunch, there are ways to take over the village pub.  The key is to have the will, some cash, but most of all, the imagination to create extra reasons for customers to visit the pub.

And for those who’ve got cash but not time, Martin may be able to do the work for them.

To get further information and advice, see:

Plunkett Foundation. www.plunkett.co.uk, Tel 01993 810730

Plunkett have decades of experience helping groups to take over shops.  They have now teamed with the Co-op to offer advice and financial assistance to those wishing to set up community pubs.

Co-operatives UK: www.cooperatives-uk.coop 0161 246 2900

Pub is the Hub, www.pubisthehub.org.uk, 01423 546165

Camra, www.camra.org.uk 01727 867 201

British Beer and Pub Association  www.beerandpub.com

Featured Pubs:

The Old Crown, Hesket Newmarket, Cumbria, Tel 016974 78288

The George and Dragon, Hudswell, North Yorks, 01748 518373

The Cherry Tree Inn, Willingham, Lincs, Tel 01522 754244

Martin Booth: 01748 824204

By admin | Posted in Blog, Countryside, Food, Rural Life, Small Business | Comments off

Dalesman April 2011

March 24, 2011

Dalesman April 2011 – Mulgrave Woods

A VIEW OF THE MULGRAVE ESTATE

LANDSCAPING BY HUMPHRY REPTON AT MULGRAVE

As a tree lover myself, it was a pleasure to meet Jim Mortlock, head forester for the Mulgrave Estate, near Whitby.

It was clear that Jim took real pleasure and pride in the woods he cares for, and, as he took me round the estate, I could see why.

He works to a plan laid out by Humphry Repton some three centuries ago – but this is the time scale a forester has to think in.  Standing in open parkland by the estate office, Jim pointed out how the swathes of woodland that he is still planting contribute to Repton’s landscape vision.

And, as he pointed out the views, it was clear that Repton’s vision was coming to fruition.  There were stands of trees across the treetops, cradling the green vale of pasture and parkland.  Here, large specimen trees were things of beauty in their own right.

Across the fields were breathtaking views of the sea and cliffs at Sandsend.

And the well-managed woods, said Jim, were full of wildlife.  He showed me trees that he’s kept for woodpeckers to nest in.  He likes to see the deer, which are a small, managed population that don’t damage his trees.

As for the flowers, after years of being shaded out, Jim says that thinning out firewood has rejuvenated them, producing carpets of primroses and bluebells in spring.

The policy of mixing decidous and evergreen trees showed its visual benefits when I visited, as dark evergreens provided a foil to the brilliant autumn colours of the hardwoods.

The estate has recently invested in state of the art machinery to cut logs for firewood.  Income from these logs has paid for new access tracks into the woods, which are available for public access on selected days.

To buy firewood, or to visit the woods, see http://mulgrave-estate.co.uk/index.php/land-use/access/

By admin | Posted in Blog, Countryside, Dalesman, Nature Conservation and Environment, Uncategorized, Yorkshire | Comments off