The new Dalesmans are out, and this month, there are three features from me. There’s a restored dewpond in the North York Moors, a fruit-growing co-operative in Husthwaite, and a visit to ‘graduates’ of the North York Moors National Park’s apprenticeship scheme.
In the midst of so much media angst about youth unemployment, it was a joy to meet youngsters who were doing well. Back in 2002, the North York Moors National Park set up an apprenticeship scheme in environment and conservation work. The scheme was massively oversubscribed, and those fortunate to get onto the scheme were all very keen.
So it was a pleasure to get back in touch, and find them all doing well, and happy in their work. They were glad they did the apprenticeship that helped them to achieve their ambition of working outdoors in the countryside.
Nicky Saffer worked for a large forestry company, working on big contracts. His work involves practical steps to improve our environment, planting trees and managing forests.
Other youngsters, among them Mark Aconley, had set up their own business. Mark, and colleague Peter Hinchliffe, were filling the local need to repair dry stone walls – part of the landscape for hundreds of years, but now in need of a little attention.
Mark noted that spending all day heaving around tons of stone is a job for a fit young man – but he already had plans to develop his business, so that he could continue into his later years.
It’s not just the apprentices who were happy. Steve Young, who has trained all the apprentices, enjoys working with the youngsters. The first intake being all male, but there have been girls since. Steve says, “The only people we can’t take are those with a degree, because we can’t get funding for them. It’s very disappointing, as we’ve had very keen people with all the academic knowledge, but no practical knowledge.”
Richard Gunton, head of Park Services, was delighted by the apprenticeships, which have run every year since 2002.
He explains how, previous to the scheme, there was ‘leakage’ of young people – when they left school, they left the area, because there were no opportunities for them.
Now, says Richard, “12% of our full time work is done by apprentices, and it’s nice in the organisation to have young people working with us. They’re brilliant: they’ve all worked hard, passed their exams, done very well, and gone on to full time employment. The effort some of them put in puts a lot of us older folk to shame.”
“It’s been good for the Park, good for the young people, and good for the community. Because the apprenticeship is so good, we’ve set up another team – the northern team. They’re funded by Redcar and Cleveland Borough Council. It’s a specific pot of money to tackle youth unemployment – but they’re a lovely team.”
The Park’s other apprenticeships are open to all applicants, and Richard says, “We’ve also set up a business administration apprenticeship. And we worked with local farmers to help set up their hill farming apprenticeship. We don’t employ those apprentices – the farmers do.
“There are always lots of applicants for the apprenticeships – anyone interested should telephone Ian Nicholls on 01439 770657”
“The most important part is that young people have enjoyed it, and they’ve got what they need out of it. It’s been an absolute joy.”
Contact Mark Aconley, landscape contractor, on acorn150982@hotmail.com, Tel 07898 788843
Mark Aconley, one time apprentice, now runs his own contracting business
North York Moors National Park http://www.northyorkmoors.org.uk/
The National Park also helped Ann Strang to organise the repair of a historic dewpond on her father’s farm as part of an Environmental Stewardship scheme.
Dewponds are more usually found in chalk areas, such as the Yorkshire Wolds or the South Downs. There, legends abound that they were first built by Neolithic man.
Such legends are, so far, unproven. Since English Nature found that 80% of dewponds on the Wolds had disappeared since the 1950s, any Neolithic ponds must have been maintained and repaired for millennia.
A greater mystery of dewponds is how they fill. There are anecdotes of dewponds on high ground remaining full during droughts when spring fed lowland ponds run dry.
This mystery remains unsolved, with dew, rain, fog and mist all being considered to be the source of water.
Ann restored her dewpond in order to attract wildlife to the farm. The pond, reconstructed according to its archaeological record, is lined with gritstone, which would have protected the clay liner from the feet of watering animals. Derelict dewponds lose their water due to damage to the clay lining, often from the roots of plants.
Ann has seen deer and rabbits drinking at the pond, but so far, she has seen no amphibians, although these have colonised other dewponds. I visited in the first spring after the pond was built, and could see countless diving beetles, flatworms, and mosquito larvae. There were also plenty of pond skaters. With a food supply like that, I’m sure it will be only a matter of time before animals wishing to eat these bugs turn up.
Natural England has supported Ann’s conservation measures, and when I visited, workers were setting insect traps, to discover what insects that had colonised her farm. They were surveying many different habitats, in order to discover what conditions favoured the different species groups.
As insects generally are at the bottom of the food chain, their discoveries will help us to understand the complexities of farming for both food and wildlife.
Links.
Ann Strang is part of Natural England’s Education Access Scheme. Appointments can be made for visits to participating farms: see http://cwr.naturalengland.org.uk/Default.aspx?Module=EducationalSiteDetails&Site=5541
To learn more about dewponds, visit http://dewponds.co.uk/index.htm
Ann Strang beside the restored dewpond
Meanwhile, at Husthwaite, they will be preparing to harvest their fruit. When I visited, back in April, Cameron Smith was anxiously surveying the 514 fruit trees that his group had planted last autumn, to see how many had survived the winter.
He was particularly worried about the 200-odd trees in the newly established village orchard, as they had severe rabbit damage. “We put spiral tree guards to protect the trees,” he explained, “But we had a foot of snow, and this took the rabbits to the top of the tree guard.” Many of the trees had been severely nibbled by hungry rabbits, and if the bark was ‘ringed’ – eaten all the way round the tree, it kills the tree.
As well as the orchard group, Cameron is a member of the history society that initiated the interest in the orchards.
Cameron was particularly excited about finding some whale bones. He said that sometime between 1753 and 1833, some whale jaw-bones were given to the village, in recognition of the fruit supplied to whaling boats. “People thought it was just a story – but we found the whalebones,” he told me. “They had them as an arch across the Malton road.”
He described how Husthwaite, a village of enterprising smallholders, grew in prosperity on its fruit trade. He said, “Husthwaite even had a sort of early industrial park: a dozen barns and buildings with trades associated with the work round here, such as agricultural engineering. It became a hub for the surrounding villages, with a shop, pub and so on.”
The history society surveyed householders to identify old varieties of fruit in their gardens, and to record anecdotes from those who could recall Husthwaite’s commercial fruit business.
“In 1941,” he said, “There were 32 orchards, 19 attached to cottages in the village, and 10 on farms.”
“In 1948, a storm knocked all the pears down, but a man from Co Durham came and bought them all, to make jam. He made several return journeys, because he couldn’t fit them all on his wagon – and he paid over £300 for them.
Cameron is full of enthusiasm for his fruit, describing old varieties of Yorkshire apples that he is grafting, in order to preserve stocks for the future. He is working with Brogdale, the national centre for fruit. He says, “There are only two known mature trees of the Wass Apple, so we’re grafting that like mad. Brogdale have accepted that now. And we’ve found another in Crayke, known locally as Lady Long. That’s being investigated to see if it’s unique. The fruit looks similar to Wass, but it’s different: Wass is a late cooker, while Lady Long is a dessert apple.”
A house in Husthwaite with historic fruit trees in the garden
To see the latest on Husthwaite’s fruit, see their website at www.orchardsofhusthwaite.co.uk
To learn more about the national fruit collection’s work to preserve genetic resources for the future, see www.brogdale.org
To read more about all these people, buy Dalesman Magazine, www.dalesman.co.uk
