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The musings of GERALD - June 2008 Gordon Woodward is back home not quite fully recovered yet but managing to look after himself with a little bit of help from his friends, just keep up the exercises Gordon and do as you are told you will soon be back to full fitness. Congratulations to Peter Bibby of Closeburn who once again has won the Coach Company Director Driver of the year competition at the Brighton Coach Rally, his son Chris won the Coach Driver of the Year trophy. Please keep the village as tidy as possible for the Best Kept Village inspection this month, not the prettiest of villages but let us show the judges that we do care for it. Alex Graham the Chaiman of the North West Vintage Motor Cycle Club tells me their librarian is about to start searching through their collection of Motor Cycle magazines to find the articles written by the Rev John Hodgkin he feels confident that they will find them, he has been looking at the photos on the village web site and thinks we are lucky to have such a fine collection. May Jackson who died last month helped her husband John farm Newton Home Farm for over forty years, she was one of eight Barker sisters and one brother born at Gunnerthwaite Farm,they attended Priest Hutton school to which they had to walk the three miles in a morning and back home at night.She met her future husband John at the local Chapel where they were married in 1948 and lived at Newton Home Farm with their son and daughter until they retired to their bungalow at Arkholme in 1990.Both John and May worked very hard to support their Chapel John as a Preacher and May as one of the organists, one of her greatest pleasures was playing her keyboard at home and singing along to the music. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - May 2008 Whittington is not the same without Gordon Woodward around, at the moment he is at Brant Howe in Kirkby Lonsdale recovering from a shoulder joint replacement. We all miss him calling in or passing by as he goes to open and close the Church it is only when people like Gordon are no longer around that we realise how much work he does for our village and especially the Church, hurry up back Gordon the gardens are missing your green fingered touch and there aren't queues of people offering to take over all your voluntary jobs just yet. Some swallows are back but not all of them by any means two were seen at Arkholme on the 5th of April another two at Docker on the 10th and two were flying around the Church Tower on the 14th, they must be feeling the affects of the cold weather just like us let's hope we haven't to wait to long before we get some nice sunny spring days. We had a visit from four members of the Tallon family last month, they are still searching for Thomas and Rebecca who disappeared without trace around 1840. They would like to arrange a Tallon family reunion in Whittington next year and hope for success in their search before then, I was allowed to copy photos of two ploughs made by this family of blacksmiths one clearly marked F Tallon Middleton unfortunately this plough has recently been stolen by a scrap metal dealer so another piece of our history has gone along with it. Our best wishes to Jenny Metcalfe who is still in Kendal Hospital receiving treatment, we hope she is soon well enough to return home. Congratulations to Tim Kimber of Newton Hall on succeeding to his late fathers hereditary baronetcy title. It is now Sir Tim and Lady Sue Kimber how nice for two such hard working people. I have just had a phone call from a person reading the village web site who has put me in touch with the chairman of the North West Vintage Motor Cycle Club they have a large collection of old motor cycle magazines and he thinks he will be able to find some of the articles written by Rev John Hodgkin, let's hope we have some good news next month. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - April 2008 The March Wagtail had only just been delivered when a regular walker of the Church Street, Moor Brow, Sadler Nook, Hosticle Lane circuit called and asked to borrow the Parish Council litter picking tongs she said she was fed up of seeing all the litter dumped on the road sides and volunteered to pick some of it up on her regular walks. In fact she and her husband spent all one Sunday morning filling three large bin liners with litter which they took home to sort and put in their recycling boxes, in just over two miles they had picked up 103 beer cans 150 plastic bottles numerous wine and spirit bottles crisp packets and fast food containers and the remains of quite a few picnics neatly tied in carrier bags and dumped on the road side. Thank you Ann and James for making the effort lets hope the litter louts have noticed the clean up and take their litter home instead of dumping it on our road side verges. John and Phyllis Pinch have very kindly loaned me their collection of The Rev John Hodgkin's photographic slides which have been stored in their loft for a number of years, they date back to around 1890 and include a few early photos of the village but most of them are of old motor cycles some taken on Church Street and a lot of them in the garden behind the Chestnuts. At the moment I am busy photographing all the slides before I develop them on my computer.John Hodgkin also wrote articles for a motorcycling magazine under the pen name "Cyclops" I would like to trace these articles to try and match them to the photographs but don't know where to start looking. As you head for Kirkby Lonsdale have you noticed the rooks busy rebuilding their nests in that old oak tree at Keld Bank Corner, all the old nests were destroyed in the winter gales and needed replacing but in around two weeks they have been rebuilt and the birds are ready to start a family. There are not many trees around the nesting site so the birds must have travelled quite long distances to collect the necessary sticks let's hope the young birds have flown their nests before the next storms come. That lovely lady Jenny Metcalfe is in hospital, Jenny the lady who delivers our magazines who is always there supporting village events, a regular Church goer who rarely misses the pensioners lunch club get well soon Jenny we are missing you already. Arkholme bowling club is due to reopen after the winter break, if you would like to try your hand at bowling come along any Monday night at 6-30 pm all you need is a pair of flat soled shoes to wear on the green everything else can be provided.There is no age limit either up or down so why not give it a try you never know you may have a hidden talent. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - March 2008 Grace Williams who has been playing the organ in Whittington Church for fifty one years retired at the end of last year. Grace has worked hard on behalf of the Church in many different rolls not only as the Organist but also as a member of the PCC for part of which time she was the Church Treasurer she is also one of the oldest members of the Mothers Union. Grace and her husband Bob celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary on the 30th of January when she was presented with an engraved handmade glass plate by members of the Church and gratefully thanked for faithfully enriching the worship in the Parish for so many years, we wonder if this could be a record length of service to one church? Amongst her many anniversary gifts were bunches of flowers from the Mothers Union and the PCC. All Churches rely on the dedication of such people as Grace to carry on, let's hope there is someone willing to maintain the good work. Best wishes to Grace and Bob from all their friends in Whittington. At the annual charity dance held in the Village Hall last month £1440 was raised for four different cancer charities. Well done the dancers. What a good time we had at the Pancake Party on Shrove Tuesday all five cooks were kept busy supplying the party goers I watched one small boy eat six one after the other but granddad had to eat the seventh I wonder if he had tummy ache that night? Have you seen the beautiful display of snowdrops in the ghyll at the bottom of Moor Brow they really are a picture, only trouble is you will have to get out of your car to look over the fence to see them but I promise you it really is worth the effort. Don't forget to watch out for the first swallows one was seen on the 1 st of April at Loyne Park last year about a fortnight earlier than the previous year so keep watching and let me know as soon as you see one. What a mess the road sides are with all the litter thrown out of passing cars. Who is the Carling Lager drinker who thinks someone should follow him round picking up empty beer cans and the fast food eaters who seem to finish their meal and dump their containers all over the Parish? We could organise a litter picking day but the roads are so dangerous with all the traffic that it would probably not be wise. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - February 2008 Congratulations to Guy Pinch on being chosen to represent the R A F in their skiing team. Guy specialises in the downhill slalom where he skis down the mountain at high speed swerving in and out of a series of flag poles, we wish him lots of luck in his competitions. Guy an old boy of both Arkholme and Q E S schools is stationed at Lossiemouth and is a fully trained Weapons Technician at the moment he is training with other members of the team at Hinterglemm in Austria. I attended a Lancashire Police Authority meeting at Lancaster last month and a member of Lancashire Crime Stoppers gave a short talk on the work of the organisation. I hadn't realised that Crimestoppers was totally independent of the police and is in fact a registered charity, anyone who sees something suspicious or think a crime has been committed are asked to ring 0800 555 111 to pass the information to a trained operator. The calls are totally anonymous and no details of the caller or their telephone number can be traced back to them. Last year over two thousand calls were made in Lancashire and one call in six resulted in success for the police. Well worth a phone call if you see something suspicious. I was given some leaflets to hand out if anyone would like one. The police and highways counted all the traffic travelling through Whittington from the 20th-26th of November the total number for the week going both ways was 11,418, from 7am--7pm travelling towards Kirkby Lonsdale the daily total was 727 going in the other direction the total was 717 in the same 12 hour period. These last two figures are average over a seven day period so will be higher during week days.They also measured the average speed through the village the highest reading being 32.8 MPH between one and two o'clock one morning. Jethro "Jeff" Dixon has passed on. No longer will we see him on his beloved Fordson Major travelling up and down Church Street giving us all a wave. Jeff and his wife Marjorie moved to Docker Lane in 1951 from where he ran his agricultural contracting business, they bought and moved to Harrison Farm in 1955 here he managed to run the farm and carry on spreading lime and basic slag as well as threshing and baling for other farmers. The lime spreading was the hardest job because quite often it meant loading the spreader by hand as much as 30 - 40 tons some days and then come home to do his farm work, no cabs on tractors then, the conditions were quite often very bad but Jeff never complained. His one relaxation was attending Chapel on a Sunday a place to meet friends and to give thanks to his maker for all his blessings. As he got older and struggled with arthritis we saw him determined to carry on working even though he had to use a frame to help him walk around the farm. A hard working man who has probably done the work of three men in his lifetime he will be sadly missed by Marjorie daughters Jean and Ruth son in law Barton and their grandchildren. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - January 2008 Congratulations to Arkholme School for being in the top one hundred primary schools in the country - it takes a lot of hard work and dedication from both pupils and staff to achieve such high standards, well done. What a change from when I started at Arkholme School almost seventy years ago with only slates and slate pencils to write with, and a bead frame the nearest we came to computing, but I wonder how modern day pupils would cope with pounds, shillings and pence, yards, feet and inches and pounds and ounces. The decimal system is so much easier. For years I have looked at the first world war Roll of Honour board in the Church and noticed the name William Huggonson MM and wondered for what brave act had he been awarded the medal, and thanks to his niece Janet we now know. William Huggonson was born at Croft House in 1895, his father (also William) was head gardener at Whittington Hall. Young William trained as a butcher and joined the army when the war started. By 1918 he had been promoted to Lance Corporal, he was awarded the Military Medal for showing "Great courage and devotion to duty under heavy shell fire" from the 9th to the 13th of April. The citation was signed by Lt General Haking Commanding 11 corps Liverpool Scottish. After the war William moved to Liverpool where he ran his own butchery business. What type of man does it take to stay in a muddy trench for four days with shells exploding all around and the only protection a steel helmet and some cotton wool in your ears? A question in the Daily Telegraph general knowledge crossword: William ????? English electrical engineer who devised the first practical electromagnet? Of course we all knew the answer was. ..William Sturgeon also born at Croft House in 1783 but did you realise how internationally famous he was? This year the Trustees of the Margison Charity paid out £400: Arkholme School received £200; Wagtail Toddler Group £100; The Sunday School £50 and two first year university students each got £25. Four Widows shared the income from the Mary Hardy Charity each receiving £20. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - December 2007 As expected the Church Memorial Inscriptions book sold out immediately on the first day of publication, it has been very well received so we have reordered and now have a few in stock should any one want one, at £10 each they are very good value as they contain a whole lot of information about the Church plus the inscriptions on every gravestone and memorial both inside and outside the Church. There is also a very good DVD which includes everything in the book plus photos of every gravestone and memorial. Mr and Mrs Lowe attended the rededication service they had travelled from Hartside near Huddersfield after they read details of the service on the Whittington web site; they brought with them a hand painted certificate that had been presented to John Tallon by Rector John Hodgkin, the Church Wardens and congregation of Whittington Church for fifty years loyal service as a chorister and forty years as a bell ringer.John Tallon was the eldest son of Thomas and Ellen Tallon who I mentioned last month, he was born in 1862 and trained as a tailor with his father, he started singing in the Choir aged eight in 1870 so must have known the Church before it was extended and restored in 1875. Congratulations to Bill Tallon an old boy of Whittington School, he celebrated his 97th birthday last month Bill worked as a blacksmith and now lives in retirement in Ormskirk he is a regular reader of Wagtail and has just bought a Church Memorial book. We all wish Bill many happy returns and hope to help him celebrate his centenary in three years time, good luck Bill. A local coach operator asks me to thank the local farmers for keeping their hedges neatly trimmed "It is so much easier driving a coach with these tidy hedges" he says I wish all the hedges in the rest of the country were as neat. A friend has seen an otter in Bainsbeck close to the road bridge, I can never remember anyone seeing one so far from the river there must be a good source of food for it, how nice to see them in your own back yard. We had an E mail from Helen Saum of Maryland, she is a regular reader of the village web site and wanted to get in touch with Jodie Williams who was over here in the summer she thinks they may be related via the Tallon family tree, she has been following the story of the Coat of Arms and says she is determined to come and see it the next time she is in this country. Miss Marjorie Turner was the last in a long line of Head Teachers at Whittington School that stretch back over three hundred years. She moved here from Garsdale in the mid fifties and carried on until the school closed in 1973 through a lack of pupils. When she first took over at Whittington the facilities were very basic, cold water to wash with and toilets across the yard also one of the last junior schools where pupils could stay on until they were fifteen years old. She joined in local activities as a member of the Village Hall committee and also of the WI, After the school closed she taught the children at Morecambe West End Road Junior school until she retired. In later years her mother and father came to live with her and she nursed them both in their final years. It was goodbye this month to that cheerful happy smiling gardener Bill Greenhow, Bill who's wonderful garden displays were always close to winning in any competition. Bill was born at Askham in Furness seventy eight years ago, after attending school there he started work at Underley Hall Farm Kirkby Lonsdale where he met his future wife Emily, they were married and lived in Kirkby Lonsdale for two years before moving to number 5 Crosslands where Bill lived for the next fifty years. On moving to Whittington Bill started working for Lancashire Highways Authority where he worked until he retired. It was Bill who built the wall from the School to Wayside Cottage in 1969 when the road through the village was widened and he constantly helped maintain and improve the roads along the Lune Valley. Bill and Emily were founder members of The Dance Club that was formed in 1976 they were quick learners and made lots of friends enjoying many happy years of dancing .1 have fond memories of a good neighbour who was devoted to his wife and family, he will be sadly missed by Andrew, Patricia and their families. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - November 2007 The Whittington Charity Trustees meet this month to distribute the annual income, as usual part of the income goes to first year full time university or college students living in Whittington Parish. Sally Hall, Eric Pelter or Gerald Hodgson would like to hear from you, or a relative, if you qualify. Please let us know. Jodie Williams from Chicago called on us last month, her eighth trip over this year, she is searching for two members of the Tallon family who went missing in the 1840s. Thomas Tallon was born at Whittington in 1808. He married Rebecca Jackson here in 1829. They lived at Hutton Roof where sons Thomas and John were born, they then moved to Blackburn where Rebecca and James were born. In 1851 the children were living at Newton, James and John who was thirteen that year lived at Newton Gate with the Hardman family and were classed as servants, Thomas, nineteen and Rebecca who was only six years old lived with the Cragg family and were classed as pauper scholars, no mention of their parents, had they died, gone abroad to make their fortune in the gold rush or just disappeared? Jodie would like to know. Thomas trained as a tailor and stayed on in Whittington with his wife Ellen and their nine children but what a responsibility for a young man of nineteen to try and keep the family together in such trying times. Whittington has been lucky over the years with the quality and dedication of the Rectors who have served the Parish. One such man was the Rev Richard Jackson M A, you will find his name on the sun dial, he was Rector from 1641 - 1680 so would be responsible for the Royal Coat of Arms being placed in Church in the first place. He it was who organised collections in the Church for good causes all around the country as well as Ireland and North Africa, these were all listed in the back of the Church Register by the Church Wardens of the time. He died in 1680 and was buried in the Church but after the Church restoration in 1875 the history book tells us "his gravestone was moved to the Churchyard to the East of the Chancel, it bears his arms and has recently been recut" probably one of the three gravestones stood upright against the north wall of the Church and which is now so badly eroded it is impossible to read the inscription. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - October 2007 Five years after it was found the Georgian Coat of Arms is finally back on the wall in the Church over one hundred and thirty years since it was taken down and placed in the Old Rectory stables for safe keeping. How lucky we are that it survived in such good condition and that it was never chopped up for firewood or taken apart to make a Childs tree house. It really is very impressive and with the light shining from the right direction it is possible to see the original saw marks on the panels that were cut from an oak tree that started life around eight hundred years ago or about the time King John signed the Magna Carta. We hear that a small group in Manchester are hoping to have the gravestone on William Sturgeon's grave in Prestwich churchyard made a listed monument as a tribute to the man born in Whittington who's research and inventions contributed so much to the early electrical industry./p> The Heritage Society are holding an exhibition on Sunday October 21st at 2pm in the Village Hall, on show will be some of the photos of the Rev John Hodgkin. local maps including the Tythe map where we want to name the fields and enclosures, books of local interest a copy of Whittington Parish Records from 1530--1760 The life of William Sturgeon, an account of early attempts to fly on Sellet Banks. There are also early photos of Arkholme Church, Arkholme School Photos 1924--1954, and of Carus House and several others plus a couple of items made by Charlie Ireland the last Arkholme basket maker. The Lancashire Family History Society have promised that the Church Memorials book will be printed on time and will be on display.If you are interested in local history please come along and if you have any questions about our villages we will try to answer them. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - August 2007 If you would like to be a part of the history of Whittington come along to the Church between 11am and 12 o'clock on Tuesday September 4th when the Lancashire Museum Services will be returning the King George 3rd Coat of Arms, it is almost three hundred and fifty years since the plaque was first placed in the Church and one hundred and thirty years since it was removed.
The Coat of Arms was found in 2002 when Fred Halls and Son's workmen were clearing out the Old Rectory garage, it would have landed on the village bonfire if one of the workmen hadn't noticed the writing on the back and decided to take it to the office for a closer investigation. It was impossible to see anything on the front of the plaque as the paintwork was totally covered with dust and dirt but with a bit of careful washing it was soon apparent that it was a Royal Coat of Arms.After the curator of Lancaster Museum had inspected it and decided it was quite an important find it was taken to the Lancashire Museums Restoration Studios where it has been
reframed, cleaned, restored and refurbished a very painstaking operation that took two and a half years to complete, once it is back on the wall in Church let's hope that it's good for another three hundred and fifty
years.Of course none of this work would have been possible without a grant from the National Lottery Heritage Fund for which we are for ever grateful.
The Heritage Society are holding a small exhibition in the Village Hall on October 21st following the Rededication Service, the Church Memorials and Gravestones book should be on display if it is back from the printers. There will also be old photos, articles, books, maps and memorabilia to look at something for everyone.We also have an old Tithe map showing all the fields and enclosures in the Parish around 800 of them if you know the names of any of these fields would you please come along so they can be recorded before they all disappear and are forgotten. The swallows have been forming packs and moving south since the beginning of August almost a month earlier than usual, there are still a few late nesters and single birds around but the majority have gone, are they like us fed up of the wet summer or is it a warning of worse weather to come. Once again the bus stop notice board has been enlivened with drawings, this time warning us of the dangers of smoking to our health, not all youngsters go around causing trouble and doing damage well done girls. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - July 2007 The Whittington Heritage Society have heard from the Lancaster City Museum that they are changing their exhibits around in August and that the Royal Coat of Arms will be ready for collection any time after September the 3rd so hopefully it will be back in Church on display shortly afterwards. The Church Memorial Book is almost ready to go to the printers all the photographs have been taken the script written and any small mistakes taken care of, so if you would like a copy and haven't ordered one yet please let us know immediately as it is a very limited edition but I am sure once you have seen it you will be delighted with the very professional job Catherine Newstead has achieved.We have been unable to fix a date for our display in the Village Hall but should be ready to announce it in the next Wagtail. Thank you the clever artists whose drawing appeared on the bus shelter notice board, it made reading the notices a pleasure and it's nice to know you enjoy living in Whittington. I look forward to your next contribution. I mentioned at the lunch club that I hadn't heard a cuckoo for several years, Nancy a regular at the club said get yourself to the Killington to Old Hutton road one night there are plenty of them up there. Sure enough we set off one lovely sunny night took the right fork road at Old Town and headed off on the old Scotch drovers road across the moor, on the right rhododendrons surrounding the boating lake above Rigmaden Hall were a sea of colour a picture in the evening sun. We saw our first cuckoo shortly after when one flew across the road in front of us it was being chased by a mob of small birds, having parked in a gateway we walked along the road and were entertained by three or four cuckoos constantly calling to one another as they flew from tree to tree what a performance we had timed our trip just right.We returned home via Killington Lake and George Fox's pulpit, a large rock in a field where a plaque tells us how George Fox preached to thousands of his followers.early one morning. Where his followers were from and how they got to such a remote place says a lot for their devotion and his ability as a preacher. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - June 2007 Please try and keep the village tidy for the Best Kept Village Competition, the judging period is from the 1st of June until the 13th of July. Can we all do our own little bit by keeping the weeds down and the footpaths clean and neat, we know it's not one of the most beautiful villages around with all the heavy traffic passing along the main street but we do enjoy living here. Don't forget the Parish Council contest for Hanging Baskets, Window Boxes and Front Gardens judging is late July early August so be prepared. The Heritage Society are hoping to hold a display of the photos maps and books they have collected later in the year, we hope it will coincide with the publishing of The Church Memorials Book and the replacing of the Royal Coat of Arms in the Church, more news next month. There were three practical jokers in Arkholme during the nineteen twenties and thirties they were Tom Williamson (Waxer) the village shoemaker Tom Mercer head gardener at Storrs Hall and Albert Ireland the postmaster, probably their most notorious prank was about the 'Atmos Condenser.' Before mains water came to the village all the water had to be pumped or carried from the well, a water shortage was a serious problem in dry times, so when a printed flyer was delivered with the weekend papers one Friday in March inviting local people to attend a demonstration outside the Bay Horse Hotel of the miraculous Atmos Condenser lots of people became interested. The machine it claimed extracted water vapour from passing clouds via a long pipe which pointed skywards providing a never ending supply of clean fresh water, everyone thought their prayers had been answered. Came the night of the demonstration and quite a crowd had gathered in the road outside the Bay Horse including farmers Bowness and Moss from Docker Park and Brown Edge farms who had decided to buy one machine between them and place it on the hilltop between the two farms, it was a cold night and there was no sign of the machine, Tom Mercer and Tom Williamson had disappeared after seeing the size of the crowd, eventually Albert Ireland came out of the Post Office waving a Telegram informing the waiting crowd that the demonstration was cancelled as a seagull had been sucked into the induction pipe and until such times as it could be freed the machine would not work, they were very sorry and would be in touch at a later date The waiting crowd realised then that they had been tricked and looked around for the culprits but they had gone and it was a few days before they were again seen in the village. A local newspaper heard the story and tried to get to the bottom of the mystery but none of the jokers were willing to talk so only part of the story was ever told. For over a hundred years a statue of Old Father Time stood in a flower bed facing the front door at Storrs Hall one year just before the annual Church Garden Party Tom Mercer chiselled a coin slot in the middle of its back and on the day of the party a notice was placed on the statue inviting people to contribute to the Society for Distressed and Needy Gardeners, I don't know if anyone posted any money but if they did it is probably still there as there was no way of getting it out again. I wonder if the Old Man is still around? Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - May 2007 The mapping and recording of the memorials and gravestones in and around the Church yard is almost complete and we hope to have the book printed by late summer.The usual print run for a book of this type is usually very small possibly ten or less copies so if you think you would like one please let us know as soon as possible, I am sure you will be very pleased when you see the finished article and we hope it won't cost any more than £20. The swallows have arrived, a single swallow was seen at Loyne Park on April 1st not an April's fool I was told, a pair were seen at Arkholme Station on the 11th another pair at Sellet Hall on the 12th and I saw two flying around the Church on the 13th, so the old saying that the swallows come when the damson blossom blooms is again correct what this has to do with global warming I have no idea. I had a surprise phone call from Jim Leach last week, Jim was evacuated from Salford in 1939 and he and his brother Joe were taken in by Mr and Mrs Tom Howarth of Whittington Hall. He has happy memories of Whittington and he must have been well liked there as Tom Howarth left him and his brother £100 each in his will. Whittington is so lucky to have so much recorded history, I have just been reading 'The Registers of the Parish Church of Whittington Vol 1 1538--1764' it is available from the library on request.Started in the reign of Henry the eighth the records are one of only three complete sets in the whole of Lancashire one of the entries for 1616 is as follows. "From the xix days of December 1616 unto the iiijth day of November 1617 next ensuinge it pleased God to visit this pish of Whittington with a dangerous disease or contagious sicknes within the which time and space afforsaid there was sicke in this said pish about twoe hundred in which tyme there deceased as followeth." Twenty nine people died in those twelve months what a blow it must have been to the Parish.In the two hundred and twenty six years covered by the records there was an average of ten deaths per year so in the eight hundred years since the Church was built it must be assumed that around eight thousand people have been buried in the Churchyard. Congratulations to John Haston who celebrates his 90th birthday this month, always there supporting village events with his wife Muriel, have a great day John you have earned it. Colin Davies has been in touch he was tracing his family history and found a forbear named Edward France lived in Whittington, three of Edwards sons trained as cabinet makers and upholsterers and moved to London where they won the Royal Warrant as furniture makers to King George III. Not a bad effort from three village lads, Colin promises to supply us with more information at a later date. (Colin has sent a lot of details which we are making into a new web page at the moment - Web Editor) Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - April 2007 Catherine Newstead has done a marvelous job mapping the Church Yard and marking the positions of all the gravestones and memorials both inside and outside the Church.When it is finished all the gravestones will be numbered and listed alphabetically so that it will be possible to locate the position of each one without having to scramble all over the Churchyard searching.We uncovered five stones that had been hidden for quite some time all laid flat down and covered with soil and grassed over it isn't possible to read all of them but the earliest one is for Richard Gunson who died in 1733. Doreen Airey and George Woodend are about to create a Roll of Honour for the men and women of Arkholme who served in the armed forces during the Second World War the list of names suggested to go on it are as follows.Cecil Cooper Thomas Denyer Cecil Hayton Edward Hayton Thomas Metcalfe Nellie Metcalfe Jack Moss Ernest Newby Harold Newby Betty Read Bill Read William Taylor Wilfred Richardson George Richardson Frank Webster Harry Webster Donald Webster William Woodend. If you think this list should be altered or added to would you please let either Doreen or George know before the 30th of June so that they can get on with the project. As usual this time of year before the grass starts to grow I have been picking up litter left on the road sides, it's a slow job this year as my wheelie bin can only digest one extra bag full per week and as it is possible to fill a sack in a matter of 500 yards the biggest problem is disposing of the rubbish. What a pity they shut the Parish tip! Don't forget to keep watching out for the first swallows to see if global warming is affecting their habits, they used to arrive about the 24th of April but last year they were here on the 12th surely they wont be any sooner this year. For a few years my vegetable garden has been the home for several colonies of Solitary Bees. Somehow these clever insects manage to make a pile of small pebbles with one or two tiny pieces of straw or stick standing upright in the middle, how they manage to move the small stones I have no idea isn't nature wonderful. You may have them in your garden and never know there there. John and Mary Fell both celebrate their 70th birthdays this year and over the years they have both worked hard in their own quiet way for both the Village and the Church, at a party held recently for family and friends they raised £450 for the North West Air Ambulance. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - March 2007 We hear a lot about waste disposal and recycling now a days but it isn't so long ago that it was left to the Parish Council to get rid of the village rubbish. Most parishes had an old quarry or a hole in the ground which was used as the communal tip, Whittington had Township Quarry which was used until the 1970's Arkholme had Bainsbeck Wood which closed years earlier.Most Parish Councils employed a local farmer to provide a horse and cart with a driver to travel around the village once a month to collect rubbish and take it to the local tip.Leonard Mason assisted by Jack Buckley operated the last tip cart at Arkholme and quite a row developed when a new Sanitary Inspector employed by Hornby Rural District Council decided to shut the tip to prevent rubbish getting into the beck and this anonymous poem appeared on the parish notice board. Bainsbeck Wood is now taboo, As children during the war we were encouraged to rummage through the tipped rubbish to collect any scrap metal, glass bottles and jars to help in the war effort. It's good to see Stuart Close out and about again after his triple heart by pass operation, he must be feeling better as he thinks sitting around convalescing is boring especially when there is all that farm work waiting to be done.Sit back and enjoy the rest Stuart I'm sure those cows won't miss you for a few extra days. Congratulations to Ian Close on winning an Asda / Arla Dairy Farmers Scholarship, with it he intends to visit top dairy farms in California and Wisconsin to study large dairy herd management matters.Quite the seasoned traveler is Ian he has just returned from a three week trip to Australia where he watched two of the recent Test Matches as a member of the "Barmy Army." The restoration of the Georgian Coat of Arms is now complete and is on display at the Lancaster City Museum, the restorers have done a wonderful job and the finished work is really impressive. The Museum is well worth a visit if you have an hour to spare next time you are in Lancaster or you can simply wait and view the plaque when it is replaced in the Church later on this year.. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - February 2007 John Haston remembers the school trips I wrote about last month, he tells me you never mentioned the first one we went on to Keswick and Derwent Water, he recalls stopping at Caldbeck to view John Peel's grave and having a photo taken outside the Post Office there. On the trip to Birkenhead they were shown around a large ocean liner being repaired in the dry dock where his school friend leaned against some wet paint and got it all over his new suit first time on that day. They later visited the Lever Soap Works at Port Sunlight where they spent the rest of the day having a meal and being shown around the factory. It will be 50 years this month since I last used Arkholme Station as a passenger, the dreaded brown envelope had arrived complete with travel warrant inviting me to present myself at Heathfield Camp Honiton in Devon to start National Service. I was given a rail ticket in exchange for the warrant and orders to change trains at Carnforth, Lancaster, Preston, Crewe, Bristol and Exeter in all a sixteen hour overnight journey. I met another young man equally lost on Preston Station who was heading in the same direction it turned out eventually that he was a relative of Geoffrey Ford's Mother and knew Arkholme quite well.We spent the next six weeks in the same hut in adjoining beds along with another eighteen trainees as a Sergeant and a Corporal did their best to teach us to march and drill, clean our kit fire rifles and bren guns and become a proud member of the British Army. Harry and I have been friends ever since and still have a laugh about our army days.The pay then was £2.00 per week less ten Shillings 50p which was sent home to my mother, how ever did we manage? I eventually qualified as an armoured fighting vehicle fitter and spent the next eighteen months dashing around Salisbury Plain maintaining Centurion tanks for the 7th Hussars Cavalry Regiment as part of the 3rd Infantry Division formerly the Desert Rats. It doesn't seem that long since where did those fifty years go? My sister Joan and her husband Jim who were married at Arkholme in 1956 emigrated to New Zealand shortly after I joined the army and it was twenty five years before we met up again when they came home to celebrate their silver wedding, she still keeps in touch with her old friends and is a regular reader of the village web site and soon lets me know if I get things wrong. She was a founder member of Arkholme WI and still has the wedding card they sent her when she was married. The Snow Drops in the Church Yard have started flowering the jackdaws are looking at their old nests in the Church Tower spring must be just around the corner it seems to come earlier every year. The Church flag has taken a battering in the recent storms the poor thing is almost down to half size hardly enough left to repair. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - January 2007 Four members of the Heritage Society visited the Lancashire Museums Conservation Studio last month, our visit coincided with a visit from the Lancashire Heraldic Society chairman Mr Derek Walkden, he showed us how the coat of arms had been altered to the Hanoverian crest.The Coat of Arms is due to go on display in the City Museum mid January and return to Whittington in July. Whilst we were there they showed us the Roman Gravestone found at Lancaster, that is their next project it is very big and quite bloodthirsty for a gravestone it shows a Roman soldier beheading a Barbarian with his sword and holding the head aloft by the hair. We finished the day off in the County Archives I requested the second of four school log books it dated from 1887-1950 it was like reading a sixty year village diary.The weather was a regular subject October 1st 1888 terrible snow storm children unable to get to school January 27th 1940 terrible blizzard for two days the roads are completely blocked and all communications cut off 10 out of 56 children at school, January 26th 1947 another awful snow storm only 2 children at school the headmistress comments the temperature in the classroom at 9-30 was 39 degrees F how can I teach children when we are all freezing.The school was closed for a trip to Blackpool We gathered at Arkholme station took the train to Heysham boarded a steamer which took us to Fleetwood from there we travelled by tram to Blackpool to spend the rest of the day, returned home in a Char-A-Banc. The following year it was Birkenhead via the recently opened Mersey Tunnel. On the11th of September 1939 40 evacuees arrived from St Andrews school in Salford they didn't all stay as not all their parents could afford to pay their boarding fees, there was 68 children on the roll at this time.Another entry 'We had a delivery of sports equipment today 20 small rubber balls, 2 large hoops, 6 small ones, 2 long skipping ropes, 6 short ones' Some names still around Fred Hall presented us with an Honours Board, little Vera Bateson (Harrison) fell in the school yard and broke her ankle, Eric Pelter fell in the school yard and broke his wrist, Gordon Woodward has passed the entrance examination for the Storey Institute and starts on January 19th.One regular appearance was 'The school was closed today so as to allow the children attend the Kirkby Lonsdale Agricultural Show' Happy days? Mary and Joanne Woods really put Docker on the map when they found that young seal pup on the road side it seemed to appear on every news programme. It would seem that even seal sat navs go wrong occasionally or was it really wanting a starring role and free board and lodging at Docker Park Farm. It never seems to have stopped raining this month and the rivers and becks have been constantly overflowing, the biggest flood I remember was in 1954 when my sister and I watched the water rising at Gressingham where it came up the road and ran through an iron gate which is on the right hand side of the road going down the hill we called Skelly Bank Brow, the gate is still there but appears unused and overgrown, that day the whole valley was flooded and everyone struggled to move around. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - December 2006 It's good to see the Village Hall open again all neatly refurbished and redecorated throughout, what a good job Alice and Evelyn made of the opening ceremony a happy day all round. A bit frightening if Alice's predictions come true and our great grandchildren have to find a million pounds in forty years time for the next face lift, perhaps the committee should be investing a pound per week in the Lottery they might just have the winning numbers by then. I have just been reading The Turret Clock Keeper's Handbook a friend thought I might find it useful. I only wish I had had it thirty years ago when I first started winding the clock it would have saved learning about it the hard way. Not only do we have the same make of clock as Windsor Castle but the escapement "Double Three- Legged Gravity" invented by Lord Grimthorpe in 1860 is identical to the one used in Big Ben"It is usually used in conjunction with a compensation pendulum in high quality clocks where accurate timekeeping is required", only the best for Whittington!!! South Lakeland Council passed the planning application for the extension of Hutton Roof Saw Mills so be ready for the extra heavy traffic once the building work is finished, the Parish Council did object and a letter supporting the objection was sent from Lancashire County Highways but that was obviously not enough to change the decision. If you have been watching Strictly Come Dancing on the TV why not come along to the Village Hall on December 23rd for the Lupton Church Christmas Dance. Music is provided by the Blencathra Dance Band and home made refreshments will be on sale, you never know you may have a hidden talent for the tango, waltz or the cha cha cha, one thing is guaranteed a very warm welcome from the organisers. I do not think it is right for police driver trainees to turn our narrow twisting Lune Valley roads into high speed race tracks,our roads are dangerous enough with the normal traffic travelling at the correct speed.There must be private circuits around where they could practice high speed training without putting the public at risk.
Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - November 2006 Congratulations to those very talented ladies who decorated the Church for the Harvest Festival, it really was a picture especially the flower arrangements in the windows they really were beautiful the only thing missing perhaps was a sheaf of corn, maybe next year? The Trustee's of the Margisson Charity meet in November when the interest from the invested capital is handed out.If you live in Whittington Parish and have just this year started a full time course at University or College you may be eligible for a small grant, could you please let either Sally Hall, Eric Pelter or Gerald Hodgson know so that no one who is eligible misses out. Congratulations also to Steven and Barbara of no. 1 the Chestnuts on completing the Great North Run, we have watched them training for the last twelve months, it seemed hard going at the start but they stuck at it and completed the course in 2 hours 40 minutes raising over £980 for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, well done. The Lancashire Museum conservators tell us that the Georgian Coat of Arms will be finished on schedule, they are so proud of their work they are hoping to put it on display in the Lancaster City Museum in Market Square sometime in November.When we were visiting the studios last month they had just completed cleaning the bottom panel and it was fairly obvious to us that there was some writing on this panel that had been paintedover in 1819 possibly the earlier date in Roman Numerals, unfortunately the lowest panel was the one most damaged by damp and decay but they hope to come up with some answers before the restoration is completed. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - October 2006 We were visited by Joan and Colin Millar from Australia last month, they had been in touch earlier in the year trying to trace a branch of the Sewart family who moved to Whittington from Casterton in the eighteen hundreds. They had already obtained a copy of a marriage certificate of a relative and looking around the Church Yard found a gravestone with more family names engraved on it.Colin and Joan emigrated from Liverpool a number of years ago and hope to return in two years time to celebrate the city's capital of culture celebrations. You may have heard that Hutton Roof Saw Mills have applied for planning permission to extend their premises into the adjoining field at Hutton Roof and so increase the capacity of the saw mill.Unfortunately two of three access roads to the mill come through Whittington and will probably mean an increase of the heavy traffic on Church Street and Sadler Nook Lane to Low Biggins. I believe both Kirkby Lonsdale Parish Council and the Civic Society have objected to the plans and there are also objections from Burton in Kendal residents, let's hope good sense prevails. The swallows have flown south once more, the ones we have been watching only flew from their nest a few days before they took off for their winter quarters, isn't it marvellous that after only one weeks flying they can set off on a five thousand mile journey and will no doubt be back here flying around the Church early next April. Denis Westmorland will be back playing his own brand of Lakeland and country music for dancing in the Village Hall on Saturday October 21st at 8pm raising funds for Lupton Church, good to listen to even if you don't dance. What a wonderful fruit year it has been our fruit bushes and trees have been laden down and we have been busy making jam and preserves ready for winter, it will help us remember a red hot summer as we tuck into toast and home made jam at Christmas. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - September 2006 The Heritage Society have heard from the Lancashire Museum Conservation Studios that they have now moved into their new premises at Preston and hope to have completed the restoration of the Royal Coat of Arms by late September or early October.We will be visiting their new studios on September 28 th.at 10 am to watch the conservation staff at work, and finish off the day at the Lancashire County Archives to look at some of the Whittington material stored there. If you would like to join us that day please let us know you would be more than welcome. Congratulations to Hillside resident Major Tim Wood of The Royal Engineers on his promotion to Lieutenant Colonel. Tim will take up his new post after completing a six months tour of duty to Iraq. The next time you speed past Storrs Hall on the way to Carnfoth or the motorway just slow down and take a look at the short retaining wall on the right hand side of the road, half way along you will see a small recess that used to be a horse trough until the County Council roadmen diverted the water supply to prevent the water flooding onto the road in winter. Also notice the row of square holes half way up the wall, when it was first built about 1855 a hawthorn bush was planted in each hole they were then trained to grow up the front of the wall and formed a neat clipped hedge on top. Sadly they all slowly died off and it was impossible to replace them without dismantling the wall, I believe it was quite a unique idea that didn't work out in practice. Storrs Hall was rebuilt in 1702 and the Tower was added in 1850 at this time there were two cottages standing in the field in front of the Hall just below where an ornamental pond now stands they were left empty and became derelict and were eventually pulled down and the stone used to build the shippons and stables at Storrs Gate farm.Access to the cottages was via Storrs Hall back drive which was then a green road it carried on past the cottages to the river bank where it turned left, crossed Bainsbeck over a wooden bridge carried on up the river side joining the village road at Ferry Cottage.Horse drawn carts hauling stone out of the quarry in Quarry Wood which backs onto Rabbit Lane also used this old road to deliver building stone to the village builders. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - July 2006 Catherine Newstead has now finished mapping the Church Yard and has marked the position and numbered all of the grave stones, the total so far is one hundred and ninety five this does not include the memorials inside the Church which will be included later. The next job is recording all the writing on the stones, this could prove to be quite difficult as some of the older stones are badly eroded, others have no names just initials carved in the old stone. The Heritage Society has now acquired the complete list of material that concern the village held in the County Archives at Preston, the Church registers 1558-1764 are the oldest along with tithe awards, alms books, faculty papers,P C C minutes and school records from 1765--1979 also there is the mole rate book plus lots of material concerning the Dawson Green family all very interesting. The Heritage Society has now acquired the complete list of material that concern the village held in the County Archives at Preston, the Church registers 1558-1764 are the oldest along with tithe awards, alms books, faculty papers, PCC minutes and school records from 1765--1979 also there is the mole rate book plus lots of material concerning the Dawson Green family all very interesting. I have been asked why the dairy and the tea rooms were built at Home Farm and what were they used for? I think the answer is that they were built as early training aids.The Rector the Rev William Carus Wilson ( who started Casterton Girls School) was persuaded by Mrs Green from Whittington Hall to start a girls school at Whittington as it was generally thought at this time that there was no need for girls to have a formal education, a school was started in a building where Church Close now stands. The girls were taught the three R s plus religion singing and needlework and by the time the new school was opened in 1876 it had become so popular that over sixty girls and young boys were attending each day travelling from all the local villages. The girls left school aged thirteen and the only work they could find was either as a domestic servant in one of the big houses or dairy maid on a local farm so I think the girls would spend the last year at school learning about making butter and cheese in the dairy and the duties of a house maid in the tea rooms.What I didn't mention last month was that the dairy and tea rooms are part of a private house and cannot be visited by the public. At least one brood of pheasants hatched out in the Church Yard, there was also a nest of wild ducks close by the sun dial, I have also seen gold finches, chiff chaffs, flycatchers and willow warblers plus all our common birds quite a haven for wild life but I haven't heard a cuckoo this year, they must all be at Austwick. Late AdditionPeggy Woof who died recently was the last Whittington Village shop keeper, a tradition going back hundreds of years. Peggy was born at her grandparents Scar End Farm which is close to the Ingleton water falls walk. She would often help her Grandmother in a small cafe attached to the farm supplying refreshments to the tourists. She was a pupil at Whittington School leaving at the age of fourteen and then working at a drapers shop in Kirkby Lonsdale, she met her husband Ernie who was a Ribble bus driver on the Carnforth to Kirkby Lonsdale route, they married and moved into No 7 Crosslands when it was first built. After her family had grown up she took over the village shop and worked very hard to make it a success. The village was a lot smaller then and the supermarkets being built all around made a small shopkeepers life more difficult but Peggy was determined to keep going as long as she could. The shop eventually closed in the early 1990's and a presentation was made to Peggy in the Village Hall to thank her for the work she had done on behalf of the community. Another village stalwart has passed along she will be sadly missed. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - June 2006 The Heritage Society's visit to the Conservation Studios at Blackburn last month was a great success, we were met and shown round by Phillip and Janice who are busy cleaning and restoring the Royal Coat of Arms.The timber work is now complete and the task of cleaning the paint work is underway, what a contrast between the newly cleaned and the old dirty surfaces and how lucky we are that it survived. One thing that amused me was the expression on the lions faces, there are eight of them altogether each one of them different, varying from grinning to grimacing I'm sure the artist has used his friends and relatives as models.The studios are moving to new premises in Preston shortly and we have been invited to visit them and watch the restorers at work, if you would like to come with us you are more than welcome please let us know. A week after our visit Radio Lancashire visited the Blackburn Studio's and in a radio interview Phillip and Janice told the presenter all about The Coat of Arms how it was found, how it had been lost for 130 years and how well it will look back in the Church. Lord Reay very kindly allowed us to look around the recently refurbished Home Farm Dairy and Tea Rooms they really are beautiful.The octagonal dairy has a vaulted ceiling with a lovely cupola window high in the centre with a newly regilded weather vane on the top, there are thick marble slabs fitted around the walls supported on marble columns, four large blue and white tiled plaques decorate the walls each of a young lady depicting the four seasons of the year.The tea room is superb, lovely oak panelled walls a wonderful crafted display cupboard and the original fireplace with a carved oak overmantle has the initials D G (Dawson Greene) and the date 1885.There are upholstered window seats under the north facing windows which are the original leaded stained glass, the top twelve panes are decorated with flowers of the month starting with snowdrops in January through to Christmas roses in December, one other window shows the four seasons of an apple tree with blossom, leaves, fruit then bare branches.There is a deep veranda around both buildings with sheltered seating outside the tea room, all the floors are red tiled throughout. It really is well designed and built and I well imagine the Architects being Payley and Austin of Lancaster the woodwork by Waring and Gillows and the stained glass by Shrigley and Hunt of Lancaster. How lucky that the house has survived in it's original condition and that careful refurbishment has improved a really lovely building. Our neighbour Peter Bibby, managing director of Bibby's Coaches of Ingleton and his son Chris visited The Brighton Coach Rally recently, Peter won the cup for the "Director Driver of the Year" Chris went one better and won the "Coach Driver of the Year" trophy, not bad for a small local family firm to have the two best coach drivers in the country. Please try and keep the village as tidy as possible for the Best Kept Village contest, we know it isn't the prettiest village in the County but at least we can show the judges we care and are proud of our surroundings. Have you noticed the pheasants nests in the Church Yard? three up till now let's hope they survive and hatch out.A neighbour has a pheasant nest under the bird feeders in their garden, clever bird, better than meals on wheels. The ladies of our local W I have asked me to lead a walk around the village on Monday night June 12th to point out places of interest, if you would like to join in and learn a little of the village's history I'm sure you would be made most welcome. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - May 2006 (Gerald's musings missed last months Wagtail magazine, even though they were on the website. So this month I have only provided those words which Gerald changed between April and May. Gerald will be in full musing mode by June. [Editor].) Oh Alice what were you doing your supposed to be taking things easy and acting your age not falling over and landing in hospital, all your friends are thinking of you and hoping to see you home in the not to distant future. Peggy Woof is another missing the Tuesday pensioners lunch, after a time in hospital she is now recovering in a convalesant home at Morecambe, hurry up back ladies the village is missing you. The mapping of the Church Yard is progressing, the weather hasn't helped and the job will speed up as the weather improves. Stuart Close has just informed me that the swallows were back at Docker Hall on April the l2th, a week earlier than last year, maybe they are better weather forecasters than the Met Office. Once again the flowers in the Church Yard have been a beautiful picture, they have been greatly admired by many of the walkers who sit for a while admiring the views, are there no poets in the village who could better describe this wonderful panorama? Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - April 2006 I'm sorry I apologise I got it wrong there is a Roll of Honour Board in Arkholme Church with the names of the villagers who fought in the first World War and it has had a very nice face lift at the same time as the Church was redecorated, but there isn't one for the second World War although I believe the P C C are going to discuss it at their next meeting and then perhaps my friends can see a permanent record of their relatives names and we will remember the sacrifices they made on our behalf. My good neighbour Alan Wood has moved to live with his younger son Chris at Ulverston, Alan the man with the three legged rescue sheep dog Jill, he always had time for a kind word and was always willing to lend a hand, he helped plant the flower border in the Church Yard he swept the lower footpath steps and helped trim the grass and the trees.You had a job catching him at work as he was always up at the crack of dawn and had his tasks finished before us mere mortals hit the streets, all his old neighbours wish Alan well in the future. Members of the Whittington Heritage Society are hoping to walk the village footpaths this summer practicing on the easier ones at first and leaving the hardest from Docker Hall to Hutton Roof last. If you would like to take part and see parts of the Parish from a different perspective let us know you are most welcome to join in.All the walks are on registered footpaths and suitable for all age groups.We are very flexible and wont be walking if the conditions are bad so let's hope for a nice dry summer. Heritage Society members are arranging to visit the Lancashire Museum Conservation Studios at Blackburn on Wednesday the 26th of April to see what progress has been made on the Royal Coat of Arms. We are told that all the woodwork has been repaired and stabilised and that the cleaning of the paintwork is proceeding nicely, if you would like to come with us and watch the conservators working on their varied projects please let us know. April is almost with us, can you believe looking at the snow on the ground that the swallows will be here in less than a month's time, last year they were back at Docker Hall on the 19th let's see how reliable their time clocks are this year, keep watching the skies. Gerald Hodgson The musings of GERALD - February 2006 I was talking to some old friends from Arkholme recently about old times and it was mentioned that Arkholme was probably the only village around not to have a roll of honour board with the names of the men and women who fought in either of the two world wars. Surely any one of us who grew up in the village during the war years could recall the names of the people called up to fight for their country. If anyone is interested could they let me know and we will see what can be done. The Joiners Arms Arkholme. I have been asked occasionally where the Joiners Arms was situated, I have Mr Edward Ward from Nether Kellet to thank for giving my sister this information. The Hotel was what is now Chapel Cottages, it was bought by a local group who wanted to build a Wesleyan Chapel. The hotel was converted into two cottages and Mr Francis Pearson of Storrs Hall donated the land on which the Chapel and car park were built. There used to be a well in the roadside opposite the cottages but it was filled in some years ago. Further to my story about the Reverend Theodore Bayley Hardy last month, almost certainly one of the Reverend John Hodgkin's photos of a Reverend gentleman in his motor cycle side car could be of Mr Hardy. The Heritage Society has recently obtained copies of the old village tythe maps showing the outlines of every field and enclosure in the Parish. All we want now is someone to tell us the names of all the fields as some of the names go back hundreds of years and it would be a pity to lose track of them. Every plot of land is numbered No. 1 being the field opposite Lime Kiln Cottage and No. 823 at Keer Falls Farm, quite a daunting task. The dance held annually to raise money for cancer charities this year raised £1,605 which will be divided between McMillan Nurses and Cancer Care charities well done the dancers. Shows how well read the village web site is, already this year John has had enquiries from two families in Australia tracing relatives born in Whittington, first was for William Hodgson the butter dealer of Cross House, the second for William Sewart who's family were all listed as Cordwainers (shoemakers) in the 1851 census, in both cases John's researchers have been able to answer their queries. The musings of GERALD - January 2006 I have just been reading the biography of that very brave man The Reverend Theodore Bayley Hardy VC DSO MC the Vicar of Hutton Roof, who at the age of fifty four in 1916 volunteered for the army Chaplaincy Service.He went to France where he was appointed Padre to the 8th Lincolns and 8th Somerset Battalions and for the next two years when they were in the front line he spent the nighttimes searching 'No Mans Land' for wounded soldiers, on one occasion he spent 36 hours in a waterlogged shell hole comforting a wounded soldier before the stretcher bearers could reach them. He was appointed Chaplain to the King who tried to persuade him to take a less dangerous post but he refused to move and was shot by a sniper and died of his wounds just a month before the war ended in November 1918. Theodore Hardy started life as a school teacher and was for a time Headmaster of Bentham Grammar School before moving to Hutton Roof, he must have been a good friend of Whittington Rector John Hodgkin as he was asked to lead a service of remembrance held for him in Lupton Church.The book is called 'Its Only Me', Author David Raw, it is priced £10 and is available from Hutton Roof Post Office which is only open on weekday mornings. It is a book full of local interest, and photos of the terrible conditions the first world war was fought under, and just goes to show that the tough guys of this world aren't necessarily the bravest. Reverend Hardy thought his mission in life was to look to the well-being of his troops, he marked passages in his prayer book which he carried with him at all times and was convinced of his own belief and faith, how else could he endure for two years in those horrific conditions without it. Thomas (Tommy) Hayton who died recently was the last surviving of eight sons born to Braithwaite and Isabel Hayton of Bainsbeck farm. Tommy stayed at home to look after his mother and father when they retired to the Police Row, after their death's he was head waiter at The Royal Hotel at Kirkby Lonsdale before working for the La Fone family he then took over the Ruskin Cafe and finally the Sweet Shop in the Market Square. Tommy was one of the oldest former pupils of Arkholme School and also of Burton in Lonsdale Secondary Modern School which he attended when it was first opened. Tommy was a great village character loved a game of whist or dominoes a bet on the horses and always loved to hear news of his old friends from Arkholme. Braithwaite (granddad ) Hayton moved to Bainsbeck Farm in 1908 and farmed there for 36 years, an old style farmer who could doctor a horse or cow and was often called on to kill a neighbours pig. He was a gentle giant of a man good with horses, we often wakened up on a summer morning to the sound of the mowing machine. One year corn crakes were nesting in the meadow behind our house and granddad left an uncut island of grass around the nest so it wasn't disturbed all the eggs hatched but the birds never returned, a lasting memory is of him pulling a big hay rake behind him when he was loading the hay cart he always tried to do two jobs at once. A great servant to his local community, he served on the Parish Council for 40 years and was Chairman of the Trinity Sports committee for 43 years, always willing to try something new the sports committee at different times ran Motor cycle grass track racing, hound trails, Cumberland and Westmorland Wrestling, Sheep dog trials, Maypole dancing and always finished the day off with a Whist Drive and Dance at night. We grew up in villages full of wonderful characters sadly all gone but not forgotten. Have you seen the Whittington Village web site yet? John Keegan is doing a marvellous job with lots of interesting pages including local history, the Church, whats on, photos of recent events and some old pictures of the village. Without doubt one of the best Lancashire Village web sites. With the changing bus timetables the Parish Council are wondering if anyone finds difficulty in keeping Doctors appointments or picking up repeat prescriptions, if there is a problem would you let a Parish Councillor know. (See the Parish Council contacts page for phone numbers and addresses. [Editor])The musings of GERALD - December 2005 It's good bye to Wagtail editors Chris and Hazel Tomkins, thank you for all the improvements you have made to Wagtail over the last few years, it has now become essential reading in all our homes, keeping us up to date with all that is happening in our villages. Let's hope the new Editor is equally successful. The Trafalgar Night Beacon was a huge success, thanks mainly to Paul and Manon Ogden, Tony Metcalfe and Anne Pettifor, but mainly to Colin and Marjorie Hall who allowed us the use of their lovely home for the occasion and thank you to everyone who helped in any way to make it such a happy night. Wern't we lucky that the rain cleared away just at the right time. The tree tidying work in the Churchyard was well supported, nine men turned out with loppers, saws and chain saws and there was soon a large heap of branches to take to the bonfire. Tony had brought his tractor and trailer but it took three journeys before it was all tidied away. The Blencathra Dance Band will be in the village hall playing their own brand of Lakeland Music on December 17th in aid of Lupton Church -why not come and join in and enjoy a friendly lively night. Did you hear of the death of Lord Lichfield the photographer? But did you know that his stepmother the Countess of Lichfield was born at Whittington Hall, and that her ashes were interred in the family grave and hers is the last Dawson Green name recorded on their family memorial in the Churchyard. The Dawson Green family were great benefactors of the village, having had the School and Schoolhouse built, the Parish Church extended and modernised, given the land where the present Village Hall is built and constructed a new road from Pearson House to the pointer at the top of Moor Brow. It was Lady Lichfield who in 1964 was asked to open the then new Village Hall and she recalled growing up in the village in the early nineteen hundreds, walking to Church every Sunday down the footpath called the "Long Walk", afternoon tea in the tea room in Home Farm, and picnicking in the Summer House on top of Sellet Banks. It was there she watched her brother and his friends early attempt to fly. They had built a large Ski jump type ramp on the hillside from which they launched their manned gliders - she never said how successful they were. The musings of GERALD - November 2005 Remembrance Sunday is here once again and we will be remembering all those young men who left our village never to return. The young men of the Lune Valley have a long history of fighting for their country and were renowned for their proficiency with the Long Bow, every man had to take part in archery practice each week and all other sports were banned. At the battle of Flodden in 1513 when the English defeated the Scots the bowmen of Lunesdale had a poem written about their bravery. It is as follows:
Sir Edward Stanley stiff in stour,
Most lively lads of Lonsdale bred,
From Bowland, billmen bould were bourn
All Lancashire, for the most part, Sir Edward Stanley who lived at Hornby Castle was given the title Lord Monteagle for his prowess in the battle, also there were Bryan Tunstall of Thurland Castle who commanded the Lunesdale Bowmen and Edward North of Docker Hall and Newton. We have had a good response from people offering to map the Church Yard and record the epitaphs on the grave stones, you are still welcome to join in if the work appeals to you. The Heritage Society have been handed a timetable for the repair and cleaning of the Royal Coat of Arms, the work was due to start in July and should be completed by September 06. It will be possible to watch the restorers at work in their new studio from next April onwards. How well all the gardens the hanging baskets and the window boxes looked this summer they really were a picture and brighten up the village, how well the judges results and comments were received the competition gets harder every year. The musings of GERALD - October 2005 The Church Yard grass cutters are having a tree tidying day on Saturday October 22nd at 9-30am cutting off the lower tree branches that are hiding some of the older grave stones, if you would like to help please come along on the day it shouldn't take to long and we then hope to put the branches on the village bonfire. We have heard from The Lancashire Family History Society that Whittington Church Yard is the only church yard in the Lune Valley not to have had the grave stones recorded. Once we have obtained permission to carry out the task we would like volunteers to first map the Churchyard and then record the writing on each stone, possibly taking digital photos of every stone to save on CD. If you could help with this project please let us know. Dennis Westmorland will be back playing his own special music for dancing in the Village Hall on Saturday October 22nd in aid of Lupton Church. Colin Croft who died recently was the last Gressingham resident to have attended the Village School. Colin's family had lived in the same house Loyn View formerly Rose Cottage since 1872 when his grandfather bought it for £50-00.He worked in the dairy industry all his life, first at Gressingham Hall for the Pearson family and then collecting milk driving a kit wagon for Newtons of Melling, he was later employed at Barbon Creamery before finally selling dairy produce on behalf of Halls of Kendal. All his life he was interested in vehicles from trucks and buses to trains and cars and he had a wonderful collection of books and magazines as well as lots of photos. His pride and joy was his Morris Minor which he kept in immaculate condition and he loved showing it at vintage rallies all over the North West. Both Colin's father and grandfather were estate men working for the Pearson family on the Storrs Hall estate and they were responsible for planting and maintaining a lot of the local woods as well as looking after the Arkholme water supply that came from Locka woods and fed communal taps at the Post Office and Goss Farm. His mother was one of the Gressingham residents who finally persuaded the Post Office to place a post box in the village, before that anyone who had a letter to post walked the well worn footpath across the Parks to Storrs Hall not a pleasant journey on a cold wet night. Please help us celebrate Trafalgar night and make lots of money for the Church Bells restoration fund on October 21st. The musings of GERALD - September 2005 A thirty year old mystery was solved last month when three generations of the family of Vernon Bush came knocking at my door. Every week as I wound the Church clock I read the message Cyril, Victor and Vernon Bush went home June 2Oth 1945 written in pencil on the clock casing, Only now have I learnt the full story. The Bush boys were from London, at the start of the war in 1939 they were evacuated first to Somerset where they stayed until after the London Blitz had ended they then returned home thinking it was safe once more. When the VI and V2 flying bombs started landing on London in 1944 they were again evacuated but this time to Whittington where Vernon and Victor stayed with Vince and Marjorie Watson at Hillside and Cyril stayed next door with the Wilsons at Braeside. Vince Watson was the local joiner and undertaker and I remember him carrying his tools and his timber on an old Norton motor cycle his only mode of transport, Vince was also the clock winder as well as being a bell ringer and I think he was probably responsible for writing the message with his joiners pencil. Victor and Vernon were made very welcome by the Watson's who had no family of their own and they kept in touch until Marjorie's death in 1985. Vernon has never been back to Whittington but has many happy memories of his time spent here. When the school his great grand children attend re-enacted the evacuation of 1939 the children were told to pack a small suit case and had identity documents on a string around their neck, this got a bit too realistic for some of the children who thought it was happening all over again. His son and grand daughter thought they would like to see the village where Vernon had been made so welcome and they took home many photos of the Church, Hillside, the pump and the Watson's grave to remind Vernon of his time here. When they were taking photos of the gravestone Vernon's son said to his grand daughter, look at the name Marjorie Alice the same as yours, wouldn't Auntie Marj have been pleased to think that a young boy who only stayed a matter of a few months had such lasting memories that his great grand daughter was named after her. A gentleman stopped me in the street last week and said "I agree with your observations about the elections and the lack of people attending Parish Council meetings but we never see them advertised, I rarely read the Wagtail and hardly ever look at the notice boards" Is this a general feeling and is Wagtail no more important than junk mail? You do realise the magazine delivered to every house in Whittington Parish is funded entirely by the Parish Council and it is attempting to inform everyone of what is happening in the village and a diary of future events. Chris and Hazel Tomkins work very hard to publish Wagtail as do the volunteers who go out of their way to deliver it. How do we find out that people are reading it? You may have noticed that the Church clock was stopped for a few days last month, Nick my co-winder came knocking on my door with a handful of broken clock parts and said" what can we do about this" I knew it was no good searching for the extended warranty or looking on E Bay so there was no option but try a little DIY. The spindle that supports the winding maintenance weight had broken, so having dismantled the broken pieces and shown them to my neighbour he said leave it with me and three days later the spindle was returned as good as new and the clock is back working as good as ever. You just can't beat good neighbours. More about Trafalgar Night next month. The Heritage Society are hoping to catalogue the grave stones in the Church Yard so that visitors can more easily identify their position, once it is finished it is hoped to publish it on the internet. The musings of GERALD - July 2005 Did you hear about the adventurous hedgehog at Rectory Gardens? Paul and Manon Ogden heard a strange noise one night and on investigation found a hedgehog stuck in the cat flap of their kitchen door, it had succeeded in getting through a cat flap in the garage door and was attempting to raid their cat's feeding bowl when it got stuck in the second flap. Since that night it has become a regular visitor and has been provided with its own food bowl in the kitchen, the food disappears each night but they never see the hedgehog. Paul is thinking of making a video recording of it but doesn't know whether to send it to Spring Watch, Candid Camera or Crime Watch, they just hope it doesn't bring the rest of it's family when they grow up. The Trafalgar Day Beacon project is going ahead on the 21st of October on the top of Sellet Banks, Colin and Marjorie Hall from Sellet Hall are kindly allowing the Bell Ringers to use their House that night for a money raising event to boost the Church Bells Repair Fund more details next month. At the recent General and Council elections were you like me disappointed when none of the candidates felt it necessary to visit the village. No wonder people don't bother to vote when their prospective representatives can't be bothered to canvas in the village. We didn't even get the chance to attend a public meeting, surely any employer offering a salary plus expenses, of £15,0000+ would expect a word before giving them the job, why should we be any different. Apparently my small efforts on behalf of Wagtail is now appearing on the Whittington web site much to the amusement of my sister Joan and her family in New Zealand. Joan and her husband Jim were married at Arkholme Church in 1956 before emigrating the following year, she along with my mother were founder members of Arkholme W I and she still keeps in touch with old friends with letters and E mail. Please help to keep the village as tidy as possible to make a good impression on the Best Kept Village judges, we know it isn't the prettiest village and we do have a main road with lots of heavy traffic going through but it's a nice place to live and we can only do our best. Follow this link to see the photographs which Gerald recently took at Sellet Hall The musings of GERALD - June 2005 Who is the anonymous farmer that regularly spreads till the full length of Church Street and up the Moor Brow? Doesn't he know it's the Best Kept Village contest we entered not the competition for the largest roadside weeds? It doesn't seem ten years since we celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of VE day when we had a memorable village party and the Village Hall was decorated with flags and bunting and everyone joined in the sports and barbecue finishing with a dance at night. Neither does it seem sixty years since VE day when as a nine year old at Arkholme School we heard the Church bell ring the first time for five years. We had to wait twelve months for the celebrations so that the men and women who were in the forces could be back at home to join the thanksgiving. Arkholme in wartime was an exciting place with evacuees, the Home Guard, ARP, Special Police Constables, and soldiers all around with army camps at Redwell, Storrs Hall, Capenwray Hall and a searchlight at Newton. One lasting memory is of a Guards Regiment who were camped at Redwell marching behind their regimental band to a church parade at Arkholme Church, I wonder how many of those soldiers were around to celebrate VE day? We thought it was great fun to have a ride in an army truck or better still a Bren Gun Carrier, probably some lonely dad giving us kids a treat. The Parish Councillors were slightly peeved when no villagers turned up for the annual Parish Assembly, The Council Chairman had his annual report all ready, the guest speaker PC Paul Winder was going to tell us of all the criminals and miscreants that had been apprehended in the last twelve months and of all the motorists caught speeding but no one came to listen. We can only assume all the villagers think their Parish Councillors are doing a first class job!!! The swallows arrived back on April the twenty sixth and immediately started tidying last year's nests, no jet lag for them. It is the two hundredth year anniversary of the Battle of Trafalgar in October, the Metcalfe brothers have agreed to allow us to build a beacon on top of Sellet Banks to celebrate it. Are there any volunteers willing to give a hand to make it happen? The musings of GERALD - May 2005 I was watching the TV programme about Windsor Castle, it must have been filmed in October, as the clockmaker was busy putting all the clocks back, over a thousand of them. When he came to the tower clock I thought 'I recognise that'. It is identical to the Whittington Church clock made by Gillet and Bland of Croydon with an unusual escapement and the same type of serrated gear wheel that controls the striking mechanism, what's good enough for Whittington is obviously good enough for the Queen. The clock will have been going for one hundred and thirty years on January the tenth next year. What a pity The Best Kept Village competition wasn't judged in April, the Church Yard was again a mass of beautiful flowers - there couldn't be many nicer places to spend a few quiet moments. A regular visitor to Whittington received an unexpected invitation to the Royal Wedding earlier this month. Joe Relph with his brother Harry form the Blencathra Dance Band play regularly for the Lupton Church Dance at the Village Hall and was invited along with his wife Hazel to attend the ceremony at Windsor Castle. Joe is a man of many talents he farms a two thousand acre fell farm at Rossthwaite in the Borrowdale Valley looking after one thousand Herdwick sheep. Hazel takes in bed and breakfast guests at their farmhouse and includes Prince Charles as a regular visitor. When Joe found it difficult to sell his Herdwick lambs he started a mail order business and now sells the meat direct to his customers using the sheep wool to insulate the containers. Joe is also a keen sheep dog trialist and last year represented England at a national trial at Holker Hall. Prince Charles has come to enjoy the quiet Lakeland scenery away from his Royal duties and loves joining in with a typical farming family. Things may alter now he is a married man again and has to do as he is told!!!. The Blencathra Band should be back in December. Have you seen any Swallows yet? They usually arrive around the twenty fourth of April. Stuart Close saw an odd one at Docker on the tenth of April but it may have been travelling through. The Sand Martins have arrived at the river and the House Martins and the Swifts will come about the second week in May. The musings of GERALD - April 2005 Whittington Heritage Society hit the jackpot this week when they heard that the Heritage Lottery Fund had granted them £10,800 to restore the Royal Coat of Arms found in the garage at The Old Rectory three years ago. The restorers at the Lancashire Museum Services studio who have undertaken the work hope to have it finished by the end of this year. WHO are the DOG OWNERS who allow their dogs to FOUL the footpaths going across the Croft's field and also the Churchyard? HAVE THEY NO SHAME? Don't they realise that this is the one place in the village where mothers can let their small children have a run without having to keep a close eye on them. So come on you dog owners CLEAN UP THE MESS your dogs leave behind and let the children have some fun enjoying the countryside. Arkholme Bowling Club's team 'The Bay' recently won the Cowan Bridge winter League Cup, the team members were John Fell, Ted Helme, Gerald Hodgson and Bob and Brenda France. The Church Wall gardeners would like to extend the border but there are some tree roots in the way, are there any fit young men out there who fancy a bit of hard digging? Picks and shovels could be provided, a nice work out over the Easter holiday. There is still some room in the border for trailing rockery plants so if you have a cutting of something suitable please bring it along and watch it grow. The musings of GERALD - March 2005 The dance on January 22nd held in the Village Hall raised £ 1,600 for Cancer Care and the McMillan Nurses. I had no offers of help to arrange a Whittington School reunion so I assume no one wants to meet up with their old school friends. Last month's Wagtail hadn't been printed before someone dumped a bag full of garden rubbish at the bottom of Moor Brow, it would have been easier putting it in the dust bin. You haven't by any chance Lost an oak tree? One very neatly felled and the branches trimmed off has been left at the top of the hill on Sadler Nook Lane it might come in handy for a DIY person, but they would require a large crane to move it. Early days yet but the daffodils in the Church wall top garden have just started flowering it looks like there could be quite a show before long. The musings of GERALD - February 2005 I have been spending a few afternoons recently picking up litter on the road sides, it's a lot easier this year as the Parish Council have recently bought some litter picking tongs and you can reach right to the middle of a hedge without getting scratched. Already I have collected four sacks full of rubbish and I haven't travelled more than half a mile from my home. Who are these dirty, grubby selfish litter droppers who treat our road side verges as elongated litter bins, the smokers, the drinkers, the fast food eaters who drop their empty cartons for someone else to dispose of instead of taking them home and keeping our country side tidy. At a dance held on January 81h in the Village Hall arranged by Mr. & Mrs. Robert Lewis £600 was raised and this together with £250 collected at the Lupton Church carol service has been donated to Blackpool's Queen Victoria Hospital heart ward in grateful thanks for Robert's recent heart bypass operation. It is 30 years this year since Whittington School closed and it was suggested at the Heritage Society exhibition in November that it would be an appropriate time to have a final old scholars reunion. If any old scholar is interested and would like to help arrange it would they please let me know? Once again I have joined the indoor bowling at Cowan Bridge youth club where they now have two 75 ft long mats, there are also facilities for snooker, darts. Basketball, Badminton, Five a side football and floor mats for gymnastics, plus a well-equipped kitchen, and for a two pounds deposit you can have a door key so you can go at any time. A wonderful facility right on our doorstep. The musings of GERALD - December 2004 Thank you Iain for a very touching Remembrance Service I am sure all who were there left thinking of those young men who failed to return to our village. The Heritage Society would like to thank everyone who supported their exhibition, we are amazed how much material we have collected in just two years and it is still coming in. Only one tenth of John Hodgkin's photos were on display so you can imagine how many more there are to see. If you would like to study the photos or documents more closely get in touch with Gerald on 71488 to arrange a viewing. If you have any old parish photos which you think would help our collection we would, like to copy them and hand you back the originals. Did you get a chance to read those pages copied from the Church Register at the exhibition, the history of Whittington never ceases to amaze me. In 1648 the Church Wardens state "Whereas the Church of Whittington in the County of Lancaster is out of repayres as also ye bells and clocke therein" We never knew there was a clock before 1875, why didn't they leave it with the Coat of Arms in the Old Rectory? It must have been one of the oldest church clocks around. The people of Whittington have always been very generous no more so than at the time of the Great Plague in the 1660's when collections were made and the money sent all over the country. Local villages to benefit were Aughton who received three shillings and five pence (seventeen pence in modem money) and Flookburgh, One Pound fourteen shillings and four pence. One Pound seventy two Pence was collected and sent to London to help rebuild St Paul's Cathedral in 1678, these were just three of the many places to benefit at the time, how did they do it? And how did the clock winder know the time to set the clock? Lupton Church are holding a fund raising dance in the Village Hall on December 18th. The music played by the Blencathra Dance Band On January 8th Syd Banks is playing music for dancing to raise money for the Heart Foundation also in the Village Hall, come along ,you're sure of a warm welcome. At each one there will be a bar, and home made suppers which are always good. The musings of GERALD - November 2004 The Whittington Heritage Society has been promised £2,500 by The Georgian Group to help fund the restoration of the Royal Coat of Arms. We are still waiting to hear from the Heritage Lottery fund and hope that they will be equally generous. The Whittington Heritage Society are holding an open day on Sunday November the 14th, 12pm to 4pm in the Village Hall when they will be displaying the material they have collected since their formation. It includes old maps, photos, documents, books, and the 1881 census for Arkholme Gressingham and Whittington. If your house has a date, initials, or a coat of arms above the door come and find out all about it, or if it is a listed building see what the experts say about it, also on show photos of buildings no longer standing - the old boys school, the summer house on Sellet Banks, the old house at Friendly Harbour, and the interior of the Church before the 1870 extension and lots more besides, we promise you a very interesting and informative afternoon. We are also showing Arkholme School groups 1924-1950 Trinity Sports 1946-1963 and early photos of the Church and Railway Station. Please come early there is a lot to see. Good to see Alice Mackereth back borne after her stay in hospital and a week with her daughter Catherine. The footpaths of Whittington will be a bit safer now as she bas promised to slow down to a trot, set off five minutes earlier to all her many commitments, and stop climbing ladders, its good to have you back with us Alice. The musings of GERALD - October 2004 The Church St gardeners had a good response to their appeal for bulbs and plants in last months Wagtail. Over 400 bulbs are now planted as well as lots of rockery and ground cover plants that were donated. There are still a few empty spaces but thank you every one who contributed your rewards will be seen in spring. The Whittington Heritage Society are holding an exhibition of old books, photos, maps and clippings they have collected over the last two years. It will be held on Sunday November the 14th 2pm - 4pm.in the Village Hall. Come along and see what the village was like in years gone by. The Heritage Society have had over 280 of the Rev John Hodgkin’s photographic slides photographed thanks to Dr Michael Hall of the Kirkby Lonsdale Civic Society It is a superb collection one especially, shows the Church interior prior to the 1875 extension with a wonderful three tier pulpit and beautiful box pews. The Hodgkin's lived at No. 1 the Chestnuts when they were first married and another sequence of photos were taken on the road around their front gate, the wall and gate posts have never been altered since these photos were taken over 100 years ago. The musings of GERALD - August 2004
I was sitting in the Church Yard having spent two hours cutting the grass when I saw a slow worm sunning itself on the banking. Having not seen one for at least two years I had wondered if they were still around, this one was a mature adult about twelve inches long and as thick as my little finger, they are a lovely
silvery green colour and according to the nature books are a blind legless lizard quite harmless and feed on beetles and grubs they find in the grass. The people cutting the grass must be doing something right because the spring flowers have never been nicer nor have I seen more varieties of wild birds than there is this year. The old Church Yard may not be the neatest around but it is one of the most interesting and a haven for wild life. It is not the easiest of places to cut grass with steep banks and lots of hidden holes and old graves to cut around, but with modem strimmers our grandfathers would think it easy compared to their day using scythes and sickles. Whittington Heritage Society have recently had some interesting material donated by Hazel Martin she collected it whilst writing the Millennium Book, it includes maps of Roman Sites and Roads and records of old coins and artefacts found in the Parish over the years and lots more besides, thank you Hazel, everyone is delighted with your gift. Anyone interested in local history who would like to join the society ring Gerald on 015242 71488 for details. Further to the meeting of Tom Beech and Jack Buckley in the May issue Jack has been in touch and told me the last time they met was in Morecambe in the early fifties when they were both in the forces, they talked so much that time causing them to miss the last bus and having to walk all the way home, it took them almost three hours, no taxis in those days. He also showed us two water colours Tom had painted for him one of Arkholme Church and the other The Bay Horse and cross roads both beautifully painted and a very nice gift. |