WEA local history classes

It seems some time since I wrote a post and quite a lot seems to have been going on.

On Sunday we spent some time in The Lowther hotel in Goole as it was the heritage weekend and members of the public were welcome to visit the murals in the upstairs rooms. There were quite a few visitors and several were local Goole people who had heard of the murals but had not previously seen them.

We are still not sure who painted them but they represent the docks at Goole sometime in the 1830s and are beautifully detailed.

My WEA local history classes begin next week.

Monday afternoon [ September 17th ] 1.30pm in Howden upstairs at the East Riding customer service building  where we will study the history of Howden, the  local villages and Goole.

Tuesday afternoon [ September 18th] 1.30 pm at Eastrington village hall where we shall study the village of Eastrington, the local villages and Snowden Dunhill

Thursday morning [ September 20th] 10am at Ilkeston Avenue Community centre in Goole where we shall study the history of Goole and the Marshland.

All these classes are very friendly and you are welcome to contact me for more details or come along to the first class to see what it is like. No previous enrolment is necessary.

My book on the history of Howden is coming on well and I still hope to have it out for Xmas - but I find it hard not to write too much!!

The Knights Templar in Yorkshire

On Tuesday members of my WEA local history group went on their travels again. This time we went further afield and visited Foulbridge near Snainton in North Yorkshire.

This was the site of a Knights Templar preceptory and we were particularly interested as Faxfleet, much nearer home, was also a preceptory but nothing remains of it above ground.

Here at Foulbridge is a medieval Templar hall, once hidden within two separate farmhouses but now revealed and restored by the Nutt family who kindly allowed us to visit their home.

The trees from which the hall at Foulbridge were built were felled in 1288, and it is thought that the hall was built between 1288 and 1290.

There are eight timber posts supporting  the roof and by looking at the markings on these posts it is possible to see that there were probably aisles on either side. 

We had a very enjoyable visit and a welcome cup of tea afterwards at Brompton.

Here we are at Foulbridge with Mr and Mrs Nutt

The following day I went to Driffield show, the sun shone and despite the ground underfoot being a bit spongy in places we had a good time.

Yesterday my missing brown hen re-appeared with one small chick in tow. We have put them in a coop,  made by my grandfather probably  60 years ago.  Molly has been ordered to look but not touch.

Wressle visit

Members and friends of my WEA local history classes visited Wressle this week. We met at the brick church, built in 1799  to replace the chapel within the castle which had been destroyed by fire in 1796.

We then went on to visit Wressle Castle which is very visible from the Howden/ Selby rail line. What remains of the Percy family's magnificent castle however is now only a fraction of the original. It is on private property and our visit was specially arranged with the owners.

What remains is the south range which contained the hall and lord's tower. The rest was demolished in the mid-seventeenth century on the orders of parliament in case the Royalists occupied it. This was despite the fact that the Percy family were then supporters of Parliament.

The south range survived and was occupied as a farm house until it was destroyed by a fire. We walked around the outside first and I had a good audience of both people and cattle as I talked about the castle.

We then looked inside the castle which is open to the elements - no floors or windows are left and the stonework is badly cracked. But it was still possible to imagine what it had been like when there were over 200 servants and Henry VII visited.

We then enjoyed tea and scones at the farmhouse and were lucky enough to avoid this week's rain.

Wressle Castle around 1905

Not much to say about the rain except that I wish it would stop. Yesterday was a deluge and my garden pond which takes the water from the house roof is over its banks and overflowing into the woodland. Molly has enjoyed jumping in and swimming in it, coming out covered with duckweed.

WEA celebration day at The Lowther

Yesterday I joined students and tutors at The Lowther Hotel in Goole for a celebration get- together and tour of the famous murals. There were around 50 of us from classes held in Goole, Snaith, Howden and Eastrington.

 I have been teaching local history classes for the WEA for over 30 years and many of my students have become good friends.  We all enjoyed a buffet, had our pictures taken and were then taken on a tour  by owner Howard Duckworth who, with his wife Julie, has restored new Goole's first ever building from near dereliction into a prestigious hotel.

Today was Pentecost and we went to church. The day is often also known as Whit Sunday and the following day, Whit Monday was traditionally a holiday. Villages and towns had processions and everyone wore new clothes.

 It was a lovely hot sunny day and I spent the afternoon gardening. My broad beans are not doing well but the greenhouse tomatoes are romping away.

All the time I was outside I heard the incessant call of a cuckoo in nearby woods. It seemed a timeless sound.