A Craven diary: Filmmaker plans to tell story of Mossdale caving disaster

CANCER Support Yorkshire says it is overwhelmed after so many people rallied to its aid following the breaking in of its pre-loved shop on Belmont Bridge, Skipton. Much damage was caused when a boulder was thrown through the glass paned entrance door. But within days, the charity had received enough to cover the cost of repairs. A spokesman said: “We are overwhelmed by the generosity of our supporters who rallied around raising funds to cover the costs of the damage caused at our Preloved shop in Skipton. Our JustGiving page total has raised £435.00 and Craven Skipton Rotary Club made a donation of £250 so we have reached our £680 target.

“The shop is back up and running and all the necessary repairs have been made to the damage caused.The support and kind words we have received have been amazing.Thankyou from everyone at Preloved and Cancer Support Yorkshire.”

‘SHED Street’ in Skipton, which featured in last week’s diary in a picture taken by Brian Stott, is now known as Gisburn Street, and is situated off Keighley Road.

Brian tells me he believes Shed Street was its original name, and at some point it was changed, perhaps to fit in with other streets in the area - Sawley , Clitheroe, Marton and Thornton Streets. “I have a map of Skipton in 1906 and it is shown as Gisburn Street on that. It will have taken its name from the fact that at the end of the street was the Mill or Shed , as they were known. It can still be seen today in my photograph of the full street. It was known as Rycroft’s Mill and was badly damaged by fire , but rebuilt , in the late 1950s. The chimney is one of only two now remaining in Skipton,” he tells me, adding: “I first noticed the name of Shed Street when it was brought to my attention by the Head Teacher of Ings School Mr Baker when I was a pupil there in the 1960’s. Sadly the school is now closed.”

MY walking colleague was not the only one to take advantage of the recent Alpine style weather to hit us recently, if the number of snow scene pictures sent to us is anything to go by. She and her dog set off from Threshfield Quarry on an around 11 mile walk to get to the official opening by Sir Gary Verity of the Upper Wharfedale Fell Rescue Association headquarters ‘The Hut’ at Grassington. She arrived just 20 minutes late, she tells me, which was pretty impressive given the amount of fairly thick snow she encountered on the way there. Sir Gary looked unimpressed, she tells me, when she explained her lateness as being down to the fact she had walked all the way from Threshfield Quarry. It was only later she realised, the quarry was just a short couple of miles from The Hut as the crow flies, whereas she had made the journey via Kilnsey, Conistone and Grassington Moor. She did, however, take the shorter journey back to the quarry, where she had left her car.

THERE was much column inches devoted to the subject of suitable war memorials in the Craven Herald of 100 years ago. On the front page of February 28, 1919, the paper carried a front page advertisement placed by Skipton Parish Church. The notice called on all parents and relatives of men who had fallen in the war and who wished for their names to be inscribed on memorial bronzes to be placed in the church, to send in their details. It was the wish of the church, and of the then Archdeacon to include the names of every fallen man - whatever their denomination.

THE same edition of the paper reported on a number of serious cases of influenza at the Skipton Prisoners of War Camp. Several men had been transferred to the Keighley War Hospital, and there had been six deaths among the prisoners.

MEANWHILE, the paper announced that following a reduction in size, due to a paper shortage during the war, it was shortly to return to its pre-war number of pages. There was a downside though, although the paper was to go back up to eight pages, the cost of paper was still very high, which meant the Herald was to increase in price from one and a half pennies, to two pennies - an increase of 33 per cent. The public had shown a ‘ready disposition’ to pay the old price for their favourite journal, said the paper, adding, “We confidently anticipate that they will be equally willing to pay the extra half-penny for a double-sized production.”

THE subject of women was discussed in the Herald of 50 years ago, in the last year of the ‘swinging sixties’. In its diary column, comment was made on an article of the previous week entitled ‘women wanted’, referring to an appeal for women to join the council’s road safety committee. The headline had sparked off lively comment, by all accounts. One ‘backwoodsman’ had said that women ought to remain at home, while another said women always let their ‘hearts rule their heads’, and another that women ‘talk too much’. No doubt the person who wrote the diary piece in 1969 thought he - or she - was being very forward thinking by saying that women wer capable of serving on committees - unless, that woman of course had a young family. Such women could not be expected to serve on councils as their first duty was to their children, and they should stay at home in the evenings. Their ‘free’ sisters however, were well able to put themselves forward for council, and there had been many first class councillors of the female variety in the post-war years, said the Herald.

THERE must have been a fair bit of snow about in February, 1959, because people were skiing on Pendle Hill. Much like this year, the snow was the right sort of snow for skis. Pendle Hill was ideal for such winter pursuits, said the Herald at the time. It was accessible, steep and not too high - not quite a mountain, being under 2,000 feet above sea level. Fortunately, said the writer, the over use of the hill as a ski resort would never happen, as there was not enough snow at the lower levels. There is however, Pendle Ski Club, Sabden, nestled in the foothills of Pendle Hill, and a very successful club it is too.

HAVING written and directed the Ribblesdale set coming-of-age story Lad, local director Dan Hartley is once again training his camera on the dales to tell a story based on the Mossdale Cavern disaster in 1967 (pictured) when six cavers tragically lost their lives. To aid his research Hartley is inviting members of the public with first-hand experience of the tragedy to contribute to the story by sharing their memories and photographs. If you wish to participate Dan will be visiting Settle on February 19 and 20 and is asking potential contributors to get in touch via email to dan@roguerunner.com

CONGRATULATIONS to Max Boumphrey, a year 12 pupil at Ermysted’s Grammar School, Skipton, who was shortlisted for the 2018-19 Court Reporter Competition run by the Citizenship Foundation. The reports were judged by Joshua Rozenberg, one of Britain’s best known

commentators on the law. Mr Rozenberg provided Max with written feedback and said that he was extremely impressed with the level of proficiency shown. Congratulations and very well done, Max.

FINALLY, seeing as its Valentine’s Day today, nutritional supplement company, Health Plus, is urging people to love their own heart to help reduce heart disease and strokes. It suggests reducing salt in the diet, cutting back on high cholesterol foods, such as chips and cheese, quit smoking, and keeping the weight down.