EZRA LAYCOCK
begs most respectfully to announce to the public of Cowling and District that he will run a

WAGGONETTE.

This was a wonderful view into a pre-motorised world and showed the difficulties of travelling to nearby towns and the formal language
used at the time. Some would say that little has changed as far as public transport is concerned!

This changes what was known about Ezra Laycock’s business, as Philip Lingard, in his book  ‘The First Bus in Yorkshire’ states that Ezra purchased his first waggonette in 1895, yet here he is offering a waggonette service five years earlier. The flyer was found when the old village hall was being cleared for the recent sale.

There was also a lengthy discussion about designs for the Introduction to Cowling Local History Booklet, as members have no relevant
experience and professional design is expensive.  It was agreed to seek assistance, with local secondary schools being the first to be asked.

Other items under discussion were gifts of land for bus shelters in the 1960’s and the Hartley Memorial Field deeds of 1930’s.

Moonrakers have now had to step back from the renovation and trust that the parish council will complete the necessary work needed to the
cairn, base and path. The base remains badly cracked and broken and the path has almost disappeared. Once renovated, the people of Cowling Parish will be proud of the monument to its most famous son, now that the improved signage could lead to more visits.

For those parishioners who are not aware Philip, Lord Snowden of Ickornshaw rose from a lowly beginning, as a weaver’s son, to become
Chancellor of the Exchequer in three different governments. This was a feat thought worthy of a monument, on his death in 1937. It is signed from the main road, west of the village – SNOWDEN MONUMENT 1MILE.

Another item discussed was a WW1 parish War Relief Committee, which acted on behalf of families who had lost breadwinners, to
apply for benefit and helped Belgium refugees housed in the parish to repatriate.

A report was given of how a member had been able to assist a parish university student with dialect words to assist her in her degree in
Creative Writing. The words are to be used in a poem.

Some ex-parishioners of 1800, it was reported had to return to Cowling from Lancashire as they had become a burden, due to becoming too
poor to maintain themselves. In those days a parish had only to maintain its own poor.

It was reported that the Intro to Cowling History, booklet was progressing at the editing stage.

The meeting ended with members looking at a miscellany of items, collected by one of the members, on various facets of history.

New research into attempts to raise an emergency fire service in Cowling during the first half of the twentieth century was presented to the group. This will feature in a separate article in the future. We thank member Dennis Harker for many days given up to this research at Northallerton Record Office and then in converting his written notes into print.

New research into the Co-op Movement in Cowling Parish has been commenced by someone new to the group. This will be reported fully in the future.

It was reported that the listed status of the Philip Snowden Memorial Cairn has held up the renovation completion, whilst an agreement is
reached on materials to be used.

The Bannister Wood planning refusal was noted and the fact that moves were afoot to gain Ancient Woodland Status for the woods,

There was a fruitful discussion about Middleton allotments and where one had to live in the parish to be eligible for one since they were
vested in the parish council in 1947.

The sale of the village hall and its proposed conversion into dwellings was discussed.

Two requests were received during the month. One was for dialect words from a Cowling student studying creative writing at University.
We have provided words and will assist where possible. The new owner of an Ickornshaw property requested any knowledge about its history. We have again provided what we know.

A new collation of shops and businesses was presented to the group, plus information about the various names considered when Laycock’s Field was named.

Finally a smile was brought to members’ faces when information about the liquidation of Cowling Water Company was discussed.  It appeared to be a very apt ending for such a business as water responsibility was taken over by the Water Board.

We wish all parishioners old and new a happy festive season and new year.

There was lengthy discussion about expenses incurred travelling to research local history by members. It was eventually agreed that 50% of fuel cost could be claimed, for journeys authorised by the group, to Northallerton and Wakefield record offices, as the transport costs to these places had risen so much in recent years.

A tenth anniversary 2013 calendar was agreed in principal, with more investigations to follow.

Finally a request was made on behalf of Alan McEwen of Farling Top, who is gathering material for a biography of Joe Sawley, a former resident of Cowling parish.  He is seeking photographs dating from about 1940-60, together with copyright permission for reproduction in his book. Anyone who has photos regarding any of the topics below, willing for them to be used, should conract Moonrakers:
Pond Hill Farm, Ickornshaw Moor, Treacle Lane Farms, Lumb Gill, Summerhouse Clough, Ickornshaw Blacksmith’s Forge and Blacksmith, Freegate and Ickornshaw Mills, Ickornshaw Mill Engine and Boilerhouse, Winkholme’s Shops including Clogger and Bake.

Organisationof the group’s illustrated talk on 9/11/11 to Lothersdale Over 60’s was agreed at the above meeting. Five of the group were then involved. An update of Moonraker projects was shown and explained, photographs old and new of Lothersdale, etc added local interest, dialect poetry recitations brought colour and humour to the proceedings and finally Lothersdale and Cowling’s 19^th century railway plans were explained and perused. The over 60’s expressed their delight in an entertaining show, which our members thoroughly enjoyed providing.

The new Tillotson family book by D Gulliver of Cononley was discussed and orders were taken. It is awaited with great anticipation as it should add to our knowledge of the Cowling Hill settlement in the 17th century.

Much time was then spent perusing the late 19^th century plans to bring a railway line through the village. The original sheets have now been copied and will be used to display at Moonraker events, so that people can see where the railway might have been.  It appears that, although there was much enthusiasm for the scheme, the costs proved prohibitive, due to there not being enough demand to provide a profit.

Members were reminded that Moonrakers are to give a talk to Lothersdale Over 60’s group on Wednesday 9^th November at 2.00pm in the Lothersdale Village Hall. This will include Moonraker news and a member’s photos of old Lothersdale. We hope to have the 19th century railway plans available on that date, including the planned spur into Lothersdale quarry.

In August work commenced chipping out the old pointing on the memorial cairn, ready for new pointing, professionally carried out, before the winter.  In addition it is intended to rid the surrounding area of weeds and generally tidy up the site. The work, which of course is weather dependent, will hopefully be completed before the end of October.

The August meeting was generally taken up with sorting old Parish Council correspondence on their behalf. For possibly over a century since its beginning, when Viscount Snowden was on the first council, the villages pc records have been stored in cupboards in the village hall. With the impending sale, it was decided to rescue these and sort out which were historically important to keep. Moonrakers have had a written request to complete this task from the council clerk. We are using our knowledge of the village and its history to make sure this task is completed diligently. Members will meet informally over the next few months to complete the task.

Our meeting in September was quite a varied affair.  All the above memorial related and parish council work was reported.

As the parish council are at present replacing old seats around the parish it was interesting to note from parish records that they were introduced in 1898. Unfortunately non from that year still exist, as far as we know.

Other end  of the 19th century events reported were:

• 1897 gas street lighting – converted to electric in 1949
• 1896 naming of streets in the parish
• 1899 public urinals set up around the parish
• 1898 a chimney for freegate mill – higher up in the field opposite, presumably to create more draft.

So why were the men of our parish, in 1899, in need of somewhere, away from home to urinate more than the women? All answers on a postcard please!!

There was then a preliminary look at some old parish council documents from the village hall. Decisions are needed as to which are historically important to store once the village hall has been sold.

Earlier this month the North Yorkshire Rural Archaeologist came to examine possible site for Ridge Mill. However 400 years after the mill’s demise there was not enough evidence on the ground to confirm a site.

The introduction to local history booklet will be some months before completion. The development, formatting and editing process is taking much longer then anticipated.

May - At May’s meeting there was a change of plan. We were supposed to go for a walk through the village to check on and update our knowledge of previous businesses and shops. However previous to the meeting it was difficult to piece together our present knowledge.       That and a change to the weather lead to the walk being postponed.

We therefore met as usual in the Bancroft Room. The long project of the improved signage for the Viscount Snowden Memorial Cairn has ended, with the final sign being erected in the open space just before the cairn. Later in the summer we will improve the pointing
on the cairn.

We are looking into the possibility of an archaeologist coming to look at a possible site for the old Ridge Mill, corn mill, lost to the parish in the early 17^th century. It would be great to find this in the year that the new bridge is opened. However at the time of writing this is still being negotiated.

Work still continues on the introduction to local history booklet for the parish. This will take a while yet. The team involved are most keen to make the information as accurate as possible and have it checked and edited as necessary.

June - Our June meeting was our first fact-finding members’ walk of the summer. A large group strolled down the lanes and footpaths of Gill Bottom on a warm, sunny evening.

Additions to our knowledge of this 19th century hive of industry were:

• Better knowledge of Gill Bottom Mill dimensions,
• the position of the mill chimney,
• possible links between the dam and mill race/leet,
• possible extension upwards of damstones/weir,
• the exact location of the old adit lead mine,
• past changes to the barn
• and the possibility of the lining of beck being to stop erosion of beck bank walls.

We felt it was a very enjoyable and successful walk.

In conjunction with the parish council we are exploring having some type of plaque/board to explain the history of the Ridge
Mill and its new bridge.

See our announcements section for details of July’s walk.

The disappointing news about the boundary change, mentioned last month, was that it was passed, despite two members representing the group and parish council at the council meeting. The wishes of the inhabitants of the time won out despite, geographical and ancient historic reasons being put forward. Therefore Lothersdale parish is no longer a dale, but a dale and a bit of the next valley as well! The sad thing is that Cowling ancient parish is now short of an area and its geographic and ancient boundary, the water shed between the two valleys.

Good news was that a new storage cabinet has been acquired at last and for only £10 transit charges, as a members duaghter was able to acquire an unneeded one from her place of work.

The new Ridge Mill is now alsmost completed. This lead onto discussion of the old Ridge Mill. We have to try to discover an original document, possibly at Cliffe Castle, which states that Ridge Mill Bridge was in existence in 1747, a century earlier than previously thought. A member had located a possible site for a building near to the Ridge Mill Bridge. It was decided that a group should investigate  on Saturday 10th April.

The James Emmott diaries of a 19th century Cowinheeader, owned by a Local History Group at Dinnington, South Yorkshire, were featured in the Yorkshire Post.

The three ancient manors of Cowling -  Ickornshaw, Collinge and Stott Hill were discussed with possible boundaries suggested. It was pointed out that the modern village was probably in the ancient manor of Stott Hill. It was decided however that it was best to retain the name as it is!

The May meeting was to be kept as the New Road Side walk, weather pemitting, as per our objectives for the year,to add to our knowledge of 20th century businesses.

It was decided, by the meeting, to accept a generous donation from the Parish Council, of £500 towards the printing of the Local History Booklet for visitors and new parishioners. This was given on the understanding that we should have printed the maximum number possible and that each family with a child at Cowling School shoul receive one. It was agreed that a letter of thanks should be sent to the Parish Council.

Finally the meeting closed looking at the previously mentioned railway plans, plus a 19th century Ickornshaw Moor rental deed.

 Parish boundary proposed changes caused something of a stir amongst members. Some areas to come into Cowling below Earl’s Crag and at Lane Ends Lane seemed reasonable. However requests for areas to the north west of the parish to go into Lothersdale seemed illogical. It was thought that as Lothersdale parish is within a dale or valley that it should not be allowed to come over the hill and into the next valley. The local residents feel otherwise and these feelings are what Craven District Council say they have to follow. Moonrakers are to object on behalf of the Parish Council.

The local history leaflet being compiled for Bed and Breakfast accommodation, with emphasis on the Pennine Way area of the village is continuing to be compiled by the working group. Costs were discussed at length and it was resolved to seek a donation from the parish council’s clubs and society’s budget, to pay for printing. £360 pounds was to be asked for the rpinting of 500 leaflets. As it was felt that this would be a one-off donation, it was decided to extend the leaflet into a booklet, as an introduction to parish history for visitors and new parishioners.

Finally the group perused two documents – one detailing the history of The Outbarn, Cowling Hill, part of the previous inn and farm on the site and a Commision of Inquiry and Deposition from Colne Manor, dated 1592. This second document had boundary residents of the time giving evidence as to the boundaries between Iccornshaye,  Collinge and Colne. It was surprising to note that many of the border areas mentioned still retained the same or similar names and the boundary appeared to be in the same place on the modern OS map.