Foxup

Great Nights Out

The George Inn c1960
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I had the best nights out of my life in the George Inn after working at Greenfield Estate where I met my late wife Beth Connel.  We married at Hubberholme Church in 1984 and moved to Horton.  The George was full of local characters the landlord Bill Jones lived there with his mum (Mar) and Dad Elise who told you off if you messed with the log fire and made it smoke, a candle always burned on the bar.  The Local Butcher called at 10:30pm and we all bought steak to cook for supper after hours.  Folk singers came from Bradford at the weekends. The beer and company was just great in the 70s.  John Slater.

1952

The George Inn c1960
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I stayed at Netherside Hall in 1952, Mr Anderton was the headmaster. I have some vivid memories of the school and grounds, but I am hopeless with names, only a couple come to mind, John Firth, Ronnie Reeves. I was the only boy I think without asthma, I used to sneak inhalers for the other boys. I was captain of the football side, and we played on the small pitch next to the road. One of the boys fell out of the big tree opposite the hall and was badly injured. We watched the 1952 cup final on black and white TV, every afternoon we had to carry our fold-up camp beds and have an afternoon nap. We made a NNC broadcast from the hall and I remember the presenter was called Bertha Lonsdale.

Cragg Farm

1926
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This photo shows Cragg Farm painted white and Sweetbriar Cottage attached. My mother was Margaret Jane Carr and was born and raised at Cragg Farm. She was 16 years old in 1926 when this photo was taken.

She married Roland Calverley at Kettlewell Church in June of 1935 and moved near Bradford. As a family we used to go to Starbotton and visit friends there through the 50's and 60's. I married an American and now live in the States but i still go to Starbotton every time i come back to England. We continue to have friends and family living there. It is a sacred spot to me, timeless, and i hope it will remain so.

My uncle William Carr of Carleton recently made a bench with a plaque in memory of all the school children he knew growing up there. It is placed somewhere up the hillside toward Cam i believe.

BLACKSMITH

My great-great-great-grandad was a blacksmith at Countersett - and I am thinking of coming over from Lincoln to see if there are any Metcalfes buried in the churchyard. He was born in 1805, and married Elizabeth Armstrong who was born 1811.

Fountain

1921
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Summertime at Overdale Cottage

I have happy childhood memories of a summer my brother and I spent in Burtersett. We, along with our mother had travelled from our home in Canada and were visiting our grandparents William and Ethel Lawson, and our aunt Joan at Overdale Cottage. The four hundred plus year old cottage, was across the lane from the Thwaite Farm and I remember that kind family providing great company and new experiences. We watched the birthing of a calf, and participated in the 'haymaking' which, for us lucky kids, consisted of riding the wagon - perched high up on the bails of hay as they were brought to their rightful place in a barn. I remember hiking the dale to a lake for afternoon swims (Semerwater I believe it is called), and walking a path through the fields to Hawes on Market Day. The only store in Burtersett was also a source of entertainment; the shopkeeper always appearing happy to see us. I also remember antagonizing a bull in the fields for... Read more

My Grandad's House

Market Place 1995
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The House on the left of the photo was my Nanna And Grandad's house.