Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire

Saturday visits to the Spa Baths

Many Saturdays would find my friends and I catching a bus for the 11 miles journey to Ripon.  It was the nearest swimming place for us and how we enjoyed the day out. If we had a few coppers left we would buy beans on toast at a local cafe and think ourselves very grown up.  Now I live in far... [more]

6th birthday party

My grandparents lived in the large house that you can mainly see on the bridge (with the three windows on the second floor) throughout the 1950,s and 60's. I was told that Mary Queen of Scotts made her way through the basement of the house to find refuge in the house of sanctuary which was at that time situated behind the... [more]

schoolboy days

I remember living at No 12 Kingwood Estate and spending many evenings after school playing cricket on the village pitch.

early childhood

My father was the manager at the bottom tannery in Shaw Mills and we lived in Sunny Lea from 1955 - 1960. Although I was only 6 when we left, I have numerous vivid memories of that idyllic time and feel privileged to have lived there.
My sister and I used to walk up to Hardcastle's farm to get eggs and... [more]

Dacre Banks

My Grandfather, D J R Wilson had lived in Dacre Banks since just after the end of the war meaning that as a child would often have to visit. As a teenager I never appreciated just how beautiful the place is, or how lucky I was to have somewhere like this to visit.
Sadly I would imagine that I will... [more]

Ryder

I wonder how many Ryders still live in Leyburn and East Witton. My mother was the daughter of George Ryder who was born in East Witton in 1881. George's parents were William G and Margaret Ryder who had at least 9 children, all born in East Witton. William G himself was the only child of Joseph Ryder whose brother... [more]

Ancestry

East Witton's interest to me began as it was the birthplace of my grandfather and his parents resided in Wast Witton Without (i found this through the 1901 census), though I cannot get any further back in time. I worked in nearby Leyburn and visited East Witton daily to get a sense of its aura and atmosphere, hoping to meet someone... [more]

The Past

This picture reminds me of the days spent in East Witton at my grandfathers house it was on the right as you look up the green with the pub behind you, it had a archway and it was a working farm there was no electricity and the water came from two pumps in the village green one at the top and... [more]