Schooldays

A Memory of Marske.

My uncle, Milton Beattie was gamekeeper to Sir James Baird, and he and his wife Connie lived in the gamekeeper's house on the far side of Clints - on the way to Orgate. My mum and I lived in the Hall Cottage, and I went to Marske School where Miss Marriner was the teacher, and we were all taught in one classroom. On nice sunny days, the whole school - I think there were about fifteen pupils - would go out on nature rambles across the field and down to the beck. We used to collect rosehips in the autumn, which were then collected to make rosehip syrup. We got our milk from Mrs Simpson at Home Farm, her son Maurice and his wife Lena lived there as well. Her other son Ronnie and his wife Laura, lived across the road in the Temperance Hotel, next to the post office. The number of the phone in the call box beside the post office, was Marske 1. I was friends with Janet Wallis and her family who had Jinglepot Farm, and I believe it is still run by her brother George and his family. There were five Wallis children - Betty, Robert, George, Janet and Brian and I spent many happy days there with them all. I have a book called 'In The Palm Of A Dale' by David Morgan Rees, which is all about Marske and its surrounding area and the families who live there. I now live in East Yorkshire, but love going up into the dales and revisiting Marske. I don't think you can go to Orgate Falls now as it is private land, but otherwise Marske is still virtually as I remenber it and the place I spent some of my happiest years.