Nature Recovery in National Parks

Briony Fox – Director of Conservation

It is widely recognised that there are significant opportunities in our National Parks to address the dual challenges posed by the climate and biodiversity crises.

Resilient, biodiverse and ecologically functioning landscapes can provide a whole range of environmental and social services which enable wildlife to thrive, protect communities from environmental extremes such as flood, drought and fire and provide opportunities for recreation, enjoyment and employment for visitors and residents alike.

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Through National Parks England, we have developed a Delivery Plan for Wildlife, to work together at scale to transform nature’s recovery with enhancements covering 10% of England. Over the next 10 years, we’re committing to delivering a nature recovery programme that:

• Identifies zones to deliver concentrated habitat enhancement and improved functionality
• Prioritises species to be safeguarded and re-introduced
• Increases tree cover and restores peatlands, grasslands, heathlands and other habitats, with the principle of right habitat, right place, right reason
• Provides nature based solutions to climate change resilience.
• Restores soil structure and health to improve function (carbon storage and water management)
• Implements long-term invasive non-native species control programmes
• Establishes buffer zones and green and blue infrastructure corridors linking our National Landscapes with National and Community Forests, and urban areas to create a genuine national network where everyone can access and experience nature and wildlife at their best.

Most land in National Parks is privately owned – and much of what is special has been created by farming. So we will continue to work through our strong local partnerships to co-create plans for nature with our farmers, landowners, and local communities, as well as our local statutory and voluntary sector partners. Along with farmers, landowners and local communities we know our landscapes intimately and benefit from a wealth of collective expertise – ecologists, planners, environmental scientists and rangers. We can work together to see opportunities to achieve sustainable change that supports the community and identifies investment in nature recovery to help support viable, high nature value, farm businesses.

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  River Esk near Glaisdale

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  River Rye

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  Established riparian buffer strip

But we also need the policies, funding and collaboration to support delivery, both locally and nationally. We have been actively working with DEFRA and Ministers to make National Parks part of the backbone of the national nature recovery network and strengthen the role of National Park Management Plans, so they are the local nature recovery strategies for National Parks, and back their implementation with stronger legal status.

To achieve this, we have asked that National Parks to be identified as priority areas for funding within the new scheme for Environmental Land Management (ELM) and we have been working with DEFRA on a range of Tests & Trials and through the Farming in Protected Landscape Programme to ensure that public funding for public goods offers a sustainable funding model delivering mutual benefits for farmers and land managers as well as for nature.

The new National Peat Strategy and English Tree Strategy fully recognise the need for positive action in National Parks and we have asked for a strengthened ‘section 62’ duty to be included in the Environment Bill to place on all public bodies, a clear duty to help deliver the nature recovery network, along with further legislation to create powers to promote and protect nature in National Landscapes on a par with built heritage or road transport.

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  Peatland restoration

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  Woodland creation

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  Peat dam, Bransdale Moor

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  Tree planting, Bilsdale

There must also be an evidence based approach to delivering Nature Recovery and a common template and set of nature recovery indicators to assess the status of nature and natural capital is needed so that recovery can be robustly and confidently measured.

Finally, this work can’t happen without resources; so we continue to champion the necessity for a sustainable finance model blending public, private and 3rd sector funding to enable objectives to be delivered and more importantly, sustained and monitored.

Our new management plan will direct our work in future to achieve our objectives of realising a more resilient and naturally functioning ecosystem, teeming with sustainable, healthy communities of wildlife and working hard to offer a range of ecosystem services to benefit nature and our health and wellbeing.

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  Wildflower Meadow by Mark Bulmer

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  Bluebells by Mark Bulmer

Sweetening the land

Ellie Leary – Monuments for the Future Project Officer

Not all of the archaeology within the North York Moors is as ancient and enigmatic as the standing stones or rock art (see previous posts). Once a ubiquitous presence within the landscape, you can still stumble across the remains of a more industrial feature – lime kilns. These structures were part of an industry that has shaped and changed the landscape of the area from the extraction of the limestone from quarries to its end use as a building material and soil improver.

Over 400 lime kiln sites are recorded within the National Park’s Historic Environment Record, with the evidence coming mainly from historic maps, but also earthworks and standing remains. Only three of these kilns have the benefit of protected status as Scheduled Monuments, and in all cases they are included as part of a wider monument rather than in their own right. Another three have protected status as Grade II Listed Buildings.

The use of lime has a long history in Britain dating back to at least the Roman period and over time it has had a wide range of practical uses from forming the base of plasters, mortar and concrete; as lime-wash for waterproofing walls and lightening interiors; in the bleaching of paper and preparing hides for tanning; as a disinfectant; and as a soil improver for agriculture.

During the Roman period it was used particularly for lime-mortar, plaster and lime wash; while during the mediaeval period the need for quantities of lime hugely increased with the construction of large stone-built buildings and bridges. From the 17th century onwards however the main use of lime has been in agriculture, with it being added to soil to improve acidic soils or as a top dressing to pasture to “sweeten” the land.

In most cases in order to turn raw limestone into a useable product it has to be fired in a kiln, creating a process called calcining where calcium carbonate is converted into calcium oxide. This process was both labour and fuel intensive and the trade was known as lime burning – those working at the kilns, were lime burners.

Most of the kilns known of within the North York Moors date to the 18^th and 19^th centuries, although earlier examples do exist. Excavations at Ayton Castle, for example, revealed a lime kiln dated to the 14^th century, which may have produced lime mortar and cement for the construction of the castle’s tower house, the ruins of which still stand.  (This is one of the three kiln sites included within a wider Scheduled Monument – see above).

The earliest kilns were simple clamp kilns which consisted of a circular or rectangular hollow within which the limestone and fuel were layered, covered with clay or turf, and left to burn for a few days. Often clamp kilns leave little obvious trace, however the remaining protected kiln sites in this area (as mentioned above) include two clamp kilns built into the bank of a scheduled prehistoric cross dyke and another cut into the edge of a scheduled Bronze Age barrow – the actual kilns are all thought to be 18^th or 19^th century in date. Their remains can be seen as horse shoe shaped mounds of earth and stone rubble.

As the demand for lime increased kilns became more substantial in size although the transformation process remained the same. Kilns were generally circular or square stone structures, about 3m in height, with a bowl lined with sandstone or firebricks and at least one draw hole located at the bottom of the kiln. As the contents burnt through the lime was extracted through the draw holes at the bottom. Additional layers of stone and fuel could be added to the top if necessary, otherwise one-off firings were carried out as needed. A good example of this kind of kiln can be found at Old Byland where the remains of four lime kilns stand next to a road (see image below). They are located on the edge of a quarry to the south west of the village and some parts survive to 5m in height, with two of the kilns having the roof and flue surviving.

The end product removed from a kiln was called ‘lump lime’, ‘burnt lime’ or ‘quicklime’ and in order to convert this for use it has to be ‘slaked’ – a process involving adding water to cause a reaction which produces heat and steam. By then adding enough water, putty is produced, which, mixed with sand, produces a mortar. Over time this reverts back to calcium carbonate and hardens.  When used in agriculture the ‘lump lime’ was left in heaps, covered in earth and left to slake, eventually creating a powder that could be ploughed into the soil. Other methods were used too, including leaving the lime uncovered and occasionally turning to produce the same result.  ‘Lump lime’ is a volatile material and there were inherent dangers if it started to ‘slake’, producing heat, before it arrived at the final destination.  By the late 19^th century, hydration plants were introduced that could grind the lime, sprinkle it with water, dry it and then bag it for transporting.

The location of kilns largely depends on the final use for the ‘quicklime’, so that if it were needed for building construction the kilns would most likely be located close to the building site. They could then either be dismantled and moved or left to decay once they were no longer needed.

Field kilns were sometimes built by farmers and land owning estates from the 17^th century. Smaller kilns would have been built by farmers for occasional use to improve their land but estates often built larger kilns to serve the whole estate and wider area, providing a profitable source of income.

Another common location for kilns was close to or within limestone quarries. Many of these quarries are still obvious on the ground now as large excavated pits; historic mapping helps to identify the full extent of the quarries and the location of kilns. The 1893 Ordnance Survey map (below) shows Sour Ley Quarry near Helmsley with up to 20 lime kilns within the quarry.

Easy access to transportation was also another consideration for the location – for fuel to be brought in and for the final product to taken away for sale.  Colonel Sir Joshua Crompton, 19^th century owner of the Kepwick Estate on the western edge of the North York Moors, built a railway line in the early 1820s which carried limestone from a quarry on Kepwick Moor down to the lime kilns and stone yard to the west. Fuel for the kilns could be easily brought in and the final product taken away on the Thirsk to Yarm turnpike road (now the A19). With a very steep incline up to the quarry the railway used gravity; as the full wagons were sent down slope they pulled the empty ones up towards the quarry, whilst horses pulled the wagons along the flat plain to the west. The quarry and the start of the now dismantled railway line lie with the National Park boundary and the lime kilns themselves are a short distance outside the boundary and are protected as a Scheduled Monument.

As the demand for quicklime grew the process became industrialised, with new kilns designed with efficiency in mind as well as a higher quality lime product. As a result most of these smaller local kilns were abandoned by the 20^th century, with some being dismantled and others left to decay, remaining in the landscape as a reminder of this chapter of industry.

To keep up to date with the latest National Park response to Covid-19 – see here.

Going with the FLO

Victoria Franklin – Conservation Trainee

At the end of October last year it was the turn of this National Park Authority to host the National Park Authorities’ Farm Liaison Officers (FLO) Group Meeting. It was the thirtieth such meeting and we welcomed 23 farm officers from 11 National Parks with attendees from the Brecon Beacons, Exmoor, Lake District, New Forest, Northumberland, Peak District, Pembrokeshire Coast, Snowdonia, South Downs and the Yorkshire Dales.

The main purpose of these three day meetings is to enable discussions between colleagues about the common opportunities and challenges of working with landowners and land managers to conserve the special qualities of farmed landscapes. This is an annual event shared out between the 15 UK National Parks. The last time the North York Moors played host was back in 2002. There have been a lot of changes since then so we had a lot to showcase.

DAY ONE

The meeting was based at Wydale Hall near Scarborough on the southern edge of the National Park – a very peaceful and beautiful setting. Everyone arrived by midday and we started with a brief introduction and catch up from each National Park with representatives talking through their new projects and current issues from their point of view. We had a cup of tea and a presentation on the new Woodsmith Mine near Whitby followed by a drive past to see the setting within the landscape. The mine sparked much discussion around light pollution, the local economy, offsetting carbon emissions and the scale of the planned operation. We ended up in Whitby that evening for much appreciated fish and chips.

DAY TWO

Day two was all about the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership. We started off in Nunnington, a village towards the southern end of the Rye catchment within the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB). We had roped in various members of the Ryevitalise and the Howardian Hills AONB teams to help. Paul from Ryevitalise was able to present an overview of the Landsdcape Partnership, highlighting why the National Lottery’s Heritage Fund decided to fund this 3.2 million project for the area – i.e. to enhance water quality, to improve water level management and to reconnect the people who live within the catchment with their river.

We went on for a short walk along the riverbank in Duncombe Park, Helmsley. Duncombe Park is a National Nature Reserve (NNR) because of its important ecology. We talked about the potential for alleviating some of the impacts that weirs can have on both water level management and the ability for fish to spawn throughout the length of a river.

After indulging in pie and peas at Hawnby Village Hall for lunch we drove further upstream through Bilsdale to visit a farm where the farmer now has a land management agreement through the Ryevitalise programme. We looked at his riverside fields where trees will be planted through the agreement to create a riparian buffer, along with the installation of new fencing to stop stock accessing the river directly which can cause sediment to enter the water and negatively impact on the river ecology.

We ended up at Chop Gate Village Hall near the top of Bilsdale where we got to hear about riverfly monitoring from two very enthusiastic and interesting volunteers who are already actively engaged in monitoring the water quality in the Rye catchment.

Back at Wydale Hall dinner was followed by a range of after dinner presentations from invited speakers on Turtle Doves, Championing the Farmed Environment and the Esk Valley Facilitation Fund group, as well as an appreciation of Geraint Jones from Pembrokeshire Coast National Park who has been coming to these meetings from the beginning and for whom this one would be his last as he is due to retire shortly.

DAY THREE

Straight after breakfast the morning session began with a talk from Forestry England on their enclosed beaver trial ongoing in Cropton Forest.  There was fascinating video footage of how the beavers’ natural behavior of building dams can help with slowing the flow of water which has great potential as a natural and sustainable flood alleviation method.

We rounded off the session with in depth discussions of current issues including the development of the new national environmental land management scheme and rural development initiatives post Brexit and how National Park Authorities might be involved. Other subjects considered were; how National Parks could help companies offset their carbon, providing advice to farmers on how to reduce carbon emissions, opportunities for more landscape scale projects within National Parks, the always contentious issue of fencing on common land and how best to share farming stories with the general public. The meeting wrapped up at lunch time and everyone set off back to their respective National Parks hopefully with good memories of the North York Moors and its work.

It is always useful to meet up with like-minded people and discuss pertinent subjects with colleagues from other National Park Authorities. We do tend to consider ourselves to be a family of National Parks and it is great to be able to come together occasionally, to discuss ideas, to learn from each other and to return to our individual Parks refreshed and inspired by what we have seen and experienced.

LEADER Programme: making ends meet

Amy Thomas – previously North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme Manager

After a busy few years we recently celebrated making the final grant offers of the 2015-2020 North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme.

Over the last four years we have successfully allocated nearly £3 million of European funding which has resulted in more than £5 million of investment overall in local communities and businesses, creating more than 65 new full time equivalent jobs and supporting around 30 farm businesses to invest in new equipment to make the way they farm more efficient.

Here are just a few of the fantastic projects that have successfully secured LEADER funding over the last few years.

The Spirit of Yorkshire, a whisky distillery in Hunmanby, received £34,798 of funding towards creating their new visitor centre, shop and café.  The project created 4 new jobs and aimed to attract nearly 11,000 visitors in its first full year of operating.

 

Horse and Hounds, a new equine physiotherapy business in Rosedale, received grant funding of £37,687 towards an arena, stabling and a horse walker.  This start-up business is providing employment for a local young person.

 

Funding of £175,960 was granted towards the extension of the Cedarbarn Farm Shop and Café in Pickering to create additional space for the café, shop, butchery and kitchen.  Nine new jobs have already been created across all aspects of the business.

More than 20 farms from across the area received funding towards either mobile sheep handling kit with electronic weight systems and EID readers, or robotic milking machines.  Dependent upon the type and scale of the equipment funding was applied for, grants received range between £2,500 and £75,000.

A contribution of £138,860 was provided towards the Infrastructure, access and interpretation improvements which were made at Boggle Hole.  Coastal erosion issues and high visitor footfall meant improvements were essential along this popular stretch of the Cleveland Way.

Rural development funding can make things happen. Now that the LEADER Programme is coming to an end I’m looking forward to see what comes next.

If you’re looking for rural development funding the RDPE Growth Programme is open for applications until February 2020 – have a look here.

It’s dirty work but someone’s got to do it or: When all’s said and dung, don’t poo-poo the Dung Beetles

Sam Newton – Natural Heritage Trainee, Land of Iron

A single cow can produce over nine tonnes of dung per year, so across all domestic and wild herbivores imagine how this would quickly build up to mountainous proportions.

Fortunately there are many invertebrates whose life cycles involve clearing this up. Take Dung beetles – in the UK their annual role in the ecosystem is valued at £367 million, for cattle dung alone.

Dung  beetles are a collection of around 60 species in the UK, within the Scarabaeidae family which also includes non-dung feeding Chafers and Stag Beetles). The actual dung feeders are split into the Aphodiinae (dwellers, residing within dung) and the Geotrupidae and Onthophagus (tunnellers, burying beneath dung). Contrary to popular belief there a no dung rollers in the UK, as this group are only found in the tropics and sub-tropics. The adults of all groups feed on liquid within dung, while the larvae eat the solids.

These 60 species utilise dung differently and so avoid competition – they use dung from different animals, they feed at different times of day or year, they live in different habitats and they favour dung of assorted ages. The fact that all the species vary in their ecology enhances the benefits provided in dung recycling to the wider ecosystem, helping fertilise the soil and enhance soil structure, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

In addition, dung beetles transport mites between dung piles, which feed on fly and worm eggs, thus indirectly helping reduce fly numbers along with some gastrointestinal parasites that can affect livestock.

Dung beetles also provide an important food source to many animals, for example Aphodius prodromus (a small Aphodiinae dung dweller), which is incredibly numerous in early spring when there are few other invertebrates available.

So Dung beetles are incredibly useful, as well as being beautiful (without mites) and valuable in their own right.

However, all is not well in the dung beetle world. A 2016 review found over 25% of UK species were ‘Nationally Rare’ (found in 15 or less 10×10km squares across the UK) and four may already be extinct.

Changing farming practises and the disappearance of livestock from historic pastures is a major cause of this decline in the UK. The loss of dung structure produced by modern livestock breeds fed high protein diets is also detrimental, as dung beetles essentially end up drowning in the dung. Soil disturbance is damaging to some species, and wormer overuse (e.g. Ivermectin can indirectly reduce larval development and survival) is perhaps the main cause of decline, ironically destroying the role dung beetles played in reducing parasitic worms naturally.

So how can people make changes to help conserve Dung beetles and their role in day to day biodiversity? If you keep any livestock, use faecal egg counts to reduce worming, consider keeping a few hardy livestock out during the winter if your land is suitable, also not removing all the dung from out of horse paddocks enables a constant supply of high quality dung. If you don’t keep livestock, try and support the keeping of native breeds which have better quality dung for a Dung beetle’s needs.

The Ancient Egyptians associated Khepri, god of the rising sun, with a dung beetle (a Scarab) which every day was believed to move the sun across the sky. While I’m not suggesting worshipping Dung beetles per se, we can try and appreciate these beetles, understand their predicament and even try and help.

There is a Dung Beetle UK Mapping Project. For lots of help with identifying between species, and to be able to record sightings and help build up a picture of distribution – see their website.

Apologies for the titular puns.

Window into the past

Claire Bending – Lead Land Management Adviser

As part of the working up of conservation plans for the Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership Scheme (currently under development) we’ve been looking at available historic maps. Such maps can provide a view of the past landscape illustrating land use and field boundary patterns.

We’re not trying to revert the landscape back to how it was two hundred years ago, but there may be opportunities to re-establish habitats overcome by agricultural improvement and to restore relict features of conservation value. Examples of this might be recreating a hay meadow, planting new trees on a site which used to be woodland, or reinstating a natural meander in a watercourse that had previously been straightened.

We have digital access to early editions of Ordnance Survey maps. The earliest being the 1^st edition 6 inch to one mile mapping from the 1850s. It seems incredible that if you overlay a modern Ordnance Survey map, the two maps separated by 170 years match up pretty perfectly. I have a feeling our Victorian counterparts would be insulted if they knew we thought it might be anything less, but to my lazy modern day brain it does seem incredible that the entire country could be mapped so precisely to the last inch without GPS, laser lines or aerial photography.

For maps from before the 1850s we went to the North Yorkshire County Record Office. They hold the Feversham Collection which is full of information on the Feversham Estate, which over time has included Bilsdale (within the Ryevitalise project area), Bransdale and Farndale as well as the townships of Helmsley and Kirkbymoorside.

Amongst the collection are two surveys that feature Bilsdale; one by Tukes and Ayer drawn up in 1826,  and commissioned by Charles Duncombe, 1st Baron Feversham (1764 – 1841); and another includes a painstakingly drawn map of Bilsdale from 1781, by William Calvert and commissioned by Charles Slingsby Duncombe (???? – 1803).

The 1781 map is particularity informative as it is still relatively early on in the agricultural ‘revolution’ period that came about in the century following 1750, when a huge sea change occurred in farming, fuelled by the enclosure acts, improving efficiencies and profits for landowners. The landscape altered with open common land enclosed, fields reconfigured with straight walls, land drainage organised, new roads built to improve transport, and conifer plantations planted to produce wood.

Compare the two maps below of Cam House, Bilsdale – one is an extract from the 1781 map, and the other of the same place seventy six years later, in 1857 as drawn on the 1^st edition OS map.

Barely a boundary has remained immune to the straightening process. Although replacing the earlier, wiggly ad-hoc walls with grid-like boundaries was hugely labour intensive, the gains in the longer term through enabling horse plough teams to utilise the entire field area, therefore maximising production, were great.

William Calvert’s map is also of interest for all the field names recorded on the map – for the Tukes and Ayer survey field names were recorded in separate field books.

Field names are sometimes related to the use of the field, such as Cow pasture, Milking field, Corn close, Lime kiln field and Lear field (Lear is another word for a scythe). They can also be descriptive of the place, including words like Holm (the land in a river bend, or low lying land by the river), Syke (stream), Sievey (rushy), Heights, Stoney, Loaning (lane) or Thwaite (clearing).

Other names refer to the vegetation; Birk (birch), Hollin (holly), Eller (alder), Broom, Brier. Sometimes the names reference annoying insects often found in hollows – Loppy hole (Lop was an old word for a flea, but maybe in this case meant ticks) and Midge hole.

There are also a few references to field shape, which is interesting as there is one called Four nook’d (cornered) field. By the 19^th century, most fields had four corners but in 1781 four corners was notable because fields either had a myriad of corners or rounded boundaries or both. Other field names give a clue to industries – Collier intake (related to the local small-scale coal mining) or Tenter close (tenters were frames for stretching drying cloth), Cinder field/Smithy hill (reference iron smelting and iron working).

Finally there are some field names that are just plain enigmatic – Camel hill, Slatern Field and Sweetheart Field. Answers on a postcard please!

A to Z: a slew of Ss

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SAINTS

A number of saints are associated with the North York Moors. Geographical associations can sometimes be found in the name of parish churches dedicated to particular saints, like St Oswald’s, St Cuthbert’s or St Hilda’s, all Anglo-Saxon celebrities when the north east of England was particularly important for the celtic branch of Christianity before the church in England romanized. Not all saints are Anglo-Saxon, it’s just that quite a lot of them are in Britain, many awarded sainthood before canonization became more centrally organised.

The full name of the church in the village of Oswaldkirk (which means Oswald’s Church) is the Church of St Oswald, King and Martyr. St Oswald (died 642) was a King of Northumbria, the kingdom included most of Yorkshire at one time or another. Oswald converted to Christianity as a young man in exile on the island of Iona, a hotbed of celtic Christianity whilst the rest of Britain was mostly pagan. He regained his kingdom as a Christian and then made it his mission to spread the new religion. He died in battle against pagan Mercians in 642, hence the title of Martyr. His body was supposedly cut up in a pagan ritual, but this meant his body parts were them disseminated across the country, and even onto the continent, as inspirational Christian relics.

St Cuthbert (died 687) was a monk for most of his life, he was the Prior on Lindisfarne before he gave it up to become a hermit on one of the nearby Inner Farne islands. After his death he became a very popular saint widely venerated across the north of England and beyond, probably because of his steadfastness and asceticism as well as his holiness. Over 400 years later he was said to have had an incorrupt corpse when dug up, which always makes an impression. St Aiden (died 651) was the first Prior on Lindisfarne and seems to have had a similar character and calling to Cuthbert, but he ended up partly eclipsed by his successor in the saint popularity stakes. Although there are many St Cutchbert’s Churches round and about the Norht York Moors, but only one within, at Kildale. But there are two St Aidan’s, in Oswaldkirk and in Carlton.

St Hilda (died 680) as an Abbess had status in the Christian hierarchy which gave her authority and influence in her lifetime, her personal qualities meant that continued after her death. She was an advocate of education, and her own wisdom was greatly valued. She was first an Abbess at Hartlepool before re-founding the Abbey of Whitby (not the current ruin), where monks and nuns lived separately but worshipped together. She hosted the important Synod of Whitby in 663/4 at which it was decided that the future of the English church should be Roman. Like Cuthbert, after her death Hilda was widely venerated in the north of England. There are St Hilda’s Churches in Ampleforth, Beadlam, Danby and Hinderwell – which is a derivation of the name Hilda’s well.

The church in Lastingham is named after St Chad but it is St Cedd, his brother, who is buried in the crypt. St Cedd (died 664) was an important person in the hierarchy of the Anglo-Saxon church, as well as founding a monastery at Lastingham he evangelized all over England and was known as the bishop of the East Saxons i.e. Essex. St Chad (died 672) succeeded him as Abbot of Lastingham but spent much of his time converting the re-occuring Mercians in the midlands of England. Both brothers learned their ‘trade’ on Lindisfarne before being sent out by various Christian kings of Northumbria to convert the pagans in the rest of England. There are also St Chad’s Churches in Sproxton and Hutton le Hole.

St Caedmon (died 680) is a particularly local saint, he was possibly a herdsman from Whitby before he became a monk at Whitby Abbey whilst Hilda was the Abbess. He never had a position of authority like the other saints mentioned, he did however have a gift for composing poetry in the vernacular which illustrated Christian stories and ideas, so helping to spread the faith. One thing to note is that there are no churches dedicated to St Caedmon, but he does get to patronise a school in Whitby.

SEGMENTED EMBANKED PIT ALIGNMENTS

Segmented Embanked Pit Alignments (SEPA) are an historic earthwork feature of the north east of the North York Moors, identified by the Royal Commission on the Historical Monuments of England as a specific type of monument in the 1990s. Previously this type of feature had been classed as a double pit alignment – two lines of pits marking a boundary. A SEPA earthwork however is made up of two or three pairs of pits inside two parallel enclosing banks largely made from the spoil from the pits, these are generally in what appear to be conjoined segments. The segmentation suggests development over time rather than a linear structure created in one go as a land boundary.

In each case the SEPAs appear to be aligned with nearby Bronze Age barrows (burial mounds), which suggest the SEPA are Bronze Age too and could have had a related ritual purpose. The alignment of all the SEPAs is north-west to south-east. This alignment seems to have taken precedence to any alignment with the barrows. The parallel banks were oddly low, which means the earthworks were not prominent in the landscape when they were constructed, unlike the barrows.

No similar features have been identified in the rest of Britain. SEPAs are therefore particularly important and are now scheduled along with their associated barrows. There are three locations of SEPA earthworks within ten miles of each other – on Middle Rigg, Easington High Moor (SM 1020351), on Danby Rigg (SM 1018782) and on Ugthorpe Moor (SM 1016532 and SM 1016533). Graham Lee, our previous Archaeological Conservation Officer, believes there is also a SEPA monument near to Boltby aligned to a nearby scheduled round barrow (SM 1010343).

SHEEP

Sheep are the main stock animal farmed in the North York Moors. According to Defra’s June 2016 agricultural census returns, there were 296,120 sheep in the National Park at that time, five and a half times the number of cattle. Why the pastures, grasslands and moors of the North York Moors are used for sheep is based on current economics and a couple of centuries of custom. Sheep can manage on open moorland for a lot of the year without much input if they’re hefted – which means when a flock keeps to a certain part of an area because of learnt behaviour, rather than needing fencing. But just like there are a variety of different habitats and landscapes in the North York Moors, there are a variety of different sheep breeds and farming methods, and not all North York Moors sheep spend summer amongst the heather.

One of the main breeds in the North York Moors are Blackface. Blackface sheep are hardy and easily hefted, so good on northern hills. Mixing sheep breeds to develop sheep that best suit local conditions and to accentuate their best commercial features is an ongoing endeavour amongst sheep farmers. A mule is a cross breed sheep, mixing the qualities of a Blackface sheep with a more commercial breed either for wool or for meat.

Ram, ewe and lamb are common enough descriptive nouns for sheep, but there are a lot more you’ll need to know if you want to talk sheep with a North York Moors farmer. For instance a tup is another name for a ram, a wether is a castrated male lamb, a hog is an older lamb more than a year old, a gimmer is an older lamb which will be used for breeding.

If you want to find out more about sheep, and who wouldn’t – have a look at the National Sheep Association’s very informative website.

SMUGGLING and other criminal enterprises

The North York Moors has high cliffs, sheltered coves and small fishing villages on its eastern coastal edge. So ideal for people with boats in the 17th to 19th centuries  to bring in comestibles whilst avoiding being made to pay custom and excise duties due to the government. This smuggling was never on the scale of that in the south of England because of the distance from the continent, but there were local opportunities for small boats to go out to sea and collect goods from passing ships.

The fact that the terrain of the North York Moors and distance from authority meant it was difficult to collect duties plus the fact that many people didn’t want to pay the duties, together meant organised criminal enterprise was rife. There weren’t very many ways of making money, smuggling was one, as long as you weren’t caught and potentially transported or executed.

Goods were landed, held in coastal villages and farms, and then distributed, all the while the Customs and Excise Officers tried to prevent this with varying enthusiasm and results. The British Government used money from duties to help finance numerous wars in Europe and so always wanted to collect as much money as possible because wars are always expensive. Customs were levied on imported foreign goods (charged at recognised ports) and excise was levied on domestic production.

Such widespread smuggling reached a peak of activity at the beginning of the nineteenth century during the Napoleonic Wars. It wasn’t all brandy, silk and tea however, another comestible which suffered from a high rate of tax was salt, both home produced and imported. The Wagon and Horses Inn, just north of the Hole of Horcum, was surrounded by treacherous and secretive moorland, it was also alongside the main road across the moors connecting the coast around Whitby and the south to Pickering, York and beyond. The name of the inn underlines the importance of the location for transportation, and because of this location it became a criminal hub. Untaxed salt was held at the inn, fisherman from the coast would bring in their fish to be salted and then moved on to be sold. Salted fish could be transported more widely and therefore could make more profit, as long as the salt was untaxed. Everyone knew what was happening and there were frequent raids by Excise Officers. The story goes that on one occasion a single Excise Officer managed to catch the felons by surprise, and he ended up murdered. Elements of stories then got muddled up together. The body is supposed to have been buried under the fire place, a tradition was established that the fire should never be allowed to got out else the devil would arise or the ghost of the murdered man would seek revenge or more prosaically the body might be discovered.

Later the Wagon and Horses was renamed the Saltersgate Inn, the wider site is now called Saltergate. It’s obvious what the first part of the name signifies, and the word ‘gate’ means a road. The Saltersgate Inn recently fell into dereliction, it is due to be demolished and the site redeveloped. So far no body has been found.

SOCIAL CAPITAL

Social capital is defined by Wikipedia as a form of economic and cultural capital in which social networks are central; transactions are marked by reciprocity, trust and cooperation; and market agents produce goods and services not mainly for themselves, but for a common good.

We’ve recently helped a PhD student from Bangor University by putting him in touch with North York Moors Farmers willing to answer questions about what it is that motivates them to engage (or not) with high nature value farming and/or agri-environment schemes.

The research being undertaken is aiming to identify social capital types within farmer groups. It is recognised that there will be significant impacts on farming communities, especially upland livestock farmers, as a result of agriculture policy changes post-Brexit. So having an understanding of how resilient communities are and how able they are to adapt to change will be valuable in the design and potential success of future land management schemes seeking to deliver environmental outcomes. An aim of this research is to try and understand whether high levels of social capital are a driver that encourages a farmer’s participation in high nature value farming and/or engagement in agri-environment schemes? whether a farmer’s participation leads to greater levels of social capital? or are there other drivers that come into play?  Whatever conclusions are drawn from this research, one thing is certain – there must have been some very interesting conversations being had around farmhouse kitchen tables over the past few weeks!

SUNDEW

On particularly wet peaty acidic areas of moorland you might find Round-leaved Sundew Drosera rotundifolia. It grows low to the ground with upright stems and small white flowers in the summer. Sundews use photosynthesis like many plants to make glucose for energy, but plants also tend to need nutrients and minerals usually obtained by their roots from the soil they grow in. But the wet soils on which this species live have few nutrients and minerals because these have leached away. Many plants would find this habitat too inhospitable but Drosera rotundifolia has a proactive solution to supplementing its diet. It has leaves with sticky inward curving hairs in which unsuspecting insects get trapped when they come to look for nectar, and are then slowly digested by enzymes. It is one of a number of carnivorous plants across the world.

Previously on the North York Moors A to Z … A, B, C, D, E, F, G, H, I, J, K, L, M, N, O , P, Q, R

What happened next?

Before Love in the Countryside, there was Sunley’s Daughter.

Back in the 1970s, Barry Cockcroft made a series of documentary programmes for Yorkshire Television portraying engaging characters living a rural life in the north of the county – the most famous of which was Too Long a Winter which starred Hannah Hauxwell farming in Baldersdale in the North Pennines.

There were also a couple of programmes set in the Cleveland Hills/Esk Dale in the north of the North York Moors. One – The Children of Eskdale – has already featured on this Blog. The other is Sunley’s Daughter, filmed in 1974. Like the other episodes the idea was to document real people’s lives in such a way as to construct a ‘drama’, a human interest story.

The Sunley family live on a tenanted farm near Gerrick – Joe Sunley, the patriarch figure, Connie Sunley, his wife, and one remaining child, Mary whose four siblings have all moved away. In this north west corner of the North York Moors it isn’t the climate that is harsh enough to make a story, instead it is the atypical life of 25 year old Mary. Mary works on the dairy farm – hard physical labour – seven days a week. She has done so for years, and will do so for years to come as long as her parents are alive and keep the tenancy of the farm. The farm can’t be passed down, it belongs to the local estate – Ringrose Wharton (now Skelton & Gilling). A farm under tenancy means there is not the incentive to invest in the farm and its machinery, even if Joe Sunley wanted to, which he doesn’t. He wants to live by the tenets of the Bible – a hard life makes that easier to do. He chooses not to have electricity, as he chooses not to celebrate birthdays or Christmas – and so neither do his family, the interviewer gets his wife to admit she misses the electricity. Joe perseveres (a biblical maxim); as Connie says ‘he’ll never give in’. Interestingly Joe doesn’t come from the expected cliché of generations of local farming stock – his father was an ironstone miner and he himself was a fitter until the Great Depression. He worked his way up using allotments for growing vegetables, rearing chickens, making ice cream in Guisborough, before finally getting himself a farming tenancy. Connie worked alongside him all the way.

What Joe, along with a number of other working farmers in the East Cleveland Hills, takes particular satisfaction in is the breeding of Cleveland Bay horses – a local native breed, highly valued today. You see Joe riding a horse, he used to plough with them; the Cleveland Bay is known as a working horse despite looking like a million dollars. The breed declined in the 20^th century and during that time it was Joe Sunley and his neighbours that kept it alive. Joe Sunley is and was a renowned breeder, he sold horses to the Queen of England and the Emperor of Japan, but he’s definitely not going to let that make him a fortune. The programme doesn’t explain why he does it, maybe it’s another thing to strive at, to give him a sense of achievement. His horses in particular seem extremely spirited.

According to the programme for Mary every day is the same … until she meets Jim Smith, a farm labourer on the next door farm. He asks her out, and after a year they are engaged. That’s Part One of the programme. Part Two appears to be working up to a marriage and to establishing a new future for Mary. I don’t mean to spoil the programme’s ending for you – but this doesn’t happen. Mary is a thoughtful woman, she has made sense of her life. Like her mother, she’s more passive than proactive, she wants to ‘wait and see’ and expect there will be ‘more chances’ to come for her and Jim. She’s not ready to go at that time.

One of the main themes presented is the unchanging nature of the Sunley’s lives, but this is exaggerated because around them times are changing as they inevitably do. The farm next door has a milking machine, and productive Friesian dairy cows. The Estate Manager at Skelton Castle talks about the expected ingress of Teesside and expanding urbanisation impacting on the Cleveland Hills. He recognises that small farms will become unviable and suggests Jim will need 400 to 500 acres of farmland (150 to 200 hectares) to support a family. For Jim as a farm labourer buying a farm is impossible, and estate farms to rent are few and far between – they’re trapped between lack of income and tradition. There is an opportunity for Jim to work on a ‘modern’ farm at Dunsley, near Whitby, for an 11 hour day at £31 a week (c. £225 today) but with the advantage of having a tied house for him and Mary to live in, as long as they’re married.

But it’s not all Cold Comfort Farm. Mary has been ‘outside’, to Leeds, to Middlesbrough, to Scotland; that may not seem very exotic but it’s not unusual for the 1970s. Mary is allowed to go out with Jim and to get engaged – she’s not forbidden by her father. She curls her hair and goes to the dance at the local Village Hall. The clothes and hair of the people at the dance, mainly women and girls, are very much of the 1970s even if the music is not. Mary’s father acknowledges her value, her mother says she would miss her.

It’s difficult to imagine how the programme got made. Barry Cockcroft must have been good at getting circumspect people to trust him enough to allow him to film them and to tell stories about their lives. The dialogue is encouraged, not coached – the men are much keener on speaking their minds than the women. The programme may over emphasise the romantic music, maybe it’s a bit patronising, maybe it pushes Mary a bit too much to try and get her to react. But it’s interesting for a number of reasons –  reflecting farming in the 1970s, capturing real people only a couple of generations ago even if it is in a directed documentary, or maybe it’s just because of the human interest in the realistic rather than fairy tale ending. I wonder what happened to Mary and Jim – but that’s their business, not mine.

Funding up for grabs

Amy Thomas – North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme Manager

After an unavoidable slow start to the current North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme, we are finally underway and picking up speed!

We have around £400,000 of funding already allocated to a range of projects and businesses across our LEADER area. We want more projects to come forward so we can make the most of the money allocated for this area.

We are ideally looking for projects wanting a contribution towards capital works, which can spend by March 2019, and which will result in the creation of new employment opportunities, will help an existing business to grow, will support the visitor economy, or which will help a new business to get started.

Projects need to fit one of these priorities:

• farming and forestry
• micro / small business
• tourism
• rural services
• culture and heritage

With recently supported projects ranging from a whiskey distillery to a mobile sheep handling unit, and a new coffee shop to a robotic milking machine, there are lots of ways in which we may be able to help you, your business or your community.

Anyone considering making an application for their business is likely to be eligible for up 40% towards costs, whilst projects which are for a wider public benefit could receive a higher percentage. To find out more the best place to start is our Programme website or you can get in touch with me to chat options though on 01439 772700 or by email. LEADER might be just what you’re looking for.

 

Helping turn plans into profit

Amy Thomas – North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme Manager

It’s great to be able to start a new year with some good news – so we are very pleased to say that the North York Moors, Coast and Hills LEADER Programme is now open for business again.

LEADER funding is for projects that create jobs and help businesses grow and which therefore benefit the rural economy.

Between now and September 2018 the LEADER Programme in the North York Moors, Coast and Hills area is looking to support applications for projects or activity under the following four priorities:

1. Farm Productivity;
2. Micro and Small Business & Farm Diversification;
3. Rural Tourism; and
4. Forestry Productivity.

Farm Productivity
As an important and significant economic sector in the wider North York Moors area, the Programme wants to support the agricultural sector to grow and become more profitable. Applications under this priority need to help improve your farms productivity. Examples of potential activities include:

• The purchase of equipment to improve the efficiency of use of water, energy, fertilizer, and animal feeds such as LED lighting in livestock sheds,
  specialist drills and crop robotics;
• Support for businesses which process, market or develop agricultural products both on and off farm holdings, for example food and drink businesses and butchery facilities; or
• Improvements to animal health and welfare for example gait analysis systems, mobile handling systems, and electronic weight systems linked to EID (electronic identification) readers.

Micro and Small Businesses
LEADER wants to help establish, support and grow micro and small businesses in the area. Investments can be made which will help you produce more or something new, or help you access new markets or link up with other businesses in the area. All applications will need to show that the investment will directly result in increased employment opportunities and / or growth of the business. Farm diversification activities are also eligible.

Rural Tourism
Tourism is another key element of our local economy. The LEADER Programme wants to support tourism businesses to improve their offer to visitors, to be more innovative in the use of technology, and to extend the season which will increase footfall and visitor spending in the area. Visitor attractions, facilities, products and services can all be considered. To be successful your application will need to show that jobs will be created and that the economy will benefit as a result of any funding being awarded.

Forestry Productivity
Our fourth priority is forestry. LEADER wants to support forestry contracting businesses or private forestry holdings requiring equipment and machinery to help produce, extract or process both timber and non-timber products. Continuing with the economic theme of the Programme, your application will need to show that LEADER funding will help create employment opportunities, and add value to the timber / forest products, as well as improve woodland management.

Our area has inspiring landscapes, unique attractions, notable assets and resourceful people – LEADER funding can help make more of these benefits. If you have plans for your farm, your business, your community, it would be well worth having a look at what LEADER is offering.

Full details on how to apply, including the Outline Application (and a list of eligible / ineligible equipment), can be found on our website – www.moorscoastandhills.org.uk

Our website also has a lot more information on LEADER, but if you have any questions or queries, or would like to talk through a potential project or application in advance of submitting an Outline Application, then please don’t hesitate to get in touch with me.