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A Leaf From Sycamore-June 2005
E-mail address sycamore@daycentre.wanadoo.co.uk or
e-mail angela@kershaw.org A Leaf from SycamoreEditorial
Well time has raced by and believe it or not it is a year since we published our very first newsletter. Front cover is the new mini-bus on the day it arrived, a bit of colour there as well. A new activity acquired this month was indoor/outdoor floor skittles. We will eventually buy a table tennis table for the day centre but are waiting until we get into the new building as storage has become quite limited. Please note:The name of the new Extra Care Housing scheme at Bainbridge needs to be decided on very soon. Anyone wishing to contribute a suggestion can e-mail di.stephenson@northyorks.gov.uk or telephone High Hall 01969 650316 Sycamore ResidentsSycamore Close Lunch at Kearton Guest House in Swaledale Monday June 20th.
We really could not have wished for a better day for our trip out for lunch at Kearton Guest House.
After lunch we headed off for a short run over the tops to Nateby then back towards Sedbergh before returning home. The Paparazzi comes to town.Photo shot at Sycamore June 2nd Richmondshire District Councils Communications Officer Fiona Hall came to Sycamore Close with a photographer to write an article about Ida Millin and Stan Brook in relation to our website content and also how we are recording the Extra Care development here at Sycamore Close. The finished articleWeb site keeps track of Extra Care Housing Scheme Progress. www.sycamoreclose.com has been launched by activities organiser, Angela Kershaw. In addition to information about the extra care scheme, High Hall Residential Home and the Day Centres, the site contains a comprehensive photo library of pictures taken throughout the development process. “I started posting photos on the website for Sycamore Close Rebuild several months ago”, explains Mrs Kershaw. “Residents whose windows overlook the building site are very helpful in letting me take photos of the development.” “Building work surrounds us now, and will do for the foreseeable future”, says warden, Christine Thwaite. “We want to keep residents up to date with what is happening, and now the building work is well under-way, things are changing all the time.” By early 2007, the original sheltered housing will have been demolished, and residents of Sycamore Close and nearby High Hall Residential Home will be living in 40 self-contained flats. A day centre, treatment room, assisted bathing and Buggy Park plus community facilities such as a dining room, lounges, laundry room and hair dressing salon will also be constructed over the coming months.
The initiative means Ida Millin, who has lived at Sycamore Close for the past nine years, can keep family in Australia up to date with the progress of work on her new home. “This is an IT project which really involves the residents and day centre members”, added District Council ward member, Councillor Yvonne Peacock. “As well as keeping residents and their families in touch with what is happening here, the project is, in effect, creating a local history archive.” In fact, local history is a theme running throughout the website. Sycamore Close resident Stan Brook has his own pages, chronicling his life. From growing up in West Burton, to serving in World War Two, and then returning to Upper Wensleydale. Stan has recorded it all, complete with digitally restored photographs.
“We would also welcome information about the history of High Hall” says Angela Kershaw. You can e-mail Angela at angela@kershaw.org or Tel: 01969663652 Bainbridge Extra Care Housing.
How it is coming along!
Well it's only June but already Sycamore residents have been given a choice of the bedroom furniture they would like in their new flats.
Light oak, dark oak or white. The weather has been good for building work. Ground floor windows are in place and looking good. The electricians and plumbers have begun putting in the services. The roof trusses have arrived and are already being put into place. Almost all of the stonework to the second floor is now completed. Sycamore Close Day CentreHotters ShoesA sale of good quality shoes and slippers was held at Sycamore Close on Wednesday 26th May We opened to the general public as well as Sycamore Close and High Hall residents in respect of an open house policy that we try to follow here at Sycamore day centre. When we move into the new building it will become a lot easier for us all to join together for special events. It was a great success. Friends met up for coffee and a chat. We sold quite a few pairs of shoes and slippers and ‘The Shoe Box’ is going to come back again in the winter. The coffee and home baking were supplied by Christine the warden. New mini-busNew community mini-bus arrived in Bainbridge on Friday 20th May 2005. It is a bright yellow bus so we will not be mistaken for anyone else and it has already been nicknamed the yellow banana.
Sycamore day centre arrived in the mini-bus on the village green at 11.25. We felt quite honoured. There was an opportunity for everyone to have a good look at the new bus.
A superb buffet was laid on at the village hall by the mini-bus com-mittee. Ann Hall did the catering (many thanks). The mini-bus is used primarily by High Hall and Sycamore Close Day Centres but will also be available for hire. Contact Booking Secretary 01969 650918 Sponsors for the new community mini-bus were:-
Mystery tour Friday 27th May 2005
We were a little late setting off so we decided to go to Aysgarth Falls and then to the Coppice Coffee Shop for tea and cake or an ice-cream or both. Liz ordered fruit cake with Wensleydale cheese. I’m sure there must have been favouritism as her cake and cheese were huge. I wish I had ordered it. Karen has just bought some new square plates in black gloss and they look fantastic. After tea Mary went into the café and bought several cakes and some home made chutney to take home for later. The weather forecast had been poor but we were lucky it was very warm and we were able to eat outside on the decking. Decimus DurhamEvery year in May when my mum was a very young girl she used to be taken to Thoralby Feast with friends and her cousins who were quite a bit older than her. They would give her fairings. They teased her and tried to get her to use her fairings to buy fruit from Decimus Durham’s fruit stall.
Dorothy’s mum was not taken in as she knew that the lovely polished fruit and apples on his stall had previously had paraffin dripped all over them from his leaking lamps. Decimus used his not too clean handkerchief to clean off the paraffin and polish the fruit, but goodness knows what he left on the fruit from his hanky. Mary Johnson Fancy Dress at Hawes Gala
This year at Hawes Gala the theme was VE day 60th Anniversary celebrations. A few months ago Mary brought in some photos of herself dressed as Captain Mannering to put on her web page along with other bits and pieces about what she is doing now. Last week we made some A4 posters of the photos and went round some of the shops and hotels in Hawes and the proprietors were only too willing to display them for us in their victory window displays. So Mary was able to enter the fancy dress once more, this time by proxy. PS The photos generated a lot of interest. Stan and Dr PicklesThe Influenza Epidemic of the 1930s.
I was sat out on the flags in West Burton with my arm around my dog, his name was Topper when Dr. Pickles My mother said when you go, go by the fields and see if you can find a rabbit in the walls. That I did but I didn’t find a rabbit.
I got to the surgery and Madge the dispenser put all this medicine into a foot square box that had been used for carrying bottles. She took out all the compartments and filled it with medicines. She tied it all up with string and made a string handle for me.
The string had cut my hand even though Madge had wrapped the string with corrugated cardboard.
Most of my friends contracted the flu and respiratory complications but I was lucky and didn’t catch anything. Fortunately no-one actually died during the outbreak. 80th Birthday CelebrationsDorothy Lambert celebrated her 80th birthday with us on the 18th of May The Marsetts Minstrels provided the entertainment.
We had a super party and a beautiful cake was provided by Dorothy’s daughter Heather. The Marsett Minstrels are a group of musicians and singers who tour the dales bringing music to groups like ourselves. We always have a great time when they come to entertain us and our members have asked if we can have them back at Christmas. A Memory
This little piece was recited by my daughter Valerie when she was just three years old.
I have a lovely home with every single thing High Hall NewsAt last spring is here and we have had a bit of good weather which tends to cheer everyone up a little. We have also taken delivery of our brand new mini bus. It is bright yellow so by now I should think most people have seen it up and down the dale. At the beginning of the month there was a trip over to Swaledale to enjoy the views then coming back via Reeth and having an ice cream on the green. Last week they though they should have a trip out in the new bus so they went out for a ride around and over to Kearton Hotel for a cream tea or whatever took their fancy. It was a lovely Bank Holiday weekend and travellers were passing through to go to Appleby so some of us went to the green to look at the horses and lovely caravans. Norman and Richard watched from the seats outside the Rose and Crown. We are now having regular bingo and dominoes on Wednesday afternoons in the lounge. Come along and win a prize. It’s nice to have the light evenings, let’s hope we can look forward to a nice warm summer so we can sit outside and enjoy the sunshine. EveningBy Percy Bysshe Shelly 1792-1822
The sun is set; the swallows are asleep Letter from Lucy (My christening)
My auntie Marnie has been to America and when she came back she brought me a real American Indians moccasins made from deerskin.
After church when we went up to Horrabank, I looked in the house and there was lots of food and even more people. I thought, huh! we are having a party but it’s not my birthday. Later on when we had eaten the food a big cake was put in front of me with a dog and chickens on it from my auntie Barbara. Ooh! Yummy. Then they gave me a big knife to cut it with but I’m only small and it was too heavy for me so I got some help. People also gave me lots of presents. Mummy says I can’t have them all at the moment as some she has to keep until I am a big girl. I have been paddling in my stream to keep cool and the tadpoles have been nibbling at my toes. Mummy bought me a fishing net so I can catch them. She said if I wait a bit they will turn into tadpoles with four legs and then I can call them frogs. There are a lot of funny things happen around me that I don’t understand yet but when I am two I think I will. By from me Love Lucy 2005 xxxxxx JOKESGranny
Tom did not want to have his face washed. His granny said that she had washed her face twice a day ever since she was a little girl. The railway station
‘Ticket Sir?’ said an inspector at a railway station to a man who had been a season ticket holder for many years and felt that he was well known enough not to have to show his ticket. QuotationDolly Parton says “If you want to see a rainbow you have to put up with the rain” Learn to Laugh
Whenever you laugh, your body releases chemicals called endorphins which have an action similar to morphine - they make you feel good.
A good way to unwind each evening is to watch something funny on the television or a book of humour or old radio comedy programs. Tips
RecipeChuck away those plastic pizzas from the supermarket and get out your stotties or bread buns to make these delicious quick and simple pizzas. Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden
Upon his father’s death, Frank and his first wife Mary moved back to Frank’s childhood home, Heather cottage (opposite the rock garden) and proceeded to convert it into a state of the art Edwardian house, embracing the Arts & Crafts movement of the time.
Frank’s overriding passion however was for things horticultural. He planted fields of tulips and daffodils as well as at least two plantations of trees around the village. Rose Cottage (renamed Springhill) was his own private nursery.
The Rockery in 1907 with seating in front of the rockery
Over in York were the famous alpine specialists and nurserymen Mssrs. James Backhouse & Son whose nursery at the time was larger than Kew. Rock gardening was undergoing a popular revival and the Backhouse nursery led the field of building walk-through Rock Gardens, typically in large estates, to house the new and fashionable plants, that were arriving from overseas, in a natural setting.
At the Backhouse nursery at Acomb was their own show piece Rock Garden and also an underground fernery. Sadly the nursery was demolished in the 1950’s. In 1906 Frank Sayer-Graham commissioned Backhouse to create his own personal Rock Garden complete with mountain stream and pool. The development took the best part of 8 years, the rock being brought down from Stephen’s moor at Thornton Rust. Each boulder was transported on a low horse-drawn cart.
The construction was overseen by one of Backhouse’s top foremen WA Clark: To the rear of the Rock Garden, Frank planted a vegetable garden, his own personal touch. As the sign says on the gate this was very much a private garden.Locals who remember Frank all bear testimony to the fact that they were not welcome in his garden.
Following Franks death, the Rock Garden has had several owners. In 1988 when it was proposed to demolish the Rock Garden and develop the site, there was local uproar and English Heritage had it emergency Grade 11 listed, highly unusual as listing normally only covers buildings. One owner, determined to make it a money making venture selling garden gnomes. Having spent good money on a TV advertising campaign the venture was doomed to failure, as the local youth armed with air rifles deemed the gnomes as good target practice.
Evidence of dismembered gnomes was uncovered during restoration. The Restoration
The rockery looked more like a rain forest. Railings were in need of repair, 10cm of stone wall had vanished, the stream and pool defunct. Following extensive research, we soon began to appreciate the Rock Garden not only as a unique piece of Aysgarth’s history but as being of national horticultural significance too. We resolved to return it to its former glory for the benefit of not only ourselves but others too. As with all these things though, it soon became apparent that the main stumbling block was money. The following 3 and a half years were spent searching for funding. Just as hope of ever finding money was fading The Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund stepped in with an 80% grant. Once the grant was obtained the National Park Authority donated their consultancy time, the Royal Horticultural Society and Nat West Bank Made contributions as did some local villagers. We have personally funded the remainder and undertaken to maintain the Rock Garden for 10 years. The restoration began in October 2002 and after extensive replanting completed in April 2003. The garden was officially opened in July 2003 by Eric Robson and both the restoration and opening were filmed by Tyne Tees TV. The two-part documentary “The Secret Garden” was first screened in September 2003. Answer to brain teaser 12 Crossword Answers Across: 3 Camel hair; 8 Tack; 9 Trac-ings; 10 Tulips; 12 Pen; 15 Eaten;16 Mill; 17 Still; 19 Tire; 20 Axiom; 21 Act; 25 Berths; 26 Mona Li-sa; 27 Tree; 28 Portraits. Down: 1 Statuette; 2 Sculpture; 4 Arts; 5 Erase; 6 Hail; 7 Iago; 11 Puns; 12 Paint; 13 Miniature; 14 Old Master; 18 Lake; 22 China; 23 Polo; 24 Last; 25 Bait. Pages that link to this page: A Leaf From Sycamore |
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Noticeboard Page updated: 5/11/2005 |
Our very first outing with the new mini-bus. Not quite the mystery tour we had planned.
On the 12th of June my mummy put a posh frock on me (she even put one on herself) and I went to church. When we got there I sat right at the front with mummy and daddy. I had a quick look round and I could see my grandma and auntie Marnie and some more of my friends and relatives.
Aysgarth Edwardian Rock Garden was commissioned by Frank Sayer-Graham (1859-1946). He was a local landowner who traded in silver rabbits fur which he farmed at the purpose built warren, below the renowned Lady Hill, to the west of Aysgarth. It is reputed that he supplied the last Czar of Russia with fur for a stole.
He also exported rare gull’s eggs to Europe.
It was of course the era of the great plant hunters, such as Reginald Farrer, who were bring new and exciting plants into the country for the first time.
This is a photo of Herbert Robinson who was gardener/handyman to Mrs. Sayer. His nickname was Bonar Calino after a famous film star of the time.
In 1998 we bought Heather Cottage, which came complete with Rock Garden. Little did we realise what we were taking on. Self seeded Ash and Sycamore trees covered much of the rock threatening to undermine its structure. Brambles and nettles ran amok, particularly in the vegetable garden.
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