Antiquarian book sale at Dales Countryside Museum
There will be a sale of duplicate and antiquarian books, all from the Macfie-Calvert Collection in the Research Room, Dales Countryside Museum, Hawes. Thursday 2nd and Friday 3rd July. 10am to 3pm each day.
The Macfie-Calvert Collection (which is completely separate from that of the Museum) is maintained by a charity which works closely with the Friends of the Dales Museum (FDCM) and its local history Research Room at the Museum. All the funds raised will go towards the restoration of books in the MacFie-Calvert collection.
Eleanor Scarr, a trustee of the Macfie-Calvert Collection and vice chairman of the FDCM said: ‘We strive in the Research Room to make space for more books in our very informative collection.’
Enquiries to eleanorscarr8@gmail.com. See below for the original list of books for sale but do check with Eleanor as some have already been sold.
The original basis of the Macfie-Calvert collection was bequeathed to the people of Wensleydale by R A Scott Macfie who died in 1935.
Richard ‘Dick’ Chapman recalled that Scott Macfie had one of the finest collection of books about the dales at his home at Lunds. Scott Macfie had offered this collection to him but Dick refused as he was living in Bingley and didn’t want the books to leave the Dale.
Following Scott Macfie’s death money was raised to purchase the books and they were placed in a cabinet at Yorebridge Grammar School at Askrigg. Dick became a founding trustee of the collection.
Later the collection was moved to the Wensleydale School in Leyburn and in December 1992 it was relocated to the Askrigg home of Dick’s daughter, Denny Minnitt for safekeeping until the Local Studies Room (now The Research Room) was made ready within the renamed Dales Countryside Museum. Both Denny and her sister, Signy, became trustees of the Macfie Collection.
Bob Ellis helped to save the collection from being sold when it was at the Wensleydale School and later became a trustee. He came to an agreement with Kit Calvert for Kit’s local historical books, including a set of The Wensleydale Advertiser, to be added to the Scott Macfie collection. As others have given books to the collection this led to there being many duplicates, hence the sale of those not specifically linked to donors.
More recently Bob (who died in January 2024) with two other trustees, Eleanor Scarr and Mary Scarr, catalogued the collection and instigated a searchable catalogue. Bob did a lot of fund raising for the collection with the fees from his talks and lectures in the dale and further afield being donated to the Macfie-Calvert charitable trust. This made it possible to have books professionally rebound when necessary.
It was at one of his lectures that he met John Elphinstone, a descendant of Scott Macfie. This led to the Macfie clan from all around the world holding a family gathering at the Dales Countryside Museum in 2019 when Bob showed them the collection. They donated several other items including the portrait of Scott Macfie which now hangs in the Research Room.
Original book list: macfiecalvert
Stop Ure Pollution
Stop Ure Pollution has now issued a warning that there is a dangerous level of pollution at Aysgarth Falls for humans and dogs
I was amazed at how soon Stop Ure Pollution came into being after I wrote an editorial for the March 2024 edition of the Upper Wensleydale Newsletter (Oh For a clean River Ure!). And I have met some truly amazing people. Over 130 have signed up the campaign to fight for a cleaned-up river.
We look forward to the day when there is, once again, an abundance of insects along the River Ure, plenty of fish – and a safe place for children and adults to bathe.
Stories from the past:
One of my most interesting jobs each year is to edit Now Then, the annual magazine of the Friends of the Dales Countryside Museum at Hawes.
Last year a story about the playground at Townfoot in Hawes led to research on the presence of the Army in that area during WW2. Were they testing amphibious tanks at Gayle? Local people thought they were but maybe these were only semi-amphibious tanks. I will follow up on this for this year’s Now Then.
I’ve been collecting stories from the past from the Hawes Parish Magazines of 1896 (Street Criers of London) and also from The Church Monthly dating back to 1892 owned by St Andrew’s Church, Aysgarth, as well as those from the Heritage Event held at that church in 2009. The stories include these from 1894: how to care for horses and a ride on a railway engine; how lighthouses were powered with paraffin lanterns and using steamer horse-drawn fire engines. When rushing to a fire these days those on board the fire engine no longer have to yell ‘Fire! Fire!’ as they did in the 1890s. Nor do they have to harness horses before they could head out to a fire.
From the Heritage Event there is A Mothering Sunday story about a man who I believe remembered his mother in a most unusual way at Aysgarth church; and the Doctor’s Window.
From The Church Monthly is Children’s Playtime in early 1890s and the first two of the Rev Wood’s articles covering his natural history rambles in January and March 1892 plus some local information about Aysgarth parish at that time. The Rev Wood’s nature rambles are included in Nightingale Duet.
And there is the story about the Telegraph Messenger boys of the 1890s. In that article it was stated: ‘If on any given day the electric telegraph suddenly came to an end, business would speedily become disorganised.’ The delivery of those messages depended upon boys aged 13 to 16 working nine hour days!
Visit Penhill Benefice website for details of services in mid Wensleydale.
Personal memories:
There have been some special moments recently – such as meeting with my friend, Carolyn Murray, and hearing all about her work with Immanuel Kindergarten in Yei. In October 2021 she went to Windsor Castle to be presented with the MBE by the Princess Royal. She has returned to South Sudan again this year.
Fundraising is ongoing for the Kennel Field south of Thornton Rust which was such a special place for my late husband, David Pointon.
I own the copyright to all my articles and photographs on this website. Other material is clearly attributed.