by C. E. A. Burnham The true tale of how an Emperor and later a Pope wrestled with the Bit. On one of his campaigns Julius Caesar found legions experiencing winter conditions when, according to the calendar, it should have been high summer. The blame for the mishap is laid solely on the calendar which at that time had a year of exactly 365 days. But the time taken by our Earth to describe one circuit of the Sun is more nearly 365 1/4. (Not that Caesar would have expressed it in this way! ) So that thecalendar was slow [...]

By J. D. Marshall Students of Warton history are well aware how fortunate they are in having such a local recorder as the remarkable John Lucas. Professor V.G. Hoskins in his 1966 inaugural lecture at the University of Leicester, had this to say about Lucas.1 ' … parish histories, when they began to flow in the eighteenth century, tended to be written by parsons and to be mostly concerned with the squire and his relations. There were of course notable exceptions to these generalisations, but they stand out because they are so rare, like John Lucas's History of Warton in [...]

The following letter is one of the documents belonging to the Quakers of the Yealand Meeting. Thomas Cummings went to America in 1728 and settled in Chester, Pennsylvania, a few miles south of Philadelphia on the Delaware River. He is writing to his cousin Edward Cummings of ’Hilderstone nr Yealand'. (The original letter was almost entirely without punctuation. I have punctuated this transcript to make it easier to read and, I hope, grasp the sense of the letter. The last three paragraphs here were one paragraph in the original. Some explanatory notes follow.) Chester on Delawar 1st mo, the 23d, [...]

H.J. "H. J." knew Morecambe when the trams on the front were horse-drawn, and he retired to this area over a quarter of a century ago. But his origins and main career were in farming in Lincolnshire. He recalls in this first article aspects of his childhood and family and village life and of farming in the Fens in the early part of this century. "I was born in Sempringham Fen in 1903 and baptised at Sempringham Priory. My father was a farmer and moved to Rippingale at that period. My parents were happy, hard-working people, and my father was [...]

"Saw ye the charming Ettie, As she swept along the vale? There is no girl so pretty In our glorious Silverdale. Mr Burrow of Silverdale, a former member of the Society brought Mr Abbot's poems to light. A Mrs Cole, an Abbot descendant, researching her family, saw a known name over the Butcher's shop in Silverdale and stopped to make enquiries. Mrs Cole has kindly supplied the details of Richard Abbot's life and a copy of his poems. In 1901 a Richard Abbot published, in Darlington, a book of poems. He was 82 years old then, and much of the [...]

By Kate Hodgson The Victorian Age beckoned to the MLHS Society for its December Meeting last year. Plans were made - our normal venue was excellent for the project with its panelled walls, and the Sisters of Hyning prepared a magnificent fire in the grand fire place which danced and crackled its merry way throughout the evening. As well as the usual decoration of holly and ivy, we had an impressive display of Miss Field's grandmother's betrothal dress in black (in a grosgrain type material) and beautifully made for a very slim woman. Evidentially betrothals were great events with a [...]

By Jean Chatterley Introduction A small but very old booklet was donated to the Mourholme archive collection some time ago by Mr R. Clements. Called 'A Warder’s Experiences in Lancaster Castle’, it gives an interesting insight into prison life there some 100 years ago. The book is based on a lecture read in The Lecture Room, High Street, Lancaster, by 'the late Mr Isaac Smith', and it is illustrated by some grim pictures representing scenes of life inside. Written for visitors to Lancaster, the book begins by outlining the Castle's long history, but the rest is based, as the title [...]

By Nancy Thomas The following is neither an ’article' nor a ’document' as such; it is an entertaining and interesting short extract from an account or day book kept by Abraham Rawlinson, Esq, of Ellel Hall, in the 1780's1. This gentleman was one of a very large, well-connected, and successful family of early Lancaster industrialists and West Indian traders, and the grandson of Abraham Rawlinson, the Iron Founder. You may wonder what the Rawlinsons of Ellel and Lancaster have to do with Warton parish. Actually, that is the very question I was trying to answer when I came across this [...]

Lascelles Abercrombie (1881-1938) was another of those literary figures who were drawn to our part of Morecambe Bay. A poet and critic, he published An Essay toward a Theory of Art in 1922, from which this anecdote is taken. Mrs E. V. Foulds, who brought this piece to my attention, recalls that his visits were made to Silverdale and Grange-over-Sands. The irrepressible little boy was one of the author's three sons. I was staying a while ago with my family on the shores of Morecambe Bay. The news came one morning that a horse was in the quicksands: so we [...]

by Sheila Jones One of the most long-standing members of the Mourholme Society is Margaret Clarke who was there at its inception. Her article, “The Ancient Parish of Warton, a Background View”, is featured in the very first magazine, printed in Autumn 1982. However, the Society was born before the magazine and there was also background before the formation of the Society which Margaret was eager to talk to me about. Her enthusiasm is rooted in the feelings she had first had 48 years ago, which were still immediate to her and founded in the absolute revelation that history was [...]

By R. L. Bassenden When we consider the American connection in the ancient Parish of Warton, it is inevitable that the name Washington crosses one's mind. It is possible, however, that the Parish and in particular, Yealand, has other ties with the New World. The Thorntons were for many years influential yeomen farmers in the Lune Valley, and with the rise of non-conformism, Thomas Thornton and his wife Elizabeth appear to be the first of their namesakes to join the ranks of the Quakers. Thomas was baptised on 8 October 1648 and died on 4 June 1709, and in the [...]

By Win Hayhurst It’s a constant source of amazement to us at Borwick Hall that so many local people have no idea what we do there or anything at all about the history of this lovely old place, so I'll try to clarify the situation somewhat. In 1066 the Manor of Borwick was part of the Earl Tostig's Lordship, recorded in the Doomsday Book of 1086 as Berewic. It was one of seven manors grouped around the Beetham area under Count Roger de Poitou. The immediate owners were the De Berwick family and a certain Patrick de Berwick was mentioned [...]

By A.C.H. Olivier (Assistant Director of the Cumbria and Lancashire Archaeological Unit) Excavation of a circular dished earthwork c35m in diameter was undertaken by the Cumbria and Lancashire Archaeology Unit in advance of gravel extraction. Work was conducted on behalf of the Department of the Environment with the permission and support of Tilcon, Ltd, between 8 August 1982 and 22 October 1982. This hitherto unclassified earthwork lay on the crest of a small fluvio-glacial hillock 13.5m above ordnance datum (SD 523725), directly overlooking the valley of the river Keer as it runs into Morecambe Bay. The entire area is underlain [...]

by Audrey Fishwick Browfoot Farm lies under the slope of Cringlebarrow wood, to the south of the Silverdale Road where it turns the corner into Yealand Storrs. It is one of the oldest buildings in thearea and bears a date stone which reads W/IM 1627. I hope to research further into its earlier history, but I have already started to make records of its twentieth century history. As you will see in these extracts the records refer to a way of life that is already gone. Yealand Storrs Map with Browfoot Farm Browfoot is a tenant farm, the property of [...]

(The following article under the above title appeared in the Lancaster Gazette, 13 September 1873, reprinted from the Liverpool Albion. In the interest of space, a few passages have been omitted, either prose ‘embellishments' or technical details.) Carnforth would be nothing without its railway and smelting works; in truth, it was the former which called it into existence. Just like Crewe, no one ever heard of Carnforth until the place was fixed upon by the railway companies as a convenient site for a "junction;" and now, just as every London train stops at Crewe, so each train bound for the [...]

Clive Holden Recent advertisements for film shows at the Civic Hall in Carnforth made me think about the ‘good old days’ of the ‘Roxy’ cinema, which was Carnforth’s chief centre for indoor entertainment for many years. Not that the ‘Roxy’ was the first cinema in Carnforth; that honour belonged to the ‘Victoria Picture Palace’. I do not know when the Victoria Picture Palace showed its first film, but I have in my possession (kindly given to me many years ago by Bert Simister) an advertisement on a hardboard backing for the films on show in the week ending November 1st [...]

By Ian Wilson Today when one walks into many of British Rail's stations, it is not hard to get the feel of past glory. Carnforth Station is no exception; one has just to walk through the entrance arch to see that the main line platforms have been cut back and that the building itself is rapidly decaying. It is not hard to imagine the time not so long ago when London express trains stopped here while hundreds of people moved around the platforms in the heyday of railways. Go back a little further in time, however, and one would find [...]

by Jean Chatterley By the late 1880's, following the rapid growth of Carnforth from a village to a busy manufacturing and railway centre, the situation in regard to public health was being seen as alarming by the residents. In November 1887 the Rural Sanitary Authority (R.S.A.), a subsidiary of the Lancaster Union's Board of Guardians1, received a letter of complaint from a Carnforth resident (Lancaster Gazette 26 Nov 1887): it and the discussion which ensued illustrate the state of affairs as the time. The complaint concerned a triangular plot of land behind the writer's house, Ash Cottage, Carnforth, a former [...]

Excerpts from the Dallam Collection The following document1 is one of a group of informal papers in the Dallam collection which seem to have been the working papers of the Stewards of the Manor of Silverdale. It shows signs of having been revised and prepared for reading to a Jury. Its original references to a Queen and a plural Lordship date it about 1709-10 when Anne was Queen of England and Thomas Fletcher and Albert Hodshon were Lords of the Manor. By 1715, George I was King and John Gibson Lord of Silverdale. "1) You shall enquire of all such [...]

By David Peter The cross sands traffic, from Kent’s Bank on the west side of the Kent estuary to Hest Bank on the east, is well authenticated, and for hundreds of years this ‘road’ was followed by travellers on foot, on horseback, or in carts, carriages, and coaches between Lancaster and the north west of England. They preferred the risks attached to this eight mile crossing of the sands to the thirty mile, and often quite hazardous, alternative route via Kendal. The cross Bay ‘road’ was widely used until the opening of the UIverston-Lancaster railway, which bridged the river Kent [...]

By Basil Clarke and Joan Clarke Old local directories show that, from the mid-nineteenth to the beginning of this century, Yealand Conyers had a resident doctor. Most are merely names, but about two of them something is known. In 1855 a Dr John Walling M.D. was listed. His wife, Mary, left £2000 in 1877 to local charities to commemorate her husband's connection with the parishes of Warton, Carnforth, Silverdale and Arnside 'wherein for many years he had practised as a physician'. His tombstone in Warton churchyard shows that he was a son of John and Ellen Walling of Bradshawe Gate, [...]

By David Peter The following is a precis of a paper read at the last AGM of the Mourholme Local History Society on the 25th of March, 1982. The intention is to illustrate the value of diaries to students of local history. This particular diary was written by a certain Edward Parker, who lived in Warton and worked in Carnforth. Unfortunately, it related to one year only (1887), but it was kept in considerable detail and in copper plate handwriting. It was 'discovered after much research in the possession of one of his descendants now resident in South Wales. It [...]

By Eddie Sandes Part 1 Silverdale Eddie Sandes was probably best known locally as a Morecambe Bay fisherman, but in the 1970's Mr Bradley recorded an interview with him about his experiences as a farm hand at the end of the First World War. Mr Bradley has kindly allowed this shortened version of the tape to be printed. (A transcription of the whole tape has been put in the archives. ) When he was thirteen Eddie started working for Jonathan Robertson, first at Knowe Hill, then at Bank House Farm, living in at both places. Bank House had about forty [...]

Footeran Lane runs from the edge of Yealand Redmayne, past the village school and village to Yealand Conyers. The low-level site and hall may have been a rubbish dumping ground before the school was built in 1840. There is also a waste ground adjoining the last house Well Lane which a resident of the village, born locally in 1900, referred to as "the footeran". She recalled that this is where the refuse collectors took the rubbish they collected on their then rare visits. The origin of the name is not recorded. The question of the origin was aired in the [...]

by Diane Dey published in MLHS Magazine 2006/7 Issue 2 In pursuit of a piece of information that had no connection whatsoever with fishing, I came across a fascinating pamphlet some 70 pages in length and entitled ‘The Lancashire Sea Fisheries’, a lecture delivered in 1899 at The Chadwick Museum, Bolton by one Charles L. Jackson, member of the Institute of Civil Engineers and Honorary Naturalist Director of Southport Aquarium. Jackson was passionate about fish and sea fishing and was not only an expert on the subject but felt intimately in touch with the industry, having worked with fishermen all [...]