spring newsletter 2017 -...
TRANSCRIPT
Spring
Newsletter
2017 www.place.uk.com
Please use the enclosed booking form for all PLACE events
• Forthcoming events in spring 2017 – pages 1 - 2
• News of the PLACE AGM – page 2
• Reports on events in autumn 2016 – pages 3 - 4
• New PLACE publications – page 5
• Other events that may be of interest – page 6
• Contact details for PLACE – page 6
Contents:
The talk will explore the impact of C19th industrial
developments on the landscape of the North York
Moors. Joint lecture with Yorkshire Philosophical
Society and the Royal Geographical Society, Tues.
February 14th, 7.30pm, Tempest Anderson Hall,
Yorkshire Museum, York. Entry free to PLACE
members.
Dr Louise Cooke:
Before, during and
after industry: the
North York Moors
‘This Exploited Land’
project.
To celebrate the
publication of our
new book on Winter
Walks, Margaret
Atherden will lead a
walk around the
Roman town of
Aldborough on
Thurs. 23rd February,
1.00 – c.3.30pm.
The walk of 4.3 miles will start from the public car
park in Boroughbridge (in the town centre near the
fire station on Back Lane). It is an easy walk but
walking boots are advisable. This is a free event.
Visit to Hull To celebrate Hull’s
status as ‘city of
culture 2017’, Richard
Leggott will lead us
on a walking tour of
the city on Thurs. 9th
March.
The tour of the Old Town will pass the Ferens Art
Gallery, the Maritime Museum, Holy Trinity Church,
the Hull and East Riding Archaeology Museum, the
Transport Museum and the Slavery Museum in
Wilberforce House. There will be a break for lunch,
when we can sample the local eateries. We shall
then proceed by the Princes and Humber Docks to
the Humber Waterfront, where we can see the Deep
(a marine aquarium). Meet at 11.30am by the statue
of Philip Larkin on the concourse of Hull Paragon
railway station (the bus station is adjacent). The tour
will end about 3.00pm. Cost: £5.00 per person.
People through
the Mill: past
and present.
A joint walk with
members of the
Royal
Geographical
Society.
Saturday 29th April, Manningham, Bradford.
The walk will be led by Peter Nias of the RGS and
will focus on how Manningham has changed, both
physically and in human terms, from being
Bradford’s C19th/20th international textile hub to an
area with a new global outlook today.
Meet at 10.30am at Lister Park Gates on the
approach to Cartwright Hall Gallery, North Park
Road, Manningham, BD9 4NS. The walk will last
c.2 hours. This is a free event but please book in
advance by e-mailing Chris Speight of the RGS:
Page 2
STOPPING THE FLOOD
an ‘al fresco’ conference
Instead of our usual spring conference, this year we are holding a two-part event, mostly out of doors. Our theme
will be Stopping the Flood, and we will look at some of the work that is being carried out in Yorkshire to try to
prevent future flooding. Many parts of Yorkshire were affected by the floods of December 2015, so this is a topical
and important issue. There will be two events, the first in the spring and the second in the summer (to be
advertised in the next newsletter). Weds. 26th April, the Pickering ‘Slowing the Flow’ Project
The ‘Slowing the Flow’ Project is exploring a new approach to flood
management, one that tries to work with nature to store more water in the
landscape and slow its passage downstream, using such means as ‘leaky
wooden dams’ (left). Whilst this will not prevent all flooding, it is expected
to reduce the frequency of future floods in Pickering. So far the signs are
good, as Pickering did not experience any flooding in December 2015,
despite having flooded many times in the past. The project is led by the
Forestry Commission in partnership with other organisations. Philip Roe of
the Forestry Commission will lead this event, which takes place on
Wednesday 26th April.
Meet at the FC Office, which is on Outgang Lane in Pickering, at 11.00am. If approaching Pickering by car
from the south, turn right immediately after the petrol station about 50 metres before the roundabout. If coming by
public transport, from Pickering town centre walk c.50 metres down the Malton road and turn left along Outgang
Lane. The FC Office is a short way along on the right. There is limited parking available at the FC Office, so
please share cars, if possible. The event will begin with coffee and a presentation by Philip Roe about the Project,
followed by questions. At c.12 noon we will set off in a convoy of cars to look at some of the flood control
measures on the Pickering Beck and River Seven. Please bring a packed lunch and wear walking boots or
wellingtons. The event will end by 4.00pm. Cost: £5.00 per person. Number limited to 20, so please book
early.
PLACE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING AND
MEMBERS DAY, SAT. 13th MAY 2017, BEVERLEY
Our AGM this year will be held in the Parish
Centre, 38 Highgate, Beverley, HU17 0DN. As
well as the AGM itself, there will be a series of
events based on the historic town and its minster:
• 10.00am Arrival and coffee
• 10.30am Talk about Beverley Minster by
John Phillips
• 11.30am Coffee break
• 12 noon PLACE AGM
• 12.45pm Lunch
• 2.00pm Guided walks led by Richard
Myerscough, John Phillips, David
Neave and Mary Carrick
Please bring a packed lunch or visit one of the cafés in the town (a buffet lunch will be laid on for the
speakers). The day will end c.4.00pm. The Parish Centre is on Highgate, a road leading north from the
Minster. There are several car parks. The bus station is c.15 minutes walk away and the railway station
c.10 minutes walk. The AGM itself is free but there will be a charge of £5.00 per person for the rest
of the day’s activities.
At the AGM we shall be accepting the annual report and accounts and electing trustees. Three
trustees step down each year but are eligible to stand for re-election. There will be at least one
vacancy this year, so please consider whether you could serve PLACE by standing as a trustee.
Nomination forms are available from the PLACE Office and must be returned by 31st March 2017.
Page 3
REPORTS ON AUTUMN EVENTS 2016
Visit to Drax Power Station, October 2016 Drax power station is big, very big. You can’t miss it. The twelve cooling towers with
their clouds of steam can be seen more than 50 miles away. Drax, the largest coal
fired power station in Britain, was built in the 1970s and its massive chimney was then
the tallest in the world. Its position near the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Aire was
important as the Ouse provided its water source and coal was brought in barges along
the Aire from the West Yorkshire coalfield. However, circumstances changed. The
mines were closed, coal became very expensive and there were major concerns
regarding pollution of the environment by exhaust emissions and waste products from
the generation of electricity. The decision was made to convert the power station to
using bio-fuel and to reducing or eliminating harmful waste products.
Thirty-one members of PLACE and their guests visited the power
station on 19th October 2016 to learn how electricity is produced there. After donning
hard hats, safety glasses and earphones, we set off in a bus. The site is so big we
needed transport to get around it. The machinery is housed in huge halls, seven
storeys high. The twelve cooling towers dwarf everything and in another frightening
area are rows of transformers, transmitters and cables reminiscent of a science fiction
movie. The bio-fuel comes from North America where they have a lot of trees. Timber
is the main source of construction material there, but only the tree trunks are required.
The unused branches which would formerly have just been discarded are now sent to
be crushed and made into pellets about the size of animal feed. This reduces the
volume and facilitates transportation. After being shipped to Britain the pellets are
transported by trains which arrive about every 40 minutes. Whilst we were there one
train was moving very slowly discharging its cargo on to the conveyor, another train
was waiting to do the same and a third train carrying coal arrived. The reason for the
latter is that only two thirds of the furnaces have been converted to use bio-fuel. The
rest are still using coal. The power station authorities are awaiting consent to convert
all the furnaces. The huge heap of coal which is now imported will then disappear.
The next process is to reduce the pellets to dust by conveying them
to the giant pulverising machines which are housed in a huge hall. The pulverisers
contain giant metal balls each weighing about one ton. They grind everything to dust
as that is the most efficient form of fuel to attain the high temperatures in the furnaces.
These are housed in an adjacent hall and they heat up the water to produce the steam
to drive the multi-bladed turbines. The coal fired furnaces work in a similar manner.
Water is extracted from the river but is carefully filtered to remove not only large items
such as plastic bags, shopping trolleys, etc. but also to allow wildlife such as fish and
frogs to swim on their way down stream. The hot water is cooled in the towers then
returned to the river in better condition than before.
Waste products are now dealt with more efficiently. SO2 is filtered
through limestone sludge. The by-product from this is gypsum, which can be used
to make plaster. The ash from the furnaces, which used to be dumped on
huge heaps, is now made into building blocks and artificial ‘pebbles’ or
converted into fertiliser. Plans have also been made to greatly reduce the
amount of CO2 produced. It was interesting to hear of smaller problems which
needed to be overcome. For example, to avoid air pockets developing in the
storage domes of pellets which could have led to spontaneous combustion, at
regular intervals a quick burst of nitrogen was injected in the dome to shake up
the contents. Likewise the coal heap could develop cavities which might ignite,
even explode, so a giant ‘blender’ type machine with multi buckets stirred up
the heap.
Drax produces enough electricity to power the whole of
Yorkshire. When one considers the heavily populated areas in west and south
Yorkshire, that is a great deal. More than 1000 people work there although not
all at the same time. Much work and planning has been done regarding
supplies, maintenance, timing, efficiency and reduction of pollution. We all
learned a great deal and left with much to think about. Maybe another visit in a
few years time will show how much has changed by then.
Margaret Bastow.
The group outside Drax.
Photo: Paul K. Burton
Mira showing the group the
layout of the site. Photo: John
Watts
Leigh addressing the group.
Photo: John Watts
The turbine hall and bio-mass
feeders. Photo: John Watts
Page 4
PLACE visit to Yearsley Mill, September 2016
A group of 15 people were given a guided
tour of the excavation of the former Yearsley
Mill on the Howardian Hills, led by Geoff
Snowdon and Elizabeth Sanderson from the
local community archaeology group working
on the site. The remains of the water wheel
were discovered in 2011 and since then more
and more of the site has been revealed by
excavation, including foundations and paved
floors of several buildings, the wheelpit (left
centre in the photo above), the base of one of
the millstones (right centre) and hundreds of
sherds of medieval pottery. We also looked at
some of the C18th landscaping of the area,
now hidden in the surrounding forestry
plantations. This site is a good example of
what can be achieved by local enthusiasts.
PLACE autumn conference 2016
The Yorkshire Wolds: Past, Present
and Future Our autumn conference was held at the
Wolds Heritage Centre in Warter in October.
Eight speakers covered a wide range of
aspects of the Wolds landscape, including
the geology, archaeology, wildlife, the ‘Wolds
Way’ trail, farming, rural policy and
commercial opportunities. There was also a
presentation on photography, featuring some
of Paul Moon’s wonderful images of the area.
The conference was attended by nearly 70
people and the papers were followed by a
discussion session. Many thanks to Richard
Myerscough and John Brown for arranging
such an interesting event. The proceedings
will be published later this year.
The Twelve Days of Christmas in an hour – the
PLACE pre-Christmas event, 2016
This event, organised by Aileen Bloomer and Veronica
Wallace and held at Bedern Hall in York in December, was
billed as a ‘home-produced DIY event to begin our
celebrations of the festive season’. Despite not knowing what
to expect, 36 PLACE members came along and were treated
to an entertaining evening of readings, a short dance and a
festive quiz, washed down with mulled wine, soup and
dessert. As the evening unfolded, we learned about the
origins of the twelve days of Christmas and explored some of
the more unusual pieces of prose loosely related to the
theme and read by PLACE members. A good time was had
by all. Thank you to Aileen and Veronica for putting on such
an original and enjoyable event.
Page 5
New PLACE publications
Michael Hopkinson has coordinated a PLACE research project over
the past few years, studying some of the villages around York and
further afield. A team of PLACE members and other scholars studied
the historical evolution and geographical types of villages. There were
case studies of New Earswick, Heworth, The Poppletons,
Copmanthorpe, Bishopthorpe, Fulford, Stockton on Forest and
Hunmanby. The resulting publication, Approaching the Village, also
includes a section on how the film record can be used. The publication
makes fascinating reading and can be purchased for £2.50 (+ £2.00
P & P) from the PLACE Office.
The PLACE Book of Winter Walks in North Yorkshire was
published in early December, after a delay in the printing meant
that the planned launch in November had to be cancelled.
Thanks to some good publicity in the local press, it has been
selling like hot cakes and is about to be reprinted! It features 13
walks suitable for the winter half of the year, illustrated by colour
photographs and sketch maps and including background
information on the areas. Each walk has a particular theme, e.g.
archaeology, veteran trees, industrial archaeology. The walks
vary in length from 4.4 miles to 6.9 miles and all have been tried
and tested by PLACE members (and approved for dogs by
Bertie). The book costs £5.00 (+ £2.00 P & P) and is available
from the PLACE Office.
YORKSHIRE WOODLANDS
Edited by Margaret Atherden and Veronica Wallace
The proceedings of the PLACE spring conference 2016,
Yorkshire Woodlands, are about to be published. The book
contains chapters by Melvyn Jones (on walls, woodbanks and
worked trees), Tim Laurie (on relict limewoods in the north-east
Pennines), John Weir (on climate change and forestry) and John
Grimshaw (on the Yorkshire Arboretum) and a summary of a
presentation by Tom Lord (on wood pasture in Upper Ribblesdale).
The conference and the publication are in memory of the late Oliver
Rackham. The book costs £5.00 (+ £2.00 P & P) and will be
available from the PLACE Office at the end of January. To order a
copy, please use the booking and order form enclosed with this
newsletter.
Coming soon:
• Industrial Legacy and Landscapes of South Yorkshire (proceedings of the
PLACE spring conference 2015)
• The Yorkshire Wolds: Past, Present and Future (proceedings of the PLACE
autumn conference 2016).
A list of all our publications currently available is printed on the back
of the booking form.
Page 6
PLACE Board and Officers 2016-17 Chief Executive:
Dr Margaret Atherden
Trustees:
Ms Aileen Bloomer
(Chair)
Dr Jean Dixon
Ms Christine Handley
(Company Secretary)
Dr Michael Hopkinson
(Treasurer)
Ms Hilary Moxon
Mr Richard Myerscough
Dr Catherine Neal
Dr George Sheeran
Mr Brian Walker
To contact PLACE: By post:
PLACE Office,
York St John University,
Lord Mayor’s Walk,
York,
YO31 7EX.
By phone: 01904 766291
(N.B. this is the Chief Executive’s home
number. Messages may be left at any time)
By e-mail: [email protected]
Website: www.place.uk.com
N.B. This is a
‘virtual’ office
and is not
staffed.
The next newsletter is due in April
Please remember to tell us if you change
your e-mail address or other contact details!
PLACE subscriptions are due on 1st January. Unless you pay by standing order or have
joined us since October 2016, please send us your £5.00 a.s.a.p. We take DATA PROTECTION very seriously. All personal data, e.g. addresses, are kept on a secure
database which is updated regularly. We will only use such data for PLACE administrative purposes
and never pass them on to third parties.
All our events are open to the general public. Children are welcome, provided they are accompanied
by a parent or guardian. Dogs on leads are allowed on most outings, subject to the agreement of
the leader.
We sometimes take photographs at events for publicity purposes. If you do not wish to be
photographed, please tell the event organiser at the time.
Other events of interest
Woodland Archaeology in the South Pennines
Anyone who is interested in woodland archaeology
may like to take part in some surveys led by Chris
Atkinson, Woodland Heritage Officer of Pennine
Prospects, between January and March this year at
localities scattered across the South Pennines,
including Bradford, Ilkley, Keighley and Hebden
Bridge. Booking is essential; for further details,
contact Chris by phone 07582101691 or e-mail:
Yorkshire Vernacular Buildings Study Group
Annual day school and AGM, Sat. 25th March
This year’s theme is ‘House and Home’, looking at
how houses were used and furnished in the C17th.
Venue: Headingley Campus of Leeds Beckett
University, Leeds. Speakers include Barry Harrison,
Sheila Graham, Sue Wrathmell and Peter Brears.
Adam Menuge will give an introduction to recording
vernacular buildings. Booking is essential; contact
David Cook by phone 01325 310114 or e-mail:
Coming soon…..
Viking Yorkshire – a short course by Robert
Wright, summer 2017. Details in the next
newsletter.
Yorkshire Dales Annual Archaeology Dayschool
The Yorkshire Dales Dayschool is on the move! In
future it will be held at different places within the
(enlarged) National Park. This year’s dayschool will
be held on Sat. 8th April in Barbon Village Hall
(near Kirkby Lonsdale). For further details, contact
the National Park by telephone: 01969 652353 or by
e-mail: [email protected]