Main Street (Moor Lane)

Looking northwards down Main Street – date unknown. (Barnard)

Named Moor Lane on the 1854 and 1892 maps   the road has been known for decades as simply Main Street.

Blacksmiths Yard (Holme Farm)

Heading from  the B1257 northwards are five stone cottages named Blacksmiths Yard on the West side.  They were once Holme Farm and its farm buildings.  Close look  at the stonework and you can see how the origianal two cottages appear to have been extended.  At some point the two cottages were turned into one farmhouse.

Owned in the early part of the 20thC  by Lynney Beal of Manor House, Amotherby,  the farm had fields to the south of the B1257.   Her  tenant  Charlie Minton was the son of  Joseph Minton,   chairman of the Parish Meeting 1902 – 1909.   Charlie was a dairy farmer with a herd of 20 Friesians.  These he walked twice daily from the farm along Moor Lane to fields at the northernmost point of the parish.  Once he was nearly killed by a bull he was leading up Main Street – the beast gored him and he was only saved by his collie dog which bravely fought off the bull.  As well as Holme Farm Charlie also farmed Plantation Farm then owned by Steve Hopwood of Malton.

Charlie was followed by Ken Potter who left Beech Crescent to move into Holme Farm.  Ken had a petrol forecourt in Swinton on land next to the Blacksmith’s Arms, then run by Harry Tinsley.  Potter and Tinsley also ran a joint agricultural contractors/saw yard on land east of the pub. They were joined by Ken’s nephew John Lund who joined them in 1964.

In 1976 it was bought for the first time by Ian Hamilton.  Within months he had sold the buildings to Richard Morley but retained the 46 acres of farmland.  Later he sold all the land to John Monkman except for the field directly behind the farm.

Richard Morley sold to Terry Wharton who schooled horses.  It was then owned by Jock Murray who, with his wife Eileen and daughter Linda, also kept horses. In 1999 it was bought again by Ian Hamilton.  He turned the farm house back into two cottages.  He demolished the rest of the farm buildings, using the original stone to create 3 new cottages.  Old stables at the rear were retained and converted into an outbuilding for each of the cottages.

Hope Cottage and Broad View

Two stone cottages end the stone terrace that starts with Blacksmith’s Yard.  Their appearance is quite different from the two Holme Farm cottages to which they are attached. A stone above the first floor between Hope and Broad View declares they were built in 1872.  Although two separate properties in the early 1900s,  they were owned by the same family. Deeds back to 1918 show a Sidney Scott, a boot and shoe seller, sold to Robert Hutchinson, John Thomas and Margaret Hutchinson.  John Thomas died in 1914. Robert (senior) died in 1960 leaving no will. They were followed by Jackie Hutchinson whose uncle was Bob. At this time the properties included an orchard which extended northwards as far as the bungalow Thisledome. Over the rest of the 20thC bit by bit this land was sold for development.

In 1961 the cottages were separated with one part, Hope Cottage, owned by Daisy Dukes, wife of Robert Dukes.  She  built a bungalow on the adjoining land for her daughter Betty.  She sold to Ernie Bigg.   Broad View was passed to Solicitor George Frederick Arthur Newey of Gayle House and then bought by Burton and Catherine Alberta Cooper. In 1990 Mrs Cooper  sold part of an orchard for what is now The Holt – the last piece of land to be developed on the west side of the street.

Broad View was then bought by Paul and Lyndis Milward who sold to Tim and Emma Cluderay in 2002.

The Holt – the last property to be built on the west side. First owners were the late Bill and Nell Johnson (parents of Anne Lund).

Thistledome

Thisledome– “This’ll do me” – was built for Ernie Bigg,  son of Harry Bigg.  Harry was a hay cutter and general dealer whose property included a large orchard and two grass paddocks.  They extended northwards to opposite Manor Farm and westwards towards the field behind Holme Farm.  He and his son Arthur Edward, who was known as Joe,  were also in the livestock haulage business.  His old stone house – probably one of the oldest in the village – had an earthen floor. The house and outbuildings  occupied the plot that is now the site of Park House, on the corner of Main Street and Manor Park.   Joe Bigg always lived in the old house, initially with his parents but then on his own.

The small holding was inherited by Ernie.  He went on to sell most of the land which was developed into a small housing estate built in the 1960sknown as Manor Park.  It included one plot for his daughter Janet.  Harry Bigg already had built a bungalow for a niece on a plot opposite Manor Farm.

Ernie took no money for the land sold – he “exchanged” it for the building of his bungalow Thisledome.  The last piece of land he owned, that on which stood the old house and the house known as Fair View, were gifted (PDF) to his son Robert Ernest Bigg and his wife Roma Bigg in 1977.

In 1970  the Broughton  parish representative was asked to approach Malton Rural District Council about widening the main village street because of the increase in use by cars driven mainly by residents of Manor Park Estate.   (Taken from Parish Minutes).

The Barn and The Granary

On the east side  heading north from the B1257 along Main Street is The Barn. This was converted from old farm buildings once part of Oak Farm.  There is also a second smaller property named The Granary,  although this would now be seen as being on Beachcroft Lane. It still attaches to an outbuilding forming part of Oak Farmhouse,  sold as a separate entity towards the end of the 20thC.

The 1930s black and white photograph clearly shows the stack-yard followed by the walled garden belonging to Broughton House.  North of these was a field down  to Dhekelia.  Over the 20C all this land was developed.  Part of the wall round the garden,  as well as that round the stackyard, stands today on the east side of Main Street, forming “garden walls” for the “new” properties.

Dhekelia once had a large orchard.  Among previous owners was Mr Wiley who farmed land at Plantation Farm which did not have a house. Dhekelia was later owned by Mr Prescot who sold part of the orchard to Robert (Bob) Edward Slape in 1961. Mr Slape sold off three plots which became Westwood, Briarwood and The Chimes but retained the fourth plot which is known as Greystones. There was a large brick built barn on the site and most of the bricks were hand cleaned by Robert Slape and his son Rodger. During the demolition of the barn, people in the village were invited to help themselves to the bricks on condition that they cleaned the bricks they wanted and did not take the bricks over which the Slapes had already laboured! The bricks cleaned by the Slapes were used to build the garage and part of a wall at Greystones. Sadly, Robert Slape died in 1963 (aged 43) soon after the family had moved into Greystones. Mrs Bunty Slape continued to live there until she passed away in 1993. Twins Janet and Rodger then inherited the property and Rodger and Moira Slape bought out Janet’s share in 1998. It has been their home ever since. Westwood was built by Mr & Mrs Watson; Briarwood was built by Mr & Mrs Jameson, but they sold very soon after their house was finished as their son, who built the house, died at the early age of 32, followed very quickly by his father. Mrs Jameson moved back to Leeds where they had been farm managers for the Temple Newsam Estate. The builder of The Chimes is presently unknown.

Dhekelia later passed to Mr and Mrs Arthur Tock who once had a bakery round as well as using part of the house as a village shop.

White Cottages

No 1 was once an old stone house with earthen floor and would have been one of the oldest houses  in the village.  It probably had a barn which is thought to have been converted into 2-5 White Cottages.  No 1 was eventually condemned and had to be demolished.  It was knocked down by a farm vehicle driven by John Lund. The demolished cottage was re-built in brick although the rest of the terrace was built in stone.  It is fairly certain they were  originally farm workers’ cottages.

At one time William Cooper of Boulton and Cooper owned the 5 farm-workers’ cottages known as White Cottages.  Thomas Stephenson Lund  bought Nos 3-5  in 1924. In turn he sold them in the 1950s for about £200 each to Fred and Amis England, bachelors from the Luttons.

Hindlea

Originally two cottages it was built before the 20thC and had a well in the garden. A Methodist Hymn Book found at one end of the house together with In Memoriam newspaper cuttings tell of an Emily Buckle with the date 1879 below her name.  It was also in William Cooper’s 1924 sale of land.  A former owner was Tom Douthwaite  (see Lund photos) but it was his nephew who lived here.

Manor Farm

Shown on the 1854 map as being Manor House.  The 125 acre farm has been home to the Lund family for four generations. Like others, it had its own wells before running water came to the village, initially via standpipes in the street. It wasn’t until 22.10.1953 that the ash closet was replaced with a flushing toilet.  A new brick house was built in what was once part of the garden. The east end was also extended.  See  Manor Farm photos.

The Gatehouse.

The most northerly property on Main Street, as it name suggests, this was once the gatehouse on the manned crossing serving mainly farm traffic. It was on the Malton to Gilling section of the Pilmoor Junction, near Thirsk,  to Driffield line http://www.disused-stations.org.uk/g/gilling/index.shtml.  Although closed to passenger traffic in 1931,  it continued as a single-track line with goods trains. However sometimes there were passenger specials from Rillington which joined the main London-Edinburgh line at Pilmoor Junction.  There were also passenger trains to Butlins Camp at Filey from the main junction at Pilmoor.

The last gatekeeper was Shelia Watson and her husband John.  Her  role was made obsolete with Beeching’s axe.  Many websites are to be found detailing railway history.

AGW 2011