Pudding Pie Hill – Sowerby (Thirsk)

  Pudding Pie Hill is a large burial mound located in a field to the east of Sowerby village, near Thirsk.

  In the past, Pudding Pie Hill was believed to be a fairy dwelling – just Like the Willy Howe tumulus near Wold Newton in East Yorkshire. Writing in the 1850’s, the Darlington historian William Hylton Longstaffe, listed several fairy locations in this region, noting that ……

Boxing Day Sword Dance – Flamborough

  I have known about the Flamborough Long Sword Dancers for many years, but never had the chance to see them perform – until this year. It was worth the wait, as it was a real treat to visit Flamborough and see an honest local tradition being performed by, and for, the good folk of Flamborough. There were no big crowds of posers or yuppies (only there to be ‘seen’), just local families, young uns and old folk, turning out to support a Flamborough tradition.

The Julbock – Yule Goat

  Across Britain and much of Northern Europe, the last sheaf of grain to be harvested on a farm held a special significance. It was kept in the farmhouse, and given pride of place at the harvest supper, and was also brought out at Yule/Christmas. In Scandinavian countries this last sheaf was called the Skördebock or ‘harvest Goat’, and straw from the sheaf was formed into the shape of a goat. These straw goats or ‘Julbock’ are still a popular Christmas decoration in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Poland.

Return to the Burial Cave – Elbolton Hill

  A previous post described the Neolithic burials found in Knave Knoll Cave on the upper slopes of Elbolton Hill, near Burnsall in the Yorkshire Dales.

  An excavation of this cave in the 1890’s found a group of three skeletons, which rather unusually had been buried in a sitting position. Two of the skeletons were found next to each other against the cave wall, with the third person sat in the area in front of them. The skulls from these burials are in Skipton Museum, and in 2022 they were Radio Carbon dated to 3800BC – the Early Neolithic period.

The Conjuring Stone – Aldwark

  The village of Aldwark is located alongside the river Ure, 10 miles north-west of York.

  The old OS map shows a narrow lane leading from the south side of the village down towards the Aldwark bridge river crossing. A little way along this lane there is a dip in the road known as the ‘Hollows Hole’, where a low bridge crosses a stream flowing westward over fields to the river. On the east side of the bridge, the stream flowed through a small copse called Manor Wood, and here on the north bank of the stream could be found a large boulder known as the Conjuring Stone.