How folk lived

RYEDALE Folk Museum, in the picturesque village of Hutton-le-Hole, offers a grand day out for all the family.

Its fascinating collection of buildings, machines and artefacts, set out on a three-and-a-half acre site, gives visitors a glimpse into how previous generations eked out a living in remote rural areas.

Named Museum Of The Year ten years ago, the tourist attraction also boasts its own collection of farm animals, including sheep, pigs and hens. These attract children like bees to a honey pot allowing, grown-ups to concentrate on the other displays.

The blacksmith was the most important craftsman in the community, shoeing horses as well as repairing farm implements and many of the tools used by other craftsmen.

The smithy, with its anvil, fire and bellows, was a place of relentless toil and sweat. Apprentice blacksmiths learned their trade in the school of hard knocks, as did the tinsmith, whose workshops can be seen opposite the museum's smithy, alongside those of the shoemaker and cooper.

Other village trades displayed include the saddler, wheelwright and those of the foundry.

The Village Shop & Post Office, featuring fittings from Rosedale, has been set up to show how a typical rural shop would have looked a few weeks after the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II in June 1953.

Similar attention to detail is shown at the chemist's, the shop front for which was brought from Helmsley in the 1960s. The large show carboys in the window, containing coloured water, became the familiar sign of the chemist and druggist. Chemists made up their own remedies in addition to selling the many patent medicines available.

The Farndale Hearse is one of the jewels in the crown of the museum's collection. The inhabitants of Farndale bought the second-hand horse-drawn vehicle in 1839 for £17. With its elaborate carvings, etched glass and silver-played flowers holders, the magnificent hearse was a bargain. It was considered a disgrace to have a pauper's funeral, hence the need for a community hearse.

Stang End Cruck House stood for nearly 500 years at Danby, before it was moved to the museum in 1967-8. It has been restored to show how a farming family would have lived and worked in the early 18th century.

It boasts a "witch post" carved with a St Andrew's cross. These posts were designed to protect the dwelling's inhabitants from witchcraft. Fewer than 20 of these posts are known, all from the north-east of Yorkshire, except for one found in Lancashire.

Stang End also features an elaborate cheese press in the milk house. Danby cheese was famous in its day.

Harome Cottage, moved to the museum in the early-1970s, is festooned with rag rugs, made by thrifty women to insulate the cold stone floors and keep out the draught.

The Wash House & Dairy is a reconstruction based on the many small outhouses that were built behind cottages in the late-19th century.

The magnificent Manor House, built in the late-16th century, is also from Harome. It is one of the largest cruck houses in Yorkshire.

The museum's Photographic Studio was set up by William Hayes at Monkgate, York, in 1902. Nine years later he had it dismantled, transported by horse and cart to Hutton-le-Hole, and re-built at Beck Garth.

Fact file

Open every day until October 29, from 10am to 5.30pm. From October 30, 10am until dusk.

Admission: Adult £4.50; concessions £4; child (four to 16) £3; family ticket (two adults, two children) £12.

Location: Ryedale Folk Museum is just off the A170 Thirsk-Scarborough road in the village of Hutton-le-Hole.

Contact: Telephone 01751 417367. Website: www.ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk

Updated: 11:53 Saturday, June 18, 2005