TODAY we take a tour of Haxby, but the journey begins, strangely enough, in Middlesbrough. It was here that John Wright lived - until war broke out. He was evacuated, first to Levisham and then, in 1940, to Haxby.

He was to spend the next four years in the village, between the formative ages of five and nine.

Several decades later, as a retired biology teacher in Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, Mr Wright decided to write his autobiography. As part of his research, he wrote to Haxby Library saying he still had his identification tags giving his war-time address: 13 Wold View Terrace, Haxby. But that street had vanished.

The librarian contacted Alan Clark, former village resident and member of the Haxby Local History Group. He was able to inform Mr Wright that his house had subsequently been redesignated, and was now part of Usher Lane. The two men later met up and Mr Clark took the former evacuee to see his old home. They then did a full tour of what was then a rural village and what is now a large York township.

Mr Clark realised that a lot of memories about the way life used to be in Haxby were disappearing. He set about researching his own childhood street, Hilbra Avenue, and the nearby roads. He has also interviewed pensioners who have lived in the village all their lives. These stories are destined to be part of an oral history archive in the library.

Mr Clark, who was born in 1936, said his memories of childhood, particularly during the war years, are vivid. "In those days there was so much community spirit and neighbourliness."

Every evening was an adventure. "When you left school, you went home, grabbed a bit of tea then went out into the fields.

"We used to go and help with the harvest. I don't know what the health and safety people today would have said when we were working on the threshers.

"When our parents wanted us to come home, they would go to the edge of the fields and wave a towel hoping we would see it."

Mr Clark's research has uncovered some fascinating stories. Among those who lived on Eastfield Avenue was the Curry family. Sheila Bonner, ne Curry, sent him an account of a hairy moment during an air raid near the end of the war.

"My mother was never very keen on getting out of bed when the siren sounded. On one occasion, I went into her bedroom imploring her to get up and, whilst waiting, I drew back the curtains (the light was not on) and looked out of the window towards York.

"Suddenly, I got the fright of my life as I saw a plane coming towards me firing tracer bullets. I was sure the pilot had seen me and ducked down below the window sill.

"The next day we heard that bullets had hit the fish shop in the village. It was thought that the German pilot had seen the lights from a bus and aimed at that."

The story was confirmed by Mavis Massheder, whose family ran the fish shop in Front Street. "We did have a direct hit by a German plane - a cannon shell was found lodged in the brickwork between the back shop window and the wall (the window had to be replaced)...

"We felt my mother was very lucky to escape what could have been a nasty accident or fatality as she was in the shop at the time (say 9.10pm)."

Mr Clark has also discovered a wonderful picture of the Haxby Home Guard, and has managed to put names to all but one of the faces (and that gap may soon be filled).

This is a good time to be curious about Haxby's past. The Local History Society is doing sterling work, and recently produced a wonderful Haxby Town Trail, which guides the walker on a tour of the most historic buildings.

And Tom Smith, of Ashwood Glade, Haxby, has just brought out an updated version of his book, A History Of Haxby.

The new edition includes information from further research by the author into 18th century records, evidence of Roman occupation and more personal memories of the last century.

In a passage on the war years, he includes the story about the single German air raider firing on the fish shop. This happened close to VE Day "and Haxby people humorously claim this as the last 'attack' of the war on mainland Britain".

He also reveals that Haxby can lay claim to its own ghost.

"In medieval times, on foul black nights, a mounted phantom known as Le Gros Veneur (the big hunter) would gallop about the Forest of Galtres striking fear into the patrolling foresters; on just such a night, during the wartime 'black-out' another, less threatening spectre appeared.

"John McJarrett, a Highlander by birth, was driving his post van towards York one black evening when he spotted the figure of a very old clergyman in the slanting rain.

"McJarrett gave the old cleric a lift to his vicarage, commenting, 'You're a very old man to be out on a night like this.'

"'Yes, I was 80,' replied his passenger as he got out of the van. McJarrett no doubt remembered the use of "was" when he later discovered his companion had died six months earlier."

The clergyman is one more spirit to add to the long list of those resident in York, supposedly the world's most haunted city.

Back with more earthly matters, there is a campaign underway to reopen Haxby railway station in order to offer a public transport alternative to residents who commute into York.

If it comes off this will herald a return to a previous age. "Haxby is a peaceful spot and one can understand that the office workers of the city of York who live here find rest and refreshment in the sight of field and garden at the close of day," wrote the Yorkshire Gazette in 1911. "One inhabitant estimated that nearly 100 persons go regularly into York by the two morning trains at 8.30am and 8.40am."

In the intervening century, Haxby has grown dramatically. Mr Smith ends his book hoping that it will enjoy a sustained return to tranquil days.

"Early in the 20th century, a newspaper review referred to the town as 'Happy Haxby' because of its quality of life; it is possible that town and country have once again found a happy balance."

Updated: 11:05 Monday, June 09, 2003