Meet the folks

HUTTON-LE-HOLE has had a rough old time this year, thanks to foot and mouth. Visitor numbers have slumped, presumably because you can no longer roam the surrounding fells.

But Hutton, one of North Yorkshire's prettiest villages, still has plenty to offer the day tripper, not least the picturesque views across the village green and bubbling beck, surrounded by 17th and 18th century houses.

And there's also the Ryedale Folk Museum.

I've lived in, and reported on, North Yorkshire for a good many years, but I had never before visited the museum and knew little about it until I went with my family and friends last weekend. The village had visitors, but fewer than you might expect on a June weekend.

The Museum Of The Year 1995, built on a three and a half acres in the middle of the village, gives an intriguing glimpse into the rural life of yesteryear.

Re-created here are the workshops of the blacksmith, cooper, shoemaker, saddler and wheelwright, once common features of country life which have almost disappeared in the 21st century.

Much of the equipment and fittings have come from former businesses in the Ryedale area. For example, the saddler's workshop contains equipment from a former Helmsley saddler, while the front of the chemist's shop comes from a pharmacy at Helmsley which was removed during modernisation in the 1960s.

The fittings for the village shop and post office, set up to show a typical village store at the time of the Coronation of Queen Elizabeth in 1953, come from a shop which once served villagers in Rosedale East. An ornate Victorian hearse comes from Farndale and dates back to 1839.

Then there are historic farm houses and cottages which have been dismantled elsewhere and re-built in their entirety on the museum site.

There is Stang End Cruck House, thatched with heather, which stood for almost five centuries at Danby before being moved to the museum in the 1960s.

It now reflects the spartan lifestyle of a farming couple in the early 18th century. Harome Cottage, thatched in straw and pretty as a chocolate box picture, was moved from Harome in the early 1970s, with the interior illustrating life in the late 19th century, complete with rag rugs, kitchen range, family Bible, salt box and lacemaker's candle stool.

Also from Harome is the 16th century Manor House, with huge wooden beams and a huge open hall in which everyone would once have slept and eaten.

A slice of early 20th century photographic history is represented by a photographic studio, originally built in Monkgate, York, but then moved to Hutton in 1911 and later moved again to the museum site.

We spent a couple of enjoyable hours wandering round before leaving the museum in sufficient time to pop in to one of the nearby tearooms for tea and scones.

Yes, Hutton was definitely worth a visit, foot and mouth or no foot and mouth.

Fact file:

Ryedale Folk Museum, Hutton-le- Hole.

Admission: Adult: £3.25, over 60s and student £2.75, child: £1.75. Under fives: free. Family: £8.25.

Open daily 10-5.30 (last admission 4.30)

Disabled access: mostly good, but no access to some buildings' upper storeys.

Further information, tel 01751 417367.

To get there: Suggest go via A64 to Malton, A170 to Pickering, then A170 to Thirsk and look for signs.