WE have a visual treat for readers of Yesterday Once More this week: a look back at Ryedale’s farming history, courtesy of some stunning photographs by Sydney Smith and others.
All our pictures today come from a new book, Ryedale From Old Photographs, by Gordon Clitheroe, the founder member and honorary curator of the Beck Isle Museum, in Pickering.
The museum has an extensive collection of photographs taken by Sidney Smith who was, Mr Clitheroe says in the introduction to his book, “one of the finest photographers that this country has produced”.
Looking at the stunning photographs on this page, which capture scenes of agricultural life in Ryedale in the 1930s, it is hard to disagree.
Mr Smith was born in Pickering in 1884 into a family of builders.
Throughout his adult life, says Mr Clitheroe, he and his wife Maud “travelled to most of the villages in Ryedale, capturing its beauty and its hard-working people, as well as portraits of people and animals. He supplemented his studio work and stunning landscapes by producing sets of postcards for sale, which are a remarkable record of the area, spanning over 50 years”.
We have room only for a small selection of photos from Mr Clitheroe’s book – four of them by Sydney Smith himself – in Yesterday Once More this week. But we hope they give a taste at least of the extraordinary quality of Mr Smith’s work.
One, taken in 1935, shows shepherd William Henry Mackley, of Low Horcum Farm, at Saltersgate, gathering sheep in the early morning with his dogs Bess and Gyp.
Eric Bowes, of Pickering, is pictured harrowing a field near Aislaby in 1938.
There is a wonderful photograph of harvesting at Lockton in 1936 and, to complete the Sydney Smith photos, a picture taken in 1936 showing thrashing day at Mr Lister’s, Toft Barn Farm, Pickering. Not all the photos in Mr Clitheroe’s book are by Sydney Smith.
The last one on this page today was taken by an unknown photographer in 1924, and shows corn being cut in Farndale.
Ryedale From Old Photographs by Gordon Clitheroe is published by Amberley priced £12.99. The Beck Isle Museum in Pickering is open daily from 10am-5pm until the end of October.
Cutting corn in Farndale in 1924. Lance Maw is driving the horses, James Watson is “putting off” on the reaper and Jack Dale and Mary Maw are tying up the corn ready for stooking
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