MATT CLARK plays a flying visit to a popular town nestling in the foothills of the Wolds.

POCKLINGTON dates back to the Neolithic age, but it really began to prosper during the Middle Ages, as a market town and centre for the wool trade in the Wolds.

So much that by the 17th century, seven fairs were held each year and they attracted many street entertainers, including a certain Thomas Pelling, who in 1733 went a step too far.

His fate is told on a plaque in All Saints’ Churchyard, which tells us he was “a flying man, who was killed by jumping against the Battlement of ye Choir when coming down ye rope from ye steeple”.

Pelling was trying to walk a tightrope from the church steeple to the Star Inn on the Market Place. The rope was fixed to one of the tower pinnacles, with the other end attached to a windlass placed near the Star Inn.

The hapless Pelling appeared to the crowd wearing wings, which contemporary accounts say made him look like a bat. But vanity cost him his life that day, Pelling’s heel was attached to a pulley running on the rope. It went slack and he plummeted to the ground.

His showy death is marked each May with the Flying Man Festival when townsfolk flock to the market place to launch teddies down slides or abseil from the top of the tower. Hot air balloons and model planes keep the flying theme going.

One event they don’t tend to remember is the last witch burning in England. In 1630 the parish register records Old Wife Green being burnt in the Market Place.

Pocklington’s undoubted jewel is Burnby Hall which is set in eight acres and won gold in last year’s Yorkshire in Bloom competition.

There are rock gardens, formal beds, and secret gardens and in summer it’s a sort of paradise. But most visitors bypass the many glories on offer in favour of Burnby’s national collection of Hardy Water Lilies, the largest in a natural setting in Europe.

These gardens were the inspiration of Major Percy Stewart who left his estate in trust for the people of Pocklington. The Stewart Museum in the gardens also provides a fascinating glimpse into his life as a traveller, philanthropist, soldier and collector.

The godson of the Duke of Marlborough, and second cousin to Winston Churchill, Stewart taught for a while at Pocklington School until he gave up teaching to make eight round-the-world voyages, many with his wife.

The couple returned home with a collection of artefacts, many of which are recognised by UNESCO as of national and international importance.

Another oasis of tranquillity is Pocklington Canal. Nine and a half miles long, it was built in 1818 to transport coal and agricultural produce, but fell derelict with the coming of the railways.

Pocklington Canal Amenity Society took over the old waterway in 1969, restoring both locks and the section between Melbourne and the River Derwent. Now the society runs regular pleasure boat cruises.

So far, only half the canal has been restored which means the rest is one of Britain’s finest canals for wildlife.

Pocklington Arts Centre opened in 2000 and has found nationwide fame for its live-event and film programmes. The venue may be limited to a 200-seat auditorium but it punches well above its weight.

After playing there, Steve Harley called it “that very special venue”.

All Saints’ Church is the oldest building in town and was built between 1200 and 1450. Grade I listed and known locally as the Cathedral of the Wolds, one of its finest treasures is the 16th century Triptych.

In the churchyard the Sotheby Cross, dating from the 1300s, has inscribed “Paulinus here preached and celebrated AD 627”.

Paulinus was a Roman missionary sent in 601 by Pope Gregory I to convert the Anglo Saxons. He became the first Bishop of York and baptised early English Christians in the beck running by All Saints’.

Almost as old as the church is Pocklington School which was founded in 1514. William Wilberforce is its most famous pupil and sent his first letter to the newspapers to warn of the evils of slavery from the school at the tender age of 14.

Today, Pocklington has an eclectic range of upmarket shops, cafés and restaurants for it size, which reflects its affluence as a commuter town for York and Leeds.

This town may trace its history to the Neolithic age, but it’s certainly no museum piece.