A place of peace (From Gazette & Herald)

A place of peace

Until recently, Newton-upon-Rawcliffe didn't exist - on the map that is.

For reasons known only to the map-makers, the village was forgotten. Even the road leading to it didn't warrant a line. Fortunately, that state of affairs has now been remedied!

Newton-upon-Rawcliffe, or Newton as the locals call it, is built high on the limestone plateau overlooking the Vale of Pickering. There is an air of peace and tranquillity here. Ducks glide silently across the village pond: mellow grey stone cottages cluster round the green. One of these cottages used to be the shop and post office, run by John and Jackie Heaton.

"We moved to the village ten years ago," said John. "Having the shop put us in a privileged position, really. It meant we quickly got to know everyone."

When John and Jackie decided to give up the shop and post office three years ago, this was a big blow for the village. But as John said, "We also had tea rooms and did bed and breakfast. This was hard work, and of course we're not getting any younger. We kept the B&B on, though."

Now that John is semi-retired, he has more time for his hobby of restoring antique pottery. "I enjoy going round the auctions and I can't resist anything that is broken!"

He is presently working on a damaged Dresden figure. "There are many more pieces waiting in the studio - a horse with only three legs, and there are various soldiers, dishes, plates etc. Its going to take me donkey's years to get them all restored!"

However, a pair of perfect Beswick cows stared down from a shelf. John laughed, "They were completely legless when I got them."

It seems appropriate that John should be restoring farm animals, because Newton is basically still very much a farming community. There are at least four working farms in the village itself and several more 'round the edges'.

One of those 'round the edges' is East Brow Farm, home of Gordon and Edith Harper.

Edith said: "We moved here in May 1963, almost 40 years ago. It took us a bit to get settled in, though, so we were used to a quiet place, and the village people here were very friendly and welcoming. Our eldest son, Albert, still works on the family farm at Skiplam."

Gordon said: "I've never ailed a thing since we came here all them years ago. Must be the moor air - or maybe the hard work!"

Gordon and Edith kept milk cows for the first 15 years. "Then we decided to go into sheep. I've always loved sheep. We've won prizes at the Yorkshire, Ryedale and Malton, all the local shows. We have 240 sheep now and up to date there's 170 lambs. It would be too much without Stephen. He is our youngest son and helps us with the farm."

A wonderful rural smell of lambs and warm hay pervaded the barn. Gordon and Edith pointed out the newest lambs as Jack the sheepdog kept watch at the door.

"We have three dogs," said Gordon. "Glen, Meg and Jack. Glen is 15 and retired now. He was a brilliant working dog."

All the dogs were trained by Gordon himself. "But", he said, "You can't do it unless the dog has the right instinct to start with. It's in the breeding."

A true native of the village is farmer Lawrence Sellars, known to his wife Janet and many of the villages as 'Pop'.

"I was born here 76 years ago," he said. "My dad was the village carrier. He went down to Pickering a couple of times a week with his horse Dinah and the cart to bring stuff for the villagers, groceries, coal, anything. It's not the same now."

Janet said, "You can't live in the past Pop - times change."

But Lawrence likes to reminisce. "There used to be two ponds on the green then."

He brought out a photograph showing the second pond down at the bottom end of the green with the villagers all standing round.

Janet is a mine of information about dates and details of village happenings. She pointed out a small boy wearing a cap. "See that little lad there, that's Pop. He was six then. The photograph was taken on June 19, 1932."

"Yes, that's me." Lawrence remembered. "There was a farm fire and water was pumped from the pond to put it out. The school teacher let all us kids go and watch."

"That's right," Janet agreed, "Then, in 1949, the pond was filled in. The school closed in 1969 and it's now the village hall.

Unusually for a small village, Newton has a charitable trust which helps towards the education of village children.

Stan Pierson is chairman of the trust. He said: "It's called 'The Poad's Educational Foundation' and is for books, transport, that sort of thing."

The Rev Richard Poad died in 1727 and left provision in his will for the trust to be set up. The income for the trust is rent from land around the village.

Stan said, "It has recently been extended to include young adults up to the age of 25. This means that anyone from the village going on to university can put in a claim. People are invited to apply once a year for the grant, which can be up to £200."

Mrs Nan Steedman, whose picturesque cottage overlooks the village green, said: "I first came to the village for holidays when I was a teenager before the war. Then my husband and I came to live here about 13 years ago. It really is a lovely, friendly place."

A widow now, Nan said: "People have been tremendously kind and supportive since my husband died. The social side of the village is excellent, we have a wine appreciation society, dining club and walking group and the villagers have a tradition of party giving!

"There is also a variety of social events in the village hall."

Nan's sitting room window offers a view of the village pond.

She said: "People used to bring their ducks in the mornings and collect them again at night, but then the pond became overpopulated and a lot of the ducks were taken to nearby Elleron Lake.

"The pond used to dry up in summer, and some time ago there was talk of filling it in and making a car park. Of course, this wasn't popular with the most of the villagers!

"The national park gave a pond liner, but this wore out so there was a big village effort, fetes, etc, to have it properly restored. We got a grant from the National Rivers Authority (now Dept of the Environment) and advice on planting it up."

The pond looks lovely now, as does Nan's garden, which is a colourful mass of crocuses, snowdrops and aconites.

She said: "According to village tradition, the original church was here in the corner of my garden, where the flowers are. I found a carved stone which could have been part of the doorway."

The present church, dedicated to St John, dates from the late 19th century. The noticeboard outside declares: "This parish is currently in an Interregnum."

Lay reader Yvonne Yates said: "This just means the benefice, which includes Sinnington and Middleton as well as Newton, is without a vicar at present. We have a new one coming in May from Northallerton."

Like many churches in this area, there are items made in the workshops of the famous 'mouse man' Robert Thompson of Kilburn. Yvonne said: "We have the bishop's chair and prayer stool made by the mouse man.

The church clock was given to the village in 1927 by the Raper family in memory of Edward Bell Raper, who is buried in the churchyard.

Yvonne's husband Stuart is the church warden. He said: "It's actually quite an unusual clock. It was made by G T F Newey of York and is fitted with a six-legged gravity escapement. This means the mechanism goes all the way up the tower and uses the church bell to strike the hours."

A man mentioned earlier is familiar with the clock. Seventy-one-year-old Stan Pierson said. "I've wound it up twice a week for the past thirty-five years." Good going that!

Stan worked at Rodgers Nurseries for 40 years and has retained his interest in plants and gardening. He and his wife Jennifer have a large garden which is a real haven for wild birds. The sound of bird song could be heard all round.

Jennifer said: "There isn't much in the way of flowers at the moment but we've had a wide variety of birds coming to the garden all through the winter. Its very quiet and peaceful here and well away from the traffic. We usually spend about £5 a week on bird seed, nuts, etc."

Stan has lived in the village for 47 years. He said: "It's a very pleasant place to live, everyone is friendly and we all get on well together."

Penny Wicks and her husband John are relative newcomers having lived here for only four years. However, Penny totally agrees.

"It is a lovely place, especially in the summer and the social side is fantastic, we've made lots of friends. We are so lucky to have moved to such a great village."

Before moving here, John and Penny lived in Chorleywood, in Hertfordshire, where Penny had her own interior design business.

When John was made redundant, they decided to move and start something new. They now have three cottages for holiday letting, one with special facilities for wheelchair users.

"We also have a small leisure complex on the site," said Penny. "There is a spa, sauna cabin, and swimming pool. This area was created from an old farm building and has proved immensely popular with holiday makers. In fact, we're now starting to get repeat bookings, which is great."

Penny is also a talented and versatile artist. She said: "I've just had an exhibition at the surgery in Pickering."

Several of her paintings are of local scenes, including the village chapel, various cottages and, of course, the much-admired pond.

Newton-upon-Rawcliffe is not only a very attractive village, it is also a vibrant and thriving community and certainly deserves its new-found place on the map.

Updated: 13:44 Wednesday, May 07, 2003