Visiting the tiny Wolds village of Acklam

The birds are singing in the trees, but this is the only sound. Not much traffic comes through the village, which is well off the beaten track, with only one small winding road leading in and out.

The only facility there is the pub, the Half Moon Inn, which dates back to before 1823. The former school, which shut in 1947, is now the village hall, while the post office and shop have long since been closed.

In the 19th century, however, Acklam was quite a sizeable parish and community, but these days it is home to fewer than 200 people, including Dr Francis Jackson, a former Master of Music at York Minster who was born in Malton, and his wife, Priscilla, who bought their home in 1954 to use as a bolt-hole.

Just across the road at the Half Moon Inn is Margaret Jessop, who moved from Pocklington and bought the pub three years ago when it came onto the market after the previous owner died.

“It’s a nice, quiet little village, and one with an older generation, as not many young people can afford to buy properties here,” she said.

“My favourite thing about living here is the lovely open aspect from the front and back of the pub.

“In the winter, the snow more or less closed the village off but even so, there were only two occasions we couldn’t put on our music night which we have every Monday.

“I’d never lived in a village before living here, but I don’t think I could go back to living in a town now.”

Two doors along from the pub live Maggie and Dave Tindall, who organise the music nights at the pub.

Three generations of their family live in the patch, as their son, Steven, lives next door with his family, and just down the road in Leavening lives daughter, Millie, and her family, who come up and visit pretty much everyday.

Maggie has lived in the village nearly all her life apart from a brief spell away after her marriage to Dave, who was originally from Dunnington, near York.

One of the last couples to get married in the village church before it was pulled down, Maggie and Dave moved back in 1977 and wouldn’t dream of living anywhere else.

“I have so many happy memories of growing up and living in Acklam – I wouldn’t want to leave them behind,”

said Maggie, who has been a childminder in the village for 22 years.

“Our children grew up here, and it’s still such a safe village with some lovely walks around.”

Her daughter, Millie, chips in at this point.

“I would never leave the area,” she said. “I love village life and want my children to have the same.”

And Dave adds that there’s a lot more of a community spirit since the village got its pub back.

“It’s a focal point where you can have a social drink and chat to people – Margaret and Tony have done a real job on developing the pub,” he said.

“I also feel lucky that my son is my neighbour. Many young people can’t afford to buy houses here, but I had a large garden so he was able to build a house next door.”

Further up the street, Arty Duggleby has lived in the same house in the village in which he was born 82 years ago. He used to cycle to work at a farm in nearby Buttercrambe, and has many memories of how life in the village has changed.

He recalls attending the village school and leaving at the age of 14 to go and work on the farm, as you could do that during the war years, as long as you had a job to go to.

He also remembers the days when mains water and electricity were brought into the village.

“Water came to the village in the 1930s, when I was little,” he remembered.

“Before that there were wells with a bucket that we had to wind up.

“We got electricity in the 1950s.

Before then, we used paraffin lamps to light the house and coal fires to heat it. Though we’ve never had street lighting,” he added, with a chortle, “and I’ve never had a telephone.”

He is also the local paper boy, having been delivering the Gazette & Herald and The Press for 70 years.

“My mum took the papers in 1941 and I’ve always delivered them,” he said.

“Now I get some help, though they still get delivered here at six o’clock in the morning.”

Arty says he has a lot of friends in the village and loves the countryside and views.

“It’s a very friendly place – I’m glad I live here,” he said.

There are a number of annual events bring this small community together, including what’s known as the ‘moveable feast’, a fundraising event, with the idea that an aperitif is enjoyed at one house and then a starter at the next, the main course elsewhere and the dessert at someone else’s.

Another highlight is Acklam Sports and Gymkhana, a popular traditional country event, with equestrian events and activities including tug-owar.

Though a quiet, rather sleepy village, Acklam has been the location for a number of significant edifices over the centuries.

Acklam Castle, located off Pasture Hill in the centre of the village, was an earthwork motte and bailey fortress.

On nearby Acklam Wold, meanwhile, is a Bronze Age round barrow cemetery, excavated by the Yorkshire Antiquarian Club in the 19th century.

It is also believed that there was once a palace belonging to the Archbishop of York, but that was so long ago that no one is really sure where it.

The primitive chapel now serves as the place of worship in the village since the church was demolished in the 1970s, and it is said that John Wesley himself once preached from the upper windows.

Yet for all that it might once have been such a place of significance, its residents are pleased to keep it to themselves.

“Some of the turns that come to play at the music night say what a lovely place and that we should keep it our own little secret,” said Dave Tindall.

“We think it’s the best place in the world.”