Voices From The Dales

Michael shares his knowledge of bird life on the farm, stressing that there is as much wildlife about as there ever was.   He describes how the farm business is dealing with the government’s major change to farm payments.   Michael shares his views on the Swaledale breed in the sheep shed, and there’s a cameo from daughter Rachel who describes her attraction to a career in hill farming.   

Michael Watson fothers sheep in a high allotment with haylage and cake.   He paints a picture of the scene in Upper Teesdale, and describes how much the stock means to him.  The talk turns to the changing climate and Michael reveals that 2023 was the first time no hay was made at Stoney Hill.     

As Ray gives his beloved White Park cattle a scratch in a rain-battered shed, he reveals how Swaledale sheep numbers have come down over the years as stewardship schemes have come in.  He describes how lapwings and sheep ‘look out for each other’, how ‘scrapes’ have been dug to provide habitat for the birds, and how he grew up on the farm wondering at the abundance of wildlife.    

Sue Ridley describes the unique location of Kexwith Farm in lower Swaledale.  She humorously rejects the title of ‘farmer’s wife’, tells the story of the revival of a remnant of ancient woodland, and reveals how engagement with stewardship schemes has led to healthier stock and more grass.   

Christine speaks about wildflower identification, hay meadow management and peat depth testing.  She reveals how the authorities once regarded Kisdon hill top as being of insufficient environmental interest to warrant stewardship payments, and closes with stirring advocacy of the importance of local communities.   

The new series is introduced by presenter Andrew Fagg.   Then meet champion Swaledale sheep breeder Christine, checking on tup Mo.  She shares the story of her farming career and her current thoughts on the direction of the Swaledale breed, as well as a conversation between tourists overheard in Muker’s famous meadows.  

Kit Calvert, one time saviour of Wensleydale Cheese, is introduced.   A description is given of the recordings of him held at the Dales Countryside Museum.  From the 1977 Trevor Sharpe tapes, we hear Kit Calvert tell how his use of dialect made the Queen Mother laugh.  And it is revealed how Wensleydale dialect propelled Wensleydale cheese onto the national stage, with the help of a Mr Capstick. ...

Series Two special guest Rob Ward remembers Kit Calvert.  He adds ‘warts and all’ to our understanding of the man regarded as the ‘Complete Dalesman’.  After Rob, a Kit Calvert recording gifted to the museum in 2019 is published for the first time.  It is the story of how he came to faith through the travails of a milk cow. Published on Wed 1 November 2023.

Kit Calvert’s conversion and cow story, begun in episode 8, concludes.  We also hear him telling how he was persuaded to ‘translate’ parts of the Bible into Wensleydale dialect, and why he collected the poems of John Thwaite. He reads from St John's gospel and the poem 'Wakken Mother Wakken'.  This is followed by concluding thoughts on dialect.   Published on Wed 1 November 2023.   ...

A 90-second trailer for the final three episodes of Series Two on dialect.    It whets the appetite for Episodes 7-9, which will  feature never-before-published archive material of Kit Calvert, the saviour of both The Wensleydale Dairy in Hawes and the dialect poetry of John Thwaite.  

Once the village children’s favourite place to play, the Gayle millpond – known as the washdub – becomes the place for a reflection on dialect, as the series draws to a close for now.  Series Two special guests Rob and Val Ward remember the washdub as a place of meeting.  There’s a reminder of how dialect sounded, with another archive clip of Lizzie Dinsdale .  From the 1977 tapes, Kit Calvert tel...

Series Two special guest Val Ward reads the dialect verse of the late road sweeper George Calvert from Gayle.  Three poems are featured: ‘ Kit Storra’ ; ‘Mi Granfatther’; and ‘T’Paper Lad’, which was written in tribute to John Mason . Special guest Rob Ward also remembers the village allotments and George ‘Laps’ Alderson .  Presented by Andrew Fagg from Gayle chapel, where George Calvert said peop...

Series Two special guest Rob Ward says, ‘There’s no fish in’t beck’.  The sad recent demise of brown trout in Upper Wensleydale prompts a diversion from dialect into fishing.   Three more voices from 1977 are heard: Fred Nuttall recounts the formation of Hawes and High Abbotside Angling Association; Jessie Blades speaks of her family’s fame at fly dressing and their work as bailiffs; and Chris Hes...

After a noisy introduction at Gayle Bridge, this episode opens with a little more of Rev James Alderson , including a short study of his 1980 Dales dialect primer.   Presenter Andrew Fagg then stands by the black-painted railings of Foss Head Farm house in the village of Gayle to cue in a 1977 recording of the late Hannah Metcalfe (nee Alderson).  The Metcalfe name and family is described.  The la...

Presenter Andrew Fagg is by the beck in Gayle village to introduce the late local historian Rev James Alderson and the late Lizzie Alderson.  There is a touching story about a petted pig, along with excerpts from a lecture given by Rev James in the early 1980s at the Grassington Festival.  Both characters are remembered by special guests Rob and Val Ward.   The work of Trevor Sharpe and Bradford Y...

Presenter Andrew Fagg introduces Series Two on Dales dialect, with special guests Val and Rob Ward.  He visits Hawes Methodist Cemetery and makes the case for dialect.  Enter then the remarkable voice of the late Lizzie Dinsdale, in a recording made in the 1970s but until now hidden away.   She gives her recipe for havercake and speaks about doing a 'man's part' at hay time.  

Voices From The Dales is returning for a second series - on dialect - on Friday 2 December 2022.  This is our one-minute  trailer.   Series Two will have at  a least six episodes of the usual 15 minute length, to be published fortnightly.  Do come and meet the people of the village of Gayle and the little town of Hawes next door.  Presented by Andrew Fagg.

Hear the voice of the bog as recorded by composer Sarah Smout in this one-off episode about the restoration of a vast area of peatland in the Yorkshire Dales called Fleet Moss.  Peat Restoration Officer at the Yorkshire Peat Partnership Jenny Sharman speaks about how she has developed a ‘real love’ for Fleet Moss as as a ‘black, broken land’ has once again become a place with ‘a wealth of life’. ...

Ingleborough is limestone – or karst – country.  It is world famous for its caves.   Part Five features Avelina Wright from the local Cave Rescue Organisation.  ‘We don’t only pull humans out of holes,’ she says.  Such was the pull of the caves for Lincolnshire woman Leann Rennie , she upped sticks and moved to the area.   ‘There’s everything here that adventurous people like,’ she says.  Her husb...

In Part Six, hear children from nearby Settle Primary School interview their grandparents.  93 year old Edna Thornton , from the village of Austwick to the south of Ingleborough mountain, remembers the days when the milkman delivered milk directly into a jug on her doorstep each morning.   Two granddads from Settle are asked about the changes they have seen in the natural environment.  Meanwhile b...

The Ingleborough area covers around 100 square kilometres and it is the mountainous heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park.  It is mostly a farmed landscape.  In Part One of Our Ingleborough , commoner and dairyman John Dawson explains hill farming practices. ‘Our mark is a red arse,’ he says, referring to his sheep, before developing the argument that ‘everything is fine as long as you walk h...

Ribblesdale is the main valley in the Ingleborough area and is renowned for its quarries.  In Part Two, local farmer and former quarryman Winston White reflects honestly on his career.  ‘If they had the chance they’d knock your house down and crush that up as well,’ he says.    Ribblesdale has also become home to printmaker Hester Cox . She has become so well known for using natural materials in h...

Thousands of people, often from the towns and cities of Lancashire and West Yorkshire, travel each week to the Ingleborough area for recreation.   In Part Three, hear two men from a Muslim hikers group.  Group leader Sham Ali proudly declares that he is from ‘Bradford, born and bred as a Yorkshireman,’ while teacher Tariq Shiraz shares his admiration for the way people try to keep the area free fr...

People have visions for the future of Ingleborough.  For many, the hope is that it will become a wilder, even more species-rich environment.  In Part Four, hear how Rachel Benson , who runs a bunk barn, has been making the vision a reality.   ‘Now it is very flowery,’ she says of a restored hay meadow.   Also hear the voice of an activist, Amy-Jane Beer .  ‘It’s my place to go out to roam at will,...

The Courtyard Dairy cheese shop at the foot of Ingleborough in the Yorkshire Dales has been named 'among the best 50 food shops in the world'  (by the Financial Times).   In Voices From The Dales 'Cheese Present' hear the Courtyard Dairy story from co-founder Andy Swinscoe and his fellow cheesemongers, as they 'fill faces' with farmhouse cheese made from raw milk.  &a...