Blog Archives
SHOPS ARE FOR LIFE, NOT JUST FOR CHRISTMAS
Food, produce, books, cards, pictures and pots – there’s an amazing array of produce and gifts right on our doorstep here in Askrigg. None of them need cost a fortune and there’s no question of going ‘down market’ by going local. Our authors, artists and producers hold their own on the national – and sometimes international – stage: not just for Christmas, but throughout the year.
Visitors can take home a lasting memento of Askrigg: Andrew Hague the potter at the Old School House, West End (650548) has a great range of unique items to choose from; lamps, bowls, plates, mugs to name a few. For nearby friends, when posting heavy stuff might be an issue, a voucher from one of the local pubs and restaurants will go down well, or a beauty treatment voucher from Ginger Tree Holistic Health and Beauty now based at Simonstone Hall. Call Kathy Scott on 07530 602209. Yorebridge Sport and Fitness also have vouchers for those in your life who want to keep fit. Contact Jan Hale on 07530 602209.
Try Piers Browne (650434) and Judith Bromley and Robert Nicholls for paintings, prints, gorgeous cards and books. Judith will be signing copies of her latest book, Climb up to the Moor – Moorland Life through the Seasons of the Year (£20) at the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes on Saturday 3 December. Signed books are also available at her home and studio, Beech House in Main Street, Askrigg on Wednesdays. For something completely different there’s Dulcie Lewis’s hilarious and horribly informative Casting off the Corsets – a Brief History of Underwear. At £4.95 it’s a perfect – well, stocking-filler. Ramblers Rewards: Cooking from Coast-to-Coast, by Askrigg’s Elizabeth Guy and friend Pat Kirkbride, remains a favourite cookery book. Its stories of local producers, and illustrations by Derry Brabbs, are as much to be savoured as the recipes. All these books, plus a host of other items, many locally-made, you can get at Next Door.
For a wide range of groceries, newspapers, magazines and greeting cards, you can’t do better than Sykes House, the village shop run by Lisa and Keith in the main street. They also keep a good stock of moderately-priced wines, delicious biscuits, and fancy chocolates. And if you really want to make a difference to people’s lives, contact Amanda Killip about the Ayries Society, the charity she helped found in South India for children and adults living with disabilities and in extreme poverty. She sells a range of Fair Trade goods and lovely crafts throughout the year. If you want to make a donation to the charity £100 will provide a wheelchair, a trike or callipers; but you can buy just a wheel or contribute to other vital equipment. Amanda will tell you how (650781).
SO MUCH TO CELEBRATE
Artist Judith Bromley’s new book is a celebration in words and paintings of the glorious countryside around Askrigg which she has roamed, loved and captured on canvas for nearly 40 years. Now, to mark the publication of Climb up to the Moor – Moorland Life Through the Seasons of the Year, Judith and husband Nik (fellow artist and contributor, Robert Nicholls) invite us all to do our own ‘climb up to the moor’ on Monday 17 October. The walk will be followed by a pub lunch at The Crown – cause for celebration in itself – and a book signing and exhibition at Beech House in the afternoon.
You can choose to take part in any, or all, of the day’s activities but Judith will need to know as soon as possible if you intend to do the walk as numbers will have to be limited. Also, please let her know if you want lunch – £6-50 for soup and sandwiches – by Wednesday 12 October at the latest. So – here’s the full programme:
- WALK – 10.00 am meet outside the Crown Inn, Askrigg, and walk up to the moor (approx 2 ½ hours with an alternative for less strong walkers).
- LUNCH – 12.30 – 1.00pm. Meet at the Crown Inn for soup and sandwiches £6.50.
- BOOK SIGNING and EXHIBITION – 2.00pm Beech House (opp the Crown Inn). Just drop in anytime between 2.30 – 4.30
e-mail: bromley.nicholls@tiscali.co.uk (preferred) or ring 01969 650266
Climb up to the Moor is a deeply reflective and thought-provoking account of the Dales landscape in all its changing and varied glory, season by season. Through her own, and Nik’s, stunning illustrations, Judith does not so much tell as live the story of the moorland: of its abundant wildlife, its rugged beauty, and, paradoxically, its frailty. For though the prose reads like poetry, there is no mistaking the subtle undertone: that this landscape we love is a threatened one. Without preaching, and with no hint of the bossiness of many professional ‘environmentalists’, Judith nevertheless reminds us that the moorlands are a microcosm of the world we are in danger of destroying.
There are some wonderful contributions from villagers: Heather Hodgson, for example, on the deep contentment of watching the sun set over Askrigg on a June evening with husband, James – who then writes on the practicalities of sheep hefting, a term I’d never even heard before. Churches, children, landowners and farmers all have their say, and bring their unique perspectives to bear on the subject of moorland, its enjoyment and management. It’s this diversity of approach which Judith likes to encourage. She says: “It is not geared towards the landowners and shooting fraternity any more than the more spiritually-focussed, or the local community. But I hope that this diversity of contributors will enable and facilitate a process where we can all learn more about each others’ point of view.”
- Climb up to the Moor – Moorland Life through the Seasons of the Year.By Judith Bromley. Price £20. Published by Beech House Publications: http://www.ypdbooks.com/the-arts/484-climb-up-on-the-moor-YPD00436.html
