View From The Shed by Alvin Hickling - VIEW FROM THE ARCHIVIST

VIEW FROM THE ARCHIVIST

Hi everyone. If you were expecting one of Shaun's blogs then you are probably disappointed. He's unavailable at the moment so has asked me to step in as Guest Blogger for the week. My name's Alvin and I regularly inhabit the very same "Welcome Shed" as Shaun, but that is about where the similarities between us end. As far as birds are concerned we would be placed at the opposite ends of the knowledge scale. I might be able to count on two hands the number of species that I could recognise. But I am a trier... by the end of 2023 I may need a third hand, or a foot perhaps.

My knowledge of birds is very limited so I'm not quite sure what RSPB saw in me as a volunteer but they say everyone is good at something. I would have to say my talent is probably being a bit of a detective. In other words perhaps I'm just inquisitive but never nosy. Since 2011 I've had my own Genealogy business – www.discoveryourroots.co.uk . It's been going very well since then; I've created about 200 family trees, unravelled a host of family rumours and reunited a decent number of absent relatives with their families.

As an RSPB Welcome Volunteer we are generally paired up with a paid fundraiser. Many a fundraiser paired with me has gone home armed with more information about their family than when they arrived that morning. A bit of detective work on cold wet and dark days can make the time pass quicker when there are few visitors around.

Then late last year I was asked the question, “Do you fancy helping us with the Heritage Project as 30th March is the 20th Anniversary of RSPB Old Moor?” I could only ever say “Yes”. Now, I'm fine researching people but buildings? Hmmm. I really was worried that this would be more difficult than anticipated. How was I going to find something worth calling 'Heritage'. I had no idea where to start as after all Old Moor was just a farm wasn't it? How wrong could a person be. It's now around 6 months since I began the project and I think the volume of material we now have justifies it's own mini museum. I was told a few months ago that my "Welcome Volunteer" badge was going to be replaced with "Curator". Hopefully the badge comes with a 50% pay rise.

I have to be careful not to give away too much detail of the findings prior to the Heritage Weekend on Saturday and Sunday the 1st and 2nd April, but one thing is for sure and that is Old Moor was never just a farm. We've produced a timeline for the farm that stretches from around 1516 to the present day. Many changes have taken place and significant individuals have occupied its dwellings. The farm and surrounding Dearne Valley has gone through monumental changes in the last 50 years alone, from being called the largest most polluted area in Europe, to recently being awarded a SSSI (Site of Special Scientific Interest) title. How cool is that?

So where was I to begin? That was a dilemma. I gave it some thought and decided there would be 3 directions from which to attack, mainly in a hope that something interesting might fall in my lap during the process.

1 – Anyone visiting Old Moor probably knows that in the courtyard area there are a series of stone carvings sited on the walls, about 10 in total. Well in actual fact there are almost 50 in total and to me they look old. How old I wondered, 100 years, 150 years? Who was the craftsman? Shows how much I know as it appears they were created by the stonemasons doing the renovations around 1998. Not ancient but still, it's part of the heritage.

2 – There is a date stone above the shop/café entrance which was the old barn. 1755 is the date but rumours of even older beams in the farmhouse prompted the second line of attack. I researched and found someone to come and examine the buildings and surrounding area. David Cook of YVBSG (Yorkshire Vernacular Building Study Group) kindly agreed to come down from Durham to conduct the report. He did a fine job of the report but then he would do – he was born in Barnsley. His report allows us to see where the farm fitted into the landscape back as far as 1615. He tasked me with digging out old documents for him as part of my learning experience. Acquiring them and understanding them were 2 different things though. Thank you to the Archive Departments at Barnsley, Sheffield and Cambridge for their help.

3 – The third area was something I was comfortable with; people. I was able to trace the occupants of the farm back in time as far as 1782 using census and a variety of other archive documents. There have been some great characters along the way. Between 1782 and 1998 only 2 families have occupied Old Moor... the Brookes and the Gascoignes. Before 1782 the occupant was responsible for creating an annual event that has been celebrated worldwide since. A clue is the size of the stable block. That's the big building behind the Welcome Hut . According to David Cook of YVBSG the stable block is far too big for a farm the size of Old Moor. All will be revealed later. As I said earlier, Old Moor was never just a farm.

There is so much history at Old Moor. Some of which I have managed to capture but I suspect there could be lots still out there waiting to be found. War heroes, war diaries , commemorative swords, Flying Circus (not Monty Python), 33 Squadron, horse racing, organic farming and then there are the birds. Don't forget the birds.

Please take time out to visit the Heritage Exhibition along with lots of other goings on like trails and theatre making it a great weekend at Old Moor on Saturday and Sunday the 1st and 2nd April.

I hope I filled Shaun's boots in a good way for you. He'll be back next week.

Alvin Hickling