Tag: country life

No stone unturned

The huge stone trough I spotted in someone’s garden. How did it get there?
The deliberate diagonal markings of the mason’s tool can clearly be seen


Do you remember a while back I wrote about stone masons, and the incredible skills that went into creating the distinctive masonry that features in many homes on the North York Moors? Masons had their own particular way of marking, and the ‘posher’ homes often featured the more labour-intensive herringbone pattern, while more basic patterns were used for less fancy constructions.

I was reminded of those stone masons the other day when I came across a magnificent trough in the back garden of a home near York. I was so captivated by it that it distracted me from the job I was meant to be doing. Thankfully, the clients were interested in hearing what I knew about the markings on the trough. Until I turned up, they’d not considered much about its past and how it had got there.

What initially struck me was the size of the thing. It was between five and six feet long, and about two to three feet wide and the almost same in depth. The internal and external surfaces all featured the distinctive markings made by the stone mason’s tool in a uniform and deliberate diagonal pattern.

It appeared to have been formed out of a single piece of rock because I could not see any joins. I guessed the trough was at least a couple of hundred years old, maybe more, and we all wondered how this huge, heavy beast had got there, if indeed it had ever been transported from elsewhere. The owners said their house was at one time a farm, built in the 1700s, and so it is possible the trough has been in that spot in their garden for up to 300 years.

This is the point where I appeal to those among you who have grown up on ancient farmsteads, or who are familiar with the history of such troughs. I have some questions for you.

–        Would the trough have been built from a single piece of masonry?

–        If so, how long would it take to hew out all the stone to make such a trough?

–        I understand pickaxes were used. Is that true?

–        Would it have been built onsite? Or transported from elsewhere? If it was moved, how did they do it in the days before mechanisation?

–        This trough has no outlet for water to drain out, so what would it have been used for (It is very deep, so only suitable for big livestock, if indeed that’s what it actually is)?

–        Could it be anything other than an ancient water container for animals?

It is one of those occasions where I wish my dad was here, because I am certain he would have been able to answer all those questions. In fact, ancient horse troughs feature heavily in one of his series of books, the Inspector Montague Pluke collection. The eccentric inspector’s hobby, between solving murders, is to seek out and catalogue long forgotten drinking troughs on the North York Moors. I’m sure my dad would have done plenty of research into these often ignored but common features of the landscape. Next time I go home, I will be rifling through his old files!

Before I took over these columns eight years ago, I would have barely given the trough a second glance. But I have learned so much about the lives and traditions of our part of the world, thanks to having to sit down and write them each week, that I’ve found myself appreciating the world around me in a lot more depth. The history, folklore, traditions and skills of our wonderful neck of the woods mean so much more to me now. It really is a blessing, and I must not only thank my dad (for if it wasn’t for his passing, I would not be doing this), but also all of you who continue to read my columns, and who get in touch to help me solve my little mysteries. Your contributions play such an important role, for without them, much of this stuff would be forgotten. Who knows if the following generations will ever be interested, but unless we put our memories down in writing, they will be lost forever.

So, from me to you, please accept a great big THANK YOU!

 

Do you have opinions, memories or ideas to share with me? Get in touch with me using the ‘Contact’ button on the top right. 

This column appeared in the Darlington & Stockton Times on Friday 11th and the Ryedale Gazette and Herald on Wednesday 9th April 2025

To bag or not to bag?

They may look adorable, but what dogs leave behind is creating a big problem!

I saw a sign hanging in a wooded area that read: ‘As you are so confident in the biodegradability of your used dog poo bag, please take it home to your own garden and hang it in your own tree. Thank you. From the wildlife.’

On the same day I had a request from a friend to discuss what is clearly a continuing and divisive problem, that of abandoned dog mess around popular walking routes. I did write about this topic some time ago, but clearly some dog owners are still upsetting others with their thoughtless actions. It is worth pointing out that many of the people who are upset are dog owners themselves, tired of being tarred with the same brush as the thoughtless and ignorant ones.

Am I alone in remembering that, as a child in the 1970s, it was my responsibility to watch out for doggy business on footpaths? If I trod in it, I was my fault for not paying attention to where I was putting my feet. The owner was not expected to pick it up, nor were they blamed for the fact that their pet decided to go to the toilet on the path. Dogs would be dogs.

Times changed once someone invented a special bag which you could use to pick up the poo, and then later, another invented dedicated bins in which to place them. Thankfully over time it became socially unacceptable to not pick up Fido’s dirty deposits.

But since then of course, we have become more aware of how polluting plastic bags are and how much damage they do to our water and land-dwelling wildlife, and to the habitats in which they dwell. As a result of this never-ending problem, a clever person then invented the biodegradable poo bag, which seemed to be the answer to all our problems. The guilt of sealing it inside a bag evaporated.

If only. As we all know, a solution to one problem usually creates another. The newish problem is that some dippy dog owners among us now dispose of their bulging bags by either tossing them into bushes or hanging them on trees. They think that they do no harm because the bag will degrade over time. Little matter to them that they take weeks or even months to do so. What an utterly selfish approach that is.

I don’t know about you, but on my walks, I like to admire the flora and fauna as nature intended, and not as a doggy-doo-doo dumping ground. Who on earth enjoys seeing a smelly bag dangling from a hawthorn like a bauble on Shrek’s Christmas tree? However annoying it is that your pooch chooses to perform early on your walk miles from a suitable bin, you chose to have a dog, so you still have to deal with it considerately. Lobbing it into the bushes, even in a biodegradable bag, is not acceptable. Some people declare that they plan to collect it on the return journey. Even if that is the case, it still means that A: other people have to walk past it. B: You might forget it. And C: Judging by how many I see abandoned, that’s a lie. It is more likely that you can’t be bothered to carry it.

There are occasions, though, where the ‘stick and flick’ method might be acceptable, and even preferable, to using bags. In areas where there is dense undergrowth, you are encouraged to use a stick to flick it away, out of sight where no-one is likely to step on it. That way it will happily fertilise the ground and erases the need to bag it and carry it. However, a quick look at the Forestry England and National Trust websites shows that their policies are still to bag it and either bin it or take it home. The reasoning is that certain livestock and animals can be poisoned through eating dog faeces and ingesting plastic, even if it is biodegradable.

So what is the answer? More bins around country car parks and walks, and signage clearly illustrating the preferred methods and locations for disposal would help. But I have a feeling this is a debate that will run and run.

I’d love to hear from you about your opinions, memories and ideas for columns. Use the ‘Contact’ button on the top right of this page to get in touch. This column appeared in the Darlington & Stockton Times on Friday 5th April and the Ryedale Gazette and Herald on Wednesday 3rd April 2024.