Clapham-based charity Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust (YDMT) is aiming to produce a children’s illustrated book that tells the story of Ingleborough through stone features and objects found in the area.
The book is part of Stories in Stone, a programme of community and heritage projects developed by the Ingleborough Dales Landscape Partnership, which is led by YDMT and mainly funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, thanks to National Lottery players.
Debbie Boswell, YDMT’s interpretation officer, said: “Ingleborough’s fantastic geology is the foundation of thousands of years of human settlement, and the interaction between people and place is particularly rich in this area. This means that there’s a wealth of interesting stone features, places and objects to discover which, piece by piece, build up a picture of the local geography, history, people and architecture. The book will be aimed at 8 to 11-year-olds and will be a local version of ‘Horrible Histories’!”
YDMT is inviting people to send in their suggestions of stone features that have some historical, cultural or natural significance. This could be a connection with a historical event or person, a link with a local legend or folktale, or because the site shows how the landscape was formed. Examples could be datestones, clapper bridges or unusual boulders. Each feature needs to be publicly accessible, as the book will include a number of circular trails that take in several features along the way. The book will enable families to explore the Ingleborough area, and find and tick off the places and objects described in it.
Debbie added: “We’d love to hear from anyone with a suggestion for the book, especially children and young people. We expect there’ll be a long list of suggestions so the problem will be deciding on which should go in the book. The area includes a lot of well-known features that could be included but we’d also like the book to have a few surprises by including some that aren’t as well known. The common thread in all the stories needs to be the basic ingredient of rock or stone.”
If you have a suggestion please contact Debbie on 015242 51002 or email [email protected]. The closing date for suggestions is 30 April. There’s no limit on the number of suggestions that can be made, and contributors of suggestions that are included in the book will have the option of being credited with it.
Stories in Stone is enabling people from all backgrounds and of all ages to learn about, enjoy and help manage the stunning limestone landscape around Ingleborough, both above and below ground. The programme is delivering a huge number of projects including restoring field barns and wildlife habitats, involving people in archaeological digs, digitising archives, providing a range of training opportunities, offering new learning opportunities for local school children, improving physical and intellectual access, and delivering events and activities.
