Ryedale Folk Museum

Life in times past in the Ryedale area has changed vastly over the years. These photographs are just a small example of the archive collection.

There was also much tradition lost as time progressed and the horse replaced. In areas including Yorkshire, ploughing did not begin until Plough Monday [1] . This was the first Monday following the twelfth day after Christmas. Often, the farmworkers would parade through the village streets and dance, not dissimilar to Morris Dancing today [2] . Also widespread in Yorkshire, Northamptonshire, Derbyshire and other central areas was the Plough Play. The performers would pull a brightly decorated plough through the village streets and ask to enter the village houses. If the performers were allowed in they performed their play and were given food and drink. If the householder refused to give them entry, they would plough the ground in front of their property [3] . This tradition, like that of the hiring fair has fallen into disuse with time and progress [4] . Three manufacturers of tractor emerged who could supply farmers with reliable, cheap tractors – David Brown, Fordson and Ferguson. Th...

Here is our latest blog about the work that is carried out by dedicated staff and volunteers at Ryedale Folk Museum. At the moment there are several projects going on, one of which is restoring a great model village - kindly donated from Harlow Carr Gardens, Harrogate. Another is the building of a new shed to help preserve the vintage agricultural machinery and implements. Kevin, the Museum Manager is in this video parking one of the museum tractors. This M.F 135 was restored to its former glory at the museum, after spending many years as a scaper tractor on a dairy farm.

The Collections team are rather baffled by these objects. We believe the first object may be a form of pipe cleaner, the other object we are not sure of. Could it be something of surgical use?

This week in the Museum we were trying to find out exactly how old these objects were. We think the flask dates from the 1920's and the torch from the 1930's. The torch is manufactured by a company called ' Vesta '. These may seem like mundane objects for a museum, but they are an important part of history. Where would the working man be without the flask? The electric torch replaced the candle and paraffin lamp providing a much safer means of portable light. If anyone reading this can shed any light on the age of these objects please email us at: ryedalefolkmuseum.co.uk.

This week, some of the Harrison Collection is still on display in the Ryedale Folk Museum Gallery. Rather quaint is this dog wheel, used in the seventeeth and eighteenth centuries for turning a spit over an open fire. The breed of dog was called a 'Turnspit',(now extinct) a cross between a Daschund and a Jack Russell.If the dog would not trot then hot embers would be placed in the base of the wheel to make it move. Many of the expressions used in the English language such as 'dog tired' and 'every dog shall have its day' originate from the use of a dog wheel.

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