REPORT ON THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF SHAP LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY HELD ON MONDAY 24 th APRIL 2006.

 

There was a good attendance at the fifth Annual General Meeting of the Shap Local History Society, held in the Green Room of the memorial hall. The Chairman, Jean Jackson welcomed the gathering and reported another successful year of lectures, an exhibition and a social evening. Many enquiries have been made via the website, and the open days during the spring have allowed locals to continue their researches, many have shared their findings with the society. The society is currently applying for charity status, and Trustees have been appointed, they are: Jean Jackson, Liz Amos, Wendy Fairer and Jean Scott-Smith. There is also an application for grant aid for future development of the society.

The Fairer Library, donated by Wendy Fairer, is now housed at the Heritage Centre, and bookcases have been purchased for it. A collection of Shap Granite Works archive material has been purchased recently at auction, this includes a wages ledger covering a two-year period during the 1870’s. Mrs Jackson ended by thanking Liz Amos, the secretary and Linda Newton the treasurer for their hard work.

Mrs Newton gave the financial report; this showed a financially successful year, the coffee mornings had given a welcome boost, and the Ivan day evening had been a huge success, so the year showed with a healthy profit.

The following officers were appointed: Chairman, Jean Jackson, Vice Chairman, Jean Scott-Smith, Secretary, Liz Amos, Treasurer, Linda Newton. Committee: Fran Allen, Barbara Cotton, John and Marion Drinkwater and Wendy Fairer.

Mrs Scott-Smith then welcomed the speaker, Ken Mills, who addressed the group on ‘The Yew Trees of Cumbria’. Mr Mills began by giving some facts about yew trees, their fossil record goes back 125 million years, and the tree has an ability to regenerate itself. Although it is an evergreen, it is not classified as a conifer since it does not bear cones but berries.

The yew is only to be found naturally in the northern hemisphere. It has been revered by humans for over 4000 years on druid sites, where it was believed to be the tree of life. These sites were often used to build early churches, the reason why yew trees are found in many old churchyards. Although almost all parts of the tree are poisonous, wild animals do graze the lower branches with no ill effect; Mr Mills was of the opinion that wild animals knew intuitively how much was safe to eat. The red squirrel is the only mammal to eat the fruits, although many birds do so. An extract from yew leaves is used to produce cancer drugs.

There is more than one variety of yew; the English or common yew is a big tree with a height of up to sixty feet and a branch spread of the same; left to its own devices, the branches will reach the ground and form a natural shelter. The Irish yew is cup-shaped with a spiky top and curved needles, these are less than 200 years old, and the golden yew is a further variant.

A series of slides showed yew trees in many locations throughout the county, some are famous, such as the one at Lorton, written about by Wordsworth. The tree at Old Church Hotel beside Ullswater, bears witness to the fact that there had been an old church on that site. There were slides of the famous yew topiary at Levens Hall, and of the yew hedge at Muncaster Castle. The tree with the largest girth in the county is at Kirkoswald, and measures twenty-four and a half feet in circumference.

The yew does not have annual growth rings, so it is difficult to age them, sometimes they may die in the centre and regenerate from the outside leaving a hollow trunk. Yew trees often grow on the fell sides where there is little or no soil, and there were some amazing slides of trees with their roots wrapped around rocks, the highest altitude they may be found is around 1150 feet above sea level.

The famous use for yew was for making long bows; the demand for these bows during the Middle Ages was so great that yew had to be imported from Europe. The word ‘yeo’ means bow, so yeomen were bowmen.

Mr Mills had brought some examples of yew for members to inspect. There were branches, including examples of the male and female flowers, which are borne on separate trees, and samples of raw and turned wood, the turned items being beautifully smooth and tactile.

Following an opportunity for questions, Mrs Jackson thanked him for a most interesting talk.

The next meeting will be held on Monday 22 nd May when Alistair Robertson will speak on the history of Alston Moor.