VOICE OF HILLAM VILLAGE HILLAM NEWS Including Monk Fryston and Burton Salmon JUNE 2025 VOLUME 42 Abuse of the Community Centre Drop-Off Recycling Facility Most residents know that the Community Centre is provided and operated by volunteers who are the Community Association. It is not a municipal facility. Recently both the Cardboard Drop-Off Recycling Facility and the Community Centre’s domestic waste bin, which we pay for just like everyone has to do, have been abused several times by people putting domestic waste in the cardboard bins, and builders and domestic rubbish in the Community Centre’s general waste bin which is used by Hall Hirers. This has happened before and we have put signs on the bins… saying the bins are only for cardboard and requesting people to flatten carboard boxes, these requests have obviously been ignored. The cardboard and other bins, which are managed by volunteers, are accommodated on the CC site for residents’ benefit. It saves them having to make the trip into Selby to dispose of materials which won’t fit into normal domestic bins. Please be considerate. Please comply to our requests. Please don’t leave any rubbish which is not collected in one of the recycling bins provided. Finally, if the recycling bins are full – Please take your rubbish home – Please don’t leave it at the Community Centre – It won’t be moved by magic – someone else will
In This Issue 1 Abuse of the community centre recycling facilities 3 Hillam Parish Council—meet your two new councillors 4 To mow or not to mow 5 Thank you Lottery Fund and Summer Job Wanted 6 Hillam Historians Revisited 7 Our Wartime Memories 8 Bookworm and Grassland Fires 9 2025 Birding Around Hillam 10-11 Anniversary of VE Day Celebrations 12-13 David Atkinson—A memorial 14-15 Beautiful North 16 Hillam and Monk Fryston Cricket Club 17 Poem 18 Arts and Crafts Fair 19-23 Classified Ads 24 Useful numbers Something to say? Something to share? Hello everyone, and welcome to the June edition of Hillam News. introduction to their fabulous business on pages 14-15. It’s fantastic to hear that the business is thriving with Over the last few months customers coming from miles we’ve been blessed with away to enjoy the wide variety plenty of sunny days, and lots of treatments on offer. of great events in our villages—not least the And finally, on pages 12-13 splendid and moving VE Day you can read a fitting tribute Celebrations. Thank you to all to David Atkinson. David was the volunteers who made the editor of Hillam News for 80th anniversary so many years, and along with memorable. his team of merry volunteers, helped the publication stay a As we head into the summer regular source of news and there are plenty of views. Thank you David— opportunities to get involved you’ll be sadly missed. in village life. Hillam and Monk Fryston Cricket Club are on the look out for more Stay safe and stay well, senior players—see page 16 Eileen (Ed) and the for more details. Hillam News Team Thank you to the team at Beautiful North for the If you have something you want to write about, to share, to comment on, then please just email hillamnews@gmail.com We always welcome articles - the more variety we have, the better. And please don’t worry about spelling, grammar etc.. Our excellent proof readers will sort this out for you. Editorial Contacts Finances Laura Wetherald Hillam News email Sally Whittingham Proof Readers hillamnews@gmail.com SallyWhittingham@gmail.com Distribution Editor (Ed) Betty Wright Eileen Brown Bettywright333@gmail.com eileenbrown100@icloud.com Mick Merry mick.merry@hotmail.co.uk Local Services Clubs and Groups Sally Whittingham SallyWhittingham@gmail.com hillamnews@gmail.com Advertising/Articles Hillam News Facebook is a moderated forum which invites visitor posts and comments from Hillam, Monk Fryston, Burton Salmon and anywhere nearby. Local stories and details of upcoming events from other Facebook pages are shared and there is the occasional original or archive news story.
everyone says hello - which is lovely. I love being Name: Mike Cooke ( with lovely granddaughter) outside and to be able to do so in such gorgeous How long have you lived in Hillam? 4 years and just countryside, surrounded by nature, is very special. joined Parish Council in 2025. 3 things to help Parish Council? Anything needed! I’ve 3 things about Hillam you like? The people are friendly worked in the financial sector and I’ve spent the last and approachable; Betteras Hill Road which has a lovely 20+ years in education, most recently as Head of School edge of village feel and great transport links; Hillam’s so I think I have a very varied skill set. Importantly, I largely stone-built houses, the pub, the centre and have a strong sense of belonging and service that I events which give a sense of community. would like to put to good use having chosen to move here… maybe nothing too technological though, as 3 things to help Parish Council? Promotion and linking even though I try… I am a bit of a dinosaur! activities; good governance ; wide leadership and Board experience. 3 things about me? I’m married to David and am blessed with a wonderful family; horse riding, gardening 3 things about me? Retired; fun loving (including fine and walking the grand-pups fill my happy jar; I enjoy a wine); have a CBE and am also known as Cookie ... very wide range of music but am still useless at ‘10 to the Top’ on Vernon Kay’s Radio 2 quiz! Life in Hillam? Lovely with Mandy, family and good friends….we all love it here. You may see me mowing! Life in Hillam? Very peaceful, relaxed and valued. We’re Hillam in 5-10 years? Unspoilt village with several focal friends ….hoping to make some good friends here too. points; still friendly; still here and thriving. Name: Ali Oliver How long have you lived in Hillam? 16 months 3 things about Hillam you like? The sense of community: close to family and not too far from life-long Having retired, I have time to volunteer: you may have seen me driving Santa’s Sleigh for the Elmet Lions and I’ll be out helping the Hillam in Bloom team (any excuse to be outside!). we were so impressed with the events for the fireworks Hillam in 5-10 years? Fingers crossed, pretty much as it and the Christmas lights and everywhere is kept looking is now - a beautiful place to live: a thriving, friendly lovely which is no small undertaking. Compared to the community in an unspoilt village. Calder Valley, it’s flat! This makes it very easy on the knees for walking and everyone is friendly - pretty much I look forward to meeting you.
Betteras Hill Road INTRODUCTION One of the reasons Hillam is so lovely to live in is because those who live here largely look after their gardens, verges and hedges really well. Hillam is a great village with a growing sense of community typified by the community events held. Hillam Parish Council looks after their verges and common strips of grass along the roads, the square and the welcome signs etc. We recently discussed to mow or not to mow during May and how to get Hillam looking its best but also to:* have road and pedestrian safety in mind * think about wildlife and routes for them * link to Hillam in Bloom and other events * connect with the pathways and bridle paths previously identified So, as a new Parish Councillor I thought I would write about why we have just completed “No Mow May” for benefit to our pollinators and wildlife; a bit more about wildlife as the context; its links to the wider environment; safety for all and helping keep Hillam very appealing. “MAKING SPACE FOR NATURE” Keeping Hillam lovely is a theme for us all but for those interested the two fundamental reports about UK nature conservation are “Making Space for Nature” (back in 2010/11) and adopted cross-party as policy and “The State of Nature”(2023) which is a stocktake every few years on the abundance of nature. So what?…….. Sir John Lawton wrote the first report and is President of Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. In it he suggested that to make more space for more nature we need “bigger” spaces, “better” improved spaces, “better managed” areas that are “ better connected” and this is where we come in. The concept of the better connected spaces introduces the idea of nature corridors between areas where species are thriving and areas where the species are depleted. We can all create nature corridors between gardens on verges and roadsides. The headlines from the wildlife stocktake are not good reading with; a 19% decrease in UK species since 1970; habitats in poor condition; nearly 1 in 6 current UK species at risk of being lost. BETTER CONNECTED To facilitate the better connected bit “No Mow May” has been repeated with nature corridors being encouraged near roadsides on verges but also with a mown 2-3 foot strip if there is no footpath as a step off safe access next to the road. Pedestrians, dogs, horses and all wildlife will benefit from this balanced approach. We will see these 2-3 foot strips and mown areas appear over time to supplement with volunteers the mowing contract which will start again in early June. Sight lines will be maintained too. The current mowing and strimming contractor is doing a good job. Strips will be maintained by volunteers - thank you Charles ( the square), Dave and Mike (Betteras Hill Road) to supplement the contract mowing. On Betteras Hill Road we will go a bit further and leave the nature corridors a bit longer and review the situation. LINKS WITH OTHERS The link with the renewed Hillam in Bloom run by Ruth in Bloom and her team is established and growing as are links to other events and landmarks, for example the welcome signs and VE Day Commemoration. We would like this to engage with as many people as possible across Hillam, as one bit improves others seem to follow suit. We would love a handful more of volunteers too please to come forward for mowing, tidying up and helping with Hillam in Bloom too! AND FINALLY Hillam already looks nice, let’s get it looking even lovelier for all, safer for all, and encourage all wildlife. Volunteers for eg Hillam Lane and Chapel Street please do not hesitate to contact me. Mike Cooke (previously Chair, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust) Greenacres, Betteras Hill Road mikecooke7@icloud.com
The CA’s grant support from the Lotteries Community Fund for the Monk Fryston and Hillam Community Sustainability Funding is coming to an end. It was initially for 2 years and was later extended to 3 years. It started in March 2022 and with their financial help we have been able to install an Air Source Heat Pump, and a 2nd 10 kWh Electrical Storage Battery. In addition, we have carried out further energy efficiency work, most notably replacing the original Main Hall UPVC double glazed fire doors with upgraded heavy duty ‘more energy efficient’ aluminium ones. We have installed more replacement LED lights and automatic lighting controls but inside and outside the Centre – places where lights tend to get forgotten and left on. Together with previous sustainability investments, these investments helped us to stop emitting any Co2 at the Community Centre from July 2023. Last year we achieved Net Zero status for 4 months - May, June, July and August. Monk Fryston School’s recognition award to pupils for their outstanding work in achieving the Eco Schools Gold and Merit awards on each of the past few years has been paid for by the Lottery Fund. A very well deserved token of recognition for the whole schools outstanding environmental work. Going forward we now have permission from the Lottery to spend our remaining unspent capital and revenue budgets. The unspent capital of £1100 will be used as a contribution towards a new set of replacement Fire doors for the Newton Room to the same standard as the Main Hall. The unspent revenue budget is to be spent on the cost of building and operating the new CA website. This includes a new enlarged sustainability section. In addition, it will pay for a further sustainability project booklet. We hope this will update every household on the progress of ‘the sustainability Project spin -off’ Hillam and Monk Fryston Together which the CA is leading. Its aim is to develop an agreed ‘Community Facilities Development plan’ to act as a guide to all our Village partners when applying for funds in the future from the approved Energy Transition Projects such as the Yorkshire Green Project and the SSE Battery Storage Farm both on Rawfield Lane. Summer Job Wanted: I am looking for a summer job in the local area (also available for pet sitting throughout the year, character and cat references available on request), please get in touch. Willing to give almost anything a go! I am 17 with a full UK driving license and am hard working and reliable. Email: will.in.hillam@gmail.com William Lonsdale
At the excellent VE Day Commemoration Presentation, compiled and presented by members of Monk Fryston Time Team, I was reminded about the tremendous savings efforts of the villagers to support the war effort. For those of you who were fortunate enough to attend, forgive this element of repetition, for those who weren’t, you missed a treat. If you get the chance to attend a future re-run, don't miss it. As the focus on VE Day fades, I offer for this issue of Hillam News an abridged modification of an article included In our book, Hillam, A Village Remembered. It was researched and written by long term Hillam resident, Hillam Historian, the late Ralph Atkins. War Savings in Hillam 1942-45 During the Second World War, the Government decided to raise money for the war effort by borrowing from the population by selling War Bonds and National Savings Certificates, which would be repaid after a period of five years. In towns and villages throughout the country people were asked to become members of Local Savings Committees with the aim of encouraging friends and neighbours to purchase savings stamps and certificates. In addition to these regular savings , the Government announced special weeks for raising additional funds for specific requirements of the armed forces. The first of these special weeks took place from March 23rd-30th 1942 and was designated Warship Week. During this one week £8,075.10 s.0d (£8,075.50) was saved by the people of Hillam, which represented £20.6s.10d (£20.34) per head of the population. In acknowledgement of this achievement, the Lords Commissioners of the Admiralty presented a certificate to the Civil Parish of Hillam to commemorate the adoption of H.M .M.L.153 (His Majesty's Motor Launch) This vessel was probably been used in air-sea rescue of aircrew who had ditched at sea around the coast or for in-shore defences. Further special savings weeks followed, in September 1942 ‘Tanks For Attack’’ June 1943 ‘Wings for Victory’ June 1944 ‘Salute the Soldier’ and the final event before the Savings Group was closed in October 1945 was called ‘Thanksgiving Week’. From 1942-1945 the total savings made by the people of Hillam in the five special savings weeks amounted to £32,641 Running parallel to War Savings was the Hillam Red Cross and War Comforts Fund. This involved a weekly house to house collection to provide comforts for local servicemen and women. Additional funds were raised by various social activities, including film shows, dances and a Grand Carnival held in Hillam Hall Grounds. Consequently, every two months five shilling (25p) was paid to every member of the armed forces from Hillam, with substantial bonuses each Christmas. Details of savings, administration and distribution of funds were meticulously maintained by key administrator and Local Savings Committee Honorary Secretary, Mrs Hilarie Leach.. Minute books, registers and other records related to funding were kept, and as she hoped, later archived as part of the history of the village. Betty Wright
‘We really enjoyed the presentation’ Peter and Mandy Shaw ‘It was excellent’ Phil Jones, chair of Pontefract Archaeology ‘Brillant – If I get the chance, I would see it again’ Jacki Sanderson ‘I am really glad I was persuaded to come; there was so much I didn’t know’ Renny England ‘From what I have been told, I am really sorry I had to miss it’. Iain Mitchell ‘The content and presentation was excellent. Congratulations to all who were involved in putting it together’ Betty Wright ‘It was very good. We’ve lived here a long time and we just didn’t know or were aware of what happened here during the war’ Carolyn and John Popham Such praise is not often received! As part of the CA’s VE Day celebration, the Time Team dug into their archive and created a presentation based on elements of audio recording made of resident’s life stories and supplemented by written testimony and research to verify the assertions made. Most of the contributors had lived all their lives in either Hillam, Burton Salmon or Monk Fryston including their early years, growing up and living through WW2. Their collective experiences, collated to chart the progress of the war from 1936, when a Zepplin passed over the villages, to the auction of surplus army vehicles in the late 1940’s provided a stunning insight never before fully understood or publicly revealed. It clearly illustrated the many facets of the war which residents experienced and the resilience they displayed. An example, of the archive material is this slide of the local Homeguard Unit parading past MF Post Office and actually passing part of a temporarily removed road block. Alongside the presentation was a display of local wartime memorabilia. This provided further surprising insights into what happened in our villages throughout the war. We are sure anyone who attended the Presentation will tell you there was much, much more. We have been asked by a number of those who missed the presentation will you do it again? If sufficient people register their interest on the CA website, we will ‘do it again’ later this year. Please register your interest at Wartime Memories Presentation | Monk Fryston & Hillam Community Association
YOU ARE HERE, BY DAVID NICHOLLS Life is a journey…that is the theme of this book, ostensibly about the Coast-to-Coast Walk from St. Bees in Cumbria to Robin Hoods Bay in Yorkshire. It has twists, trips and turns; stops, starts and some happy strides forward. A little about the book. Cleo is a caring mutual friend of Martin and Marnie, she organises a short walk from St Bees for 3 nights for a small group. Martin intends to walk the whole of the Coast-to-Coast challenge, Marnie has never walked much further than to the next tube stop. As we join them on the walk, we learn that both have been hurt and damaged by their former relationships. In the way that people do, time has moved on, but they have both protected themselves from further hurt and popped themselves into the safe cocoon of ‘living as little as possible’. The book is rich with both their backstories and their characters which are revealed along the walk, as well as the descriptions of the countryside and weather. The writing is pacey and light with splashes of humour and human awkwardness. Both the main characters, who are mature adults, are credible, they make mistakes, they don’t address the issues facing them and they adapt slowly . Their challenge isn’t only the walk, it is also about putting the past behind them successfully so they can navigate a way forward. Maybe together, but maybe not. The walk is a healing, learning experience for them both. David Nicholls also wrote One Day which has been made into a film and is also a series on TV. I am sure this book will head the same way. Try this book, it’s not taxing but an interesting insight into navigating modern life in your late 30’s early 40’s.
Graham Todd, Graham informed Today, has not been a great me that our old friend the yellow day and if it could go wrong, whitetail had returned to the it most certainly did. But I cricket field on Burton Salman won’t bother you with that, I Lane. --------------------------- was really glad to get out of the factory and forget the day altogether. After I left the motorway on my way home, I was driving from Burton Salmon towards Hillam I observed a beautiful pair of barn owls quartering in the field to my left. I was able to pull in and watch these for 10 minutes or so. In those 10 minutes, my day had changed, I’d forgotten the woes of the day and I was now transported to a different day, a different time and a different feeling altogether. I was in a much better mood and as I walked into the house, I could see what was for dinner, and complimented my wife on the cooking. Mmm, if you knew what my wife’s cooking was like, you would know that you would really have to be in a very very good mood to be complementary. My son had overheard what I’d said, what are you doing dad, you’re giving mum false hope, it’s unfair. It’s like me saying oooo dad have you lost weight! I’ve just watched a pair of Barn Owls for ten minutes in the village, I said. Oh, that’s what’s made you so positive replied my son. Birds brighten your day, even make you delusional. Dare I say, the crows are back and building nests, it’s amazing watching all the interactions and hearing the chatter. Some don’t like it, but I do, It’s what I came here for nearly 30 years ago. less active. Blackbirds, recognisable by the male’s glossy black plumage and golden beak, are often seen probing lawns for worms after rain. Their melodic song is a true sound of spring in Yorkshire. The blue tit, with its vibrant blue and yellow plumage, is another garden regular. Agile and acrobatic, it’s a joy to watch them darting about feeders, especially during nesting season when they tirelessly gather food for their young. This is a fascinating bird, and a wonderful reminder that spring migration is well and truly underway. As I walked down towards Burton Salmon on the track that passes what is affectionately known as bluebell wood the bird song was thick in the air. The overriding song was from Blackbirds, but Stock Dove, and Wood Pigeon were in their as the umbrella of sound covered smaller bird songs all around me, Warblers, Yellow Hammer and lots of House Sparrow, sadly no Tree Sparrow belted out their particular tunes, you should try it, It’s good for the soul. Many Yorkshire residents take pride in supporting birdlife by putting out seeds, suet, and fresh water. These small gestures can make a significant difference, especially during colder months or periods of drought. By pledging to care for our garden birds — through thoughtful feeding, planting native shrubs, and providing safe nesting sites — we can help ensure these beloved birds continue to thrive. After all, a garden alive with birdsong is one of life’s simplest and greatest pleasures especially in Yorkshire. And don’t forget to have a look at the blog www.yorkshirewild.co.uk In our Yorkshire gardens, the dawn chorus is often heralded by Steve Farley the cheerful chirping of familiar feathered friends. Common garden birds such as the blackbird, robin, and blue tit are a delight to observe as they flit from branch to bird table. These small creatures are more than just a charming presence — they play a vital role in our local ecosystems. Robins, with their red breasts and inquisitive nature, are a staple in many gardens throughout the year. Bold and territorial, they are especially visible during winter months when other birds may be
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