The programme from the current newsletter is described below.
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Sunday 4th July – TASK – Brimham Rocks, Summerbridge, near Harrogate.
Most of the rocks owe their strange shapes to erosion during and after the Devensian glaciation, the last Ice Age of the Pleistocene era in Britain, between 80,000 and 100,000 years ago. Sand blasting at ground level wore away the softer layers of rock, often resulting in a tiny plinth supporting a massive boulder. Richard, the warden, has limited volunteer numbers to 10 on this task and says it will be wet, dirty and physical work as they want to do some pond clearance and extension work and put up a platform, prior to their pond dipping this summer. Sounds like a good one to me. If you think so too, please contact Sue to reserve a place and get stuck in.
Sunday 18th July – TASK – Nostell Priory, near Wakefield.
Horses were very important for work and play in the 18th century and the magnificent quadrangular stable block here is undergoing extensive renovation. If you would like to work and play here, without the benefit of the horses, please contact Vinny.
Wednesday 21st July – TENPIN BOWLING – Kirkstall, Leeds.
Our regular social get together between tasks – with the bowling to be taken as seriously as you wish – or not at all! Mind you, once they start playing regularly, even the most casual player seems to get hooked, and all of a sudden – it matters! Everyone has an equal chance of winning our prestigious tenpin bowling trophy, thanks to our simple handicap system. We meet in the bar at Hollywood Bowl at 7.40pm to start bowling at 8pm. For further details, go to www.wyntv.org.uk/socials/bowling. Please let Colin know a couple of days beforehand, if you’d like to come along.
By popular request, i.e. Steve said they’re featured prominently on the website but we’ve not had one since he joined the group! Jean and David have kindly offered to host the first one since 22nd February 2008. Please phone them to let them know you’re coming and ask for directions if required, bring your favourite pudding to share, arrive at 7.30pm, and don’t eat any tea!
Sunday 8th August – TASK – Malham Tarn and Moor, extends from Malham village (19 miles NW of Skipton) North past Malham Tarn.
The acidic raised bog is home to hare’s-tail cotton grass, ling, cross-leaved heath, bog asphodel and purple moor-grass. There is every chance of getting a bit more than just your feet wet on this one. Please ring Margaret for further details.
We thought we’d have a change this year from our ‘usual’ trip to Bridlington and visit Formby instead, where you will find a stunning coastline with large areas of beaches, sand dunes and pine woods. Visit www.nationaltrust.org.uk/main/w-formby-2 for more details and directions. Rounders, cricket, football, a picnic, a paddle, sand-castles, kite flying, ice cream; all are on the agenda but maybe not fish and chips this time. Meet at 11am by the side of the road between the pine woods. We can move nearer the beach after we’ve caught (sorry, seen) a red squirrel. Please let Pete know if you’re coming, so we know who to look out for. If you can’t find us on the day, phone Pete or Sue on their mobile phones. An option on the way over, is to have a look at Antony Gormley’s ‘Another Place’ on Crosby Beach, Liverpool: 100 cast-iron, life-size figures spread out along three kilometres of the foreshore, stretching almost one kilometre out to sea. Go to www.sefton.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=6216 for more information and directions. If it’s not a day to linger on the beach at Formby, there is a choice of Rufford Old Hall or Speke Hall, both of which offer the usual National Trust attractions of house, garden, shop and most important of all – a restaurant or tea room.
Wednesday 18th August – TENPIN BOWLING – Kirkstall, Leeds.
Arrangements as for Wednesday 21st July. Contact Colin.
Sunday 22nd August – TASK
Rievaulx Terrace, near Helmsley.
The last member of the Manners family to inherit Rievaulx, in 1632, was George Villiers, a disreputable character who died childless and penniless. In order to settle the debts, the estate was sold in 1695 to Charles Duncombe for the vast sum of £90,000.
or it could be Nunnington Hall, also near Helmsley.
The present building is a combination of seventeenth and eighteenth century work. Major changes took place during the early 1920s, under the architect Walter Brierley. Most of the building seen today was created during the 1680s, when Richard Graham, 1st Viscount Preston, was its owner.
Nick, the head gardener at both properties, will decide nearer the time where we can be of most use. To find out which it will be, please phone Peter.
Sunday 5th September – TASK – East Riddlesden Hall, Keighley.
The Murgatroyds, owners of ERH, became infamous for their profanity and debauchery; and members of the family were fined, imprisoned and excommunicated. We will be working with Jill or Nick, renowned for their piety and decency, so please get in touch with Jean or David if you’re happy to work here.
Wednesday 15th September – TENPIN BOWLING – Kirkstall, Leeds.
Arrangements as for Wednesday 21st July. Contact Colin.
Everybody’s welcome. It’s very informal, although we like to start promptly at 8pm. Business is usually over in an hour and then it’s tea or coffee and cake, and a chance for a chat. Please let Jean or David know if you are coming. They will provide directions if needed.
Sunday 19th September – TASK – Marsden Moor, 7 miles SW of Huddersfield.
Dating back to the 17th century, Eastergate Bridge lies on the edge of the moorland at the confluence of two streams, and is an old packhorse bridge once used by Galloway ponies to transport baskets of wool from Huddersfield to Rochdale. We will probably be working in splendid isolation out on the moor. To find out where, and what we will be doing, please give Vinny a call.
The first of a number of individual linear walks, to be carried out over the next few years, aiming to complete the entire 80 miles of the Dales Way from Ilkley to Bowness. Where possible we will return to the start of each walk using public transport, alternatively, we will pre-position cars or even break a long stretch with a night out. Nothing is set in stone and the exact lengths of each future leg, etc, will be open to discussion and depend on those taking part.
For this first leg, we will meet at 11am on the south side of the bridge across the Wharfe at the bottom of Stockeld Road in Ilkley. Lunch will either be a picnic or, if the weather forecast isn't great, we will stop at the Cavendish Pavillion. Or we can do both! We will return to Ilkley on the Dales Bus from the Strid at 3.42pm. This gives us plenty of time for a leisurely walk taking in the scenery with an equally leisurely lunch. Snippets of interesting local knowledge will be imparted en route.
Sunday 3rd October – TASK – Beningbrough Hall, near York.
Beningbrough Hall was also a two-cylinder 4-6-0 locomotive built by the Great Western Railway. Number 6972, built in October 1947, was based in Bristol and withdrawn in March 1964 to be scrapped at Bird's famous yard in Bridgend. I don’t know why a GWR engine should be named after a grand country house so close to the East Coast line but Pete can tell you all about the task.
A slower pace but more challenging than tenpin? We don’t play often 
enough to be any good but usually by the end of the evening one or two have got their eye in! Anyway, it’s all good fun and even the most inept of us can occasionally knock another player’s wood away from the jack, even if it’s a sheer fluke and the wood is your partner’s and not your opponent’s. There is a bar, and shoes and woods are provided. We play from 8pm to 10pm. If you’d like to join us, please let Pete know.
Sunday 17th October – TASK – Upper Wharfedale, extends from Kettlewell village (12 miles North of Skipton) North to Beckermonds and Cray.
The Dales Way runs through the 6,100 acre estate, which includes woodlands that are particularly spectacular in the autumn. For details of the task, please have a word with Steve.
A Vintage Inn on the Leeds side of Calverley, at the junction of Rodley Lane (the A657) and Calverley Lane. For further details go to www.vintageinn.co.uk/thecalverleyarmscalverley/. Meet in the pub at 6.30pm and look out for other WYNTV members. If you don’t yet know anyone, please phone Sue or Colin.
Saturday and Sunday 30th/31st October – TASK – Cragside, Northumberland.
The nearby town of Rothbury had a town's gas works founded by Lord Armstrong, the owner of Cragside, from which gas was piped to the estate and used to power an engine that drove the generators when the water supply from Nelly's Moss lakes was insufficient to provide hydro-electricity. The 'caretaker of the electric light' was required to notify the Gas Works before starting the gas engine.
This year is the 200th anniversary of Lord Armstrong’s birth and to celebrate, there is a new exhibition about his life and times called ‘The World of the Water Wizard’. Cragside was the first house in the world to be lit by hydro-electricity and Armstrong’s fascination with electricity never dimmed (official National Trust pun taken from 'Near you' - News and events for Summer 2010 - Yorkshire and the North East) and he continued to conduct (second official National Trust pun from the same publication) experiments late into his long life.
With the help of his photographer friend, John Worsnop, Armstrong was able to take extraordinary images of electrical sparks. Here is one of them, taken from the summer edition of 'Near you'. Is that really a spark or is it the root system of a small shrub?
Please don’t forget to let Sue know by the end of September, if you will be working, if you would like to join us for the meal on Saturday and if you need a lift.
The next newsletter, and updated programme, is due out in November 2010.
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