Editorial

Maureen Ellis and Michael Slater
 JOURNAL 
 2007 
 North Craven 
 Heritage Trust 

Again the Journal is notable for its large size. Outstandingly the successful candidate of the Trust’s bursary awarded last year has contributed a long and most interesting account of her researches into the early tourist industry of our area.

The cover image (see left) gives the first indication of what is to come and portrays the probably mythical Saint Alkelda, a name associated with the Dales. As Giggleswick Church write in their publicity leaflet, keld is the Old English name for a spring and the name Alkelda is very like the word haeligkeld - Old English for holy well. This particular photograph is of the 1920’s window in the Catholic Church in Settle, but originally it was one of three windows in the old church of Upper Settle.

As always there are some shorter articles recording memories of people who have lived their lives in the area and also longer closely researched ones. The boundaries for inclusion of topics in the Journal are flexible and may overlap with other organizations; for example during an outing of the Craven Conservation Group to look at molluscs, the Plaited Door Snail, Cochlodina laminata, an indicator of ancient woodland was found. However it is left to our sister group’s publication to record this outing and finding.

The presence of accounts of walks in the Journal means that there is a record in which changes in local heritage, not all of it bad, can be noted. One member told us that she is re-walking some of the routes from these accounts in order to monitor change. It is often on these walks that someone with say a geological or engineering background will point out the provenance of a girder supporting a railway bridge or the underlying geology that is scripting the present day lie of the land. This is important information that can be recorded in the Journal.

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