We are advised that the mobile Post Office will return to scheduled visits next week, following this weeks absence due to routine maintenance. See more details here.

Music Night at Slingsby Sports Club , Saturday 11th August at 9pm.  Dec Huggate performing live with lots of songs you will all know. Everyone welcome. Admission free.

As usual there is no meeting in August, but we shall be particularly busy in September.

Date to be arranged: We are currently waiting for permission from Castle Howard to undertake a geophysical survey of the sports field by members of the University of York Geophysics team, led by Dr Helen Goodchild. We hope this will be a ‘hands-on’ session and that we will find traces of the old drainage systems. Further survey work on the castle is also planned and we hope to have final results to present at our regular December meeting at The Grapes. The date of this will be confirmed. – please watch the website for more information!

Tuesday 18^th September  – A talk on the History and symbolism of graveyard headstones by Professor Harold Mytum (University of Liverpool). Harold has written and lectured extensively on this subject. His lectures are both entertaining and very interesting and shed light on long forgotten facts about what was put on gravestones and the hidden social history that can be gleaned from them. 7.30 p.m. in Slingsby village Hall.  Entrance £3.

This ties in with a recording session programmed to take place on Saturday 22^nd September, when a team led by Dr Nicole Smith from the Centre for Digital Heritage (University of York) will carry out a survey of the gravestones in the churchyard and let them on a plan for identification. This is part of a current project promoted by Historic England to develop reliable methods of recording churchyards.  

The team will be using the Reflectance Transformation Imaging method of photography which enables small and hidden detail to be identified on surfaces, using any type of camera. Slingsby churchyard will be the first to be studied, and the work will be very useful to our developing project on the churchyard. Members of the team visited several years ago and demonstrated the technique. This is an opportunity to for an update for those who came to the workshop or for those who would like to understand the technique to look in and see how it is done. From 10 a.m. refreshments will be available.

Tuesday 16^th October. Influential Slingsby Vicars. An update from Chris Churches and David Thornley on research they have done respectively on the Ward Family and Arthur Sinclair Brooke. The Ward family were about in the 18^th century and owned Slingsby Hall. Chris has fascinating stories to tell about them, which also dispel some myths. Brooke was a very popular rector, who also wrote Slingsby and Slingsby Castle, accurately researched in the late Victorian period, but still very informative and relevant today. 7.30 p.m. Village Hall Committee Room.

Meetings are open to all. Unless otherwise stated, a minimum charge of £1 is made for each meeting to cover the cost, where necessary for room hire. If you wish to receive regular news of meetings by email, please sign-up to do so at any meeting.

How well do you know Malton? Join Malton Museum volunteers as they launch a monthly tour of Malton, revealing the dark, hidden secrets of the past as well as interesting quirks about the town.

Did you know Malton had a spa? Or that so much butter was traded through Malton that special legislation was passed by Parliament in 1743 to control the butter trade? Do you know who might have watched the horse racing from the roof of York House? Or who in Malton was an MP for 10 whole days!

Thanks to National Lottery Players volunteers at Malton Museum have spent the Spring researching and planning a new tour focussed around the Market Place, exploring its bustling past along with introducing well-known characters from the days gone by. Earlier this month the volunteers received training from York Tours and are now ready to launch the tours to the public.

These interesting tours will start and end at the Museum and will be running on the following dates.

Saturday 11^th August 11am – 12.30noon

Saturday 15^th September 11am – 12.30pm

Saturday 13^th October 11am – 12.30pm

Saturday 10^th November 11am – 12.30pm

Booking is essential as places are limited – which can be done by emailing the museum on [email protected] .

Additional dates may be added if demand is high. The tours will also be available for groups wanting to embark on something a little different this summer on prearranged dates. 

All proceeds from the tours, goes back into the museum, enabling it to remain open and free entry to the public.

So, if you know a little about Malton already and want to know more or are new to the town and want to find out what is on your doorstep – come along and book on a tour.

The museum is open Thursday, Friday, Saturday 10am – 4pm, entry is free. This project is part of Malton Museum’s, Malton Goes to Market which has been funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund. For more details, please visit www.maltonmuseum.co.uk or contact the museum at [email protected].

Saturday 11th August from 10 a.m. Annual Big Clean of Slingsby Church.

Keeping this large building  looking good is a heavy task for the small regular congregation, so please could you spare an hour to come and help?