Beck to the future with postcard
An old photograph showing a village water course has inspired residents to improve the stream for future generations.
The picturesque postcard, showing Thornton-le-Dale in its full glory, spurred on the village’s Beck Group who have worked hard to improve the stream.
The group has been working for a couple of years to clear up the beck and has just finished the first of a series of projects inspired by the postcard photograph owned by Dave Mitchell, one of the volunteers.
The idea was to return the beck to the way it was decades ago as it had become overgrown and heavily silted.
Weeds, low branches, tree stumps and foliage have been removed and a stone wall rebuilt along with improvements to the river bank to help to prevent silting and erosion.
The work, supported by a small grant from North Yorkshire County Councillor Janet Sanderson’s Locality Budget and the North York Moors National Park, has been a real community effort.
Cllr Sanderson said: “It’s not always been an easy journey and the group have faced many challenges, not least that the original builder commissioned pulled out only two months before the completion date required to receive the grant funding. At the last minute we found a local builder who had done this type of work many years ago and together with his son came to the rescue. As a parish councillor, much of the work was done by Paul Charles as a labour of love.
“It’s even possible that Paul’s great grandfather, who worked for the Thornton Dale Estate, built the original wall.
“The completion of the wall has given a focus to the village in the dark days of winter and proved that, given a little bit of grant funding coupled with a lot of enthusiasm, good will and community spirit, you can get the job done.”