Trio whose collection preserved life in the Dales are celebrated

THREE WOMEN who travelled the Yorkshire Dales collecting stories, materials and artefacts in a bid to preserve the rich heritage of the area are being celebrated.

Marie Hartley, Ella Pontefract and, later, Joan Ingilby worked together for more than 75 years, lived together in a cottage in Askrigg, and were experts on the social history of the Dales.

They are the latest figures to be celebrated in the Great North Yorkshire Sons and Daughters campaign, which is being run by North Yorkshire County Council.

Ms Hartley was born in 1905 and was the author and co-author of 40 books on Dales life. During the 1930s and 1940s, she set up in partnership with a local writer, Ella Pontefract, illustrating books on the Dales and Yorkshire.

Together they developed a rigorous transcription method for recording Yorkshire dialect and vocabulary, including the subtle distinctions between adjacent valleys.

The two women published six books on Yorkshire’s life and customs before Ms Pontefract died in 1945. Afterwards, Ms Hartley was joined by Ms Ingilby. Much of the collection can be found at the Dales Countryside Museum.

Museum manager Fiona Rosher said the trio were “pioneers” in the recording of the people, places and cultural heritage of Yorkshire and the Dales.

She said: “The action they took to prevent objects leaving the region showed great foresight and they are an inspiration to all who work to preserve and interpret the cultural heritage of the Yorkshire Dales and beyond,”