SDF has funded a wide range of projects aimed at protecting the built and cultural heritage of the National Park. A case study and some other recent examples feature below.
Help for historic roads signs
An ancient sign at one of the three approaches to the village of Downholme in Swaledale, a rare survivor from the golden age of motoring, had disappeared after falling from its stone plinth, while the equally historically important signs at the other two approaches were deteriorating.
The signs were made from aluminium with clear projecting lettering and glass ball reflectors, set down low to the road, and could date from the 1930s. They continued to be made into the 1950s.
Hudswell and District Parish Council led a project to replace the missing sign and restore the other two, using David Gosling from Brampton, near Carlisle, who specialises in signpost, milestone and milepost restoration. “I ordered more than 300 glass ball reflectors from a company that was founded by Percy Shaw, the inventor of ‘cat’s eyes’, and they arrived wrapped in a 1950s edition of the Yorkshire Post,” said David.
Claire Swainston, clerk to the parish council, said: “David has done a fantastic job in casting new plates using the original as a template and replacing the reflectors. They look really good and local people are very pleased with them.”
The group received a grant from the SDF for £1,528
Other completed projects
- Restoration of the Pepperpot Folly in Sedbergh (£4,975)
- Refurbishment and exhibition materials for Keld Resource Centre (£18,872)
- Static display that links to a heritage trail at Threshfield Quarry (£3,567)
- Resurfacing Beech Hill car park in Dent Conservation Area (£711)
- Memorial stone at St John's Churchyard, nr Dent in memory of Settle-Carlisle navvies (£1,700)
- Refurbishment of Ravenstonedale Community and Heritage Centre (£9,456)
- Stabilisation works to Ormsgill limekiln near Airton (£2,039
- Three day dramatised literary event at Farfield Mill, Sedbergh (£3,519)
- Restoration of a local historic cobbled road ford in Newhouses, Horton in Ribblesdale (£466)
- Enhancement scheme that will improve the entrance to St Andrew's Church, Sedbergh (£2,500)
- Voices from the Land oral and photographic recordings about farming & the landscape (£10,000)
- Archaeological excavation of Hagg Farm in Fremingtonled by SWAAG (£9,449)
- Reinstatement of dry stone wall to car park, Mansergh Community Hall (£4,036)
- 'We dig community', community archaeological dig in Bainbridge (£7,287)
- Restoration of Conistone water troughs (£796)
- Restoration of a historic clapper bridge near Thistleber Barn, Malham (£450)
- Second hand piano for fund raising musical events at Airton Quaker Barn (£600)
- Restoration work to the "book of bridges" about the Midland Railway, Garsdale & Hawes line (£1,000)
- Interpretation panel about the lead mining industry at Hall Green, Arkengarthdale (£772)
And in the pipeline...
- Westmorland Dales Landscape Partnership, Hidden Landscapes (£7,800)
- Archaeological investigations on a former Medieval Chapel site in Malham during 2019 (£9,919)
