Natural England

The rich human stories of those who have lived and worked on Thorne and Hatfield Moors have been captured for posterity.

A major oral history project has been completed by the Humberhead Levels and Moors Partnership, led by Natural England, using funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund, and involving ordinary people from Thorne, Hatfield, Moorends and Crowle.

Thorne and Hatfield Moors are part of the UK’s largest lowland raised peatbog, covering 8,000 acres. Natural England is working with its partners to restore much of this unique environment after years of peat extraction. But it also wants to raise awareness of the area’s rich cultural history.

Scores of people have recorded their own stories onto a CD and contributed photographs for a travelling exhibition and leaflet. The project has re-united ex-neighbours and folk who have long since moved elsewhere in the UK.

Testimonies of everyday life include those of the three Verhees sisters, Margaret, Josephine and Elizabeth, whose father was amongst the many Dutch people who came to work as peat cutters in ….. The family took up residence in “Dutch Row”, Moorends, making do with few luxuries and taking their washing water straight from a dyke.

John Hitchcock, from Moorends, remembers the moors as a source of food for the family, with his mother making a Yorkshire pudding out off a swan’s egg.

Other contributors recall the eccentric campaigner William Bunting, from Thorne, who 30 years ago spearheaded local resistance to peat mining. His followers, known as “Bunting’s Beavers”, often took the law into their own hands, blocking drainage channels to stymie peat removal.

Some of those who worked in the peat industry also add their tales, along with a local man who uncovered Europe’s earliest known prehistoric trackway on Hatfield Moor in 2004.

Peter Nottage, Regional Director for Natural England, said:
"Landscapes are not just wildlife habitats, but also places where people work and live. In the case of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, their human history goes back thousands of years. This project is a powerful reminder to us all of how the moors have touched lives, both in the past and present. It’s a remarkable archive of a living landscape."

All the recordings and transcripts are available at the Local Studies section of the Central Library, Waterdale, Doncaster. Copies have also been deposited at libraries in Thorne, Hatfield and Moorends and at North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe.

Media calls to Richard Darn on 0113 341 3176. Mobile: 0775 367 0038.

NOTE TO EDITOR
The Humberhead Levels and Moors Partnership was launched in 2005 to conserve and enhance a vast area of lowland stretching from Selby in North Yorkshire to Retford in Nottinghamshire. It is bidding to promote the area as a major green leisure and tourism destination and introduce sustainable agricultural systems and positive water management. Members include Natural England, North Lincolnshire Council, Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council, the Environment Agency and English Heritage.

Most of Thorne and Hatfield Moors is now managed for conservation. Natural England has invested heavily in the restoration of wet conditions on these sites with over 2,500 dams installed to maintain and improve water levels.

The moors are remnants of wetland that occupied the floodplain of the Humberhead Levels thousands of years ago. Five thousand years ago most of the site had become woodland. The deep layer of peat which now covers the area is a result of the clearance of woodland by prehistoric man and enhanced by climate change leading to the gradual formation of boggy waterlogged conditions about 4,000 years ago.

Natural England works for people, places and nature to conserve and enhance biodiversity, landscapes and wildlife in rural, urban, coastal and marine areas. We conserve and enhance the natural environment for its intrinsic value, the well being and enjoyment of people, and the economic prosperity it brings. We increase opportunities to make the natural environment an enriching part of people’s everyday lives, and improve its long term security by contributing to the sustainable management of our natural resources. To find out more visit www.naturalengland.org.uk

ISSUE ON BEHALF OF NATURAL ENGLAND BY RICHARD DARN, GNN, 0113 341 3176.