Inspiration & ideas
Stories of the Past
Spinsters and spinning a yarn
Know any spinsters? Ever told a story or ‘spun a yarn’?
The 7th January is St. Distaff’s day, traditionally the day after Christmas when women resumed spinning wool. A spinster was originally someone who spun wool or thread, often a low paid job for an unmarried woman. A distaff wasn’t a saint, but a primitive tool used before the invention spinning wheels. Women would often gather to spin wool and gossip or tell stories: we still sometimes say ‘spin a yarn’.
A carved wooden stick …
Have you done your stint?
"I've done my stint" is an old fashioned expression that used to be much more common. Now the trees are nearly bare, it's easier to see the regular strips of terraced land cut into hillsides in the Dales. If this were somewhere else you might see a vineyard or rice growing on such a landscape. In the Dales, it's simply a reminder of an ancient field system.
In Anglo-Saxon times, the land surrounding each village was held in common. There was a well-organised system of land usage. The la…
Old drovers routes
Walk along a green lane in the Yorkshire Dales and tread in the footsteps of Romans, drovers and ancient traders.