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November 2008Your lettersA survival story The Polish airman, sole survivor of aircraft crash on Buckden Pike (‘Can you help?’, October) was Joe Fusniak. Six months later, with another Polish crew, he was again sole survivor, when shot down over Germany. Details of the two incidents are: 30th/31st January 1942: Vickers Wellington Mk 1c, serial no N2848, of 18 OTU, an operational training unit for Polish aircrew. Took off from RAF Bramcote near Coventry on a cross-country flight. In icing and cloud conditions the aircraft lost height and crashed some 2,000 feet above sea level. Joe, despite a broken leg, crawled through snow towards Cray village to raise the alarm, but his five comrades died. They were buried in the Polish plot at Newark Cemetery. In 1972 Joe returned to fashion a memorial cross at the spot and included the figure of a fox whose tracks he had followed to the White Lion at Cray. Other crew members were: Fl Lt C Kugawa, P/O J Polczyk, F/O T J Kieganski, Sgt J Sadowski, & Sgt J A Tokarzewski. 21st July 1942: Wellington Mk. IV Z1406, 301 (Polish) Squadron en route from Hemswell, Lincs, to Duisburg was hit by flak and exploded. Joe in the rear gun turret was blown out and landed by parachute near a railway. Wounded and shocked, he climbed into a coal truck and was discovered when the train was checked at the Dutch/German border. After a spell in hospital he was a prisoner of war. On his return from POW camp Joe married and lived in the south of England. N Davidson, Cullercoats, North Shields (With additional material from W Chorley: Bomber Command Losses) What’s in a name? I wish people with run-of-the-mill, unromantic names like Rhodes (October) would not interfere with long-winded doctoral waffle. Walkington is a Viking village. Anglo-Saxons? Pah! We have them for breakfast. It’s disappointing that Rhodes is not a village for otherwise I’d suggest settling this matter as we Vikings are wont to do: on the ground! Let everyone remember that Walkington men, not so long ago, were All-England Tug-of-War champions. Yes, Walkington is a Viking village, and proud of it. I know. Look at my name. Roderic Walkington, Solihull Remembering Una Having read with interest the article about Dorothy Una Ratcliffe (September), I was reminded of of my late mother. She was the only person I have ever heard use the word ‘lillilow’ but she used it if she saw lights in the distance. For instance, seeing the lights of Leeds, from the water tower at the high point of Middleton Ring Road she would say, "Look at all the pretty lillilows." The article on Yorkshire dialect brought loving memories flooding back. My mother was a mill girl in Leeds, born and lived all her life in Beeston. P Ellis, address supplied The profile of Dorothy Una Ratcliffe in the September edition of Dalesman revived, for me, a memory of my teaching days when I was English master at the Priestman School in Bradford in the 1960s. I had found, on taking up the appointment, a set of books containing a piece written by Dorothy Una Ratcliffe which dealt with a story about the ‘Shepherd Lord’ Clifford, who had been brought up secretly for his own safety after the War of the Roses. What was of special interest was that the old ‘shepherd counting’ was dealt with in detail. I had never heard of it and neither had my class. So we made a project of it, and this led me into mischief. I suggested to the class involved that they should learn the counting thoroughly, and then insist on using it in their maths lessons. The head of maths happened to be a good friend of mine. I learned later that in fact they did introduce it and everyone had a period of enjoyable chaos. Phillip Mallpress, Bradford Wensleydale rail I was especially pleased recently to read the article about the Wensleydale Railway (Sept). I was reminded of the splendid outing I had with our grandson and his parents one Christmas, when there were real elves on the platforms, and Santa himself came through the carriages with a present for every child; each adult receiving a mince pie and a cup of mulled wine. The trip from Leeming Bar to Redmire and back was in itself a treat, but it seemed to go all too quickly. Perhaps for that reason I decided to travel the route again by car. I wanted to take a closer look at the six stations along the way, and to indulge my hobby of painting little ‘line-and-wash’ vignettes of them. It was summer time and they were bedecked in floral glory – quite obviously cared for and loved by volunteers of the Wensleydale Railway. The road was easy to follow, being the A684 all the way from Leeming Bar, except for a short detour southwards to Finghall and another one northwards shortly after Leyburn to Redmire. All that was missing was the thrill of travelling by rail. Diesel locomotives, steam if you’re lucky; and there’s nothing in the world quite like it. Thank you to all those who have brought this splendid tourist attraction to the Yorkshire Dales. Eileen Walters, Ripon Swaledale sisters Now that I’m in a care home, I think of all the wonderful times my sister and I had walking the Yorkshire Dales for many years, particularly Swaledale, where we stayed at the Farmers Arms or hired a cottage in Muker. We made many friends and I enclose a photo having a gossip as we set off on one of our walks. Sadly, I cannot remember their names now. Some of these walks were rocky and inspired me to join a geology class in Bedford with a wonderful lecturer for five years and ended up gaining a Certificate of Continuing Education from Cambridge University. This photo shows us on the rocks, but I am not sure where we were. L. Newbold, Shambrook, Bedfordshire Potholing pioneer It was with great interest that I read the article by Howard M Beck about his descent into the depths of Gaping Gill, describing vividly what countless hundreds must have felt in years gone by when they, too, have entered that cavern. Progress in technology, engineering and safety matters in the years since Alfred Martel made that first descent in1895, has made this possible. What is never read about, however, is the exploit of another person who made a similar solo descent. Some years ago I was undertaking research into the life of a man who, in the late 1880s, came from Blackburn in Lancashire to Barnoldswick at the age of five when his father and uncle established a cotton manufacturing business in the town at Moss Shed. His name was Blackburn Holden II (five generations of his family have borne the same name) and as he grew up his interests were many: science, radio and music to name just a few. But it was his interest in potholing and caving for which Blackburn Holden II is best remembered. In 1908 he became only the second person to emulate Martel’s feat, and make a solo descent of Gaping Gill. Although this fact is acknowledged by cavers it would appear that reports of this accomplishment never appeared in print. What was more remarkable was that Holden made his own ropes and ladder from cotton yarn. It was said that when he began his long ascent out of the cavern, he had climbed some twenty rungs before his feet actually left the cave floor due to the elasticity of the cotton yarn on getting wet. At a later stage he also devised and experimented with the winching apparatus for entering and leaving this pothole. Although he had made earlier applications, it was not until 1913 that he was accepted into membership of the Yorkshire Ramblers Club which was, at that time, the leading organisation in this area involved in cave exploration. In course of time, though, he became president of the Craven Pothole Club, a founder member of the British Speleological Society and a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society. He was noted for his cave and pothole photography, and from the early 1920s onwards, he gave countless lantern slide shows on the subject. Blackburn Holden II died on the 3rd January 1946, at the age of sixty-three and was buried at Bracewell Church. Dennis Cairns, Barnoldswick Doggy bags In response to D M Ladham’s letter (Sept) regarding farmers wanting dog walkers to use doggy bags in fields full of cow pats. His ignorance is apparent. Does he not know that dog faeces contain worms that contaminate pasture grazed by cows and sheep and these worms then enter the animals’ digestive system and cause irreparable damage to their livers. The vet at our abattoir regularly condemns cow and sheep livers as unfit for human consumption as a direct result of canine contamination – losing farmers valuable income. I am not aware that cow pats damage dogs. Carol Barker, Hinderwell ‘Swaahp!’ In the June issue was an item about Graham Nuttall and his dog Ruswarp, both of whom were instrumental in saving the Settle-Carlisle line. I have since wondered why the dog was named and how his master called to him. In 1942 I took this snap (above), featuring the now non-existent railway line between Whitby and Scarborough. The train is southbound and about to pass Browside Farm, south of Fyling Hall. Further north on the southern outskirt of Whitby is the village of Ruswarp. I travelled the line to Whitby one day and as we stopped at each station, the porter rang out the name. On reaching Ruswarp, I listened and heard a shout of “SWAAAHP”. There were no passengers leaving or entering the train, but I noticed that the station was extremely neat, clean and tidy with beautifully kept colourful flower beds. I wonder if this ex-railway station still survives? Mrs D Ibbott, Hereford We
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