Bank Barn

What a great day we have had. We signed up for a history tour around Great Asby, not far from us. It was taken by the guy who runs the Asby History Group and he certainly knew his stuff. He has done a lot of research and could talk about everything we saw and answer questions. You can tell how good he was as, among the twelve of us who gathered, there were several village residents who said they learnt things, although they had lived in the village for a long time. 

We walked through the village, stopping every now and then as he pointed out various things. He had keys to one of the old farms and we could go in and see the use of huge beams from trees cut down in the 16th century - amazing. We passed St Helen’s Well (see extra), which was one I had visited a while back. Then he solved a puzzle - this Well is called St Helen’s but on the map the Asby Well is called St Thomas’s. He explained that there were two Wells and he was able to show me where the other was down in one of the fields - puzzle solved. 

We followed the beck and he showed us where the old mill was. He also had the key to a Bank Barn (see blip) which is where cows were kept in the winter in the 17th and 18th century, stalls divided by ‘Boskins’ made of slate. These were all still in place just as they would have been and we could go inside - it was dark! Hay was kept above and grain was stored there also. 

Lots more and then we arrived back at the village pub and all sat outside with pre-ordered sandwiches and lots of chat. Excellent day.