Recollections of Natland past, by Beryl Caton

Freda Smaje, Beryl Caton and Elspeth Jayne

As editor of the Natland News I was invited by Freda Smaje to meet Beryl Caton, nee Fothergill, and spent an engrossing afternoon as she recalled her early childhood in Natland. Click here to read her memories of a time when there were so few houses in Natland that she seems to be able to remember the inhabitants of nearly every one.       Elspeth Jayne.

Comments on Beryl's recollections:

Stan O'Connor also remembers that Shanny Lane was named after Shanny Wilkinson who lived next to the church. Sid Clark, from the council, named it after him, so he wouldn't be forgotten. Stan also remembers that at the top of Hawes Lane there was a field that had an interesting circle in it. It was investigated for Roman remains. But then someone remembered Shanny Wilkinson used to exercise his horses in a circle on that field....
However, Barry Charnley states that Margaret and Pearson Charnley, his parents, had strong family links in Natland. His grandparents and parents were married here, and his paternal grandmother was born here. Shanny Lane was named after his uncle, Shanny Hutchinson, who was Churchwarden at St. Mark’s for 25 years. Barry also recalls that the name of the people who lived at Cracalt was Howson. They were involved in timber, as Beryl remembered.   It was the Moorhouses who built the stone house, Sundown, next to the school field. Barry also said that the doctor can't have lived at Ross Lodge, it must have been somewhere else on Burton Road, and he gave me a copy of research from when Ross Lodge was a pub, The Captain Ross and Clinker.