SKEALS
Spurn Kilnsea and Easington Area Local Studies
HISTORY OF A HISTORY GROUP
The first 10 years; 2006 – 2016
Converted from a presentation compiled by Mike Welton
A short history on the beginnings of this local history group
SKEALS was formed in July 2006, the brainchild of Jan Crowther. Jan had been researching for a book on the local area for some 20 years, mostly covering the village of Kilnsea and of Spurn Point. The book in question was called “The People along the Sand, The Spurn Peninsula and Kilnsea, A History, 1800 – 2000”, a very in depth and comprehensive historical study.
Jan had approached the Easington Parish Council Enhancement Fund to have this book published. They had readily agreed with the proviso that each household in the parish receive a free copy of the book and that a local history society be formed to further promote the research and publication of local history topics. Also, four meetings must be held in the first year. Two further sponsors gave a donation, that of BP (£500) and Langeled (£1000).
To this end the SKEALS group was formed. Jan Crowther was Chairperson, Diane Horncastle as Secretary and Dorothy Smith as Treasurer. At a later date (February 2008), a Vice Chair was elected (Mike Welton) and an additional person as a member of the core management group (Joan Maxwell). An invitation went out to anybody who was interested in local history to join this newly formed group.
The book was published by Phillimore & Co. Ltd in 2006, consisting of some 240 pages, with 200 black and white photos, and 32 colour photos. It was received very well!
Front cover of Jan’s book
A number of people showed an interest and a group was duly formed. The first meeting took place, officers elected and a constitution agreed. Various subjects were covered and ideas put forward as to how the group would be run, what interest group members had and on what lines to pursue. A website was suggested, to enable the group’s findings and information to go to a wider audience. The website was compiled and went under the title of www.SKEALS.co.uk.
An image to publicise our website and group
A suitable emblem for the group was designed and created by one of our members Sandra Shann.
The original SKEALS logo
One of our earliest projects was the rescue and refurbishment of a stone plaque found at the caravan park at Kilnsea. The plaque is dedicated to Major-General John Godwin – the man who the military camp ‘Fort Godwin’ at Kilnsea was named after. The stone was broken in two, but a local stone mason managed to affect a very good repair and so saved it for posterity. It is now safely housed in Easington Church.
Before and after photos
2006
During preparations for the construction of the new flood bank at Kilnsea, to the south of the Blue Bell, a magnetometer survey was carried out on the land. This revealed some large rectangular marks, which was identified by local archaeologist, Rod Mackey, as a Romano-British farm (a period between 100-400 A.D.). A number of these settlements existed on the east coast and the occupation of them were mostly civilian rather than military. Many Roman remains have been found in the Easington/Kilnsea area. At some point, somebody spotted some bones in the cliff on the east side of this area. SKEALS decided to do a ‘Time Team’ and have a look – it appeared to be a ‘Midden’ or dump. We excavated the pit and found a number of animal bones and some oyster shells; oyster shells being a sure sign of Roman occupation.
An image of the survey results showing the outline of the settlement
A picture of the results of the dig, with the oyster shells lower left
2007
Another project we took on
At Kew Villa in Kilnsea, the cottage next to the church, a path around the cottage consisted of a number of grave stones. It was decided to recover these stones and investigate their history.
Picture of gravestones before being removed
On checking against the burial records, it was revealed that four of the gravestones belonged in Easington Churchyard. A number of the other ones had insufficient information on them to identify them.
Pictures of gravestones once removed
One of the gravestones was of a Mary Watson, the daughter of John and Margaret Watson. The Watson family had been lighthouse keepers for many years and associated with Kilnsea and Spurn for a number of generations. Mary died on 16th June 1789, aged 19 years old. She was buried in the churchyard of the old Kilnsea Church. Eventually when the church fell into the sea, the gravestone was probably recovered, and when her mother, Margaret, died in 1828, Margaret was buried in the churchyard at Easington. We thought it highly appropriate to re-erect Mary’s gravestone in the churchyard. This is probably the only surviving relic of the old Kilnsea Church. Why these stones ended up as a footpath, we will probably never know?
Click here to read the article, Kew Villa Gravestones Project
In January of 2007, a lady by the name of Sue Fraser, who was an outreach worker for the Treasure House at Beverley, made contact with our group as part of the Rural Roots Project. This was a scheme funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund as part of the ‘Archives 4 All’, a programme to help people in rural communities gain more knowledge about the past of their village. Sue chose 3 areas across the East Riding; Holderness, Vale of York and the Wolds. Luckily, we were one of the chosen few!
Sue gave guidance on how to conduct research with things like recording oral history, setting up exhibitions and obtaining information for the group. A number of digitalised records with reference to our area that we requested from the Treasure House, were an absolute God send! Sue left us with a challenge to put on a display at the end of her involvement with our group.
Rural Roots Board
We had a new display sign commissioned for our exhibitions.
2008
This exhibition was put together by all SKEALS’ members, with the choice for topics left to each individual. Many areas were covered including; Family history (Clubley, Medforth and Cuthbert families), Easington School, Low Farm, Sandy Beaches Caravan Site, Philip Loten (the taxidermist), All Saints’ Church, Connor & Graham, Captain J. W. Duncan, 100 Years of Change with a display of maps, Easington Windmill, 30 Years of Photographs, Old Kilnsea, Memories of Spurn, The Spurn Gravel Trade, and Out Newton. Around 400 people attended the exhibition that was held over a three-day period. I think it was classed as a success!
Our first exhibition with Sue Fraser on the official opening
Some of the boards that were displayed
Following on from our exhibition, the Treasure House at Beverley put on a display of articles from the three societies that were part of the Rural Roots Project.
Old Kilnsea and the Spurn gravel trade
A windmill once existed at Dimlington. It was last used in the late 1920s and was demolished in the 1960s. One of the mill stones is displayed on the entrance to the village at Blacksmiths Corner.
In 2008, SKEALS decided to erect a plaque to commemorate the mill.
A tragic story also accompanies this commemorative plaque; two of the miller's daughters Grace and Lucy Cuthbert were killed in the mill whilst playing there. Their headstone is in Easington Churchyard.
This was an interesting talk by our local retired Doctor, on the various shipwrecks that abound our coast. He is a keen yachtsman himself.
A talk by Jan on some of the materials that are available for research in the Easington and district area.
A tour of Spurn took place with an accompanying talk by the Coxswain of the Humber Lifeboat, Dave Steenvoorden.
Exhibition in Spurn Lighthouse
A master story teller Larry Malkin gave us an enthralling evening with many tales of the area, but in particular, the local connection with Guy Fawkes, the Wright brothers of Welwick and the Gun Powder Plot!
The first year we held a bit of a Christmas Do! It proved popular so we have had one ever since.
The SKEALS website
The SKEALS website was set up and used as a platform to put information and events out to a wider audience. Peter Martin ran the website for SKEALS very efficiently.
Aside from articles about people, places and events, one of our most ambitious projects and one that has had quite a lot of good feedback, was the task of photographing every gravestone in Easington Churchyard (248 stones), checking it against the burial records, and where possible, checking against any census returns that were current at the time. This was then put in an alphabetical list on the website for anyone to view; those who may have an interest or are researching their family history.
Some years later John Kettley took over the running of the website. The group discussed the idea of changing the website’s appearance, John had put forward some new ideas, but eventually it was decided that the layout would stay the same.
Our thanks go to both Peter and John for all their hard work in running the website.
2009
We had an entertaining talk by a well-known local character, Dot Perkins. The talk entitled ‘Owt about Nowt’, was all about working on farms, farming practices, corn dolly’s, making bread and the use of outside ‘privies’. It was told in broad Yorkshire dialect, which caused much amusement.
Dot Perkins in her usual attire
Alan Williamson held a captive audience with the story of ‘The Auxiliaries’ or Secret Army, a band of men stationed in many areas, including a base at Skeffling. They were ready to tackle any enemy with guerrilla warfare. This proved to be a very interesting talk, with a large number of people in attendance.
Below picture shows a plaque depicting the badge that was given to the men of the Secret Army. They were not allowed any medals as officially they did not exist, and sworn to secrecy by the Official Secrets Act. Some men never even spoke about it for the rest of their lives.
A talk by Rodney Mackey, an archaeologist, who has carried out a number of excavations in the area over the years.
Our next exhibition was.....
A view of the hall and a display of post cards
Two of the exhibits
Further exhibits
2010
An area known as the Pinfold exists near the road to the Humberside. In times past this area was used for putting any stray cattle that might be caught wandering about. The owner of the livestock would have to pay to have their animals returned. These Pinfolds existed in most villages from mediaeval times but mostly from the 16th century onwards.
SKEALS set about putting in place a procedure that would eventually see the return of this area to the community. The area in question had poles erected and a formal legal procedure initiated. In 12 years’ time the Parish Council can legally reclaim the land.
The Lifeboat Exhibition proved to be very popular, a lot of information and photographs were gathered and a quite substantial display over a two-day period was viewed by many members of the public, ex-lifeboat crew and retired coast-guards.
Coxswain of the Humber Lifeboat, Dave Steenvoorden, opens the exhibition
Some of the boards on display and a model of the lifeboat loaned to us for the exhibition
We had visits from Miss Vera Cross whose father, Robert Cross, was a twice gold medal winner at Spurn, and Brian Bevan, who also won the gold medal whilst at Spurn.
A presentation by Lyz Turner who is associated with Seaside Radio and the Shores Centre in Withernsea, talking about her research behind the making of the CD, ‘Village Voices’, a compilation of local people talking about their own memories.
It was decided to hold a photographic competition. A sub committee was formed to establish the rules, the format of the competition and the categories. Gassco provided the prizes in the form of £500 worth of Jessops vouchers. There would be nine categories each with a total of £50 prize money and a £50 prize for the best overall photograph. Entries would be anonymous and the judges would be independent. The competition attracted a large number of entries and proved very successful.
2011
A talk by Dr Ian Glaves, entitled 'A History of Spurn Bird Observatory'
Poster of our next exhibition and a display of Local Public Houses put together by Andy Clubley
A number of boards with photographs of the pubs and previous landlords/ladies were displayed with an array of artefacts.
Running alongside the Public Houses display, there was also a display about the Easington Gala, researched and put on by Jean Mills. The Easington Gala was quite a major event in the village at one time and ran from 1970 through to 1998. It replaced the earlier Easington Sports Day that began in 1948.
A talk by Martin Batt, Tourism Manager for Spurn, entitled “Nature Tourism and the Y.W.T.’s Plan for Spurn”. (A sign of things to come!)
2012
For some time SKEALS’ members had been discussing possible ways to improve the logo of our group. We felt the existing emblem was a little blurred and some of the names of the villages were a little hard to read. So, a new logo was devised and we thought it was an ideal replacement. It still embodies all of the characteristics of our old logo. It represents and portrays the area that SKEALS covers, which is the south-east corner of Holderness, but with a slightly modern twist. Our thanks went to Philip Welton who improved on the artwork and design.
Unfortunately, Jan’s husband Peter, passed away in May 2012 after suffering a stroke the previous November. Peter had helped SKEALS in many ways and we greatly appreciated his input, particularly with his proof reading and editing skills whilst preparing for some of our publications. Peter also wrote some articles for our website. Jan understandably decided to stand down as chair of SKEALS, and consequently Mike took over in that position, but we could not let Jan off lightly, so we made her Honorary President and Jan would also stand in as Vice Chair when needed.
This highly interesting and novel talk by a local person, Richard Swales, proved popular, so much that we invited him back a further twice for a talk on South Africa and New Zealand.
This was a very entertaining talk by Larry Malkin, retired head teacher from Easington School, ‘Tales of Welwick Past’ Origins of Myths and Legends. A most enlightening evening!
A talk and slide show presentation by Fred Walkington M.B.E., the retired Coxswain of the Bridlington Lifeboat, showing his collection of old postcards in particular ones of the local area around Spurn.
Again, a very popular talk from Howard Frost on the history of the Spurn/Kilnsea railway.
2013
A talk by Dr. Robb Robinson entitled ‘An Energetic Coast’; Fisheries and Maritime History.
Gavin Repton had asked SKEALS for information and help in making a documentary film about Spurn Point. SKEALS had a preview of the film screened in the lighthouse. The film was shown at a later date in the Community Hall.
LINK TO YOU TUBE SHORT VIDEO???
A talk by Harry Watkins of Y.W.T., about Spurn and the plans they have for the future of the peninsula, in particular the restoration of the 1895 Smeaton Lighthouse.
A talk and presentation about Withernsea Lighthouse Museum, with some of the information and history they have available.
2014
SKEALS decided to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, with a display in the church. The names of each man lost during the conflict, was taken from the Easington War Memorial, a card with his name and regiment was made out and displayed with a floral arrangement in the church. In addition, a number of display boards were put on show with a range of topics and photographs connected with WWI.
Cards for two of the fallen soldiers
Whilst recording the names from the War Memorial, it came to light that the names of two men, a soldier by the name of Lieut. Francis William Jennings, who was killed by a mine that had washed up on the beach at Easington in 1916, and a Battle of Britain R.A.F. pilot by the name of Pilot Officer Jack Buchanan, who was killed whilst flying in 1941, did not appear on the memorial, yet they are both buried in the cemetery here at Easington. The Chair of SKEALS, Mike Welton, took it upon himself to research the circumstances of this omission and then persuaded the Parish Council to have both these names added.
The additional names inscribed on the war memorial
Events didn't end there...
The grave of the R.A.F. pilot was in a sorry state, virtually illegible, so it was decided to raise some funds to restore the grave back to its former glory, in time for the 75th anniversary of the Battle of Britain.
The grave before restoration and the grave after restoration, a vast improvement
It was also decided to hold a re-dedication ceremony and wreath laying at the War Memorial. It was well attended by the public and a number of R.A.F. personnel. The Bishop, The Rural Dean and the Vicar all took part in the ceremony.
An Order of Service was produced for the re-dedication ceremony. SKEALS paid for the printing of this service sheet.
There were two separate inserts in the Order of Service, one for each officer
The grave of Lieut. Francis William Jennings was later steam cleaned in time for the 100-year anniversary of his death, in March 2016. This was a thank you from Everingham’s, the stone masons at Hedon, and no charge was made.
A very interesting talk by a well-respected speaker Dr. Robb Robinson, to coincide with the centenary of the beginning of the First World War.
A talk by Mike Bisby M.D. of the Dragonfest Group, on plans for the future of St. Nicholas Church, Withernsea, now it has been deconsecrated. (Unfortunately, this has now fallen by the wayside and plans have been scrapped)
2015
An intriguing tale told by Clive and Kath Richardson, with a surprising twist at the end of it!
An interesting talk by Jill Crowther, about the author Winifred Holtby and the local connections of her book South Riding.
SKEALS Publications
After Jan’s successful launch of her book, we decided to start to record history and publish it, so it may be read by a wider audience and recorded for posterity before it was all lost. Our first independent book was ‘The Journey Starts Here’ – A History of the Connor & Graham Bus Service, written and compiled by Mike Welton, which was published in July 2009. It documents the history of our local bus company, from its early beginnings in 1921, through to eventual closure in 1994. We had earlier held an exhibition of Connor & Graham material, to jog people’s memories of any information they might remember.
Connor & Graham coffee morning, with a reunion of previous employees
Various items on display relating to Connor & Graham
Our first publication, with 110 pages and 126 photographs
After the launch of the Connor & Graham book, we also displayed some of our exhibition boards at Patrington and at Hedon, as they were a part of the bus route. In January of 2011, Tom Graham, (the son of the founder of Connor & Graham) passed away, aged 94 years. SKEALS set up some of the display boards in the Neptune Inn, to enable some of the history of the company to be viewed after the funeral.
The SKEALS exhibition featuring the 200th Anniversary of Lifeboats at Spurn, held at the beginning of August, coincided with the release of SKEALS' third publication, Easington Lifeboat A History 1913 - 1933 by Mike Welton.
The book covers the story of the lifeboat that originally came from Withernsea then stationed at Easington for 20 years, and following on its history to the present day. This consisted of 70 pages, with some 67 photographs.
Also in 2010, another publication was produced, 'Memories of Spurn in the 1880s'. This account was originally written by George A. Jarratt. It relates to his memories about life at Spurn Point as the son of a lifeboat man in the late 1800s.
The book was revised by Mike Welton with additional and improved photographs added. It was produced to coincide with the bicentenary of a lifeboat stationed at Spurn and to commemorate this historic milestone.
Memories of Spurn in the 1880s front cover
Our next publication, 'Echoes of the Past' was created by various members of SKEALS, as an interesting and useful guide to the villages of Easington and Kilnsea. The guide also has a leaflet with a map of the two villages.
A number of marker posts were erected around the villages to help identify some points of interest and give directions around the trails. It was compiled by Jan Crowther and Mike Welton, on behalf of SKEALS, with many of the members contributing with research, photographs and maps. The publication was very kindly funded by Gassco. It was published in 2012. The book consisting of 79 pages, and 120 images, seen here showing the front and back cover.
A Rural Heritage Officer with Leader, Coast, Wolds, Wetlands and Waterways Programme, approached SKEALS regarding funding for local history projects. Eventually this was used for creating the Heritage Trail around Easington and Kilnsea, paying for the marker posts and leaflets.
The pull-out double-sided leaflet with additional information and two maps
Two information boards with maps were erected one at Easington and one at Kilnsea.
For many years there had been a booklet of fairly poor quality giving the history and a guide around the church of All Saints’ in Easington. SKEALS decided to create an updated and improved version of this publication. It has been edited and expanded and new photographs added. The new book consists of 40 pages with 35 colour photographs, and a glossary of terms used in the book. Many of the SKEALS members contributed with the research and input. It was published in 2013 and was funded by the Easington Enhancement Fund. All profits go to the Church.
All Saints’ Church Easington, East Riding of Yorkshire; A Historical Guide
Gas Companies Calendar Publications
In 2011, SKEALS were approached by a company called Mercury Marketing, who were producing a calendar jointly on behalf of the gas companies who are based at Easington, namely Centrica, Gassco and BP (later became Perenco). They asked, as we are a local history group, to supply a number of photographs for use in the calendar that were appropriate for the area. We were happy to oblige. The first year we supplied some of the photos used from our photographic competition. See Calendars page.
Other Events
We have in addition to our other projects and displays, participated with our presence at the Annual Heritage Weekend, held at Moat Farm, Welwick, our first time being back in 2007. We have put on a display each year with our current project at the time, both advertising our group and selling some of our books. This went on until 2014 when the Heritage Weekend at Moat Farm came to an end after some 25 years.
We have also been present at the Keyingham Machinery Show, Winestead Hall School, the Annual Beverley Book Fair, and the Migration Festival held at Kilnsea.
Welwick Heritage Weekend, 2009
Trips and outings
We have over the last few years organized trips out to various venues of interest.
To name but a few, these are places we have visited –
- All Saints’ Church, Easington (trip up the tower)
- St. Germain’s Church, Winestead
- St. Patrick’s Church, Patrington
- St. Wilfrid’s Church, Ottringham
- St. Helen’s Church, Skeffling
- Holy Trinity Church, Hull
- St. Mary’s Church, Bridlington
- St. Mary’s Church, Kirkburn
- St. Mary’s Church, Barton
- St. Charles’ Borromeo Church, Hull
- St. Andrew’s Church Paull and Paull Heritage Trail
- St. Augustine’s Church, Hedon
- All Saints' Church, Halsham
- Constable Mausoleum, Halsham
- The old school house at Halsham
- Hedon Museum
- Hedon Town Hall (Hedon Silver)
- The Guildhall, Hull
- Wilderspin School, Barton
- Burton Constable Hall
- Burton Agnes Hall
- Withernsea Lighthouse Museum
- Wassand Hall
- Hull Trinity House
- The Treasure House, Beverley
- Hull Truck Theatre
- Humber Lifeboat Station and Humber Lifeboat
- Spurn Lighthouse
- Annisons Old Building, Hull
- Southburn Archaeological Museum, near Driffield
- Holmpton Underground Bunker
See our Visits page for reports on some of the above visits.
When I first came up with the idea of putting together a presentation of SKEALS’ history, our first 10 years, I underestimated just how much we had achieved, and looking back we have packed quite a lot into these few years with some very good displays, exhibitions and publications.
I would therefore like to thank everybody for all their hard work as individuals, as a team, their dedication and interest in the group, for organizing all the various trips out, for artwork, photography, setting up displays, book fairs, manning the stalls and getting us where we are today!
Here is to the next 10 years!