In the autumn of 2002 Oswaldkirk is a lively and pleasant village in which to live. Almost every household has a car and buses pass daily through the village to the local towns and to the city of York. One hundred and eighty five adults live in the parish the oldest of whom is Gretel Greenfield who is proud to be 90 years old and feels that she has not yet retired. The youngest is newly arrived one year old Rebecca Fram whose grandfather designed St. Aidan’s church. There are thirty four young people of sixteen and under as well as numerous dogs, cats, sheep, geese, hens and one donkey. In total there are ninety seven houses including two working farms, one pub, two churches but no shop or post office.

Helen Goodman.

Young people speaking:

Neil Thompson

The Thompson family moved to Oswaldkirk two years ago and last year Neil decided that he would take on the milk round when Betty and Derrick Watson retired. He delivers milk, eggs and newspapers at top speed to many houses in Oswaldkirk, Hovingham, Cawton and Gilling. The residents are all very pleased to have deliveries on the doorstep.

Twenty two year old Neil plays cricket at Hovingham and generously helps to cut the churchyard grass at St.Oswald’s church. He says what he likes best about the village is the warm and friendly community spirit. The only disadvantage is the lack of a shop but that does not worry him as he  has a car and can borrow his father’s motorbike.

Beth Hollins

Beth Hollins, who is eighteen years old, has lived in Oswaldkirk all her life, apart from one year in Australia. She attends Easingwold School and is studying Theology and Philosophy, Art, Psychology and General Studies for her 'A' levels. She organises an Amnesty International group at school and is working for her Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award. This included a difficult four-day expedition in Scotland, in inclement weather. Beth has played the clarinet in the Oswaldkirk Symphony Orchestra at Christmas time. She has done karate and a life guard course at the local sports centre and is now learning to drive. She intends to go to university but has not yet decided in which direction her life should go.

She feels the disadvantage of rural life is being isolated from friends, as transport is a problem, and there is little to do in the village. Although she would like the cinema and shops to be closer, she does enjoy living with her family in the country.

Tabitha Grove

Sixteen year old Tabitha’s main interest is Drama which she is studying at York Sixth Form College having taken her G.C.S.Es last summer. She has loved acting all her life and parts such as Little Red Riding Hood, Alice in Alice in Wonderland and the Dame in Puss in Boots have come her way. She is currently working behind the scenes at the 1812 Youth Theatre in the Helmsley Arts Centre and has a small part in  the production of Twelfth Night. Recently she passed her Senior Gold Medal for Acting and won the Judi Dench Award for the highest marks in this examination in the Yorkshire area.

Although she is isolated  from city activities Tabitha finds the peace and quiet of the village refreshing. After school she wants to travel  and then on to study all aspects of working in the theatre.

Ed Collinson

Ed’s all consuming passion is BMX biking. It is a hobby that started when his grandparents bought him a bike five years ago. He rides more or less every day and is constantly improving and rebuilding his machine which has now become quite valuable. He travels all over the country to attend different race tracks and skate parks but dirt riding is what he enjoys most. On Hall Farm, where he lives, he has built mud jumps in the wood and practises hard, polishing up daring and complicated tricks of riding on one wheel or turning the bike underneath himself as he jumps. So far he has broken his collar bone, an arm and several ribs and as he says it is not something for the fainthearted. He finds it scary but enjoys the excitement.

Ed is at Malton School, in Year 11;  Art,  and Design and Technology are his favourite subjects. He wants to go to college next year and  hopes to do an Arts and Graphics course.

The disadvantage of living in an isolated place is that he is a long way from friends, shops and the rest of civilisation. What he does like is the space and the view and he finds it exhilarating to be exposed to the elements on the top of the hill. And yes he does help on the farm  but would rather be riding his bike. 

The Playground

Through the initiative of many people: Sarah Stow, Doreen Roberts and Mary Thomas and their committee, money has been raised to create a new playground for the young people of our village. It uses the ground that was originally the village tennis court and has adventure climbing equipment, a springy horse, swings and an area for football. Generous gifts were received from a dozen groups to start the project off including £1000  from North Yorkshire County Council and £500 from Persimmon Homes. £1000 is raised most years by organising a Street Fair and this year in addition there was a Barn Dance and Hog Roast to help celebrate the Queen’s Golden Jubilee. As a result the committee hopes to erect a grand slide to enhance the facilities.

The Village Hall

Many activities go on here including weekly table tennis, St. Simeon Singers practise regularly,  monthly Parish information mornings happen and  various meetings, exhibitions, and parties take place.

Dancing

For many years Oswaldkirk village hall has had a reputation for social dancing. Energetic

Cajun Dancing.

Cajun dancing is taught by Glyn Roberts, of Swiss Cottage West. This sort of dancing comes from Louisiana, U.S.A, with French and Canadian connections. It is about enjoying

Scottish Dancing.

music, learning dances: one step, two steps, waltzes and the whirling jitterbug, and making new friends. ‘Laissez les Bons Temps Rouler’ -  ‘Let the Good Times Roll’.

For the last fifteen years Scottish dancing has been enjoyed in the hall. The lively music inspires everyone to do graceful leaps and turns in complex movements for reels, jigs and strathspeys. A group of younger dancers are rapidly becoming competent and however tired people feel at the beginning of the evening by the end they are rejuvenated and relaxed. Parties are held in the summer and at Christmas, and haggis and whiskey are consumed on Burns’ night. The dancing is taught by Moira Wood and Helen Goodman. Also Glyn and Christine Price from Bridge Farm Barns practise the spirited Argentinian Tango every week. 

The Pantomime

A report from the Malton Gazette, in December 2001, written by Flora Daly:

On Saturday evening December 1st. in the Village Hall a version of  'Snow White and the 4  Dwarfs’ was hugely enjoyed. Can ever a small village have produced so much talent, and can ever an audience have participated with so much enthusiasm? We all arrived up to thirty minutes before the performance began, and we were seated round small tables with a glass of wine, served by a team of 'French' waiters with white aprons and black moustaches. As we already mostly knew each other, there was soon a good party atmosphere. The Conductor and Tambourine, Sue Elm, then took the audience through all the songs, because we were to sing as well.

Snow White in the Tower.

Pantomime audience.

Most of we older ones knew the tunes, for they were music hall tunes from our youth. An excellent and sensitive piano accompaniment was provided by Jean Beadle. The pantomime had been written by Philip Entwistle, with considerable input from the cast, and was based on the Snow White story with intrusions of characters from other pantomimes, and it was very funny. The producer was Doreen Roberts, who was also the originator of the whole idea and the cast were Ursula Webb, Selwyn Collinson, Glyn Roberts, Doreen Roberts, Ian Henley, Rosie Wilkinson, Philip Entwistle and Caroline O'Neill. The sets and costumes produced by young people and adults from the village were simple and effective, with just the right atmosphere of fairy-story-land. We had been asked to bring our own supper, to eat during the interval with another glass of wine. This made an opportunity to move around and speak or wave to other people. Then when the cast joined us at the end we were still one big happy party, and I think most of us were still laughing several hours afterwards. 

The Millennium Mosaic and Footpath

To mark the start of the new Millennium, a Village Mosaic, was designed and produced  with the help of Margaret Murphy from Rural Arts, North Yorkshire. More than twenty five people, led by Mark Clook and including eight children, enjoyed learning the techniques involved. It was great fun to work on it and  much creative talent emerged. It now stands at the entrance to the Village Hall and depicts the Oswaldkirk Millennium Trail. The project was started late in 1999 and finished in the spring of 2002. Funding of £1500 was raised from the North Yorkshire Millennium and Small Project Funds, together with Lottery Grants for Local Groups, Awards for All scheme.  The project also included small mosaics to act as waymarkers on the trail.

Millennium Mosaic.

The Millennium Trail itself was created after many years of discussion to divert an old footpath to pass on a more convenient route along the top of the village bank. Particular thanks are due to the Ampleforth Abbey Trustees and the National Park  Authority for the creation of a new section of path and steps down through the Hag beyond Oswaldkirk Hall.

As well as the trail and the mosaics, a leaflet has been produced which includes a brief  guide and history of the village.  Also a Yew tree, twenty centimetres high, grown from a tree two thousand years old has been planted just inside the church gate.

Neighbourhood Watch

Several people have been looking after this village for over six years as a neighbourhood watch team and we are grateful for their care. The village is divided into eight groups and the police send out messages which alert residents to possible dangers. During the Millennium Bonfire Party the neighbourhood watch people took it in turns to walk round the village to ensure that it was safe. They work quietly and effectively and on one occasion were responsible for helping the police find an intruder red handed. 

The Malt Shovel

Peter and Debbie now run the pub which is owned by Sam Smiths of Tadcaster. Special events are put on every month or so: a brass band, a singer, pool knock-out competitions, raffles and also weekly quizzes have been enjoyed. They are open seven days a week, serving home cooked meals and they much appreciate the support of the local community. 

Churches Together

There are weekly services in both churches and in the spirit of the Ampleforth Covenant -

Wednesday Tea Time Club visiting Hovingham Church.

 ‘we rejoice in the growing partnership between our churches at national, regional and local levels’. The young people of St. Oswald’s church meet at the Wednesday Tea Time Club for christian teaching with music, drama and games. People from both churches take part in joint Lent Groups, there is a Procession of  Witness on Good Friday along the main street, and also they join together at Harvest and Christmas time. Two well attended ‘Songs of Praise’ have taken place in the village hall with moving contributions from various members of the community.

And So ..... 

Winston Churchill, speaking about the first victories in North Africa during the Second World War, said:

‘This is not  the beginning of the end, but the end of the beginning’

We hope that this brief social history is not the end of anything, but the beginning of a continuing process of collecting pictures, objects, original sources and memoirs to be added to a growing archive of the history of Oswaldkirk.