Milestone 2.Pdf
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NORTH DUFFIELD CONSERVATION AND LOCAL HISTORY SOCIETY In 1793, a turnpike road was created linking Market Weighton to Selby(now the A163) A bridge was constructed to take the road over the Derwent (Bubwith Bridge) and this was a toll bridge until relatively recently. Prior to this time and from at least 12thC there was ferry crossing almost at the same point as the bridge although the road to the ferry from Menthorpe lane took a more circuitous route than the current A163. Early maps show the crossing point named as ‘Ferry Dale’. At one mile intervals, stone Milestones were erected advising travellers of the various distances from Market Weighton and Selby. North Duffield has two of these milestones marked on old maps although only one is currently extant. The existence of the other one will be investigated in due course. Harlthorpe has one milestone and Foggathorpe two milestones still in existence. (See map) The Milestones were all of the same size, made of stone and were faced with an elliptical caste iron plate. Only the milestone at Foggathorpe, placed against the wall of a cottage at the crossroads in Foggathorpe still has the original faceplate affixed(See photo) The face plates from the North Duffield and Harlthorpe milestones are missing and the other one outside a cottage on the Market Weighton side of Foggathorpe has a replacement round faceplate(see photo) In 1939, it was considered a good idea to remove all road signs just in case the Germans landed. They would then be unable to find their way about-or so that’s what some bright spark thought. The plates were removed from the Milestones on the A163 turnpike road and the milestones were buried. At the end of the war when the risk of invasion was thought to have disappeared, the Milestones were replaced in their original positions but a number of the facing plates went missing, including the one nearest North Duffield. We considered that it would be nice to replace the faceplate bringing the Milestone back to its original 1793 condition. The matter was discussed with the Milestone Society who have been very helpful in supplying advice and suppliers details. Approval from both NYCC and North Duffield Parish Council was obtained for the replacement. Whilst the original plates were iron, the Milestone Society informs me that organisations in other parts of the country going through the same process have variously replaced the plates with iron, plastic and fibre glass. The thinking being that, as the plate can never be the original and in order to reduce maintenance and increase longevity, iron is not necessarily the best material to use. The Parish Council preferred option was to replace in cast iron. We were also advised that a current date should be shown on the faceplate so that it was clear that it is a replacement. Following a request to North Duffield Parish Council, a grant of £200 was authorised towards the cost of replacing the faceplate. An application for funding to Selby Area Committee of NYCC was successful and a grant of £170 was made to the project. Together with donations from three members of the History Society sufficient funds have been raised to have a new faceplate made by an iron foundry in Halifax. A mould was obtained and delivered to the foundry. On 26 th January 2012, the finished cast iron plate was handed over to the Society at Hargreaves Foundry(of ‘Angel of the North’ fame) and brought back to North Duffield and has been rust-proofed and painted in black and white(see photos) During May, 2012, the milestone was dragged from its slot by tractor and laid down nearby. A new site was dug away from the dyke into which it had travelled over time. The hole was reinforced with paving flags and wired together and then concreted into place. On 24 th May 2012 the milestone was dropped back into its new permanent position and concreted into a vertical position, now standing proudly as clear from the ground as was intended when it was originally placed there in 1793. Whilst lying on the ground, the original fixings , consisting of substantial square iron pins bedded into holes in the face of the stone with lead, were drilled and melted out and refilled with fresh lead, ready to accept the new faceplate. .