Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project Page 5 of 10
Ayton’s Story Project - Second Audit Panel Report (January to June 2008)
Great Ayton Community Archaeology Project
Ayton’s Story Project
Second Report to Audit Panel (January to June 2008)
(Revised version 10 September 2008)
1 Summary
Initial project preparation has now been completed. We have an agreed framework of topics relevant to village development, and groups and individuals are working away at topics which interest them. A series of general presentations was held in the spring, with slightly disappointing attendances. Good progress has been made with IT systems, a subject that has proved to be more difficult than at first envisaged. We now have our recording systems in place and have purchased most of the new equipment.
Expenditure has been below budget, and our voluntary time contribution has greatly exceeded requirements.
2 Responses to First Audit Panel
The Audit Panel, Barry Hallam (Chairman), Linda Polley and Shirley Hetherington, met on 30 April 2008. Several actions arose from these conclusions, requiring the group’s attention.
1) Review the project’s digital archiving system. This is dealt with later in this report.
2) Introduce a system for controlling hardware, especially computers. The borrowings register, which had fallen into disuse, has been re-introduced.
3) Check insurance cover for items taken away from the Friends’ Meeting House. The cover is considered adequate. Our insurance through the Council for British Archaeology includes cover for loss or damage to equipment which is taken away from premises. The overall sum insured is £4500 with a limit of £2000 on any one item and an excess of £250 per claim.
4) Consider how to maintain interest. We recognise this as a problem. A high level of interest continues among the original members of the group, and we have welcomed quite a few enthusiastic newcomers, there are many others in the village who have yet to be actively involved. With any voluntary group, it is up to individuals as to how much time and energy they commit to the group.
5) Communications with the wider group. The main routes are through the newsletter, the fourth issue being overdue, and the website at www.greatayton.wikidot.com
6) Securely recording data gathered from NYCRO and presenting it in a user friendly manner. This is dealt with later in this report.
3 Project progress
This table is an abbreviated version of that in the original project submission. Where an action was completed in the first six-month report, it is shown in lighter type.
Original HLF timetable / Comments on progress2007
Q1 - Q2 / Obtain funding for Ayton’s Story project approved. / A third application to NYCC made in April 2008 was rejected. After discussions with Councillor John Fletcher, a further attempt will be made. If unsuccessful all of the non-HLF funding will come from our own reserves.
100% of funding now secured
2007
Q2 - Q3 / Engage professional staff. / Achieved
2007
Q3 / Agree list of topics for research / Achieved
2007
Q3 - Q4 / Establish digital archiving system for all project information. / In-house system designed and operational by end of Q2 2008. System now operational, but members need further training and experience.
Some replacement equipment still to purchase.
90% achieved by end Q2 2008
2007
Q3 - Q4 / Involve as many local people as possible in the project. / Achieved
2007
Q3 - Q4 / Set up internet-based system for enabling all people involved in the project to access information. / Achieved
2007
Q3 - Q4 / Run seminars on specific aspects of village development / Achieved
2007
Q4 / First Audit Report. / First report issued March 2008, first Audit Panel meeting 30 April 2008.
Achieved by end Q2 2008
2008
Q1 / GACAP AGM / Held 9:30am to 9:40am on 20 February.
Achieved
2008
Q1 / Teams and individuals begin research on agreed topics / Achieved
2008
Q2 / Project information begins to appear on website / Increasing number of transcripts of sources posted onto www.greatayton.wikidot.com (this website is for members to access source information)
Nothing yet posted on www.historic-cleveland.co.uk (this is the public access website, which will need some minor redesign)
Achieved
2008
Q2 / Progress meeting / Progress meeting delayed until there was more to say on the research topics. Rather than have one big meeting it was decided to have a series of presentations, each covering one or two specific topics. These will take place in Autumn 2008.
Objective modified and postponed
2008
Q2 / Second Audit Report / Written August 2008.
Delayed
4 Research topics
The main action is now devolved down to the teams and individuals studying various topics. A progress summary is included as Appendix 1.
5 IT systems
After some delays, we have now put together the equipment and software to meet our requirements for collecting, storing and retrieving information. We now have a master computer with six satellites, all laptops. Laptops can share information through WiFi links, and with common data on at least five computers back-up has ceased to be a problem. Access to the internet has been achieved via a WiFi link to the broadband ISP of one of our members who lives nearby, which save us paying for a separate ISP. Dan O’Sullivan has initiated a new website, using a free ‘wiki’ website, for members to gain easy access to source materials.
A comprehensive digital archiving system was developed during the period, capable of storing and retrieving all current project information and all previous records. All information (text, images, maps, etc) is catalogued and searched through a proprietary digital asset management system. Standard formats for controlling entries to the archive, and for entries themselves, have been introduced.
There is a more comprehensive description of our IT systems in Appendix 2. We are gradually replacing equipment purchased at the start of the original project. We have a new digital camera and voice recorder; still to replace are the projector, scanner and printer (we will change to A3 format).
6 Financial
Income and expenditure
A statement of income and expenditure for this project is shown in Appendix 2. After the first year of operation the project is significantly under budget. Expenditure, including a provision for work done but not yet invoiced, was approximately £15,100 compared with a budget of £19,900. The difference is due to the delayed purchase of some equipment, and to some items included in the original budget not being required. At some stage permission will be sought from the HLF to use this money elsewhere.
The issue of corporation tax on some of the group’s income has still to be resolved.
Efforts are continuing to obtain a further £3,527.00 from North Yorkshire County Council. In the unlikely event of this being successful, it will reduce the group’s contribution to the Ayton’s Story project and release an identical amount for other purposes.
Volunteer time
The HLF budget included 120 hours of volunteer time for a six-month period. We recorded 1056 hours in the period January to June 2008.
7 Looking ahead
The main challenge in the next six months is to maintain the interest of people already involved with the project and to actively involve others who have previously registered an interest. In the autumn we will hold a series of public meetings to report progress on specific topics. At these meetings we will invite additional people to take part.
Ian Pearce 10 September 2008
Appendix 1 - Progress topic-by-topic
Agriculture (no leader at present)
A large body of information from previous projects needs transferring to the new recording system.
Antiquarians (Yvonne Bentley)
Relevant extracts from the classic nineteenth century authors (Graves, Ord and Atkinson) are being transcribed.
Ayton in the context of Cleveland (no leader at present)
Ayton family histories (no leader at present)
Bricks and brickyards (Derek Capes)
Information about brickyard sites in the parish, along with the properties of Ayton clay and bricks, is being gathered.
Education and schools (David Brook)
There have been at least ten schools in Ayton from the first Postgate School to Roseberry. The group has plans to interview ex-pupils and to examine the Friends’ School Archives at the NYCRO.
Family histories (no leader at present)
Films
Three features from early twentieth century Pathé Newsreels have been supplemented by historic film from the Yorkshire Film Archive. This organisation has converted the 1990’s video material on Ayton into digital format.
House History Ken Taylor)
This is a large group, with 27 people having registered an interest in investigating the history or their (or another) house in the village. Most of the recorded research has been conducted in the area of the village called ‘California’ and relates to the houses built in this area to satisfy demand during the mining boom towards the end of the 19th Century.
Specific houses being investigated include:
- The Recess, Newton Road built for the Cleveland Bard, John Wright in 1872 (researched by Ken Taylor)
- Outram Cottages, Guisborough Road (researched by Barbara Gray)
- ‘Birch View’ and the area known as ‘Mount Pleasant’, on and behind Newton Road (researched by Margaret Cumbor)
- ‘Woodville’ in John St (inspected by Cath Small and Ken Taylor with the kind assistance of the owner Eileen Mercer)
Over 20 other houses have been listed with individuals keen to research their history, for example Bank House Farm (Irene MacDonald), 33 Newton Road (Tamzin Little), 47 High Street (Hazel and Dan O’Sullivan).
Reference sources include the register of deeds at NYCRO; the censuses of 1861, 1881 and 1901; various trade directories dated 1834, 1890 and 1929; old OS maps, photographic archives and personal family documents. There has been some research into the deeds of Post Chaise Cottage, off Bridge Street, and Herdholt, Little Ayton Lane.
Assistance has been provided by NYCRO and a lecture was given by Linda Turnbull to the group in Great Ayton followed by a more ‘hands-on’ session at the records office. The intention is to gather the full group together in the autumn for a more extensive exchange of information and transfer onto the project records.
Inns and brewing (Ian Pearce)
Paul Jennings delivered a talk on the history of inns and brewing in Yorkshire, and has offered to provide other assistance to this group. Recent licensing records have been transcribed.
Law and order (John Crocker)
The major initial task has been the transcription of the accounts of the Overseers of the Poor for the village, going back to 1791. Some work has been done to extract and transcribe the items relevant to Ayton in the Quarter Session records from 1605 to the mid-eighteenth century. However the NYCRO has recently been given funding to index the Quarter Session records (our group provided a letter of support for this application), and we will wait to se how the indexing proceeds before doing any more work ourselves.
Leather tanning (Peter Morgan)
Linen and weaving (Dinah Lane)
Mills and milling (Peter Morgan)
Presentation available covering all sites in village.
Motor transport (no leader at present)
Population studies (Alan Bunn and Dave Taylor)
Research into this topic has been held up until the key sources, particularly the census records and parish registers, have been transcribed and placed on the internet. This work is now almost complete, and so the group will shortly be able to start their researches.
Public Health (Dennis Tyerman)
Great Ayton was the first place in the district to have a modern sewage system. The minutes of Parochial Sanitary Committee have been fully transcribed, and relevant extracts from the Stokesley RDC minutes are being recorded. The original map of the 1899 Drainage Scheme has been found at the NYCRO. A history of Ayton doctors from 1800 has been produced.
Railways (Ian Wilson)
The planned visit to the National Railway Museum in York to look for information in their archives had to be postponed until their search engine is fully operational. Copies of the original maps showing the route of the railway have been located at NYCRO and will be copied. Discussions have taken place with the Esk Valley Railway Development Company and Network Rail about filming the route through the parish from the cab.
Recording individuals’ memories (no leader at present)
Religion and church history (no leader at present)
Roger Arkell has almost finished a thesis on All Saints’ Church as part of a 3-year course of church history. His findings will be incorporated into the project.
Retail (no leader at present)
Marwood School’s project on the history of Ayton shops will be incorporated into the project.
River Leven (Peter Morgan)
Sources (Dan O’Sullivan and Alan Bunn)
The principal objective of this group is to provide computerised data on a website which will enable existing sources to be searched and relevant information extracted. Work has been done at the North Yorkshire County Records Office in Northallerton and at individuals’ own homes. Initially effort has been directed to the two most important sources: the census records from 1841 to 1901, containing comprehensive details of everyone in the village, and the parish register from 1749 to 1901, containing baptism, marriage and burial records. About 80% of both these sets of data have been transcribed so far, with completion expected by end September.
Work is also progressing on transcribing other parochial records for transfer to the website. These are the Churchwardens’ Accounts, Constables’ Accounts, Overseers of the Poor Accounts, and church records of the Methodist Church and the Society of Friends. Progress here has been slower, with fewer people involved, but should speed up once the census and parish register transcriptions are completed. These records require transcription from microfilm at NYCRO but trials using digital camera images, which can be taken away for home-working, have proved successful.
David Sills has copied some of the Trade Directory entries for Great Ayton using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. These need checking and the remaining directory entries copied in the same manner.
Sport and leisure (Gary Readman)
A history of cricket in the village is well under way. Mike Newton has written a history of the tennis club.