Recent articles

Hampsthwaite Housing
Local planning authorities need to regularly identify and update their supply of sites for housing development as part of their adopted local plan. North Yorkshire Council is currently drawing up a new county wide local plan and a new consultation (Issues and Options) is about to begin.
VE-Day80 8 - 10 May 2025
Our Memorial Hall was built to honour the fallen in two world wars and give thanks to those who returned. It is appropriate therefore that we play our full part in the national celebrations and village activities are planned for May 8th VE-Day and Saturday May 10th 2025
Jane Ridsdale
JANE RIDSDALEAged 33 years, born at Hampsthwaite, near Harrogate, Yorkshire, her height is 31 ½ inches.She is remarkably chearfull & enjoys very good health.Published July 1st 1807 by Jane Ridstale, at Harrogate where purchasers of this Print will have the opportunity of seeing and conversing with her
The Execution of Hannah Whitley
Arsenic Poisoning in Hampsthwaite - The Execution of Hannah Whitley In 1789, Hannah Whitley of Hampsthwaite used a pie as the delivery medium for a fatal dose of arsenic, with the poison concentrated in the crust. She claimed She had been coerced into the act of poisoning by her employer, a local linen weaver named Horseman, who was involved in an on-going feud with the intended victim.
Joshua Tetley
Joshua Tetley was the founder of Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds, and he retired with his wife Hannah to Hollins Hall on the outskirts of Hampsthwaite (Hollins Hall Retirement Village).
Blind Peter Barker
Remembering Hampsthwaite’s Blind Joiner - an article by Shaun WilsonLike the market town of Knaresborough, who had ‘Blind Jack’ – John Metcalf, the road builder of Yorkshire in the eighteenth century, the small rural village of Hampsthwaite had it’s blind hero also, almost a century later – Peter Barker who became known as ‘The Blind Joiner of Hampsthwaite.’ Though there are some similarities between John Metcalf and Peter Barker’s lives, these are purely co-incidental and each fulfilled a life, character and career in their own right.
Hampsthwaite Open Gardens
Hampsthwaite Open Gardens - Sat 29th June 12.30am - 5.00pm - Entry £5.00 (accompanied under 15's FREE) Tickets on the day from Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Plant sales - many named varieties of plants Delicious homemade refreshments Afternoon tea and cakes served from 12.30pm at the Memorial Hall
Scrubbers and Stones
SCRUBBERS & STONES - Sat 29th June 10.30am - 2.30pm - Entry FREE! Explore the Memorials at St Thomas a'Becket Memorials Treasure Trail - for children if all ages Self-Service / Self-Checkout BBQ from 12 noon (inc. veg option) Food £2, Drink £1, Donations? - yes please! Hot & Cold Drinks Laptop & Screen to show Mapping Hampsthwaite’s Past Use a Bucket & Brush to help reveal Inscriptions on the older memorials . . . or just Sit & Enjoy CORPUS CHRISTI BRASS BAND . . . from 11.30am . . . followed by Afternoon Tea & Cakes at the Memorial Hall!
Genealogy Websites
Free genealogy websites will help you start your family history research at no cost as listed by the 'Who Do You Think You Are' magazine.
Kitchen Refurbishment
Memorial Hall kitchen is now completely, and expertly, refurbished by Neil,Batty Builders Ltd as a result of a grant awarded by the National Lottery's 'Reaching Communities' fund.See also the equivalent

Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Arts and Crafts Studio

Link to https://fcccommunitiesfoundation.org.uk/funds/fcc-community-action-fund

Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Arts & Crafts Studio

Following the 70th Anniversary of the Memorial Hall’s first establishment in 1953, we were delighted to obtain full planning permission to create a much needed Arts and Crafts Studio extension. Visitors to Hampsthwaite may now see that we also secured sufficient funding to start building this exciting new community space, thanks to a combination of local supporters, a generous grant from FCC and NYC allocations.

Your views are needed on what additional activities such a practical workspace facility might be able to accommodate. For example:

back-stage facilities to help in props and scene construction for drama and similar events?
better facilities for practical craft work generally (we have had folk building bee hives in the dining room before now!)?
perhaps a Repair Shop type facility? See www.repaircafe.org/en and www.remakery.org/
a Work Shed (Men's & Women's)- somewhere to just meet and 'potter' or perhaps also working alongside PayBack personnel to perform village maintenance tasks or make things for the school for example? See menssheds.org.uk
a general practical hobbies space for all ages? See www.stem.org.uk/ and wiki.dtonline.org/index.php/Category:Primary_Technology
somewhere an antique restoration, woodworking or jewellery class might be located?
free up the Sun Lounge so it can become a drop-in cyber cafe and family history centre?
a practical workspace also being where plant and fruit tree propogation, building bird boxes or hedgehog homes could also be done?
any more?

Please post all suggestions into the box in the Hall foyer or email to: survey@hampsthwaite.org.uk

And now the work begins!

New Lodge Contractors have undertaken to create the strip foundations and build the basic 'shell' in the first instance.

New Lodge Contractors progress during May 2025 (click to enlarge)

And there's more!

Photograph taken outside the original Memorial Hall in 1965 reveals the possibility of creating a Sun Terrace outside the Sun Room of the current Hall . . . . . an opportunity not to be missed whilst New Lodge Contractors are on site with all the necessary heavy equipment and expertise? (click on images to enlarge)

Outside the Sun Room in 1965

Entertained by the local silver band

Sun Terrace created in 2025?

Continue

Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Arts and Crafts Studio

Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Arts & Crafts Studio