This book was bought by Marjorie and William Blake on 29 October 1942, and the authors signed it on 15 April 1943.
Ella Pontefract and Marie Hartley wrote about the social history of the Yorkshire Dales. In the late 1930's they buy an old cottage in a Yorkshire village. The name of the village is not mentioned in the book, but Wikipeda tells us it is Askrigg.
(a garth is an enclosed yard)
The first part of the book tells the story of how they rebuild, decorate and furnish the house. We also learn a lot of the people (especially local craftsmen) they meet, with conversations in the local dialect.
Only part of the rebuilding is finished when war breaks out. 'For us life altered in a night. It became a confused programme of learning to drive ambulances, of attending first aid and antigas lectures, and of helping to sort the scanty A.R.P. equipment which was all that was allowed us in those early days. (...) Amid these duties the cottage seemend unreal, as if it were something we had known long ago.' Materials and men become scarce, but two and a half years after they bought the cottage they move in as permanent residents. Some of their furniture they buy from Thompson's in Kilburn. This furniture was and is famous for having a mouse carved somewhere on it.
The second half of the book describes their first year in the cottage.
There is some talk of soldiers, refugees and evacuees, but otherwise the war does not seem to impinge very much and life goes on in the Dales much as it always did. I can see why this book might have been popular during the war. It is like one long cosy fireside chat about things that have always been so and will never change. The landscape, the climate, the well, the garden, the village: life goes on. Parts of this book I found, dare I say it, a little boring, but I am sure lots of people will find it the ulitimate comfort read.
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