Back In The Seventies

Ginny McDermott grew up in Furness Vale and has kindly sent us some photographs from  the early 1970s. The Sports Day was held on the Football Field in 1972. We can see the school, and houses on Buxton Road, because the flats had not yet been built.

A wintry view of Yeardsley Hall.

 Looking towards Buxworth from Ringstones Farm. Apart from losing a little more of its roof, the small stone building in the field, looks much the same fifty years later.

 Double stamps at the Garage which displays the Start Motors sign. On the right we can see Lavin's  butchers shop and Barbara Griffith's shop at the corner of Station Road.
 

 
Belisha Beacons guard the zebra crossing. The Co-op had closed and Riddicks were using the building as their office. A red sign on the lamp post, points to the station.

The Romeiros of Sao Miguel

The sound of men singing echoed between the houses just about dawn on Saturday. A return from a night long celebration perhaps or maybe some soldiers returning to the barracks at the top of the street?  No, this was too melodic and harmonious.

The same song was heard later that day as we waited for a bus, Looking up we saw a large group of men and youths climbing the church steps. They each carried a staff, capped with a brass cross, scarf around the neck, shawl on the shoulders and a bag on the back. As they entered the church, the staff was left at the door and the singing quietened.

The Romeiros, the pilgrims of Sao Miguel island. Each year at the end of February, they gather in groups, many are returned emigrees from around the World. For seven days, dawn till dusk, they walk the roads and tracks of the island, visiting in turn each of the churches and chapels. The island is encircled in a clockwise procession whist the Ave Maria is sung.  Each evening they are given shelter and a meal in a family home. Their bag of food for the next day's march is replenished. Some have made the pilgrimage for many years, for others it is a one time event. All have the same deep faith to follow this age old tradition. The pilgrimages started in the 16th century to seek through prayer, deliverence from the volcanic eruptions of the islands which were then thought to be the retribution of God. 

 

The King of Fruits

The pineapple played an important role in the history of Ponta Delgada in the Azores. Images of the fruit appear in the mosaic pavements in the eastern part of the city where it is still cultivated.

 

Orange farming was a staple industry of the Azores in the 19th century and the fruit was exported in large quantities. When the citrus groves became decimated by concave gum disease, plantation owners sought an alternative crop.

The pineapple had been introduced to the islands in the 17th century, brought from central America by Portuguese navigators. They were grown for the landed gentry as a curiosity but gradually farmers  perfected methods of cultivation.

The first commercial greenhouse was built in 1864 and was able to support 800 plants. By the early 20th century, 4300 greenhouses had been built and the pineapple was Sao Miguel Island's main export crop.

The Azores are too far north for outdoor cultivation and the greenhouses of whitewashed glass are used to re-create the natural conditions for growing the fruit. 

First the soil is prepared to create a "hot bed" using a mixture of firewood, earth, sawdust and ground incense. Natural decomposition produces the heat inside the greenhouses that the plants need to grow. Four months after planting, the smoking process begins. Wood chips and leaves are burned each evening producing a thick smoke. The following morning the houses are ventilated and this process continues for 8 to 10 days. The result of this cycle is that the plants all flower simultaneously. Growing a Sao Miguel pineapple takes between 18 and 24 months.





A number of the remaining plantations now depend upon tourism to support their business. Visitors are offered free tours and have the opportunity to buy pinapples and related products from the gift shops. There are still hundreds of greenhouses on the island, mostly in the south which has the warmer climate.

 

The Stubborn Turret of the Azores

One feature of the countryside of Sao Miguel Island in the Azores is the dry stone walls of black basalt. This volcanic rock is seen throughout the island and is the most common building material. The lanes high above Ponta Delgada are lined with these walls, sometimes as high as four metres. Occasionally these are broken by an arched doorway or a window giving evidence of a former building. They are only softened by the profusion of spring flowers such as lilies, nasturtiums or hydrangeas which line the roads. 

Emerging into the village of Fajã de Baixo we came across the strangely named "Stubborn Turret" or "O Torreão das Teimosas". Derelict atop a small hill, this tower is little known except for the image carved into its walls by local artist, Vhils. "Sweet hug blessed by the moon" the face and arms of a woman, was created as part of Walk and Talk, a public art festival.
The tower was built in the nineteenth century from the period of Portuguese romanticism for lawyer and politician Henrique Ferreira da Paula Medeiros as a place of leisure and retreat. The tower is part of the Quinta do Torreão, all of which is now in ruins. The entrance from the road is flanked by two derelict buildings one of which had been a house. The top of the tower would have afforded views over the surrounding countryside and out over the nearby Atlantic. Although an empty shell, one can still trace the flights of stairs that rose through three floors.  The outer staircase is now degraded to a grassy ramp leading to the second floor.

Lucette and The Dunkenhalgh Hotel

Despite spending a weekend at the Dunkenhalgh Hotel,  we failed to see the spectre of Lucette.  Dunkenhalgh Hall was built at the end of the 12th century by Roger De Dunkenhalgh. The house is located between Rishton and Clayton Le Moors in Lancashire and by 1712 had passed into the ownership of the Petre family. The 9th Baron, Lord Robert Edward Petre, a member of the Catholic nobility was exceptionally wealthy with property in Mayfair, and estates in three counties. In 1778, a young Frenchwoman named Lucette was engaged as governess to the Petrie children. Lucette fell in love with a Dragoon Captain named Starkie and soon became pregnant. He abandoned her, sailking to America to fight in the War of Independence. Lucette could not face the shame of an illegitimate child and drowned herself in the Hyndburn River which flowed through the grounds. Her body was found on Christmas morning and carried back to  the house. 
Lucette has made many appearances since that sad day, most frequently at Christmas time when she has been seen approaching the bridge where she took her life. Both hotel guests and staff have reported seeing the ghost of The Lady in White, either in the grounds or sat at the end of their bed.

Swing Dance

The Lindy Hop was a popular American dance in the 1930s. It came from Harlem, New York in 1928 and was based on jazz, tap and the Charleston in the swing style. The name is believed to have originated from the flight by aviation pioneer Charles Lindbergh who in 1927 "hopped" across the Atlantic. The dance was revived in the 1980s and can still pops up from time to time to this day. The photograph is digitally colourised from a black and white original.