The recently formed High Wolds Heritage Project has been awarded a grant of £46,100 by the Heritage Lottery Fund to preserve and promote the history of the high Wolds villages.

Thanks to the grant villages, including Huggate, Wetwang, Sledmere, Fimber, Fridaythorpe, and Kirby Underdale, will be able to work together to collect, copy and archive heritage materials.

The four year project is the brainchild of the High Wolds Heritage Group who have been meeting once a fortnight at Thixendale Village Hall for more than five months.

HWHG Secretary Pauline Foster said: “We have been waiting to get something going for quite a long time because we had a history exhibition about 20 years ago and we got a lot of archive material from that.

“It got to the point where we wanted to do something with it and rather than setting up a group just for Thixendale we wanted to get all the other villages involved.”

The project will be launched at an exhibition on July 12 at Thixendale Village Hall and the group plan to follow it with publications, talks, and workshops for both adults and school children.

One of the highlights of the project will see volunteers collecting oral history interviews from the older members of the community.

Head of HLF Yorkshire and Humber Fiona Spiers said: “Memories, stories and reminiscences are a popular way of learning about the past and sharing these experiences with young people.

“This project will preserve and open up the unique heritage of the Yorkshire Wolds by bringing the stories to life, letting everyone get involved and share their past.”

A third of the grant will go towards installing a state of the art sound and light system at St Mary’s Church, in Thixendale to enhance the visitor experience and highlight the features of the building.

Mrs Foster added: “We are delighted that the HLF is supporting this project and that we have the money to buy all the digital equipment that we need, and to do lots of other things.

“It’s exciting to think how we are able to use present technology to bring the past into the future.

“All we need now is to extend an invitation to the High Wolds community to come and join us. There are exciting times ahead.”

For further informatiojn or to get involved in the project please contact Pauline Foster on (01377) 288294 or email paulinefoster1@aol.com

sara.beach@yrnltd.co.uk