Sunshine greeted the 25 or so members of the Society who assembled in a new venue for the 2026 Northern Spring Meeting. The Chain Lane Community Hub in the historic market town of Knaresborough proved an excellent location for a range of interesting speakers.
The first, Kathy Allday of the Knaresborough Museum, described the history and the present happy state of the extensive Knaresborough Forest – not a forest as we know them but an ancient royal hunting ground, one of dozens throughout the kingdom. This was followed by a comprehensive illustrated talk on the (mainly 1767) boundary stones of the forest by our member and resident expert David Garside. Thirty-odd boundary stones of the original 49 are still in situ. You can read all about them here.
Stone no 10 had found its way to a garden in Otley from its original location near Timble, but is currently (to August 2026) in an exhibition at the Knaresborough Heritage Centre. Should it be returned to where it belongs, where few will see it, or remain in a public place where it can be enjoyed by all?
Annie Lloyd, from the Council for the Preservation of Rural England in Northumberland, then gave a presentation on their fingerpost restoration project, which the Milestone Society has helped set up; eight volunteers have been trained to do them properly.
Next, David Williams, a long-time member, was presented with a Milestone Society award by Hilary Jones, the Society’s Vice-chair and Yorkshire County rep. David, from York, has repainted and maintained innumerable milestones in North and West Yorkshire over the past 15 years (35 in 2025 alone!)
Finally before lunch, Hilary gave a talk on the “Skipton and Knaresborough Turnpike Trust in the 21st century” – a misnomer you might think, but no. Firstly, a run-through of the remaining West Riding Brayshaw & Booth milestones and a couple of survivors from the turnpike era. Then we heard how the turnpike road, the present A59, has suffered from landslips in recent years and is now being partly re-routed north. This is actually onto the original route of the turnpike: in the 1820s, because of the steep gradient leaving Blubberhouses, the Trust built a new section of road lower down, but it is to this old route that part of the A59 is now being diverted. The map below (from the Ordnance Survey 1” map of 1925) shows the two routes clearly. Damaged almost to extinction a decade or so ago, and now sadly inaccessible, is the B&B milestone marking 11 miles to Skipton.
After lunch, a short bit of nostalgia (and cake) to celebrate 25 years of the Milestone Society was followed for the fitter attendees by a guided tour of Knaresborough, led by museum volunteer Mike Doss. This ended at the Market Cross, where there is a statue of Knaresborough’s most famous son, Blind Jack Metcalf (1717-1810), road and bridge builder extraordinaire.
Many thanks to Hilary for organising the meeting, and we look forward to next year.
RWH / April 2026