Victorian Music Hall on Saturday 6th & Sunday 7th December

The Music Hall was a sell-out on the Saturday evening and was also well attended on the Sunday matinée. Both audiences thoroughly enjoyed the social occasion, the meal and the performances.


Entertainment Included:

 The Drama Group playing a scene from A Christmas Carol

Long Preston Children singing a Scene from Oliver

  Piano Duets by Jean Imrie & Betty Askew and a Recitation by Chris Wilcock

A Ventriloquist Act, various sketches & poems by John Cressey

 and Chis Sturrock singing various songs including Joyce Grenville’s Xmas Song.

Click here to see the a Poster for the event and the  Evening Programme.

A Heritage Project Office Open Day was held on Saturday 25th October

This was well attended, with a steady stream of visitors throughout the day. As well as Long Preston residents there were visitors from Keighley, Skipton and Settle.

The Photographs of Old Long Preston again proved popular, and many took the opportunity to view the Heritage Project pages on the Village Website.

The fifth Heritage Project open meeting was held on Monday 20th October .

This meeting was attended by 24 residents. Reports were given on progress on the various Heritage Project Groups and activities - see here for further details.

A Walk on Long Preston Moor was held on Saturday 13th September
to discover the landscape delights on our doorstep.

Edward Wilkinson led a group of 21 walkers, who were fascinated to discover that this small area of moorland was home to about 50 to 60 species of plant; including about 20 different grasses and about 10 sedges. A fuller account can be read here.

 Old Photographs Coffee Morning - Saturday 19th July in the Village Hall

The principal aim was to display some of the old photographs of earlier residents of Long Preston, and to get help in identifying the people in the photographs.The event was very well attended and  everyone spent an enjoyable and enthusiastic two hours chatting about the photos and adding names to many of the photographs. The Old Photographs gallery will be updated with the new information.

More residents agreed to be recorded for the Oral History part of the project.

A copy of this website was also demonstrated for those who do not have access to the Internet.

The fourth Heritage Project open meeting was held on Monday 14th July .

This meeting was attended by 22 people. Reports were given on progress on the various Heritage Project Groups and activities - see here for further details.

Discovering the Drovers’ Route from Scotland to Craven, Monday 16th June

Tony Stephens gave this illustrated talk to a large audience in Long Preston Village Hall.


Tony presented his research into the the Birtwhisles of Craven and Galloway, with particular reference to Long Preston; "the greatest graziers and dealers in the Kingdom"

The Birtwhistle family developed a very profitable business buying cattle in the north west of Scotland, and from Ireland, driving them down to satisfy the demand for meat in the markets in the south of England. They had extensive land holdings along the route; particularly in Galloway, at Malham and above Long Preston. A typical herd would be 100 to 200 beasts, traveling 10 to 12 miles a day.

Bat Walk at Malham Tarn Field Centre on Friday 4 July

David Hodgson of Malham Tarn Field Centre gave a talk to 15 people about the bats in the area, and talked about the habits and anatomy of bats.  He told us that bats are one of the oldest creatures, going back 50 million years and that the fossil records show they are relatively unchanged over that period.
As dusk fell Pipistrelles emerged from under the eaves of the Field Centre and flew off to forage. Noctule bats are also in the area, though none were seen that evening. The party then walked down to the Tarn and saw Daubenton’s bat swooping down to catch insects off the surface of the water.

The third Heritage Project open meeting was held on Monday 19th May .

 David Hodge, the bat expert from the Malham Tarn Field Centre, who gave a fascinating talk at the meeting about the bats to be seen around St Mary’s Church. After  which reports were given on progress on the various Heritage Project Groups and activities - see here for further details.

Walks to celebrate Beating the Bounds were held on Sunday 27th April.

Long Preston Parish Council and the Heritage Project joined together to encourage parishioners to take part in the ancient tradition of Beating the Bounds (of the Parish). Details of the three accompanied walks can be seen here. Beating the Bounds is an ancient tradition going back over 2000 years.

A tour of the restored Hellifield Peel was organised in April.

This proved a popular event and raised  £780 towards the repair of the church bells.

A Coffee Morning was held on Saturday 19th April in the Village Hall

The principal aim was to introduce the Oral History part of the project and to make contact with residents willing to have their memories of early Long Preston recorded.

This included an exhibition of some old photographs of Long Preston. The event was well attended and gave an opportunity to publicise the plans for the Heritage Project, and to get residents together to chat about their memories of early life in Long Preston.

A second open meeting was held in the on March 10th

during which Working Groups were formed to organise:

The first open meeting was held on the 14th January 2008

In the following weeks a structure was prepared for the History part of the Heritage Project. This had to meet the needs of the Heritage Lottery Fund and reflect the interests and skills of the people who attended this first meeting.

The Oral History Group met with Long Preston Luncheon Club on 10th of April.

Bill Mitchell, the well known author and former editor of the Dalesman, attended as special guest.

Heritage Project Meeting on Victorians and Census

Was held on Tuesday 13th May at Long Preston School