Welcome to the Duddon Valley Local History Group Website
Winners of the Marsh Award for Community Archaeology presented at the AGM of the Council for British Archaeology in London in November 2019
DVLHG was formed in the early 1990s and runs a programme of activities and talks for its members. Our five year long study of the whole valley has restarted extending the survey to cover areas not walked in earlier phases. Our findings led to our current major project with Oxford Archaeology North excavating three medieval longhouse sites near Seathwaite Tarn.
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Duddon Valley Local History Group Home Page
Latest News
New Survey project for the Duddon Valley
There will be surveys next week starting to look into a joint LDNP/DVLHG project to survey shard fencing in our area. It is sometimes referred to as vertical stone fencing and a survey has already taken place in the Hawkshead area.
Like the washfold project, we will be looking to set up groups of volunteers from both our members and Lake District Archaeology Volunteers to carry out the survey.
As a starting point, please get in touch with locations that you know.
More information now on the projects page of the website
The programme for the coming year will feature many of the walks we had to cancel, with something to suit everyone. If you intend to go, please contact the Leader at least the day before stating where you will meet. In the event of very bad weather confirm with leader on the day to see if the walk is going ahead.
Car share: 9.15am from The Square; 10.00am at car park on A595 adjacent to garage close to Holmrook
5-6 miles; 400ft; 4 hours approx.; easy but muddy in places.
Route is all the way from Holmrook to St. Paul’s Church and Irton Hall. Return to start is optional, road or by another, possibly muddy, footpath. Irton Hall has a coffee shop if required
Walkers going direct to start of walk are to inform Keith prior to the day of the walk
See Walks Page for details of the Walks programme –
Talks Programme –
Annual Exhibition on Saturday, 18th January 2025
The event opens to the public at 11.00am and runs until 3.00pm.
As usual we will be in the Main Hall of the Victory Hall – this year we will be concentrating on some of the Maps and Plans that are held in our Archive.
In addition there will be a slideshow of photos dating back to the 1860s plus other popular items.
WE NEED VOLUNTEERS !!!!!! to help set up from about 9.30am and clear away from 2.30pm; and also to help run the refreshments. If you can offer a cake or biscuits, they would be most welcome.
The event is very popular and has attracted well over 100 visitors with plenty of opportunity to chat and reminisce – not quite as far back as 1860 !!!!
If you can help on the day even for just an hour, we would be very grateful.
Stan Aspinall’s sell-out book featuring Photographs of Broughton is now available to view on the Publications Page.
The story of Angerton Moss and its uses is predominantly by William D Shannon PHD, FSA from whom permission to reproduce his work is recorded and acknowledged. Lex has added his own research and provided many of the photos and graphic interpretation.The actual book is A5 size. It is a quality publication, beautifully illustrated and runs to 66 pages. It is a splendid read.
Copies are £5 each when purchased directly from the History Group or £6.50 if posted.
Display at Wordsworth Museum 2021
Recent Projects
Wordsworth’s Duddon Sonnets
It was the publication of the thirty three sonnets in 1820 that made a star out of the provincial poet living in the lake District. He followed the river from source to the sea, making the journey an allegory for the life of a man. Wordsworth later added a thirty-fourth sonnet in which, as Jonathan Bate says, ‘the poet deconstructs, then reconstructs, the analogy between human life and the life of the river.
The celebration was delayed by a year due to Covid19. we didn’t intend to do anything for inside the museum. Our original plan was a self guided walk from Wrynose to Askam, using signposts at parking places taken people down to the river. This wasn’t going to be possible, so we used a map, photographs and selections from the sonnets to provide a visual representation of the river.
Gail Batten, Dave Hughes and Stephe Cove
Furness Railway 175th Anniversary
Following contact with Stephen at the level crossing and Richard at the signal box, we got involved in the celebrations for the 175th Anniversary of the Furness Railway with a plan for a display at Foxfield Station. It seemed a very disjointed project and it was hard to find out who was organising it, so Dave and I thought we go ahead anyway. Photos from our archives, from photographers on the web and valuable help from Geoff Holme put together a board over a metre square in the waiting room at the station. It gets it official opening on 24th of August with a representative from Northern Rail doing the honours.
A second board for Broughton and the line to Coniston is with Furness Plastic at the moment. CGP have generously agreed to make a plinth and install the board on the old line leading our of the village.
