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Low Row, Swaledale, DL11 6PE Tel: 01748 886215 Email: theolddairy@swaledale.org Proprietors: June & Martin Sunderland |
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The
Old Dairy History No deeds or other documentary evidence exists relating to the
history of the Old Dairy but the property is believed to have been constructed
in the eighteen forties and remained in the same family ownership until the end
of the twentieth century. The
property has two entrance doors to the front because the room at the eastern
end was used as a shop, which within living memory was trading as a general dealers. The community of Low Row was served by
a number of small businesses, which included shops, a Post Office, a Garage and
at least two pubs. Why
the Old Dairy? Like
many other properties of this age, it does contain a Dales Dairy (which is in
reality a Pantry or Larder) and locals can remember the shop did sell milk. However,
behind the shop was an integral Byre, (Byre
n. : Cow-House) where two cows could be over-wintered and fed with hay
dropped from the hayloft above, which had been harvested from the meadow behind
the property in mid summer. It is more likely however
that this was in fact a stable, with a couple of hardy Dales ponies kept to
work the fields and provide general transport. The cattle would have been kept
out in the fields, over-wintering in the field barns which still dot the fields
of Swaledale. They would be milked by hand in the
fields and barns. The milk would be carried back to the dairy using a back pack
‘kist’. When
milk began to be collected by lorry and taken to larger creameries, farmers
from Blades and Gallows top would bring their milkchurns,
known locally as kists, and place them on the milk
stand outside. Dales farmers would only have a small number of cows to provide
milk and milk would not be available at all times, but locals remember that
prior to World War 2 the brother and sister who owned the Dairy always seemed
to have a continual supply of milk. In the last quarter of the twentieth century the property was occupied by a number of tenants and fell into decline.
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