After we visited Acorn Bank in Temple Sowerby a couple of weeks ago, I started thinking about the books of Dorothy Una Ratcliffe. DUR as she was often known made her home at Acorn Bank and created the beautiful garden that we can enjoy, today. She gifted the house and garden to the National Trust.
Ratcliffe is a fascinating writer. Although born and brought up in Surrey and Sussex, she fell in love with the Yorkshire Dales, their landscape, dialect and customs, and in 1918 published her first volume of lyrical, romantic Dales ballads, The Dales of Arcady. From then on, year after year, she published poems, plays, memoirs, based on Dales life, some in local dialect and some specially for children. All of her books are beautifully illustrated, often by Fred Lawson.
So, I was delighted to spot a couple of Ratcliffe's Yorkshire books when we were mooching around in Sedbergh, at the weekend. I'm looking forward to dipping into these fascinating books, so typical of their period.
