Book celebrating the Wold Rangers gets an update
To keep the memory of the Yorkshire Wold Rangers alive, the trustees of the Wold Rangers Way have commissioned the reprint of a book about the fascinating characters who wandered from farm to farm seeking work and shelter earning a special place in the history of rural East Yorkshire.
The first edition of The Yorkshire Wolds Rangers was written by Angela Antrim (nee Sykes), the youngest daughter of Sir Mark Sykes, 6th Baronet of Sledmere, and was published in 1981.
Angela wrote about her memories of the Wold Rangers who she described as her “childhood friends” as she grew up at Sledmere House.
She recounts some of the fascinating stories about the nomadic men and women who made the green lanes of the Yorkshire Wolds their home including that of Ginger Joe who stubbornly refused to move from his favourite steps of the Eleanor Cross when King George V and Queen Mary visited the war memorial in 1925.
At the time of writing the book, Angela said: “I think it is worth telling what can be remembered of these unique people, so that their stories will not be forgotten, for soon the last will have vanished.”
It is this sentiment which led the trustees of the Wold Rangers Way – Mark Blakeston, Claire Binnington, Fiona Turner and Barrie Kitching – to seek permission from Angela’s younger son Hector McDonnell and her grandson Randal (the 16th Earl of Antrim), to reprint the book.
A new foreword, including a summary of how the Wold Rangers Way walks came into being and short profiles about the Wold Rangers after whom ‘trods’ were named, has been added to the reprinting.
The About the Author has also been updated by Hector McDonnell, who writes: “This charming work was her (Angela’s) last major achievement, and it is a delight to have it now republished.
“It is her tribute to the world of her Yorkshire childhood, and to the many extraordinary people who wandered through the Wolds, eking out an existence by doing miscellaneous rural jobs for its farms and for Sledmere, the great house in which she was raised.
“It is a most touching portrayal of a vanished world, and we hope it will now bring much pleasure to a new audience.”
A book launch took place at Highfield House, where the trustees outlined how the book came about.
Trustee Mark Blakeston said: “We used the original book by Angela Antrim for a lot of our research on the Wold Rangers when we were putting the walk toegther.
“People I have spoken to who had read the original said what a fascinating and inteesting read it is, but it only had a limited print run, and so we thought it would be lovely if we could reproduce it.
“After contacting Angela’s family who were really supportive right from the start, we began the process. It has been a real team effort from Claire and I initially setting it in motion to my wife Sarah being 100 per cent instrumental in making it happen.
“We always made it clear that we wanted to keep the book true to the original, but have also brought it up to date and included information about the Wold Rangers Way.
“Angela said she wrote the book because she was fearful that the stropies of the Wold Rangers would be lost and she wanted to keep the memories ever green.
“That was part of the motivation of setting up the Wold Rangers Way, to encourage walking in our beautiful countryside but also to rekindle interest in this unique part of the Yorkshire Wolds History for this generation and the next.”
Mark added his thanks to the Highfield House for hosting the launch, which included guests who had supported the Wold Rangers Way from its launch in 2021.
The Yorkshire Wold Rangers book is available to buy, priced £15, from The Little Book Emporium on Market Place, the Driffield Town Council offices, or to order form the Wold Rangers Way website https://www.woldrangersway.org
The Wold Rangers Way is a 44-mile circular walking trail launched in 2021, which starts and finishes in Driffield.
It follows green lanes and bridlepaths through the beautiful countryside of the Yorkshire Wolds as walked by the Wold Rangers in years gone by.
A series of guided walks have taken place covering parts of the routes.
The Wold Rangers Way Walking Festival was launched in 2022 featuring a range of different walks from three miles to the 44-mile Wold Rangers Way in a day.
The festival aims to encourage people to get out walking and promote the health benefits of that, while also boosting tourism and giving a welcome boost to shops and businesses.
The 2025 Wold Rangers Way walking festival will take place in June next year.
The Yorkshire Wold Rangers book is available to buy, priced £15, from The Little Book Emporium on Market Place, the Driffield Town Council offices, or to order form the Wold Rangers Way website https://www.woldrangersway.org
