THE voices of more than two dozen people from Wensleydale, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale can be heard in a new podcast series published by the Dales Countryside Museum in Hawes.

Well known local people such as farmer John Waggett, preacher Rowland Dent and school teacher Sally Stone feature in Voices From The Dales, alongside late great personalities such as Kit Calvert, Mary Burrow and Marie Hartley.

Series one contains five 15-minute episodes, bringing stories from Dales schools and chapels, as well as the story of the Dales Countryside Museum (DCM) itself.

Journalist Andrew Fagg, who is also part of the National Park Authority’s communications team, drew on the DCM’s oral history collection and other interviews to make the podcasts during the latest coronavirus lockdown.

He said: “Many of the people featured in Voices From The Dales are held in great affection by local people. I know I won’t be alone in taking delight from hearing their voices. It’s a tremendous experience, for instance, to hear Jennie Sunter describe the walk to school in the hard winter of 1947, or the late Richard Dinsdale speak about answering an altar call in the 1950s, or the late Jack Fawcett reading John Thwaite’s poetry. I hope people aren’t put off by the word ‘podcast’. They are ‘radio’ programmes only they are online. Listen by searching Voices From The Dales on the Apple Podcast app on your smartphone, or on Spotify, or via websites such as Buzzsprout or at dalescountrysidemuseum.org.uk/voices-from-the-dales.”

Voices From The Dales was made with financial support from Museum Development Yorkshire’s ‘Museum Development Fund Grant’.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority owns and runs the DCM. Member Champion for Cultural Heritage Julie Martin said: “A distinctive linguistic, literary and artistic heritage is one of the special qualities of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. The new Voices From The Dales podcast illustrates that quality by highlighting the memories and rich accents of men and women from Wensleydale, Swaledale and Arkengarthdale.”

She added: “Voices From The Dales helps make the oral history collection at the Dales Countryside Museum more publicly accessible. It also means that we can keep fulfilling our mission of telling the stories of Dales people even though our doors currently remain shut owing to Coronavirus restrictions. I would like to thank Museum Development Yorkshire for their support.”