Memories of a 1960s childhood without electricity in Yorkshire's 'daffodil dale' ahead of Farndale Show

That’s because Janet is this year’s Farndale Show president, a role that she relishes and feels extremely proud of having been asked to take up.

“I’m thrilled. Farndale Show was one of the highlights of the year when I was growing up in the dale,” says Janet.

“My mother was a good cook and would cook a whole ham and all sorts of other things for the show and dad would invite what seemed like at least half the people at the show back for tea. I remember we had this great big table groaning with pies, cakes and ham salad.

“We used to be getting things ready all week before show day. I never showed sheep. I left that to Andy. I used to enter things in the sewing and crafts competitions; and take rabbits or a guinea pig, the things we had when we were kids. I remember we took a few bantams too.

Janet enjoyed her childhood in the dale that is known for its daffodils.

“Growing up in Farndale was just idyllic and that was not just because of where we lived in a beautiful part of the world but also because of the community spirit of families and friends. At Christmas there was always a big Christmas Party in the village hall, which had a huge Christmas tree with presents on. It was all about games and fun and always, it seemed, a big tea.

“In the 1960s we didn’t expect as much as kids do now. We used to have a lot of fun doing what we did. In winter when it used to snow a lot more than it does today we’d get an old tin bath and sledge down the hills.

“We used to pick all kinds of wild flowers on the way home from school. We’d pick a big bunch of flowers for my mother which she would put into a jam jar in the kitchen. You’d see butterflies, bees, hoverflies. There would seem to be more around in those days and all the flies and insects made lots of difference to birds because they live on things like caterpillars and bugs.

“We hadn’t any electricity at Head House where we grew up. I was 11 or 12 when we got electric. My mother cooked on a gas stove. I remember walking down to the pub (Feversham Arms) to watch Crackerjack with my friends Christine and Marlene because electric came to Church Houses but didn’t go up the rest of the dale.

Farndale Show may be one of the smaller shows but its location is one of the best, in Church Houses, where the Feversham Arms is situated. The field where the show is held doubles up as the home of High Farndale CC during summer evenings, where the fielding side is usually supplemented by sheep.

“The banter between the village teams that visit is worth coming down to the field alone,” says Janet. “But the new village hall that is in one corner of the field is another real asset to the community. Volunteers are doing a tremendous job there.

“There’s nothing better than going up to either the Daffy Café or the Feversham Arms. There is such a lot of talent out in Farndale and the neighbouring dales and I’m really glad to see the estate at Farndale has been improved and that there is now the new shop in Low Mill.

Janet’s talents had to be nurtured elsewhere. She pursued her interest in cooking and catering by first taking a job as cook at Gilling Castle before moving to Ilkley where she became cook at Ilkley Girls College.

Many North York Moors visitors will have benefited from Janet’s hospitality over the years. She ran a tearoom, Platters in Gillamoor, before buying the Blacksmith’s Arms in Lastingham with husband Mike, which they ran for 8 years before buying The Moors Inn at Appleton le Moors in 1999 that they moved to in 2000 and sold in 2012. Many more will know Janet for as councillor for the Dales Ward on Ryedale Council for many years as an Independent.

“I was fortunate to have forward-thinking parents Evelyn and Len who would send me to aunties or friends in Darlington, Barnard Castle and Middlesbrough so that I saw a life other than the countryside,” says Janet.

“I had a great time growing up in Farndale and a loving family. My sister Sybil is my eldest sibling, then there was John who we lost a couple of years ago. Next is Billy who joined the police force when he was 17 and went to live in the West Riding where he’s lived ever since. Then there’s me and Andy.

“I had to leave the dale when I left school. There wasn’t the work. When I moved to Ilkley Girls College I did day release at Bradford College for my City & Guilds in cooking/catering.

“I found the move to the West Riding quite exciting. Billy had done it. I felt if he’d done it why shouldn’t I. I was there a year then came back up to Scarborough College and did a year’s full-time course which set me on my way to opening the tearoom and then running the pubs. And I cherished being councillor for Dales Ward as well as being a representative on the National Park Committee for 16 years, just as I will cherish being president of Farndale Show on Monday.