The woman of Nidderdale who left a lasting legacy of wisdom and warmth

Nidderdale stretches from north-west of Masham down to the River Wharfe near Harrogate; Braisty Woods, Fountains Abbey and Brimham Rocks are inside its eastern border. Folk here have for many centuries lovingly

and painstakingly tended the glorious landscape, but alongside agriculture, lead mining, spinning, weaving, corn milling and breweries sprang up.

Nidderdale had the first municipally-owned railway in the country. Built by Bradford Corporation to serve the reservoirs being constructed

at the head of the dale, it ran from 1907 until 1936. Among its canny tradespeople and professionals, milliners, joiners, shoemakers, doctors and lawyers were numbered.

The museum follows the trail of lives industrial, commercial, domestic and social: a Victorian classroom in miniature sits cheek by jowl with contraptions like the linen press that were the labour-saving devices of their day; the "snug" of a public house (Pateley Bridge once had three breweries) rubs shoulders with early 19th century costumes, and the War Room marks two world wars and the part local people played in them.

Children's playthings, an early stethoscope (very long, so any fleas on the patient could not leap far enough to jump onto the physician), a Celtic stone head, and strange farming implements tell a story that's peculiar to Nidderdale yet in some ways universal.

Beetle-browed historians or those investigating genealogy use Room 10, where records of local families are kept. Also carefully stored is the collection of local history books accumulated during the lifetime of one Joanna Dawson, known through the Dale and beyond, a Daleswoman respected as much for her humanity and can-do good humour as her frighteningly prolific work and rock-solid faith.

Room 10 also holds a file of scribbled notes on random pieces of paper, morsels of card and even typed on the back of recycled Christmas cards, detailing recipes, poems, health and household tips. Joanna (she was never "Miss Dawson" apparently), who died in 1992 aged 61, amassed these from her vast acquaintanceship as her many activities took her criss-crossing the Dale.

Talking to some of the team of 80-odd volunteers who run the Museum so efficiently, it's immediately apparent that Nidderdale was and still is imprinted with the presence of Joanna. She was the very real embodiment of the fictitious Mrs Dale (she of the popular radio diary) – but to the power of 10; the woman became a walking encyclopedia of country lore and history.

Her friends say she was not at all formidable or awesome, but friendly and approachable. Her long and busy days were taken up with dairy farming (she bred prize-winning Friesians), preaching Methodism and studying the history of Nidderdale.

She was co-founder of Nidderdale Museum in 1975 and a big wheel in the Women's Institute. A great artist at flower arranging and trained at The Constance Spry College, she had been invited to arrange flowers for the Queen's coronation.

Born in Huddersfield in 1930 and the oldest of five, she and her family moved to Winsley Grange Farm at Hartwith in Nidder-dale in 1939 – although Joanna stayed in Hudders-field during the week to continue her school-ing at Greenhead High School. She was very bright, but Joanna decided to help her parents to run the farm instead of going to Cambridge.

She was active in the Young Farmers and later joined the WI, eventually becoming a county committee member. She trained as a preacher, and in 1978 was honoured by being asked to give the keynote speech at the Annual Methodist Conference in Bradford.

In 1962, the family had moved to Hardcastle Garth, and Joanna's interest in local history was excited by an old Quaker burial ground on the farm. Pursuing her research thoroughly, she joined a local history class and was the first chairman of Nidderdale Workers' Educational Association branch.

An accomplished cook and housekeeper, she was also to become a fluent lecturer on subjects as diverse as local history, Quakerism and herbs and spice, and she also published booklets and contributed to books including the 488-page A History of Nidderdale.

Listening to stories about Joanna, as told by her friend of 34 years Eileen Burgess – still a steward at the Museum, who met her at the history group – it seems that the woman who died on Easter Day 1992 is

almost still here. Sifting through the file of notes of poetry and recipes for concoctions to help neuralgia or different versions of the oatcakes famous in the dale, Eileen describes her old friend as "strong-willed, devoted to her family and a very Christian lady."

Eileen says: "She was a female Methodist preacher at a time when not many women did that, and her cattle won top prizes although few women worked in that field either. She was so enthusiastic about everything, and felt very strongly that we had to have a museum because the story of the dale's way of life was being lost.

"She was a delightful person to be with, and was known far and wide. She would turn up at my house to discuss some item of business, but we'd end up talking until the early hours of the morning. I still miss her very much."

When Eileen last visited Joanna in a nursing home, Joanna asked if something could be done about organising the scraps of local knowledge and recipes she had collected from families across Nidderdale. Eileen promised it would be done, and with the help of another local, retired York University English lecturer Joanna Moody, Mrs Hibbert's Pick-Me-Up and Other Recipes from a Yorkshire Dale has just been published.

"I didn't know her but wish I had," says Joanna Moody. "She must have been a very good listener as well as talker. When she visited someone and they were cooking or eating something she'd ask all about it and get the recipe. If they mentioned an old remedy, she'd write that too in her tiny handwriting. These scraps were squirrelled away in no particular order.

"She was someone who got things done and was famous for her bright and breezy manner. Everyone says she had no 'side' to her, and although she sounds as though she must have been rather formidable, when people talk about her as they still often do, they all mention her warmth and compassion. She is still greatly admired, because many have never understood how she managed to do so much."

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Mrs Hibbert's Pick-Me-Up and Other Recipes from a Yorkshire Dale by Joanna Moody is published by The History Press, 7.99. To order from the Yorkshire Post Bookshop call 0800 0153232 or go to www.yorkshirepostbookshop.co.uk. Postage costs 2.75.

Nidderdale Museum, The Old Workhouse, Pateley Bridge, North Yorkshire HG3 5LE Tel 01423 711225.

www.nidderdalemuseum.com

TIPS FROM NIDDERDALE

Advice to Wives

"Occupy yourself chiefly with household affairs, and do not trouble yourself with other matters, or offer suggestions and advice to your husband until he asks for them."

(Nidderdale Olminac,1868)

Mrs Hibbert's Pick-Me-Up

Pour half a breakfast cupful of boiling water on as much cayenne pepper as would lie on a threepenny piece. Sweeten to taste, then add a good quantity of cream or milk

Furniture Polish

A quarter pint of turpentine

An eighth of a pint of

vinegar

A quarter pint of boiled

linseed oil

An eighth of a pint of methylated spirits.

Pour the four liquids into a bottle and shake well

before use. Easily applied, especially good for dark woods and is said to prevent woodworm.

For cramps at night

Put corks in the bed. Take a little salt with water.

A gargle for sore throats

Small glass of Port wine

1 tbsp chilli vinegar

6 sage leaves 1 dessertspoon of honey

Simmer on the fire for 5 minutes

Middlesmoor Lovefeast Bread

Two pounds of flour

One pound of sugar

One pound of currants

Half a pound of sultanas

Quarter pound of lemon peel

Three eggs

Five ounces butter

Five ounces lard

Two ounces of baking powder

One pint of milk

Mix the flour and baking powder. Rub in the butter, add the fruit. Beat the eggs with the milk and dry ingredients. Put into loaf tins and bake in a moderate oven

(Mrs Brown, Ramsgill, 1903)