The following article was previously published in the Harrogate and District Family History Society’s magazine, Claro Ancestors, in October 2007 and written by Clarrie East.   Clarrie has written several books and has given us his kind permission to reproduce this piece here.

Pannal Ash Village by Clarrie East

View of the village circa 1930

The large majority of Harrogate residents know that Pannal Ash is an area on the outskirts of Harrogate, which lies at the top of Pannal Ash Road, but how many realise that this was once a village quite separate from Harrogate?

Pannal Ash Road, which was originally called Pannal Ash Lane, had open fields on both sides except for a few small cottages near to the junction with Otley Road.   There was also one large detached house on the left side before you got to the bend in the road.   It was surrounded by a large beech hedge and with large wrought iron gates leading onto Pannal Ash Road.   It was called Rossett Holt and was surrounded by trees and was known locally as ‘Lords Castle’ because it had a castle-like frontage and a family called Lord lived there.   It had large lawned areas.   Trees also grew on the grass verge and these are still in position today.   They were always trimmed to a reasonable size.   The occupants of this house used to organise a garden party for local charities each summer and invited local residents to enjoy the marvellous gardens.   This house is no more, but the area is a large housing estate.

There was another large house just after the end in the road called Blythe Nook and consequently the bend in the road was always called Blythe Nook Corner.   There were also
one or two cottages close by.

In the late 1920’s and early 1930’s homes for orphaned children were built in the area opposite where Rossett School is now situated.   These homes were financed by the Primitive Methodist organisation and were very unique in design.   It was not an orphanage in the accepted sense of the word as there were about six or seven detached dwellings.   Each housed six or more children with a housekeeper/matron.   Incorporated on the site was a clubhouse where the children could be entertained but they also had a large plot of grassland between the houses and the road.   The clubhouse was also used by the local residents for whist drives and dances to encourage the orphans and their supervisors to integrate as much as possible with local people.   The children all went to Western School in Cold Bath Road.   This complex was demolished after the war and is now another housing estate.

The road then continued until you reached the junction with Whinney Lane, Green Lane and Yew Tree Lane.   At this point there was also a footpath on the right that led to Harlow Hill. This footpath was always called the ‘cinder path’ for obvious reasons and for some distance had a ditch alongside.   The footpath is still there.   Incidentally, Yew Tree Lane was originally called Butcher Lane.

Green Lane and Yew Tree Lane lead to Rossett Green, but Whinney Lane took you past a few more houses and then down the hill past Castle Hill Farm and on to the public house now known as the Squinting Cat.   So I suppose Pannal Ash is the area starting at Blythe Nook Corner and up to the road junction past the Squinting Cat and also from a point on the cinder path leading to Harlow Hill and to the end of the two roads leading to Rossett Green.

In Whinney Lane was a farmhouse occupied for many years by the Daniel’s family. The grass field at the rear of the house was home to Pannal Ash Cricket Club. It was a very good ground with a pavilion and another smaller room for the ladies to provide tea and sandwiches for the players and spectators.   There was no water or heating facilities in the pavilion and so the ladies, with the help of some of the men, had to carry a large tea urn from the clubhouse in the orphanage grounds.   Pannal Ash was a member of the local leagues and won many trophies, particularly after the 1st war.   The only problem was removing the deposits left by the cows in the outfield before each match.

The Daniel's Farmhouse

Further along Whinney Lane were four blocks of terraced houses.   Ash View, Harewood View, Harlow View and Crag/Craig View.   The oldest of these was Ash View and was shown on the census returns in 1901 and earlier.   It only incorporated four small houses. The six houses in Harewood View faced onto Whinney Lane and more or less towards Harewood village. These houses were larger than the remainder and the end house incorporated the village shop. Harlow View faced towards Harlow Hill and Crag/Craig View I suppose looked in the direction of Almscliffe Crag.   There were five houses in Crag/Crag View and six in Harlow View.   These dwellings are still there but have been modernised.   Originally most of the houses had outside toilets and gas lighting.   The six houses in Harlow View were sold to one buyer for the princely sum of £1,800 in the 1960’s.

After leaving these houses there is an official footpath across the field leading to Lund House Green.   It was in this first field that Pannal Ash played soccer.   They had very successful teams prior to and during the 2nd World War and won many trophies.   There were some very basic changing facilities in the form of a wooden hut but no toilet facilities and the home team mostly utilised number 1 Harlow View for that purpose, this house being the home of the Hugill family.

Continuing along Whinney Lane there was Castle Hill Farm and a cottage before you reached the public house.   Originally this was called the Three Horse Shoes, but the name was changed to the Squinting Cat allegedly because the old landlady used to sit in the window and watch for customers to approach.   Whether this is true I cannot ascertain.

Returning to Green Land and Yew Tree Lane, there was one large house in Green Lane on the left when travelling towards Rossett Green, but very little else.   In Yew Tree Lane there were virtually no houses except a terrace of about six houses which, for some unknown reason, were called Bijou Villas.   On the right of Green Lane was Ashville College, which has been greatly extended since the late 19th century.   In 1881 there were seven resident staff, including the Headmaster, and seventy pupils and this was, and still is, a Methodist establishment with very strict principles.   Ashville College has been extended and now, I understand, has over 700 pupils.

Lower down Yew Tree Lane was another educational establishment which was built in 1840 and then called the Southern College.   In 1897 the name was changed to Pannal Ash College. The buildings were extended over the years and a ‘Prep’ school built at the main road end of the drive and was called ‘The Orchard’.   By the year 1900 there was approximately 200 pupils and they had large playing fields, an outdoor swimming pool and a large gymnasium.

In 1939, at the outbreak of war, the two colleges were requisitioned by the Ministry of Works and the pupils evacuated.   Ashville pupils were moved to Bowness and those from Pannal Ash to Coxwold.   During the war both colleges were occupied at carious times by the Royal Air Force and, at one time, by the ATS.   In 1946 Pannal Ash College was purchased by the West Riding County Council and turned into a police training college.   Ashville returned to a college after the war.

I hope that this gives a short history of Pannal Ash and the photograph below shows part of Harewood View and Ash View as it was in the early part of the 20th Century.

 

The following quote is by W Grainge, historian old Knaresborough Forest (1871)

'Pannal High Ash is a hamlet or cluster of houses near the junction of four roads, on elevated ground, commanding extensive views of the surrounding country.   The name is said to be derived from five gigantic ash trees which grew here until about the year 1810, when they were felled and sold for common timber, to the great regret of the neighbourhood.   They stood between the farmhouse and the row of cottages on the right of the road'.

 

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