History Page Three

She was known as The Yorkshire Witch 2. Peggy Lumley lived in Asenby in the mid 1800s. She is described as:- ‘A great reader, especially of quaint old books which taught of necromancy and magic art. A clever, strong-minded woman, she mingled her conversations with dark sayings too deep for the comprehension of her associates. Not surprising therefore she was looked upon by some as a WITCH.’ There are stories of persons who, having unwittingly angered Peggy, received from her a look which made them return home with foreboding to find some of their stock stone-dead.

‘Her appearance too was striking. A tall commanding figure she reminded one of the enchantress Medea but for a fearsome squint in her eyes which, although it detracted from her comeliness, became well a votary of the “black art”’.

(T Carter Mitchell: THIRSK FALCON 1887-1891)

Asenby By-Pass

• Asenby is fortunate to have good transport links:-

• the bridge over the River Swale has been a key crossing since at least the 13th Century
• in 1745 Asenby’s ‘back lane’ became part of the Boroughbridge to Durham Turnpike Road thus avoiding the sharp corners in the main street of the village
• in 1922 the old turnpike route was designated the A1 but then later the A167 again when the Great North Road reverted to the Leeming route
• increased traffic prompted protests for a by-pass of Topcliffe and Asenby, which even attracted television coverage
• the by-pass was finally completed in 1977

  OF INTEREST
  In 1618 “eleven persons of Asenbie fined for not leading four waine-loads of cobblestones for amending of the high waie in the said parish”

In 1650 “the inhabitants of Aizenby fined for not repairing their part of the highway between Burrowbridge and Topcliffe”

Quarter Session Records

In 1923 “we view with the gravest concern the continued indifference of the North Riding County Council in dealing with the numerous blind corners and cross-roads under their jurisdiction situated in the township of Asenby. Up to now minor collisions have been frequent and regular. Our lives and that of our stock is daily imperilled with the great increase of heavy traffic on the A1 road and time is not far distant for some very serious and possibly fatal accident to take place”

In 1933 “the footpath is unsafe for school children walking to Topcliffe…..a death trap with present day traffic”(At that time the riverside footpath to Topcliffe was on the opposite side of the road to where it is now).

Asenby Parish Council Minutes

Several Asenby residents complained about the proposed route of the by-pass and the compensation paid to them. One of the casualties of the new by-pass was the petrol station at Asenby Bank Top (next to where Monie Veigh is now). With dwindling passing traffic, the garage closed.
The effect on ‘ordinary’ village residents is described graphically in the following poem written by Maureen Manning who used to live in Stonedelph.

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