New Sewerby Stories start with 'the Sledmere horse lads' on Sunday June 7 - how to tune in

Curator Janice Smith will be telling weekly tales of objects from the collection at the venue, including their history and what they were originally used for, or what they represented.

The first Sewerby Story will be about a lapel badge bearing the motif of the Wagoners' Special Reserve, a unit conceived by Sir Mark Sykes of Sledmere House, who had seen action in the Boer War and realised how poor army transport was.

He also knew the skills and aptitude of the horse lads on Wolds farms - largely on Sledmere's estate - at driving waggons up and down dales. Sir Mark, once MP for Hull, was able to bend the ear of politicians to enlist the lads as reservists in the army.

For signing up, the horse lads were paid £1 - they called it the silly quid, thinking they were getting paid for nothing…..that soon changed…

Janice Smith said : “We are still unable to welcome visitors to see our unique collections at Sewerby Hall, and so I am delighted to be able to launch these weekly ‘Sewerby Stories’, which will help people keep in touch, and hopefully learn something at the same time!”

Sewerby Stories will be available from Sunday June 7 and will be at www.sewerbyhall.co.ukA message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this story on our website. While I have your attention, I also have an important request to make of you.

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news on this free-to-read site, I am asking you to also please purchase a copy of our newspaper.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspaper.

Thank you