AEG Trail #3: The South Field
This is the 3rd of a series of 9 caches in an enjoyable 2.6 km circuit taking in some varied scenery and environments to the south of the village. See the Trail Map in the Gallery for the route and points of interest - including cache locations. See herefor a description of one of the numerous walks around Addingham - which includes the route of this trail. See herefor a comprehensive description of a short walk covering the first 3 caches in the series, with detailed maps and illustrations.
The trail originally had 6 caches marking key points of interest as per the guided tour at the annual Environment Day held in May 2017.
The cache was adopted from Pippy P Poopypants on 31/5/19 with 42 finds and remains with the same number and at the same location.
From #2 continue up towards the top end of the field (part of The South Field) where the cache, a small black-taped plastic pot, is located in the base of a large sycamore at the edge of the field.
Original wording [+ added notes]:'You now find yourself in Hollow Lane having crossed the stile that over the years has become narrower and narrower as the oak tree by the stile has become larger. [In fact when you reach the cache location you will already have passed this lane where #2 is hidden and ascended the upper field].
You have now stepped back in time to the Middle Ages (or Medieval Period), that occurred between about 1100-1500 AD. It was a time when the large abbeys in Yorkshire, such as Bolton Abbey nearby, were built and flourished.
This path is called a 'hollow lane' as it was made by excavating the ground and building up a low bank on the downside to make a boundary, topped by a stone wall, between private land -to the north - and one of the Manor of Addingham's big common open fields – the South Field to the south. The Lord of the Manor allocated each villager a number of narrow strips in the open field to grow crops. [The divisions between these are marked by hedgerows]
Families would have used this lane to travel from the village to the open field to plough, sow and harvest crops. If you walk westward to the end of the lane you can see what a medieval strip was like as you look south through the old gate. One strip survives marked by an old hedge on the west and a line of mature trees on the east. As you go over the wooden stile into the South Field itself you can just see the ancient undulating 'rig and furrow' marks (see here) running down the slope made by the ploughman indicating the size and position of the individual strips.
The Hollow Lane today is a very special place, with very old oak trees and holly hedges, providing homes for birds and other wildlife.
If you now continue along the path up the hill towards the [cache and the] bypass you will follow the line of the hedgerow. We know this is an old hedgerow, not only because it appears on old maps but also because it has been planted with a large variety of different trees and shrubs. Can you identify them all? How many different species are there?'