A charming place, magic spells and murmurings: I still remember my very first visit to Hutton-le-Hole in the North York Moors National Park- it felt so special and other-wordly. Thankfully it's barely changed. Even its name sets it apart. The name may mean 'the high place in the hollow', with the 'hole' referring to Bronze Age burial mounds.
If you were to imagine a perfect English village set on the moors, this would be it: a long village green where sheep graze freely, gentle hills leading down to a meandering beck, white birds-mouth fences and small bridges, framed by stone cottages with pantile roofs. There's even a mature walnut tree.
It's still governed by a traditional 'court leet', a historical court, typically presided over by a lord's steward and responsible for managing local affairs. There's currently a poster on the village notice board from the Steward of the Manor of Spaunton with a stern warning about allowing rams on to the common land between August and November.
Ryedale Folk Museum is very much at the centre of Hutton-le-Hole. Many places invite you to 'step back in time' but few museums do it this well. There are over 20 reconstructed heritage buildings spread over the open-air museum, with displays of more than 40,000 objects that tell the stories of the people who lived and worked in this area. Buildings include a medieval crofter's cottage, a vintage chemist's shop, and an Iron Age roundhouse.
Stories of witchcraft and magic have been told in the North York Moors for centuries so naturally there's a witch and hovel within the museum and tales told around some of the items such as spell or love tokens and charms.
Image: Ebor Images/NYMNPA