THE TUDOR FARMING
INTERPRETATION GROUP

I’m Lynn Burrow, Secretary of the Tudor Farming Group.  I fell in love with the Egyptians and archaeology  at the age of 8, became fascinated by the Tudors during my A levels and I’ve been searching for the past in our landscape ever since.  In my day job, I’m an Area Ranger for the Peak District National Park and have spent the last twenty years interpreting this extraordinary landscape to school children, the visiting public and local residents.  I particularly enjoy historical re-enactment, which is why I can often be found wearing doublet and hose and pretending to be Will Horrobyn, the Younger.

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Although I I studied history as part of my degree, I have only a very amateur understanding of archaeology, so  I can’t wait to  learn from professional archaeologists, exactly how they discover and interpret the humps, bumps and artefacts that lie beneath the turf.

I’m Pete Wardle, a volunteer with the Tudor Farming Group. I’m a retired Secondary School teacher who has been a Volunteer Ranger for the Peak District National Park for the past 14 years. This has involved leading guided walks for the public, in which I try to show them how special the Peak District is, and helping the Area Rangers to do this in schools. I am often seen in a cloak with a hood and wearing a mask as the ‘Tudor Quack’.

I did not enjoy History at school but have seen how interesting and fun it can be when presented in the way the Tudor Farm Group do. 

I am Rose Clarke and I am also an Area Ranger for the Peak District National Park, which means, as well as the many varied roles we have, I get to learn about, help interpret, look after and bring to life some of the landscape and social historical interest of the National Park. Though never a thespian in my younger years, I have taken quite a fancy to dressing up to help others understand local stories. I have become interested in reading the landscape through historical documents, landforms and archaeology etc.

I’ve been privileged to be part of the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group at under Whitle which has now initiated this exciting project.

I’m Eric Wood, a volunteer with the Tudor Farming Interpretation Group.  Following a fairly undistinguished career in Telecoms, I took early retirement and became a Volunteer Ranger for the Peak District National Park.  A great interest in the social and landscape history of this beautiful area followed, in which I found much satisfaction in helping to deliver activities for the public that would highlight this history.

Peter McGrory was a Voluntary Ranger with the Peak District National Park spending most of his duties in the beautiful Goyt Valley.

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Born and educated in the North West he missed the “North” and moved back and was accepted for the training and joined the Ranger Service as a Patrol Ranger .

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With the Tudor Farming Group his principal involvement was playing the part of  Roger Horrobyn, a Tailor from the Sheen and Longnor area – one might say a colourful character.  We sadly lost our much loved friend, Peter, to cancer, part way through the project.

I’m Elspeth and I have lived at Under Whitle with my family for over 30 years. Ever since we moved here, I have been intrigued by the humps and bumps in landscape- what were they and who lived here in the past?

Exploring the wills and records of people who lived at Whitle as long ago as the 1500’s, has whetted my appetite to find out more about them and so I can’t wait for Peeling Back the Layers to start and hopefully reveal their secrets and what lies buried beneath the turf.

I’m Leila – alias Keziah Horrobyn when in Tudor guise. I enjoy the opportunity to get in costume and show visitors aspects of life back on the Tudor farm. I’ve always loved the countryside, so after moving to the Peak District I applied to join their Ranger Training course (albeit with some trepidation at first). Possibly one of the best things I ever did! As voluntary Patrol Ranger, I’ve since enjoyed leading guided walks for the public as well as becoming involved in themed events such as the TFIG’s  “Life on a Tudor Farm”. My background is in Primary Education but I now deliver outdoor educational activities to visiting school groups – helping them learn about the environment and to appreciate and enjoy this really special area . I love seeing ancient sites both at home and abroad so I’m now really looking forward to our new project – it’s a great opportunity to work and learn alongside the professionals,  experiencing history and real “LIVE” archaeology in action.

I’m Harry Ball, I used to have a day job working for the Peak Park Ranger Service but following retirement I am now a volunteer ranger and I help with guided walks and with the Tudor events. I’ve been a member of the TFIG for some years and I thoroughly enjoy helping children to raise their awareness of history and of the countryside. I’ve had a passion for studying the Anglo-Saxon period, in particular I study the origin and development of the English language. This has led me to learn to read the Anglo-Saxon language, more properly called Old English, and to acquire a little skill in writing Old English using a quill and parchment. The study of Old English texts is my main interest (an obsession according my wife) but I avidly read whatever I can about Anglo-Saxon history and archaeology and art and society and anything else. To further these studies I am a member of an Anglo-Saxon society, an Old English reading class and a living history group. With the latter I dress as a monk and demonstrate Old English writing at shows and events. I had no problem then in converting to Tudor costume for the Tudor project at Under Whitle although I do find the Tudor script more difficult to read than the much earlier Old English work. Clearly handwriting does not necessarily get better with time.

Following a career in teaching, Elspeth and I settled into farming – and more latterly wildlife conservation, which has been my particular focus.

The 50 acres are now managed under a Higher Stewardship Scheme which helps support our aims for the farm, including an expansion of our knowledge of its historical and agricultural context. I hope the current project will give a greater understanding of the bumps, hollows and flat areas and explain how our ancestors managed without wellies.