A HANNAH Hauxwell exhibition will showcase the personal side to the “daughter of the dales” .
The Constable Tower and Archive Room at Brancepeth Castle, near Durham, will host an exhibition of personal items loaned by Middleton-in-Teesdale’s Fitzhugh Library. It will be held on Saturday, April 30, between 10am and 4pm, and Sunday, May 1, from noon to 4pm. The exhibition is free.
A spokesperson said: “Hannah first came to public attention after being covered in an ITV documentary, Too Long a Winter, in 1973. It followed her solitary existence as a farmer living alone in a remote farmhouse in Baldersdale without electricity or running water. After her death, her estate gifted many family papers to the Fitzhugh Library and this exhibition comes to us with their kind permission.
“It’s a rare opportunity to view this unique collection of Hannah’s personal effects including letters, photos, farm receipts, cards and other items that span four generations of the Hauxwell family.”
The collection provides a snapshot of family and farming life in the upper dale.
Among the many items is a letter from 1939 from a family member who walked from Baldersdale to Barnard Castle to visit the Teesdale Mercury so they could find out if war had been declared.
Another letter written in 1949 complains about the damage military tanks were doing to the footpaths in Bowes.
