Lost villages of the UK

As promised in a previous blog post, here is the trial article I wrote for RuralHistoria. If you are interested in rural history, have a look around the website - there's loads of interesting stuff on there... starting with my article on fulling mills, obviously!

Anyway, here's my article on the lost villages of the UK:

Lost Villages of the UK

As you travel through the British countryside, you will inevitably spot the odd derelict house or perhaps a group of long-disused farm buildings. But did you know that there are over 3,000 deserted medieval villages (DMVs) across the UK?

The reasons why these villages were abandoned are many and varied, and offer an intriguing insight into the history of the British Isles.

Coastal erosion

Many of the lost villages on the British coast have unsurprisingly been lost to coastal erosion. One such village is Easton Bavents, Suffolk. Once a thriving village with its own market, it also had the distinction of being England’s most easterly village. However, the village was slowly lost to the sea, losing the church sometime in the 17^th century. The last remaining building in the village, a row of three terraced houses, was demolished in 2020.

Cliff Fall at Easton Bavents (c) Bob Jones

Requisitioned by Armed Forces

Several lost villages across the UK were requisitioned by the Ministry of Defence for military training during the Second World War. Some of these villages, such as Balsdean, Suffolk, were already largely uninhabited at the time they were taken over. However, many of these villages were still inhabited and residents had to be evicted. Often, residents left their homes willingly, believing they were doing their bit for the war effort and they were comforted by the thought they would return after the war. Sadly, this was not to be the case, and many of these areas, such as Imber, Wiltshire and Tyneham, Dorset are still under Ministry of Defence ownership even now.

Ruined Barns, Balsdean (c) Simon Carey

Switch from arable to pastoral farming

Perhaps the best-known abandoned village in the UK is Wharram Percy, Yorkshire. As one of the largest and best-preserved abandoned villages, it has been the focus of ongoing archaeological investigations since the 1950s. The village had provided homes for farm workers when the land was used by the Percy family for arable farming. However, the land was taken over by the Hylton family in the 1400s, and by this time, owing to changes in prices and wages, it was more profitable to make the change to pastoral farming. Over the next century, more and more land was given over to grazing pasture for the sheep, and fewer and fewer workers were needed. In the early 1500s, the final residents of the village were evicted to make way for more sheep pasture.

Ruin of Wharram Percy church (c) David Smith

Loss of Industry

Villages are often built to house workers near mines or work sites. Often these industries are not sustainable and eventually the work dries up and the workers leave. One example is Binnend, Fife, which was built near a shale oil extraction works in the 1870s. When the oil works closed in 1892, the population began to decline. Many houses in the village were used during the First World War, as housing for admiralty staff, homes for women widowed by the war and affordable housing for workers in the nearby aluminium works and shipyards. However, the population continued to decline in subsequent years and the village was formally closed in 1931, with the final residents leaving in the 1950s.

Flooded to create a reservoir

Several villages across the UK have been demolished or submerged by the creation of new reservoirs. A notable example is Derwent, Derbyshire which was flooded as part of the creation of the Ladybower Reservoir, and appears in the news periodically when dry conditions cause the water level to drop and expose the remains of the village, drawing huge crowds. Another example is Mardale Green, Lake District, which was submerged in the late 1930s when the level of Haweswater was raised to form Haweswater Reservoir.

The lost village of Mardale Green (c) Marathon

Enduring mysteries

As we’ve seen, archaeological and historical research can often elucidate the reasons why a village has been abandoned. However, there are numerous abandoned villages where no clear reason for their abandonment has ever been established. One example is Lancaut, on the border between Monmouthshire and Gloucestershire. In 1306 the village is recorded as having 10 households, in 1551 it was noted as having 19 adult inhabitants and by 1931 there was a recorded population of 10, but nowadays there is little left of the village except for a working farm. A lack of written records means little is known about why the village was abandoned.

Ruin of St James Church, Lancaut (c) Andy Dingley

Starting out on Upwork

I signed up to Upwork in October 2022. I hated creating my profile - I'm not very good at selling myself! My first job was writing copy for a website in Bulgaria selling greeting cards! I was happy doing that, but he soon asked me to come up with slogans for the cards, or even to suggest images for the cards, and that just wasn't my bag, so I stepped away from that one.

My profile photo - it's from 15+ years ago!

My next job was writing 25 1,000-word articles about freezers for the Freeze It website. When I applied for the job, I couldn't imagine what I would find to write that many words about on the topic of freezers, but I was assured the client would provide me with all the titles and I would just have to write the articles. I have now written 41 articles about freezers, so consider myself quite the expert! I've covered topics including How to defrost your freezer quickly, How to clean your freezer, and profiles on different manufacturers such as Miele and SMEG.

I initially agreed to 6 articles a week, and was able to keep up with that for the first month, but then told the client I would need to cut back as it meant I wasn't able to get any other writing done. I cut back to 4 articles a week, which was much more manageable. After the second month, the client asked me to start writing for one of their sister websites - Let's Foodie. I've only written a few for this site so far, including Why do deli sandwiches taste better? and Can you marinate broccoli?

I love working for this client as they give clear instructions, they give me the title for each article but then give me freedom on subheadings, and they communicate with me frequently. I also like the way their algorithms work so that my articles show up at the top of Google searches, as it really boosts my online presence. Plus they sort out all the formatting and add in subtitles and luscious photographs, so my articles look awesome! I also get full credit for my writing, and an author bio, which is a great way to boost my profile.

In November I also took on a client who specialises in creating online courses. I wrote a course on Traditional Chinese Medicine Reflexology. For this I had to write a 3,000-word module, 2 extended tasks and 10 multiple choice questions. This isn't available for free online, so I can't share it here. I had to do a lot of research for this one, as it was something I knew nothing about, and I really enjoyed getting to learn about something new.

Towards the end of November I was invited to write a trial article for a company promising ongoing work. I was given the topic "Do Jews Drink Milk", which I will share another time. I was successful and they added me to their pool of writers. I wrote two articles for them: How to cut thick toenails and 15 celebs who are expecting in 2023. I haven't seen the latter online yet, but if you click through to the former you will see that I didn't get author credit for this one. Furthermore, I soon discovered that not many articles came up that were topics I felt confident writing about or had any interest in learning more about, so I decided not to continue with this contract.

Through January I just focused on my work with Freeze It/Let's Foodie. Then in February, when I felt a bit more on top of my work load, I started looking for new contracts. Firstly I secured a contract supposedly writing about backyard birds. However, when writing my trial article I discovered that actually they were interested in birds generally, rather than wild birds of the UK, plus the copy was primarily for US audiences, and I am not confident writing in US English. So after writing this article about long-tailed birds, I stepped away from this client. Again, this was one where I didn't get author credit, but I wrote it, I promise!

Finally, and the contract I've been most excited about, in February I applied for a job with the headline "Pasionate writers wanted for a UK/rural countryside history website. This sounded like my dream job! For my test article I wrote about lost villages. This topic has since been taken up by another writer for the site, so I will share my original piece here at a later date. Since securing the contract I've not had chance to write much (my year 11s are nearing their GCSE exams and I've been focused on marking their work and giving them detailed feedback), but I have written this article on fulling mills. As you will see, this is another site that gives me full credit and an author bio, plus they format the article and add photos so the piece looks really professional. This is my favourite contract so far, as I love rural history, so getting the chance to immerse myself in researching and writing on this topic is a dream come true!

Starting again

So this is my third attempt at starting a blog! Truth be told, I'm not very good at keeping on top of them. As an aspiring writer, struggling to find time to write, it just seems like another thing to make space for in my life. However, as things are starting to take off for me as a freelance writer, I feel like I need a place to keep a record of my writing and showcase things I am involved in.

A bit about me first then. I am 39 years old, I have two children aged 4 and 8, and I live in Horncastle in the beautiful Lincolnshire Wolds. I teach English at a secondary school in the county, which I won't name in case any of them come looking for me - believe it or not they do! You'd think they'd have better things to do!

I have always wanted to be a writer. When it came to choosing courses at university, I knew I wanted there to be a creative writing element, but I didn't have the confidence to commit to it fully. I needed a fall back plan in case that didn't work out. So I found a few universities with courses that combined English Language and Creative Writing, and settled on Sheffield University as my first choice and University of Wales, Bangor as my second choice.

Bangor University (C) N Chadwick

I had a boyfriend who lived in Lincolnshire and wasn't going off to university, so I was really hoping to get my first choice. Honestly, until the moment I opened my results, I really thought I'd got the grades! But it wasn't to be, and I ended up going to university in Bangor. At the time, we were both devastated, but actually a long distance relationship turned out to be great for me, as it meant I could focus on my studies and ended up getting a First!

But I digress. In the second year of my degree, the modules that I wanted to study for English Language weren't compatible with the creative writing modules, so I had to drop this part of the course. I went to see my Creative Writing tutor and explained part of the reason for my choice was that I was getting much lower grades in my writing modules: I was getting 75-85% in most modules but only 65% for the writing. He encouraged me to reconsider, and revealed that I was actually top of the class!

My mind was made up - I wanted to study Child Language Acquisition and Forensic Linguistics, and I couldn't do that if I kept up the creative writing. So what was the solution?

I started looking for alternative ways to continue with creative writing and stumbled upon the Writers Bureau Comprehensive Writing Course. This seemed to be a win-win. At the time they were offering a moneyback guarantee if you didn't make back the cost of the course in earnings from writing, plus you could complete the course at your own pace with no final deadline - essentially a course for life!

This ended up being a positive and a negative. Without any deadlines, I could fit it around my life easily. In reality though, that often meant going years in between reading modules and completing assignments. I completed a few modules while at university, then a few before I had my children, then a couple once the children were born, but I never really got momentum going.

Then Covid hit... you may be thinking, "Ideal, plenty of time to write!" Not if you were a keyworker and a parent! Juggling teaching remotely, going in to teach keyworker children on a rota and home schooling my own kids was a nightmare! But seeing so many people using that time to develop their skills and achieve their goals really inspired me, and once things started to get back to normal I decided to start putting more effort into achieving my own goals.

At the end of 2020 I started reading modules and working on assignments again. My first was an article about camping in Norfolk, which I will share on here some time. I wrote it specifically for the Caravan Club Magazine, but they weren't interested in it, and I didn't have the confidence to rewrite it for a different publication.

My next assignment was to write either a biographical or autobiographical piece. I didn't feel like my life was interesting enough to write something autobiographical, so I started thinking about who I could write about. I had noticed a plaque on the wall of the Town Hall in Louth commemorating Margaret Wintringham, first British-born female MP, and wondered why I'd never heard of her, so I started conducting some research. I was fascinated by her story, so started putting together an article for the local magazine, the Lincolnshire Poacher. I was thrilled when the piece was accepted for publication! You can read it for free online here: Lincolnshire Poacher Autumn 2021 - Digital Copy (lincolnshirelife.co.uk)

Buoyed by my success, I then rewrote the article for a national audience, and was delighted when it was accepted for publication by This England magazine.

My article in This England magazine

My next assignment was to interview someone, and I was dreading it. Who would I interview? I didn't know anyone famous. Then it occurred to me, I could interview my friend Angie, breastfeeding guru and doula extraordinaire! Thankfully she agreed to it, and we had a lovely chat about her family, her background, and how she got into breastfeeding support. It didn't feel like an interview at all and was such a great experience. I wrote up the article and sent it to Green Parent magazine, who unfortunately didn't want it. I rewrote it for Juno Magazine and they accepted it.

Juno magazine cover, Winter 2021

My final non-fiction task was to write a book proposal. I chose to write mine on Margaret Wintringham and tried it with a couple of publishers, but neither were interested, which knocked my confidence.

I then moved on to the fiction part of my writing course. It was strange, because I originally signed up to the course because I wanted to write fiction, and the non-fiction was just something to be endured, but I actually loved writing non-fiction. I've always loved research, and writing non-fiction means that you've always got a starting point; there's no staring at a blank page, like I find myself doing with fiction! So I've found the move to non-fiction daunting, so my commitment to the course has lapsed again, unfortunately. However, that lifetime guarantee means it's not a problem, and I know I can get back to it at some point.

At the start of 2022, when I knew my youngest would be starting school in September, I considered increasing my hours at work. I teach part-time, and I'm in school Monday to Wednesday. But I decided instead that I would spend that time on trying to make something of my writing. In October I signed up to Upwork and have since worked for several clients - again I will share some of this work in a later post.

Before long, I realised I had made enough money to equal the amount I paid for the course, which meant I could request a certificate of competence from the Writers Bureau. Looking back at what I'd achieved as a result of the course, I decided to take a chance and put myself forward for the Writers Bureau Student of the Year Award. I was proud to be shortlisted, and my story, along with those of the winner and other shortlisted writers can be seen here: Student Of The Year (writersbureaucourse.com)