A diary

 

John Wood made a record of village events which is still kept in the village archive.  In 1983 a short history of St. Andrew's Church was produced in memory of John from this research by Bishop George Holderness. (In 2005 Margaret Wood confirmed that the handwriting in the diary was that of her brother John).

 

The record starts with the visit of the Archbishop of York on Feb 12th 1894 to institute Rev Reginald James Hill, MA Exeter College, Oxford to the Rectory of Normanby.  He was already vicar of Salton.  Confusingly, he replaced another James Hill BA, who had just died.  On July 15th 1894 the church closed for extensive repairs.  It was re-opened on October 26th by the Archbishop of York.  The weather was cold and snow fell. There was a very large attendance at the afternoon service with many standing.  There were other distinguished clergy present including the Bishop of Trinidad, Lord Falkland and the Earl of Feversham.  Despite the weather there was a tea and sports.  That year a parish library opened with 150 books.  The subscription was a penny a month.

The John Wood diary