Sisters doing it themselves for moor's history

A major oral history project has been completed by the Humberhead Levels and Moors Partnership, led by Natural England, which is also trying to restore much of the site after years of peat extraction

Scores of people have recorded their stories on a CD and contributed photographs for a travelling exhibition and leaflet. The project has re-united former neighbours and people who have long since away from the area.

Testimonies of everyday life include those of three sisters, Margaret, Josephine and Elizabeth Verhees, whose father was amongst the many Dutch people who came to work as peat cutters at the turn of the last century.

He met his wife, also from the Netherlands, on "Dutch Row". The family eventually took up residence at Whaley Balk making do with few luxuries and using the dyke for washing and drinking water.

John Hitchcock, from Thorne, remembers the moors as a source of food for the family, with his mother making a Yorkshire pudding from a swan's egg.

Other contributors recall the eccentric campaigner William Bunting, from Thorne, who 30 years ago spearheaded local resistance to peat mining. His followers, known as "Bunting's Beavers", often took direct action, blocking drainage channels to hamper peat removal.

Some of those who worked in the peat industry also add their tales, along with a local man who uncovered Europe's earliest known prehistoric trackway on Hatfield Moor in 2004.

Peter Nottage, Regional Director for Natural England, said: "Landscapes are not just wildlife habitats, but also places where people work and live.

"In the case of Thorne and Hatfield Moors, their human history goes back thousands of years. This project is a powerful reminder to us all of how the moors have touched lives, both in the past and present. It's a remarkable archive of a living landscape."

All the recordings and transcripts are available at the Local Studies section of the Central Library, Waterdale, Doncaster. Copies have also been deposited at libraries in Thorne, Hatfield and Moorends and at North Lincolnshire Museum, Scunthorpe.

Thorne and Hatfield Moors are part of the UK's largest lowland raised peatbog, covering 8,000 acres.