Recent articles

  • Blind Peter Barker

    Remembering Hampsthwaite’s Blind Joiner - an article by Shaun WilsonLike the market town of Knaresborough, who had ‘Blind Jack’ – John Metcalf, the road builder of Yorkshire in the eighteenth century, the small rural village of Hampsthwaite had it’s blind hero also, almost a century later – Peter Barker who became known as ‘The Blind Joiner of Hampsthwaite.’ Though there are some similarities between John Metcalf and Peter Barker’s lives, these are purely co-incidental and each fulfilled a life, character and career in their own right.

  • Jane Ridsdale

    JANE RIDSDALEAged 33 years, born at Hampsthwaite, near Harrogate, Yorkshire, her height is 31 ½ inches.She is remarkably chearfull & enjoys very good health.Published July 1st 1807 by Jane Ridstale, at Harrogate where purchasers of this Print will have the opportunity of seeing and conversing with her

  • Joshua Tetley

    Joshua Tetley was the founder of Tetley’s Brewery in Leeds, and he retired with his wife Hannah to Hollins Hall on the outskirts of Hampsthwaite (Hollins Hall Retirement Village).

  • The Execution of Hannah Whitley

    Arsenic Poisoning in Hampsthwaite - The Execution of Hannah Whitley In 1789, Hannah Whitley of Hampsthwaite used a pie as the delivery medium for a fatal dose of arsenic, with the poison concentrated in the crust. She claimed She had been coerced into the act of poisoning by her employer, a local linen weaver named Horseman, who was involved in an on-going feud with the intended victim.

  • Scrubbers and Stones

    SCRUBBERS & STONES - Sat 29th June 10.30am - 2.30pm - Entry FREE! Explore the Memorials at St Thomas a'Becket Memorials Treasure Trail - for children if all ages Self-Service / Self-Checkout BBQ from 12 noon (inc. veg option) Food £2, Drink £1, Donations? - yes please! Hot & Cold Drinks Laptop & Screen to show Mapping Hampsthwaite’s Past Use a Bucket & Brush to help reveal Inscriptions on the older memorials . . . or just Sit & Enjoy CORPUS CHRISTI BRASS BAND . . . from 11.30am . . . followed by Afternoon Tea & Cakes at the Memorial Hall!

  • Hampsthwaite Open Gardens

     Hampsthwaite Open Gardens - Sat 29th June 12.30am - 5.00pm - Entry £5.00 (accompanied under 15's FREE) Tickets on the day from Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall Plant sales - many named varieties of plants Delicious homemade refreshments Afternoon tea and cakes served from 12.30pm at the Memorial Hall

  • Genealogy Websites

    Free genealogy websites will help you start your family history research at no cost as listed by the 'Who Do You Think You Are' magazine.

  • Kitchen Refurbishment

    Memorial Hall kitchen is now completely, and expertly, refurbished by Neil,Batty Builders Ltd as a result of a grant awarded by the National Lottery's 'Reaching Communities' fund.See also the equivalent

  • Amy Woodforde-Finden

    A highly successful composer of the late Victorian and Edwardian eras, Amy Woodforde-Finden, together with her husband and step-son, is laid to rest in the churchyard of St Thomas à Becket Parish Church. Inside the church there is an impressive marble monument of her, created by the renowned sculptor George Edward  Wade. It was unveiled in 1923 and a few years later, Finden Gardens in Hampsthwaite was named in her honour.[Click on title or image to link to articles]

  • Amy Woodforde-Finden Centenary Events (2)

    Amy Woodforde-Finden : 'An Evening with Amy'A centenary concert to celebrate the life and works of Amy was held in Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall on April 21st 2023 Click on images to open full-size in new window and use the Browser back arrow to return to here.  
RSS Feed of this page

Computing with Hampsthwaite Online

Venue: Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall - a registered UK Online Centre (No 3455051)
Tel: 0789 4442227
Email:  online@hampsthwaite.org.uk
URL: www.hampsthwaite.org.uk/memorialhall

Tutored morning sessions at 10.00am until Noon @ £5 per session

See Memorial Hall Noticeboard or the online Events Calendar for confirmation of all sessions. Sessions are aimed at complete beginners through to those who have some experience of using computers - but no previous knowledge of computers is assumed.

 Introduction:

A series of relaxed drop-in sessions for anyone who wants to refine their internet skills – or for complete beginners. Bring your own laptops (preferred) or use one of ours. Just come and have a go amongst friends – you could save a fortune! Topics to be covered can include (click on red titles to see more):

  • Getting your laptops into shape – cleaning up and protecting with FREE computer security (e.g. using Windows Defender, MalwareBytes, SpyBot Search & Destroy, Adbloc Plus) – why pay more!
  • Keeping safe online – avoiding scams, recognising rogue websites and managing passwords.
  • Sending and receiving emails - setting up Google Mail or Thunderbird and adding attachments.
  • Using FREE online tools (such as Google Calendar and Translator)
  • Working with images - organising and making use of your family album or holiday snaps (e.g. using, Photo Gallery or Picasa, plus Jessops’ products and services or similar) – family gifts and presents problems solved for ever!
  • Using ‘Office’ type software (including the FREE Open Office or Office Libre)
  • Using Mail Merge- setting up a contacts list and printing out address labels for example.
  • Online shopping - searching for the best deals  – e.g. Car Insurance, Utilities, claiming Asda vouchers - *according to a recent study, people who do not use the internet pay an average of £440 p.a. more for goods and services!

. . . and for those who wish to go further . . .we could set up in a corner a bit of drawing of house plans etc. using the FREE Google SketchUp or even write your own web site pages (time and previous experience permitting).

All this for just £5 per session to cover the costs of the Broadband provision and resource maintenance (room hire and tutor* costs are completely FREE)

. . . and . . . please, please, PLEASE remember to bring with you a note of any email addresses, passwords and usernames that you might use – plus your mobile phone if that is how you are reminded of them

*Tutored by Geoff Howard and Keiron McGeever – both with (too many!) years of experience of organising and teaching computing in schools

Archive of materials from previous sessions

Free Software and Applications - why pay more?

All links to software listed below are given in good faith to what are believed to be reputable sources and not just time-limited demos. Some are 'lite' versions of more comprehensive commercial products and others, quite reasonably, include the offer to make a voluntary donation to support their continued development.

SourceForge has been innovating online Open Source Software creation and distribution since 1999 and now comprises a large repository of free-to-use software which has been created, reviewed, improved and updated by a world-wide community of developers.

Open Office, the open-source office software suite, has now evolved into Office Libre. It is available in many languages and works on all common computers. It can read and write files from other common office software packages. It can be downloaded and used completely free of charge for any purpose.

Since its creation in 2001, Wikipedia has rapidly grown into the largest reference Web site on the Internet. The content of Wikipedia is free, and is written collaboratively by people from all around the world.

  • GIMP - a freely distributed program for all photo editing tasks.

In addition to being an excellent Search Engine Google provides many other free-to-use products all financed by their advertisers. For example:

  1. Picasa - an image organiser and image viewer for organising, re-sizing and editing digital photos. In July 2004, Google acquired Picasa from its original author and began offering it as freeware.
  2. GMail - Fast, searchable email with less spam.
  3. Translate - Instantly translate text, web pages and files between over 50 languages.
  4. Calendar - Organise your schedule and share events with friends (you will need to sign up but there is no charge).
  5. Maps - View maps and get directions.
  6. Earth - Explore the world from your computer.
  7. SketchUp - Draw and design quickly and easily in 3D (SketchUp is now owned by Trimble but still free as SketchUp Make 2015).

MicroSoft supply a number of free downloads to customise, protect, and enhance your computer providing, quite reasonably,  you are running a genuine version of Windows.

  1. Security Essentials - Microsoft Security Essentials is now integrated into Windows 8 as part of Defender but can still be downloaded for Windows 7
  2. Photo Gallery - Edit, organise, and share your photos and videos.
  3. Movie Maker - Edit and compile collections of home videos and photos to create a professional looking movie, complete with sound track or commentary with transitions and titles.
(Note: Photo Gallery and Movie Maker are now part of Windows Essentials and may already be installed on your computer - check by searching for them)

YouTube includes a wealth of free-to-access videos covering just about any subject you could imagine - try typing Hampsthwaite into the search box for example!

Computing with Hampsthwaite Online

Venue: Hampsthwaite Memorial Hall - a registered UK Online Centre (No 3455051)
Tel: 0789 4442227
Email:  online@hampsthwaite.org.uk
URL: www.hampsthwaite.org.uk/memorialhall

Tutored morning sessions at 10.00am until Noon @ £5 per session

See Memorial Hall Noticeboard or the online Events Calendar for confirmation of all sessions. Sessions are aimed at complete beginners through to those who have some experience of using computers - but no previous knowledge of computers is assumed.