Fotherdale

The 1881 census shows Smith Palfreyman as an agricultural labourer and Edith Anne Palfreyman as a domestic servant. It also lists those people ‘belonging’ to Fotherdale.

The 1901 census shows more clearly the Grice family being at Fotherdale, but Peter Grice was referenced at Fotherdale as early as 1892.

Fotherdale is now the home of wildlife artist Robert E. Fuller

The Crashed Mustang – Thixendale 13 Jan 1945

(Thanks to Harry Boyes and Kenneth Carling)

On 13 Jan 1945, U.S. Army Air Force P-51D5 (Mustang) crashed in snow near Fotherdale Farm due to engine failure.

The pilot, Raymond J Kensik, baled out at low altitude and landed within 200 yards of the plane. He broke both legs but appears to have survived the initial crash. He was carried in to the farmhouse on the back of a door and put by the fire. He survived the war and died in 1999 aged 76.

Maude Smith’s father was the first on the scene and still has the pilot’s ear protectors (allegedly!).

The plane serial numbered 44-13338 belonged to squadron 3 GTF of the 8th Air force.

The snow made it difficult to get to the plane for recovery so 3 soldiers were posted to guard the wreck. They were there for at least a week. They were supposed to stay out at night but really slept in sleeping bags in the farmhouse. In the morning, one of them would run around the plane several times so that it looked like they had been patrolling through the night.