A set of slides from the early days of colour photography has recently been rediscovered, which sheds new light on the life of our churches in the Yorkshire Dales.
The Revd George Curry served as Dales Minister from 1951 to 1965. He lived in Hawes and was available to fill any vacancies in the Dales Congregational Churches - over twenty in number in those days, stretching from Swaledale down to Skipton. A keen photographer, he recorded both church and community events on colour slides, and has left a fascinating record of a way of life that is increasingly forgotten. Among his colleagues and acquaintances was the Revd John Lyman, minister for Low Row, Keld and Reeth from 1952 to 1958. He features on many of the slides, which eventually came into his possession; and his widow recently looked them out and sent them to the present Low Row church secretary. 
A selection of the slides formed part of the entertainment at the recent Smarber weekend at Low Row. The first weekend in May always provides occasion for members and friends of the church to celebrate the history of the fellowship which goes back to the year 1690, when Philip Lord Wharton gave his hunting lodge at Smarber as a place of worship for dissenters in the Dale.
This year a congregation of some thirty people gathered in the ruined chapel up on the fellside on a beautiful sunlit Friday evening for an Ascensiontide service led by the Revd Julie Martin; and then on the Saturday they and others from the village gathered in the Village Institute for a splendid meal and an evening of fun and entertainment.
As well as the slide show, which featured scenes of church and community events from the 1950s (what fun identifying who that could possibly be!), the evening provided an occasion for the church to express thanks to its retiring church secretary. George Edward Brown, a local builder, had served in this capacity for forty years - and members from the Brown family have successively served the church in this way for an astonishing 111 years! A cake had been baked, 
decorated with appropriate tools of the trade and scenes of the church and dale, for Edward and his wife Anne to cut and share.
At worship the following morning the congregation was joined by friends from the other pastorate churches of Keld and Barnard Castle, and from the Anglican church in the village. The sermon was preached by the Revd John Durell, and music was led and provided by the Parish Choir and local musician George Lundberg.