Sandbeds Plantation

Lovely morning lighting in Kildale Woods. This beech plantation was probably planted soon after Coate Moor ironstone mine was re-processed in 1875. It had been going for a mere three years¹Anthony, Cedric. “Glimpses of Kildale History”. Pp. 369-372. Geni Printing. 2012..

I’m not sure where the name comes from, apart from the obvious, but as far as I know there are no sand deposits in Kildale.

North of the border, a sandbed was a dialect term for ‘an inveterate drunkard’. In Walter Scott’s novel ‘St. Ronan’s well’, old MacTurk is referred to as a ‘sandbed, upon whom whole hogsheads²A large barrel of wine, ale or cider. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead#:~:text=A%20hogshead%20(abbreviated%20%22hhd%22,wine%2C%20ale%2C%20or%20cider. [Accessed 5 Oct. 2021]. make no impression’³“The English Dialect Dictionary, Being the Complete Vocabulary of All Dialect Words Still in Use, or Known to Have Been in Use during the Last Two Hundred Years; Founded on the Publications of the English Dialect Society and on a Large Amount of Material Never before Printed”. In six volumes edited by Joseph Wright, 1898. Volume V, R to S Internet Archive, 2014, https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi03wriguoft. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021..

I can imagine the name is an allusion to the way a bed of sand will soaks up water. Ok, it may not be the real origin for the name of this plantation but it’s as good as any.

• 1
  Anthony, Cedric. “Glimpses of Kildale History”. Pp. 369-372. Geni Printing. 2012.
• 2
  A large barrel of wine, ale or cider. [online] Wikipedia. Available at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogshead#:~:text=A%20hogshead%20(abbreviated%20%22hhd%22,wine%2C%20ale%2C%20or%20cider. [Accessed 5 Oct. 2021].
• 3
  “The English Dialect Dictionary, Being the Complete Vocabulary of All Dialect Words Still in Use, or Known to Have Been in Use during the Last Two Hundred Years; Founded on the Publications of the English Dialect Society and on a Large Amount of Material Never before Printed”. In six volumes edited by Joseph Wright, 1898. Volume V, R to S Internet Archive, 2014, https://archive.org/details/englishdialectdi03wriguoft. Accessed 10 Apr. 2021.