Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Tragedy at Snaper House

The upper reaches of the River Riccal, one of several valleys draining the southern moors through the Tabular Hills. Downstream, Riccalldale hides behind its wooded, narrow dale entrance. Head up a bit, and the catchment broadens and becomes shallower, going by the name of Cowhouse Beck. It’s mostly a mix of meadow and pasture intakes, which probably tells you something about how the valley was used back in the day – winter grazing for cattle brought down from the moors, and come summer, it’s all meadowland.

Nowadays, the whole area belongs to one farm, Potter House, perched on that ever-so-slight ridge, a bit left of centre. Once upon a time, sharing the same elevation but right of the centre was another farm, Snaper House. 18th or 19th-century, now in a sad state of ruin, overshadowed by the looming presence of a modern metal barn1NYMNPA HER Records. HER No: 13545..

Snaper House

And on a chilly 27 January, 1949, Snaper House had a full house – Bernard Dowkes, his wife, and a gaggle of four kids: Margaret (11), Laura (9), Jean (7), and little Eric (18 months). Full of life and laughter where now is only a sad silence.

Following the lean years post-war, Mr and Mrs Dowkes likely revelled in an invitation to a dance organised by a relative, Oliver Dowkes. The event was in aid of the visually impaired and held in the nearby village of Pockley. The four children were left in the care of Mr Dowkes’s 71-year-old uncle, John C. Dowkes2‘Awakened by Dog | Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer | Friday 28 January 1949 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2024. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19490128/134/0004>[accessed 8 January 2024].

At approximately 9 p.m., the uncle extinguished the sitting room fire using water from the kettle, as was usual, and ushered the children up to their shared bedroom. He then retired himself shortly thereafter.

Dowkes awoke to the barking of a dog just past midnight, accompanied by an ominous crackling noise. Descending the stairs, he was met with the alarming sight of the living room engulfed in flames. Rushing back upstairs, he urgently shouted to awaken the children, declaring, “The house is on fire. Get up.” Entering the smoke-filled bedroom, his vision obscured, he found Margaret already awake. Taking hold of the baby, she swiftly descended the stairs and fled the blazing house.

“Smoke was pouring up the stairs. The candle I was carrying went out, and it was impossible to see anything. I called Jean and Laura to come over to the bedroom window and I would catch them when they jumped. I then climbed through the window and fell into the farmyard.”

However, the two youngsters failed to appear at the window, and the conflagration advanced with such swiftness that it became an impossible task for him to go back for them.

Margaret, wearing only a vest and without shoes or socks, cradled her baby brother as she sprinted over a mile to sound the alarm at Potterhouse Farm. Robinson, the farmer there, raced back to Snaper alongside her, attempting to rescue the trapped children by propping a ladder against the bedroom window. The encroaching flames, however, forced him to back off. In a desperate move, he dispatched a motorcyclist to alert the authorities, as the nearest telephone was a three-mile trek away. The fire brigade, after trudging a mile-and-a-half across the moor on foot and pushing a wheelbarrow pump, eventually arrived. Alas, the cottage had collapsed in the inferno before the firefighters could intervene3‘Two Children Killed in Lonely Farm Fire | Yorkshire Evening Post | Thursday 27 January 1949 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2024. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000273/19490127/003/0001>[accessed 8 January 2024].

Margaret, who was devoted to the baby, seemed unscathed by her ordeal. She attended school that day in customary fashion, clad in garments borrowed from others, as her entire wardrobe, along with those of her family, lay amongst the ashes.

At the inquest, the jury commended Margaret for her actions, urging that it be relayed to the Royal Humane Society4‘Humane Society to Hear about Brave Little Girl from Our Own Correspondent Helmsley, Thursday Eleven-Year-Old Margaret Who Bare Footed | Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer | Friday 11 February 1949 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2024. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk<https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000687/19490211/129/0004>[accessed 8 January 2024]. Lady Feversham backed this up, but it all ended up going nowhere.

Margaret now has grandchildren of her own. She’s a modest lady who never pried into why she was passed by for the award she was promised. Then, in 2004, the overdue acknowledgment of Margaret’s ordeal and valour did materialise, as the North Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service presented to her a citation5Herald. 2004. ‘Bravery Award for Fire Hero – 55 Years On’, Gazette & Herald (Gazette & Herald)<https://www.gazetteherald.co.uk/ news/6661694.bravery-award-for-fire-hero-55-years-on/>[accessed 8 January 2024].

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