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21
Mar 2020
The challenges facing our rural villages: the view from Kirkby Malzeard
The rural community of Kirkby Malzeard has a population of 872, three shops, a church, a pub and a primary school.
Around a third of its population are aged over 60 and most have followed government guidance and are self-isolating. The younger ones have speedily made arrangements for the continuing education of their children and finding the best way to support their parents. Kirkby Malzeard's nearest town is Masham and the city of Ripon is more than 6 miles south.
Amanda and her partner Gianni, run Kirkby Fisheries, have five children and moved to the village from Middlesbrough three years ago.The practicalities of shopping, filling the car up with fuel, budgeting to run a business and a family and the question of who looks after their children have dominated their thoughts.
Amanda, who looks after the books for the business as well as her pre-school children, Louka,11 months, and 3 year old twins, Georgio and Georgia, now has another child to think about:
A worry for Amanda and Gianni is the fall off in custom among village regulars, a number of whom have self-isolated and have stopped coming to the fisheries for the time being. They have taken the financial gamble of launching a free home delivery service and hiring local drivers, in the hope that self-isolaters and other customers further afield, will continue to buy fish and chips and other hot food.
On the Kirkby Fisheries’ FaceBook they posted. ‘We helped feed the nation through two World Wars, we’ll do our best to feed you through this.’
Donna Crouch moved to Kirkby a couple of years ago from Ripon. She has three children and is a care worker. The private company Donna works for looks after elderly people across Ripon and its surrounding rural communities. She is due to return to work on Monday after an operation.
“I’m waiting to see if my job classes me as a key worker. If it does, my older children who go to Nidderdale High School and Outwood Academy will be looked after, but I’m concerned about who can look after my three-year-old daughter, Madison.”
For Donna and Amanda and many other like them living in the district the dilemma of how to juggle all these many aspects of life is something that will dominate their lives in the weeks to come.
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