Tom Airay’s winter theatre at Grassington

At Christmas the young men of Grassington in Craven once put on plays in a village theatre run by Tom Airay, who later became the Grassington and Skipton carrier. The theatre was open only for a few weeks in the depth of winter, when snow and cold stopped work in the fields, and the company, which had no actresses, acted for a small income rather than ask their neighbours for charity. The correspondent, writing at Christmas 1826, recalled it as one of the lost amusements of the season.