Lizzie's Smile

This is Lizzie. Doesn’t she have a wonderful smile? She lived at Botton Village in Danby Dale when I had contact with that community some years ago.
Danby Dale is one of a little clutch of valleys probing southwards from the River Esk into the bulk of the North York Moors. It has been a secluded haven and port of call for many groups of people over the years. The monks of Rosedale traversed it on their way to Whitby Abbey and, in later years, Quaker families settled here, away from the suspicion and heckling of the towns. They drained the land and walled the pasture, and a ribbon of farms appeared along both sides of the dale. Today these fields and houses are worked and lived in by another special community of people: Botton Village, half of whose inhabitants bear some form of mental handicap.

For a quick tour of Botton Village go to:-
http://www.camphill.org.uk/botton.htm