Month: April 2015
-
Glenridding
In the Lakes for three days; supervising a DofE expedition. Hazy weather must be due all this continental air that we are supposed to have. This is looking down on Glenridding from the top of Lucy’s Tongue. There’s a g;impose of Ullswater in the distance.
-
Lenten Lilies
Lenten Lily is the Yorkshire name for the daffodil, the wild English variety. I’m not sure if these are indeed truly wild daffodils but I like the name. Daffs are poisonous nevertheless they have been used throughout the centuries for medicinal purposes particularly as a cure for cancer. Hippocrates himself recommended a pessary prepared from daffodils for…
-
Infinity Bridge
An evening paddle up the Tees with the Stockton & Thornaby Canoe Club. The Infinity Bridge was opened in 2009 at a cost of £15m. It gets its name from the infinity symbol ( ∞ ) that the bridge makes with it’s reflection. Even the slightest breeze spoils the effect.
-
G. Ward & Son, Blacksmiths of Carlton
Took the road bike out today which gave me a chance for a more closer look at the villages of Cleveland than I can get from a car. Carlton has a pub and a school but no shop. But what it does have, and perhaps one of the last villages to do so, is a village blacksmith.…
-
Brian’s Pond
On Bilsdale West Moor, an oasis on a warm spring morning. I often disturb ducks and wild geese here. But not today. The obvious question: who was Brian? I’ve no idea.
-
Mount Grace Priory
National Trust volunteers cleaning moss and other plant growth from the ruins of this medieval Carthusian priory which is owned by the Trust but managed by English Heritage. Mount Grace Priory is unique in that it wasn’t destroyed by the new owner, one James Strangeways, after being sold by the government after the dissolution on the monasteries in 1540.…
-
Skelton Beck
Skelton Beck flows down a gorge through Crow Wood and Valley Gardens before joining Saltburn Gill Beck and entering the North Sea. Below the Riftswood viaduct carrying the mineral railway to the potash mine at Boulby the beck flow over the remains of a weir used to provide a head of water to drive the Marske corn mill. Marske Mill…
-
Codhill Slack
For those who walk, or run, the Cleveland Way with your head held high concentrating on the top of your next climb, Highcliff Nab or Percy Rigg, or admiring the view across the bogs of Codhill Slack to Sleddale, you will miss this. If however you walk head down looking at your feet you may notice an unusual paving slab or,…
-
Bolton Castle
Located in Wensleydale, the castle dates from the late 14c when it was built by Sir Richard le Scrope, Lord Chancellor of England to Richard II. It is still owned and lived in by the Scrope family. Its most famous guest was Mary Queen of Scots although many castles up and down the country can…
-
Saltburn Pier
A classic view of Saltburn pier with the funicular railway in front. The pier was opened in 1869 and was originally 1500 feet long. It quickly became popular and a stop on the Bridlington to Hartlepool steamer route. In 1875 the pier was battered in an October storm and was reduced to 1250 feet. In 1924 the…