Month: October 2016
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Graffiti of Roseberry
A damp miserable morning so I will have to resort to an old favourite. Is this graffiti? Is this vandalism? Questions I’ve touched on before. Behind Dove Cottage in the Lake District, one time home of the poet William Wordsworth there is a rock with WW inscribed on it. There is also DW and JW, his siblings,…
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White Cross
You might be forgiven for thinking that White Cross is so named because it is white but the whitewashing has been carried out by all the boundary stones of the Dawnay Estate. The stone post is actually 19th century sandstone but the limestone base is much older probably medieval. The original Christian cross now resides in…
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Brocken spectre
I woke up to rain this morning. Real rain at that. The sort that gets you wet. I had a lift to Guisborough planned and a run back. By the time I was dropped off it had stopped raining and by the time I climbed to Highcliff Nab the sun were breaking out leaving wisps of cloud…
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Coal Staithes, Rosedale
The end of the line of the Rosedale branch railway. The railway was built by the North East Railway Co. to service the ironstone industry but the railway also brought in goods for the villages of the dale. The Rosedale Goods Station was just 100 feet above the small community of Daleside Road and a couple of miles…
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Kildale from Cook's Crags
A rather dull late afternoon dog walk up to Cook’s Crags overlooking Kildale with the nights drawing in. Kildale is quiet vale almost entirely belonging to the Kildale Estate. The Normans referred to it as Childale when the Percys perhaps occupied the motte and bailey castle. But the Scandinavians were here before then. When St.…
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Roseberry Topping
The Matterhorn of Cleveland. It is commonly thought that the name, Roseberry Topping derives from the Old Norse god, ‘Óthinn’ or ‘Odin’, and berg meaning a hill but Walter White wrote, in his 1858 book, A Month in Yorkshire, that the name comes from ‘ross’, a heath or moor, and ‘burg’ a fortress. Does anyone…
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Kilton Ironstone Mine
It’s been fifteen months since I was last visited the Kilton Ironstone Mine and the reinforced concrete winder house seems to have deteriorated noticeably. Large pieces of concrete have fallen off exposing the mesh reinforcement. The building was built in the late 1930s to house the 370 brake horse power electric winder motor. At that time the mine…
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Bridestones
A climb up to Nab Ridge between Bilsdale and Tripsdale. Ended up trying to wade though a thistled rough pasture whilst following a diverted path around the manicured lawns of Cam House. And the pet llamas took a dislike to the dog. I was aiming for the Bride Stones, a Bronze Age round barrow, long…
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Blacksmith's Forge, Chop Gate
A single storey sandstone building with date 0f 1826 on the door lintol. It underwent restoration in 2008 after a gable had collapsed in storms the previous year. It is unused but still contains the original functionality although the beehive-shaped firehood was destroyed by the collapse. The building contains element of an earlier construction indeed a 1781…
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Grosmont
A belated birthday treat. Sunday dinner on the North York Moors Railway. A very relaxing afternoon. And we picked a ‘steam extravaganza’ weekend. Lots of shunting, not a diesel in sight, and a lot of patience needed for anyone trying to use the level crossing at Grosmont.