Kildale Moor Revisited

Ah yes, for the second day in a row, I found myself wandering around Kildale Moor, once again staring down at Sleddale Slack—though, to keep things fresh, I chose a slightly different vantage point. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Off to the right, perched on the high ground, is Percy Rigg, home to a farm that’s gone through more name changes than a washed-up social media site. It was once View Hill or Viewley Hill Farm, and before that, in a moment of rustic honesty, simply Piggery Farm.

The farmhouse, a sturdy relic of practicality, probably sprang up around 1700 before being spruced up in 1783 by one Charles Turner, an “agricultural improver” who apparently had a penchant for knocking down and rebuilding things across the Kildale Estate. Later on, the place got yet another facelift, including a cow house range forming a picturesque little courtyard to the west of the farmhouse.

But let’s not get too carried away with history. The real star of the foreground is none other than Juncus, or what I’ll boldly identify as Soft Rush. It thrives in the soggy, ill-drained patches of the moors, happily coexisting with the likes of Bog and Hair Mosses—nature’s way of reminding us that some places simply refuse to dry out.

Locals, ever poetic, used to call Soft Rush Seves, a catch-all term for a few Juncus varieties, its pith formerly pressed into service as wicks in candle-making¹Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE. Page 440. Over in Whitby, they get even more creative and dub it Clock-seaves²SERIES C. ORIGINAL GLOSSARIES AND GLOSSARIES WITH FRESH ADDITIONS. IV. A GLOSSARY OF WORDS USED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF WHITBY BY F. K. ROBINSON, LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY BY TRÜBNER & CO. MDCCCLXXVI.. Meanwhile, its tougher, scrappier cousin, Reshes—also known as Wire-rush or Hardrush—keeps to the wilder, uncultivated spots, standing short and stiff like an old man refusing to bend with the times³Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE. Page 409/577. Nature, as always, is full of characters.

• 1
  Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE. Page 440
• 2
  SERIES C. ORIGINAL GLOSSARIES AND GLOSSARIES WITH FRESH ADDITIONS. IV. A GLOSSARY OF WORDS USED IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD OF WHITBY BY F. K. ROBINSON, LONDON: PUBLISHED FOR THE ENGLISH DIALECT SOCIETY BY TRÜBNER & CO. MDCCCLXXVI.
• 3
  Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE. Page 409/577