Author: Fhithich
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“Its’ t’biggest Mountain in oll Yorkshire”
Roseberry made an appearance in a play once, in a farce of two acts called ‘The Registry-Office’ by Stockton-on-Tees born Joseph Reed. It was staged at the Theatre Royal in Drury Lane in 1761 and received the attentions of the Lord Chamberlain’s office because of its profanity and double entendres. An 18th-century ‘Registry Office’ was…
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Furthering the Right to Roam
Today is the anniversary of the Mass Trespass of 1932, when four to five hundred ramblers climbed Kinder Scout in the Peak District in defiance of the restrictions on access at the time. Their aim was to establish a public right of access onto the moors that were privately owned for grouse shooting. The movement…
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‘A Yorkshire Tragedy’
What to post about today? It’s either feast or famine. Could I muse misty-eyed about the feast day of a venerated Roman soldier who was born in Turkey of Greek stock and who (probably) never set foot in England and (also probably) never slew a dragon. Or I could celebrate the birthday in 1564 of…
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A Bransdale dry stone wall – before and after
Today, there are about fifteen occupied farms and cottages scattered throughout Bransdale, making a population of around about 40. At the beginning of the 19th-century it was about 400. There were shoemakers, innkeepers, millers, shopkeepers, schoolteachers, dairymen, jetminers, as well as the expected farmers and agricultural workers. Far outnumbering the humans in the dale are…
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Cleveland Hills
A peaceful rural scene. How different it would look today if the giant oil companies had found “black gold” in the 1930s. A forest of oil derricks and nodding donkeys? In 1938, the Gulf Exploration Company began drilling for oil in the Cleveland Hills. 30 men were employed, seeking the oil that the jet miners…
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Kirkcarrion
I’ve never done the Pennine Way. All the way that is, in one go. I’ve done bits. Crossed it many times, but I’ve only ever been in the dales north of the A66, Baldersdale and Lunesdale, once before as I recall. So I was quite looking forward for a run along the Pennine Way from…
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Low Force
Another day, another waterfall. Less dramatic than its big brother, High Force, Low Force is another of the waterfalls in this dramatic landscape of upper Teesdale. It’s a popular tourist destination. The predominant geology of Teesdale is Carboniferous sedimentary rock but it has been intruded by a number of distinct igneous rocks. It is the…
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Cauldron Snout, Teesdale
In the Times, 20 April 1960: VICAR APOLOGIZES TO PARENTS, CURATE’S INCENTIVE TEST, FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT, SUNDERLAND, APRIL 19, The Vicar of St Thomas’s, Pennywell, Sunderland, the Rev. M. P. Kent, tonight apologized to the parents of 37 children who had been taken by his curate the Rev. Michael Fox, aged 29, to Teesdale, 50…
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View to Guisborough over Old Park Farm
I nearly copped it today. Mowed down by some mountain biker careering down a Public Footpath, the Cleveland Way no less, between Percy Rigg and Highcliff. I failed to get a photo but did take some of other cyclists on the same Public Footpath but riding more considerately. In the end, I’ve opted to post…
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“At our feet lay the little village of Newton …”
In 1887, an account of one person’s ascent of Roseberry Topping appeared in the Leeds Mercury. Unfortunately the identity of the correspondent is unreadable: “… After a brief survey of the ruins [Guisborough Priory] we proceeded to Pinchinthorpe, whence we had a pleasant walk to the village of Newton, and leaving the village green and…