Author: Fhithich
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Lowcross Swangs
A pastoral scene looking across Lowcross Swangs to Barnabyside of Eston Moor. A ‘swang‘ is a Yorkshire term for a low-lying piece of grassland that is liable to flooding. To the left of the photo, the drainage is west to the River Tame and eventually the Tees; to the right, the flow is east into…
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The Matthew Paris map
How do you like your maps? Do you treat them with reverence, still in their pristine covers and neatly filed numerically? Or are they coverless, coming apart at the seams through years of use and being folded in origami shapes to cram into a map case? The thing we all probably have in common is…
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St. Swithin’s Day
A damp run on the moors this morning. Light rain, hardly wetting the paving slabs on Coate Moor. Would it though, be enough to satisfy St. Swithin, who according to the legend, if it rained today (15th July), it will be the start of forty days of rain. He was bishop of Winchester Cathedral and…
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Port Mulgrave
Every time I go to Port Mulgrave, it still feels very much the same, yet much has changed. The winter storms have eroded the old jetty. The harbour has become more silted, the fishermen’s huts more elaborate. Some now are clearly contenders for Grand Designs. Landslips have caused the steep paths down the cliff to…
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Armouth Wath
The North York Moors is not renown for its coalfields, but in the late 18th-century, coal was being mined here but on a much smaller scale than the deeper coalfields in other parts of the country. ‘Moor Coal’ seams are thin, usually between 15 and 55 cm. thick and generally occur in three bands, the…
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The Red Poppy
Look, how the Poppies flaunt their red-red flags O’er all yon cornfield,—beauty out of place! So when the angel Peace would bless our race, The demon War, in horrid triumph, drags His gore-stain’d chariot; drums and trumpets sound To nerve the soldier’s arm to burn and slay, And showy banners are unfurl’d alway,— All fitter…
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The Leven at Little Ayton
A tranquil feel to the River Leven this morning down by Holme’s Bridge. And warm too. I was reminded of the halcyon days of early lockdown. The Leven, named after the Celtic water-nymph, ‘Leuan‘. A surprising number of rivers have names deriving from Celtic; surviving in spite of the influence of the Saxons and Scandinavians,…
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Westworth Reservoir
Originally built to supply water for Guisborough town, Westworth Reservoir was constructed in 1875 and continued until the early 1970s when the water supply system was replaced. It was retained as a water supply in the event of a forest fire. However, by the end of the century, the dam’s structure was in danger due…
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Lowcross Farm
I remember being intrigued by the wall of this barn when driving past it on the old road which went through Lowcross Farm, near Pinchinthorpe. The farm has long since been by-passed and the memory had faded but a recent visit to the stables there worked a few brain cells. The holes are for ventilation,…
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Coledale Hause
A grand morning with the tops free of cloud so the high fells beckoned. From Lanthwaite near Crummock Water, straight onto the south-west ridge of Whiteside, then a ridge run to Hopegill Head and back via Coledale Hause and Gasgale Gill. Back in time for breakfast. The culmination of a good few days in the…