Author: Fhithich
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Eskdale’s stolen water
The sandstone boundary stone on the left is inscribed “RC” the initials of Robert Chaloner, the 19th-century landowner and lord of the manor of Guisborough, but it is the waterlogged ditch in front which took my interest today. Mapped as “The Race” it is a leat semi-circumventing Hutton Moor, capturing the water runoff from draining…
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Blackstone Edge
With the young scion installed back at uni, a chance to explore the Pennines on the way back home. Blackstone Edge, a gritstone escarpment conveniently just off the M62 and overlooking the conurbation of Manchester. The map named Robin Hood’s Bed just south of the summit which sounded interesting but as I didn’t know what…
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All Saints Church, Great Ayton
All Saints Church is tucked away behind the Conservation Club and only briefly visible from Yarm Lane. A brief glimpse then of sunlit sandstone as I cycled past on an otherwise overcast day. The church is Great Ayton’s original church. The main building is predominately 12thcentury but Pevsner, the renown architectural historian, suggests the walls contain fragments of masonry…
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Cockshaw Quarry
A glorious evening, very autumnal although Autumn is still a week or so away. Cockshaw is a very abused part of the escarpment between Captain Cook’s Monument and Roseberry Topping. The sandstone cap was intensively quarried. Lower down the remains of a clamp, leaching pits and cisterns for the alum industry can be traced, except…
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Durham Cathedral
A few hours to kill in a city and where better than Durham. Did the cathedral tour but no cameras allowed inside and plenty of church police to enforce the rules. Sorry, “guides”, enthusiastic but over friendly for my liking. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Newlands Beck
Good for nothing today after yesterday’s exertions so posting another photo from the Lake District; and just to show that the sun did make an appearance. This was taken in the shelter of Newlands Beck just before I crested High Scawdel and met the full force of the wind. I failed to find the name…
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Somewhere in the Lakes
A bit of a dilemma, this weekend I’ve been in a deep valley in the Lakes with no wifi access. This means that I have two days worth of photos. Yesterday was sunny and clear and a walk around the lake produced several shots worthy of a Christmas card. Today, however, the weather forecast was…
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Skelton Pond
Not such an ugly duckling. A brood of eight cygnets with a pair of adults. And very tame, no doubt expecting stale bread. Could Skelton Pond be the fish pond mentioned in a 13th-century document? Or where a witch drowned herself after being chased following a murder? I have my doubts. Witches are so 17th…
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Leven Gorge
Upstream from Great Ayton and Easby the River Leven is confined by a narrow gorge as it flows through Mill Bank Wood. A few hundred metres downstream from here, where the gorge widens a little, is the site of a bleach and fulling mill that can be dated back to the 14th century. In the…
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The Leven
A purling brook swift gliding from its fount, From Botton Head (that sterile, craggy cliff), The rill descends, meanders down the hill, The woody Hagg its course continues on, By Ingleby then gurgling through the meads, Loses its current, and the Leven joins; So runs the Leven down from Kildale’s brows, Thence falls to Easby,…