Author: Fhithich
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Skinningrove Jetty
The old jetty at Skinningrove dominates the uncommercialised Cattersty Sands. It was built in the 1870s when the first two blast furnaces were built on the hill overlooking the little fishing village of Skinningrove. Later the works were enlarged to include five blast furnaces, with four in continuous operation. At this time the iron-smelting industry…
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Long lost pubs of Chop Gate
The most substantive village in Bilsdale. The name, Chop Gate, pronounced ‘Chop Yat‘ in the vernacular, is thought to be derived from the Old English ‘ceap‘, which means a pedlar (chapman), hence the ‘pedlar’s road’. Perhaps this indicates that maybe once numerous trackways converged here from across the moors and the village was a thriving…
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Start of the Lyke Wake Walk
Or is it the finish? A 40 forty mile walk across the highest parts of the North York Moors, with most people tending to start here and finish at Ravenscar on the coast. Since its inception in 1955, the idea of the late Bill Cowley, the walk rapidly gained in popularity during the 60s/70s; in…
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Gribdale and Easby Moor from Cliff Rigg
St Swithin’s day if thou dost rain’ For forty days it will remain; St Swithin’s day if thou be fair, For forty days will rain na mair. So goes the well-known rhyme, and as it’s St Swithin’s day, and as it’s been a lovely dry day, a summer of sunshine awaits us. It all began…
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Yorkshire’s Matterhorn
A rushed snap as I pedalled home along Easby Lane. I don’t know who first compared Roseberry Topping with the Matterhorn. I traced one reference to 1890 but suspect it was already well in use. It is likely that the comparison dates from a few decades earlier following the first ascent of the ‘real’ Matterhorn…
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Guibal fan-house, Skelton Shaft ironstone mine
A great visit around the surface remains of the Skelton Park and Skelton Shaft Ironstone Mines, guided by the knowledgeable Simon and Steve from the Cleveland Mining History Society (CMHS). Along with the powder magazine, the fan-house at Skelton Shaft are the only buildings remaining. The rest of the site was demolished as a condition of…
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Cranimoor
Just ten minutes earlier the “hog-backed sweep of Cranimoor” as Frank Elgee wrote was clear. Time to head back to the car before the weather deteriorates. I am on Cold Moor looking across the col of Little Raisdale, for want of a better name. At 432 m, Cringle Moor, to give the hill its more…
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A live posting
Thought I would take an evening stroll. It’s very quiet up here on Cliff Ridge. Just the odd car moving below. Anything happening in the world? Only kidding. But I’m not the least interested in watching football. Of course, I want England to win, for the delight of my family and friends. But what irritates…
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Bell heather – the most beautiful of the heathers
This day, in 1940, is officially recognised as the start of the Battle of Britain, a fight for control of the skies that would begin the German bombing campaign known as the Blitz. A bombing campaign against British cities was not unforeseen. Before the war, the Chamberlain government feared deadly raids by the German Luftwaffe,…
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Rudland Rigg
I have often wondered what the old medieval roads across the moors were like. The temptation is to imagine they were similar to modern access roads but these have had the benefit of contemporary maintenance techniques with hydrocarbon fuelled machines. I think pot-holes and deep mud would have been the norm. Route were north-south, following…