Category: Guisborough
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Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease’s Thoroughbred Hunters and Bousdale Farm
Bousdale Farm, perched on the plateau of Bousdale Hill, provides a splendid panoramic view of Guisborough and, in the distance, the North Sea. Although the farm was likely constructed in the early 1880s, it does not appear on the 1881 census. Apparently, the buildings were initially erected to accommodate Sir Joseph Whitwell Pease’s prized thoroughbred […]
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Highcliffe Nab — observer of history
Guisborough is an ancient place, with a long and varied history. It was important enough during the time of the Conquest to be listed in the Domesday Book, a detailed record of The Conqueror’s ill-gotten gains, although it was of relatively low value, contributing just a few shillings per year to the royal coffers. Over […]
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Butts and bullets: A bimble up Butt Lane
Walking up Butt Lane (right of centre in the photo), I couldn’t help but notice the “tree-mendous” (sorry) amount of felling that’s taken place in Guisborough Woods in recent years. And, lo and behold, I saw an obvious path leading upwards. I had never seen it before, which turned out to be the work of […]
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Ryston Nab
Ryston Nab, or Hanging Stone, overlooking Guisborough. A bit dreich on the tops, with rain and gale force winds. Guisborough is a market town and civil parish in the Borough of Redcar and Cleveland. Even though it has been over half a century since it lost its Yorkshire association, for many folk, Guisborough will always […]
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Ruthergate
My plan was to take a photo of an old route from Guisborough climbing Kemplah Bank on to Hill Plain. The pasture fields of Hill Plain can be seen in the top left corner, while Ruthergate is recognisable by the diagonal line of dark green gorse that stands out against the brown of the withered […]
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A boundary stone on Hutton Moor
A boundary stone on Hutton Moor inscribed on the north-east face with “RC TC 1856” which stand for Robert and Thomas Chaloner who inherited the manor of Guisborough in turn on the death of their father, also named Robert, in 1842. On this day in 1649, the funeral of King Charles I took place. His […]
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Today is the 380th anniversary of the Battle of Guisborough, fought between the Royalists and the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War
I’ve posted about the battle before: here and here. The conventional thinking was that the battle took place on the east side of the town, in fields off Butt Lane. But recent metal detector finds suggest another site for the battle — on the west side of the town, to the north of Hutton Hall. […]
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I walked past the entrance to Sleddale Farm today
There have been several noticeable changes since, in the late 1970s, just before Christmas, I would take a bottle of malt to the Sleddale farmers — two brothers by the name of Proud if I recall — in recognition of them allowing the Guisborough Moors Race to run through their farmyard. Neither of the two […]
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The natural temptation, when standing on Highcliffe Nab is to look north over Guisborough town …
… this view is south — towards Highcliffe Farm, Codhill Slack and Percy Cross Rigg. Highcliffe Farm is an exposed location, gaining no shelter from both northerly and southerly winds. In 1908, it was being farmed by Thomas Wedgewood. One day Wedgwood and a farm labourer were snaring rabbits on the hillside when he noticed […]
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“Spare the Trees”
“Two facts confront us, and deserve serious consideration. The forests of the world are going just as the coal beneath our feet is going — man is a cooking animal, and must have fuel. In all the great outlets of water floods multiply, and become more and more destructive. We are compelled to ask if […]