Category: Battersby Moor
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Geese over the Moor, Jets in the Sky: My Morning Routine Disturbed
Wednesday mornings have become a predictable affair—each week beginning with a stroll across Battersby Moor. This morning, however, my private reverie were rudely interrupted by the coarse honking of a skein of geese, or what I dare venture to call greylags, flapping about in that charmingly organised way they have, perhaps several hundred strong, hurtling…
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Mists of Misinformation: Chemtrails
A splendid summer morning, the sky an unblemished expanse of blue with the occasional fluffy cloud. Above Battersby Moor, a puffy white streak trails behind an unseen aeroplane, an innocuous contrail formed predominantly from water vapour. Yet, a growing faction of the population insists these are not mere vestiges of aviation but harbingers of malevolence.…
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Rapeseed Transforms the Vale of Cleveland
The expansive fields of rapeseed, ablaze with its yellow flowers, command this view of the vale of Cleveland from Battersby Moor, presenting a picturesque mosaic of greens and yellows. Rapeseed, grown for its oil, a staple in cooking, fuel, and other products, graces landscapes worldwide, transforming into a breathtaking spectacle during its bloom. Easby Moor,…
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Burton Howe — A Bronze Age round barrow
Just adjacent to the Cleveland Way, as it slogs its way along the landrover track on Greenhow Bank, lies Burton Howe, topped with its medieval parish boundary marker stone. Perched at an elevation of 433 metres (1,419 feet), it affords a splendid view of the Cleveland Plain, stretching westward along the line of the Cleveland…
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Coleson Bank
This is not a route I use that often. A deep sunken track from Battersby up and over the moor to Baysdale. It gives an impression of some age, but its original purpose has been lost in antiquity. I suspect it may have been the route initially used by Bernard de Balliol (of Barnard Castle…
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Turkey Nab
I’ve just watched the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the USA, the first time I’ve ever watched such a ceremony. I now reside in a feeling of immense relief. Both America and ourselves take pride in our liberal democracies. But there are huge idiosyncrasies on both sides. Our unelected House of…
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Battersby Bank
Damn, I wish I had dug my skis out of the loft. The only trouble with ‘skiløping‘ in this country is the extreme variation we get in the snow conditions. Down in the valley, there is just a ‘flindrikin‘ or smattering of snow that fell yesterday and froze overnight, but high on the moors, a crust had…
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Battersby Crag
I first came across this old rusty gate many years ago when I was planning a night navigation exercise. That must have been in the 1990s. I had waded down through the steep heathery slope, stopping on top of the crag and looking down on to the spikes. For an instance, my heart missed a…
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One of The Three Sisters
A late evening view across to Easby Moor from above Turkey Nab. The 1857 Ordnance Survey map names this spring as The Three Sisters (one of). Her other two sisters are each 500m away to the north and south-east. This spring now flows into a covered concrete tank surrounded by a rickety fence but the…