Category: North York Moors
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“Riviera Britain? Sorry, it’s just hot air.”
So headlined an article in the Daily Mail written by Piers Corbyn, hailed as “Britain’s top weather expert”, 25 years ago tomorrow. Way back in 1996. The report was in response to a prediction by the Climate Change Impacts Review Group which warned that global warming would have the effect of moving Britain 100 miles…
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Farndale
I haven’t really had much to do with upper Farndale. I’ve used the old mineral railway track many times, Rudland Rigg on the far side less so, but actually being in the upper dale, I can only think of a couple of occasions, crossing it directly. There are no footpaths along the dale. Of course,…
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Heath bedstraw, Roseberry Common
Two summers ago (1 B.C. – Before Covid) Roseberry Common was sprayed with Asulox, an herbicide that specifically targets bracken. The intention was that a breed of hardy cattle would then be introduced which would over time control the bracken by trampling any remaining rhizomes and fronds. In addition it was expected that an annual…
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WW2 Aircraft Crash Site, Urra Moor
A return to Urra Moor. Second day in a row. I have been minded to try to find this site for some time. Armed with an eight digit grid reference, it was surprisingly easy to find, the pieces of bleached aluminium had been piled up and acted as a beacon. The wreckage is of an…
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Botton Head
An obscure sandstone outcrop on Carr Ridge of Urra Moor, and overlooking to narrow north-facing valley of Ingleby Botton. The word Botton comes from an Old Scandinavian word ‘Botn’ for a hollow or head of a valley of just this shape, rounded and flat-bottomed. The early surveyors of the Ordnance Survey must have misinterpreted the local…
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Foxgloves – the beginning of high summer
Despite the dreich morning, the foxgloves are a timely reminder that Spring is behind us and we are now at the beginning of high summer. This crop have taken over a cleared plantation on Round Hill near Gribdale, felled a couple of years ago. Along with ox-eye daisies, foxgloves have the largest number of different…
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The Cheviots
Exploring the lower foothills of The Cheviot today. I had set out with the intention of bagging the big one but my mind still thinks I’m four decades younger. And it was a bit warm and I’ve always suffered in the heat. But enough excuses. A remarkably peaceful area ,especially after the coast. I only…
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New memorial on Roseberry
I must admit to feeling some disappointment when I found this wooden cross erected on the summit of Roseberry this morning. It’s some weight and would have been quite a task to carry it up. Even if it’s not intended to be permanent, is it fair to blight the hill for everyone else? And is…
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Lonsdale Quarry
I often end up at this quarry. It avoids a good chunk of the busy gravel track along the escarpment between Gribdale and Little Roseberry. In all the years I think I have only seen anyone else here once – a couple wild camping. Its name appears on the 1853 O.S. map, and is probably…
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Miners’ Bait Table
Has it really been 50 years since the potash mine at Boulby was opened? If so, it was before my time, I was still at uni. I can’t ever remember it not being there. It was certainly controversial at the time. “… the classic battle between the beauty of a national park and the beast…