Category: Osmotherley
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Ghosts on the Hambleton Road — Echoes of Drovers and a Lost Farmstead
High Mossy Grange, just off High Lane, that’s the local name for this section of Hambleton Road, an ancient route snaking from the southern reaches of England to bonny Scotland. Used to be a post-medieval farmstead, but now High Mossy Grange has all but been wiped off the map. What’s left is this patch of…
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From Asmund’s Clearing to Osmotherley
One imagines Osmotherley nestled snugly beneath the western fringes of the North York Moors. However, when seen from Green Lane, situated high to the east of the village, it becomes apparent that it occupies a rather exposed position, vulnerable to the gusts of southwesterly winds that sweep across the Vale of Mowbray. The dry fields…
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The forgotten High Dam at Cod Beck
In August 2021, in the aftermath of the Covid rules, I went on a guided walk led by a local historian to explore the history of Scarth Wood Moor. During the walk, the historian mentioned that the High Dam at Cod Beck had burst in 1857. According to my notes, a local farmer noticed the…
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Miley Pike
Miley Pike is a type of prehistoric round burial mound that was built during the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. These mounds are located in important positions throughout the North York Moors and are an important part of the area’s historical landscape. Round barrows are ancient monuments that were used for burials.…
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Recent deforestation of Thimberby bank has unveiled stunning vistas of the Vale of Mowbray
To the north, the honeypot village of Osmotherley, lies snuggly between the Hambleton Hills and the Cleveland Hills. The name, Osmotherley, is derived from ‘ley‘, a clearing, belonging to ‘Asmund’ or ‘Osmund’. Its title was recorded in the Domesday Book as ‘Asmundrelac’, before being transformed to ‘Osmundeslay’ and ‘Osmonderlay’. Yet, there is also a legendary…
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Cod Beck Reservoir — a view from Swinestye lane
Opened in 1953, the 115 million gallon reservoir has grown in popularity since it was first opened to the public in 1989 after Yorkshire Water was privatised. The surrounding woodland, planted soon afterwards, is now being cleared, and it won’t be too long before the ruins of the two old farms once again see the…
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Neil’s Howe
It was pleasing to see the Nelson Stone restored to its correct postion. Or should I say the 19th-century boundary stone. One of the last times I was here, in 2017, it had vanished. I learnt later it had unceremoniously been dumped in a nearby pond. That act of vandalism must have taken some doing.…
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A bit of a wet morning. This was the best of the dozen or so photos I took.
It’s rare to find Osmotherley, or ‘Ossy’ as the village is commonly known, deserted and free of visitors and cars. The name derives from Asmundr, a Scandinavian who settled in a ‘leah‘ here, the Old English word for a clearing. Forget the old myth that Prince Oswy was buried here next to his grieving mother…
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Catoptrical wonderment
After the storm of the weekend, Cod Beck Reservoir looks very serene this Monday morning.
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Cod Beck Reservoir
The head of the reservoir in the Sheep Wash valley captures the low-lying November sun. Cod Beck Reservoir was opened in 1953 for the Northallerton and District Water Board, but one had actually been mooted in the 19th-century as part of a proposed scheme by the Borough of Stockton-on-Tees. In the Parliamentary session for 1869,…