Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Category: Cliff Rigg

  • Roseberry Topping

    Roseberry Topping

    Woke up this morning to a hard frost, overcast but bright skies in the distant out over the North Sea. By nine o’clock, a whiteout. Utter chaos, all roads south at a standstill. By tea time, blue skies, roads clear, and, with Roseberry as a backdrop, warm enough for a moment’s reflection. Open Space Web-Map…

  • Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.

    Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.

    “Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.” So goes one version of the old saying based on generations of observations of farmers and seafarers. A saying that was first documented in the Bible although probably in use long before that. In Matthew (ch. 16 v. 2), When it is…

  • Sunset on Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Sunset on Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Headed up to Cliff Rigg to view the sunset which sort of fizzled out. The ridge is part of the Cleveland Dyke and is a protrusion of very hard volcanic rock cutting through the surrounding older sedimentary rocks. Formed 58 million years ago from a volcano near the Isle of Mull, it outcrops in many…

  • Early riser

    Early riser

    Eighty minutes after a warm October dawn, although the sun had yet to make an appearance, a butterfly caught my eye. A flighty thing but after ten minutes of stalking I managed to grab this shot. Not the best specimen, it looks as though chunks are missing from the ends of its wings, but by…

  • Parasol Mushroom, Roseberry

    Parasol Mushroom, Roseberry

    I love mushrooms. SautĂ©ed in butter with a hint of garlic. And if this is a Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota procera, it is reputed to be one of the best to eat. But if it’s a False Parasol, Chlorophyllum molybdites, I would be in trouble as it’s poisonous. Although native to North America it has been found in Scotland. Or then it could…

  • Capt. Cooks’ Cottage Archaelogical Dig

    Capt. Cooks’ Cottage Archaelogical Dig

    That’s it. That’s as far as we go. The archaeological excavation at Aireyholme Farm, near Great Ayton, is done.  Today has been spent tidying and cleaning for photographing and recording. Going on the evidence of oral tradition of the farmer at Aireyholme that the boyhood home of Capt. James Cook was within a stand of…

  • Cliff Rigg

    Cliff Rigg

    Dashed up to Cliff Rigg above Great Ayton to catch the sunset. Not spectacular but good after a dull overcast morning.

  • Aireyholme Farm Archaeological Dig – Outcome

    Following my post of the 7 May several readers have asked the outcome of the archaeological dig at Aireyholme Farm. This is an extra post giving you an idea what was found and conclusions. The object was to find evidence of a 18c dwelling at a site on National Trust land at Cliff Rigg, 200m south…

  • Archaeological Dig – Aireyholme Farm

    Archaeological Dig – Aireyholme Farm

    Spent the day digging a hole. Well taking part in an archaeological dig really to find the boyhood home of Capt. James Cook. It’s well known that James’ father was employed at Aireyholme Farm near Great Ayton and his family lived there with him at the farm. What is not known is precisely where the…

  • Kip, Cliff Rigg Incline

    Kip, Cliff Rigg Incline

    The ruined wall is the top of the self acting incline used to haul wagons of ironstone down the escarpment at the Cliff Rigg end of Newton Wood. It is known as a “kip”; the snow accentuates the profile. A rake of wagons full of iron ore was lowered down the incline by a steel rope wrapped around a…