Month: March 2015
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Solar Eclipse, Capt. Cooks Monument
Roseberry Topping summit was heaving this morning waiting for the eclipse. Easby Moor wasn’t too busy but it had clouded up by the time I got there. The cloud meant I didn’t need the fancy glasses to see the crescent but the light was diffused so it didn’t get particularly dark. It certainly got colder.…
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Victorian Graffiti
Roseberry Topping gained its distinctive shape on a May night in 1912 when an land slump caused the cliff to collapse. At the time the ironstone mining was blamed but I understand that it is now thought to have been just a natural occurrence. But prior to 1912 the temptation to graffiti the summit sandstone was…
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Throckley Aqueduct
The second day of a two day residential for Year 4 pupils from a school in Lanchester. Next to the farm near Heddon-on-the-Wall where we were staying was this feature marked as an aqueduct on the map. I took the photo early this hazy morning before there was any movement from the kids’ wigwams. It turns out it…
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Knag Burn Gate, Hadrians Wall
A day on the wall near Housesteads.
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Daffs by the River Leven
My first “wild” daffs of the year. I’ve seen the odd one in sheltered gardens in the village. I don’t get out into the low lands much. This is by the River Leven half way between Stokesley and Great Ayton. I had to drop off a minibus in Stokesley so took the opportunity of running back…
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Whitewater Dash
A second day in the Back o’ Beyond as Wainwright put it. Discovered this superb waterfall. Probably the best I’ve seen in the Lake District. The photo only shows one of the several cataracts, about a quarter of the total drop. Higher up there was lying snow at 600m and a bitterly cold easterly wind.
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Skiddaw House
In the Lakes yesterday, Back o’Skiddaw. Stayed at Skiddaw House. No wifi, no mobile reception, no mains electricity, a great place.
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The Three Lords’ Stone
The Three Lords’ Stone, is so named after the three Lords: Duncombe of Helmsley, Marwood of Busby Hall and Aislesby, who had land in Scugdale. The boundaries of their respective estates met at the Stone. It is situated on the edge of a tumulus behind the present day Lord Stones Cafe. There is some inscription…
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Save School Farm
The penultimate day of the School Farm Development Appeal. The tenant farmers Mark and Kath had the chance to have their say today so I took the trip down to Northallerton in way of supporting them. If the appeal succeeds and the the development of School Farm for 113 houses goes ahead it will have…
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Searching for the Cook Family Cottage
What a change from yesterday. A bitterly cold wind. Helped out this morning with an archaeological survey in a small copse where it is thought the cottage was in which the young James Cook lived. The site is on National Trust land close to Aireyholme Farm where Cook’s father was employed as a farm labourer. Two surveys were…