Month: November 2018
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Hanging Stone and the Vale of Mowbray
A hammer-shaped sandstone rock on the southern end of Thimbleby Bank, between Osmotherley and Over Silton and offering fine views across the Vale of Mowbray. Views which were spoilt by the noise of a constant barrage of gunshots, many a clay pigeon blasted to smithereens. The Vale of Mowbray is that the broad lowlands between…
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Sunshine on Grime Moor
Volunteering with the National Trust on Bridestones Moor. On a wet, windy day with poor visbility a moor can feel so inhospitable. But then quite suddenly the front passes, blue skies emerge, and the sun shines on Grime Moor. It’s back to being magical. Grime Moor is the pasture in the distance; ‘Grime’ is derived…
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One man and his reluctant dog
From his origins in Germanic and Norse mythologies Odin has been a revered god associated with many things: wisdom, healing, death, royalty, the gallows, knowledge, battle, sorcery, poetry, frenzy, war. The list goes on to include the wind and it was certainly a wee bit windy on Odin’s hill today. How strong? I guessed a…
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Holloway, Faceby Plantation
What must be an old forgotten track climbing the escarpment onto the moors through Faceby Plantation. It must be an ancient route. But leading to where? It seems to head towards the Public Footpath and linear earthwork which tops the skyline on Live Moor at Road Head above the spring with the delightful name of…
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Park Nab from Percy Rigg
Park Nab, like a sleeping dragon with its breath creeping up the hillside. A dismal forecast. A day for keeping local. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Castleton and the Upper Esk Valley
From Danby Low Moor, to the north of Castleton in the Esk valley. The ‘New Road’ to Westerdale is reflected in the morning sun contouring around Rigg End, the appropriately named north end of Castleton Rigg. The south-west tip of Castleton village is on the left, Perhaps somewhere in the photo lies the site of…
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A whiter shade of grey
I’ve been stalking this squirrel all week. It’s far more timid than other grey squirrels which I suppose has helped it to survive. I took this during a ten minute stand off. I lost patience first and tried to get closer, then ignominiously slipped down a bank. This is the third time I’ve seen a…
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St Germain’s Church Tower
When St. Germain’s church was demolished in the 1950s the Saxon tower was left standing as an essential navigation aid for boats sailing up and down the coast. Nowadays of course, with the advent of GPS, such landmarks are no longer required. The church had been rebuilt in 1821 when the spire was added to…
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Crosscliffe Beck
A dreich day with a mantle of mist over the trees that persisted all day. Separating the great expanses of Forestry Commission planting of Dalby and Langdale, Crosscliff Beck rises near Blakey Topping eventually flowing into the River Derwent. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Nuthatch
You will probably hear this little bird before you see it. It’s very vocal, singing a variety of loud songs with lots of different whistle-sounding notes. It’s the nuthatch, nut jobber, nut cracker, nut pecker or wood cracker. All referring to its habit of lodging nuts in crevices in the bark of trees to crack…