Out & About …

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

Month: February 2019

  • A tree guard in the making

    A tree guard in the making

    According to an old Chinese proverb “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” I was reminded of this today when planting an oak sapling in Bransdale. It will take 20 to 30 years until it produces its first acorns and might even still be around…

  • Dances with sheep

    Dances with sheep

    A flock of Aireyholme sheep complete a short set piece of contemporary dance. Very niche. A carefully choreographed outdoor performance that is a joyful exercise in shape, rhythm and sound. But back to reality, another cracking day. Should we be worried? On this day last year, we woke up to a good snowfall with a…

  • Hanging Stone, Danby Dale

    Hanging Stone, Danby Dale

    When the Reverend J.C.Atkinson became the vicar of the parish of Danby in 1847 there was no village of Danby and as far as he could ascertain there had never been one. There was a Danby Dale, a Danby Rigg and a Danby Castle. There were several hamlets: Dale End, Little Fryup and Ainthorpe, and…

  • Busby lambs

    Busby lambs

    First of the Spring lambs. These do look a week or so old. Near to Great Busby. Lambing is planned so that the best price is obtained when the lambs are eventually sold as a glut of lambs coming to market at the same time will mean a lower price. Some farmers in the south…

  • Goathland

    Goathland

    In the mid-19th-century a village of Goathland didn’t exist, just a handful of isolated farms separated by wide tracts of common land providing routes between farms and the surrounding moorland. The Duchy of Lancaster claim ownership of this common land and until a few years ago allowed residents the right to cross it in order…

  • Bella Dale Slack

    Bella Dale Slack

    Another bright glorious day walking around Scaling Dam Reservoir but once again marred by smoke from moor burning. Bella Dale on Easington High Moor. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Upper Ryedale and Snilesworth Moor

    Upper Ryedale and Snilesworth Moor

    The gamekeepers have taken advantage of the vernal weather to burn the heather on their moors. Plumes of smoke can be seen right across the skyline, creating a haze. The smoke from these burns on Snilesworth Moor was drifting as far as Sheepwash, spoiling the day for families enjoying half term walking around the reservoir.…

  • Bridestones Moor

    Bridestones Moor

    Spent the day on Bridestones Moor, just north of Dalby Forest. It’s so easy to forget that it’s still only February. A glorious day. Buzzards soaring high, ladybirds active and sap rising from the newly cut trees. Tree felling and scrub clearance are now almost finished for yet another winter. Time to give the wildlife…

  • On Dead Man’s Hill

    On Dead Man’s Hill

    Or the continuing story of Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib. We parked up at Scar House Reservoir at the top of Nidderdale last night and from across the reservoir, Dead Man’s Hill beckoned. A plan formed for my morning run. There was no phone reception at Scar House Reservoir so I had to wait…

  • Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib

    Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib

    Ee, I love maps me. I happened to notice the name “Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib” marked on the map of Fountains Earth Moor overlooking Nidderdale, and so I just had to suss them out. It turned out they were two gritstone towers carved by the wind and rain, on the edge of but…