Out & About …

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

Month: June 2021

  • Heath bedstraw, Roseberry Common

    Heath bedstraw, Roseberry Common

    Two summers ago (1 B.C. – Before Covid) Roseberry Common was sprayed with Asulox, an herbicide that specifically targets bracken. The intention was that a breed of hardy cattle would then be introduced which would over time control the bracken by trampling any remaining rhizomes and fronds. In addition it was expected that an annual…

  • Joseph Toyn 1838-1924, president of the Cleveland Miners’ Association

    Joseph Toyn 1838-1924, president of the Cleveland Miners’ Association

    Out on my bike today, so I thought I would pop in to Skelton Park Pit to see how the Cleveland Mining Heritage Society are getting on with preserving the surface remains of the old ironstone mine. I thought Tuesdays were their days. But alas, no one around, and as it’s all on private land,…

  • WW2 Aircraft Crash Site, Urra Moor

    WW2 Aircraft Crash Site, Urra Moor

    A return to Urra Moor. Second day in a row. I have been minded to try to find this site for some time. Armed with an eight digit grid reference, it was surprisingly easy to find, the pieces of bleached aluminium had been piled up and acted as a beacon. The wreckage is of an…

  • Botton Head

    Botton Head

    An obscure sandstone outcrop on Carr Ridge of Urra Moor, and overlooking to narrow north-facing valley of Ingleby Botton. The word Botton comes  from an Old Scandinavian word ‘Botn’ for a hollow or head of a valley of just this shape, rounded and flat-bottomed. The early surveyors of the Ordnance Survey must have misinterpreted the local…

  • Foxgloves – the beginning of high summer

    Foxgloves – the beginning of high summer

    Despite the dreich morning, the foxgloves are a timely reminder that Spring is behind us and we are now at the beginning of high summer. This crop have taken over a cleared plantation on Round Hill near Gribdale, felled a couple of years ago. Along with ox-eye daisies, foxgloves have the largest number of different…

  • The Battle of Homildon Hill

    The Battle of Homildon Hill

    I just love it when I learn something new out the blue. The plan was an early start to bag Humbleton Hill, a 298 metre hill overlooking Wooler. On the map, a hill peppered with Gothic letters: a couple of settlements, a fort, a hut circle, and a homestead. Plenty to pique my interest. But…

  • The Cheviots

    The Cheviots

    Exploring the lower foothills of The Cheviot today. I had set out with the intention of bagging the big one but my mind still thinks I’m four decades younger. And it was a bit warm and I’ve always suffered in the heat. But enough excuses. A remarkably peaceful area ,especially after the coast. I only…

  • Howick Haven

    Howick Haven

    One of the many small sandy bays along this stretch of the Northumbrian coast between Boulmer and Caistor. At the turn of this century, an amateur archaeologist spotted some worked flints protruding out of an eroded sandy cliff just beyond the far side of the bay. He reported the finds to Newcastle University who investigated…

  • Sir Guy, the Seeker

    Sir Guy, the Seeker

    One stormy night, a brave and noble knight, Sir Guy, is riding along the coast and arrives at Dunstanburgh Castle on the Northumbrian coast. Suddenly the gates burst open to reveal a tall old man with a white beard and a halo of flames flickering around his bald head. Around his waist, there is a…

  • New memorial on Roseberry

    New memorial on Roseberry

    I must admit to feeling some disappointment when I found this wooden cross erected on the summit of Roseberry this morning. It’s some weight and would have been quite a task to carry it up. Even if it’s not intended to be permanent, is it fair to blight the hill for everyone else? And is…