Month: August 2022
-
Site of Blakey House
A lone gate post and some lumps and bumps mark the site of a long gone farmstead called Blakey House. The buildings must have been still extant pre-WW2 as is it recorded they were destroyed during military trainingfor that conflict. The age of the farmstead is given as ‘post medieval’ which could be anytime between…
-
The Ghost of Hoggart’s Wood
The Cleveland Hills once formed a intimidating barrier that kept the dales in isolation. Access was by steep unmade tracks, Turkey Nab, Clay Bank, Carlton Bank, Scarth Nick. Nowadays of course, (most of) these routes have been tarmaced and the internal combustion engine has made the climb so much easier. The route from Ingleby Greenhow…
-
Capt. Cook’s Monument
It’s been quite a few weeks since I last posted a photo of the dear old monument on Easby Moor to Great Ayton’s favourite son. Over the years, it’s been through its trials and tribulations. The originally one was made of wood and erected in 1827 but it caught fire and was replaced by the…
-
On a day like this …
… it is not hard to imagine the short stubby valley of Greenhow Botton being a lake impounded by the wall of glacial ice near Ingleby Greenhow. Analysis of the soils reveal the limit of the ice-front. Conspicious knolls, barely requiring more than one ring-contour above the surrounding dale, reveal the presence of sand and…
-
Tea on the Topping
From 2009, until Covid came along, the National Trust held their ‘Tea on the Topping’ event on the summit of Roseberry Topping on the first Sunday in August. Hot and cold drinks and homemade cakes, baked by staff and volunteers were sold in a pop-up tea room, everything including crockery, tables, boilers, gas bottles and…
-
A barrow of all seasons
I’ve posted about this Bronze Age bowl barrow many times before, here, here, here and here, but never in the summer, in a sea of purple heather. It’s on the highest point of Codhill Heights, a low subsidary top of Gisborough Moor and is the most obvious feature on a moor with other barrows, field…
-
The Marwood family
A tranquil River Leven as it flows through Great Ayton below the stone bridge. The edifice on the left is the Marwood primary school which opened in 1851 when the Postgate school closed up the top end of the village. It was endowed by the Rev. George Marwood, a major landowner in the village whose…
-
I love it when I can get to somewhere new
Even to see a different view of a familiar place. This is Bloworth Slack, the easternmost fork of upper Bransdale. There is no peace and quiet though — contractors were felling the coniferous plantation on the left with their heavy machinery. Bransdale is perhaps the remotest dale in the North York Moors. It’s hard to…
-
The mysterious coffin of Stokesley Church
When the nave of Stokesley Church was restored in 1771, a coffin was unearthed and, as it was found broken, it was opened. It was completely empty; there was nothing inside except “sawdust and shavings“. The coffin was supposed to contain the mortal remains of “Elyzabeth Hornsby” as recorded in the parish register books: “Buryed…
-
Clither Beck
Ruined cottages at Clither Beck. In the distance is Clitherbeck Farm or ‘Doubting Castle’ as it used to be called. Why, oh why was it renamed? This valley was once the scene of extensive coal mining activity. The coal comprised two seams overall 38cm thick with 10cm of shale in the middle at a depth…