Out & About …

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

Little Hograh Moor Bomb Crater

Little Hograh Moor Bomb Crater

Another trip to Little Hograh Moor, above Hob Hole in Baysdale. Honestly, I haven’t been this way for months for my third visit in a fortnight.

This small pond, locally dubbed Frank’s Pond, is actually a 1942 bomb crater, according to Tom Burns Scott. A solitary bomb, jettisoned, I imagine, from a Luftwaffe bomber in order to reduce weight for its flight back to Germany, although I haven’t managed to find any reports to substantiate.

1942 was a turbulent year for bombing raids in the North East. The 3rd August saw eight people killed when Middlesbrough Railway Station was bombed by a low-flying Dornier aircraft.

During that summer, many raids targetted Teesside’s industries, Billingham ICI, the shipbuilding yards on the Tees, Hartlepool, and further afield in the North East.

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6 responses to “Little Hograh Moor Bomb Crater”

  1. John avatar
    John

    Yes, definitely a bomb crater they are quite distinctive. The pond is usually stuffed with frog spawn in spring.
    Quite a few craters round the moors, Google Earth has made them easier to spot. The extensive moors around Sneaton decoy site are peppered with them even west of the A169. There’s another one south of Westerdale in Wood Dale at NZ6641703206 (marked as a quarry on ’70s era maps but doesn’t appear on older maps)

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      Thanks, John. That’s gone on my to-do list.

  2. John avatar
    John

    Not wanting to turn this into a bomb crater fest but there might also be one at NZ 6433208389. Not visited this one but it’s not far off the road north west of Hob Hole.
    As you describe I’ve often wonder if these 3 are from one aircraft discarding ‘hang ups’, they’re roughly in a line.

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      Thanks, I’ll take a look at that too.

  3. John Severs avatar
    John Severs

    Hello Mike, on a similar tack there are a number of small shell holes between Little Hograh and Great Hograh and evident from the path. I was recently looking on the Westerdale news website ‘Past Times’ and found the following quote ”The Polish army had a shell firing range at White cross above Commondale. They used to fire towards evacuated Baysdale for target practice. Several of the shells fell in the vicinity of Hograh Moor and Hawthorn farm.”

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      Oh wow, thanks for that. That’s interesting.

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