A familiar old barn in Baysdale

A well known landmark to anyone who has done any walking in the Baysdale area. Sited on the bridleway along the north side of the dale, from here a track climbs up and over, north to Leven Vale and Little Kildale.

Tom Scott Burns writes that this track along the north side of the dale is “an old lime road — which carried limestone from Commondale lime quarry above Cobble Hall into Cleveland“¹Burns, Tom Scott. “The Walker’s Guide to the Cleveland Hills”. 1993. Page 60. ISBN 1-85825-009-9..

It was in this quarry that Middlesbrough Pottery built two kilns in the mid-19th-century²“The North York Moors Landscape Heritage”. 1989 Edited by D.A.Spratt and B.J.D.Harrison. Page 167. David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 93472. This would have probably intended to take advantage of the newly constructed  North Yorkshire & Cleveland Railway so Scott Burns must be referring to an earlier age. I must put these lime kilns on my to-do list.

Viewing the route with 21st century eyes, it does seem a rather odd choice. A route through Kildale would be the more direct with less climb. But that route was part of the Stokesley to Whitby turnpike so the Baysdale route might have been used to avoid the tolls. Furthermore, in 1817, “the inhabitants of the township of Commondale” were indicted “for not repairing part of the highway from Whitby to Stokesley³Northyorks.gov.uk. (2021). Search Results. [online] Available at: https://archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=Q%2FSB%2F1818-Q3%2F6%2F15 [Accessed 20 Jul. 2021].. So the condition of the road may have been a factor too.

• 1
  Burns, Tom Scott. “The Walker’s Guide to the Cleveland Hills”. 1993. Page 60. ISBN 1-85825-009-9.
• 2
  “The North York Moors Landscape Heritage”. 1989 Edited by D.A.Spratt and B.J.D.Harrison. Page 167. David & Charles. ISBN 0 7153 93472
• 3
  Northyorks.gov.uk. (2021). Search Results. [online] Available at: https://archivesunlocked.northyorks.gov.uk/CalmView/Record.aspx?src=CalmView.Catalog&id=Q%2FSB%2F1818-Q3%2F6%2F15 [Accessed 20 Jul. 2021].