Out & About …

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

The sight of low cloud from Bilsdale pouring over the cols in the Cleveland Hills always leaves me with wonder

This is looking down on Green Bank, a flattish ring contour rise marking the head of Raisdale, and separating Cringle or Cranimoor from the steep slope up Carlton Bank. The col is nowadays more commonly known as the ‘Lordstones‘ on account of the country park.

On the 22nd December 1892, the Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough reported1‘A Cleveland Highway Robbery. | Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough | Thursday 22 December 1892 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2023. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000159/18921222/020/0003> [accessed 24 January 2023]‌:

A CLEVELAND HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

RUFFIANLY ATTACK ON A FARMER.

As Mr Joseph Hugill, farmer, of Raisdale, Bilsdale was returning home by the road leading from Kirby to Bilsdale on Tuesday night he was attacked by two men, who had concealed themselves in a plantation. He was knocked down by one of the assailants, whilst the other knelt upon his chest, and together they abstracted from the unfortunate farmer a sum of £4 10s and also a watch. No arrests have yet been made. The spot where the robbery occurred is one of the most secluded parts of the Cleveland Hills.

It’s interesting to speculate where this ‘most secluded‘ plantation was. The coniferous trees that dominate the col are not depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of the time.


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2 responses to “The sight of low cloud from Bilsdale pouring over the cols in the Cleveland Hills always leaves me with wonder”

  1. John avatar
    John

    Aren’t you in the wrong col? Surely the Kirby to Bilsdale road is the route via the Donna Cross col and Beak Hills farm. In which case the plantation in question may be the upper reaches of Broughton Banks which is shown as wooded on the 1895 map. Additionally a large wooded area is shown just south of Toft Hill.

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      Hahahaha, yes of course. Thanks.

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