A snowy landscape with a sandstone shooting butt in the background. Footprints are visible in the snow, leading towards the butt.

The Hag-Mare’s No-Show: A Snowbound Trudge Across Urra Moor

A circuit of Urra Moor—Orrah, as it was once called before the Ordnance Survey decided to tidy up. The moor was generously blanketed in snow, looking superb

The witch that supposedly roams this moor as a horse—the illustrious “hag-mare of Orrah”—was nowhere to be seen. A shame, really; she would have made an interesting subject for the photo.

Along Billy’s Dyke, that prehistoric earthwall, two people and a dog had clearly passed through, judging by the footprints. A trail blazed yesterday, no doubt. The dyke, named after William the Conqueror (because apparently he paused here mid-rampage to curse at a storm), also enjoys the name Cromwell’s Trenches, thanks to his daughter marrying the Earl of Fauconberg. Never mind that it is almost certainly far older—Middle Bronze Age, give or take a millennium. Perhaps it was later repurposed as a medieval deer park. But no deer today, just us and a grouse or two looking smug now that the shooting season is over.

Occasional unfrozen flushes added an unwelcome thrill to the proceedings, as I discovered to my cost. Then the climb to Round Hill began, the highest point on the North York Moors. This was an escalating punishment. The snow grew deeper—calf-deep, knee-deep—and alternated between supporting my weight and cruelly collapsing under it. The landscape became more Arctic in its bleakness as even the hardy heather gave up and disappeared beneath the drifts.

The footprints persisted, though one belonged to someone with an awkward, splayed gait that made following them an exercise in futility and flailing limbs.

At last, the Cleveland Way was reached, leading downhill. The path here had transformed into a treacherous mix of ruts and frozen slush—a fitting end to the morning’s endeavour.


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3 responses to “The Hag-Mare’s No-Show: A Snowbound Trudge Across Urra Moor”

  1. Graeme Chappell avatar
    Graeme Chappell

    A lovely photo, and the hag-mare of Orrah sounds interesting – have you any more information or a reference? I am guessing Blakeborough?

    1. Fhithich avatar
      Fhithich

      I can only say “watch this space”. It was indeed Richard Blakeborough and I am in the process of transcribing his story. Martyn Hudson may have other references.

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