Out & About …

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

Popular Posts

This week

  • Hob HoleHob Hole 16th November 2018 A popular picnic spot since at least the Edwardian times. The very name ‘hob’, perhaps a shortening of hobgoblin, evokes an image of a remote place, an abode of mischievous…
  • The Giant’s BootThe Giant’s Boot 8th April 2020 Northern Ireland’s most visited attraction is the iconic Giant’s Causeway, polygonal columns of basaltic rock formed sixty million years ago when molten lava spread across the land and created clouds…
  • A photograph taken from a hillside looking down into the Lonsdale valley. The foreground is dominated by dry, reddish-brown bracken covering a steep slope, indicating autumn. A narrow, dark road winds through the middle distance, leading toward a patch of vibrant green pastureland and a scattering of deciduous trees, some with yellow or brown leaves. The valley sides rise again in the background, covered in dark heather and a pine plantation, leading up to rolling hills under a bright blue sky with scattered white clouds. The light suggests a sunny morning.Winter Colour beyond Gribdale Gate 28th November 2025 A photograph dominated by bracken in its dry, reddish-brown winter state. From Gribdale Gate, the narrow road winds down beside the beck which marks the parish boundary between Great Ayton…
  • A distant view of Kirby Knowle Castle, a stately home, situated on a hill amidst lush green trees under a cloudy sky. In the foreground, a golden field of crops fills the lower half of the image. The grand, light-coloured castle, with its distinctive roof, is visible in the upper mid-ground, surrounded by dense woodland that extends up the hillside and beyond.Kirby Knowle: A Castle with Two Names and One Too… 23rd July 2025 Towering above the western edge of the quiet village of Kirby Knowle, this brooding grand house is marked on Ordnance Survey maps as “Newbuilding.” The estate agents, less taken with…
  • Great Ayton FeteGreat Ayton Village Fete 9th June 2018 It’s carnival day in the village. A biennial event. The procession begins to leave the Low Green on its slow progress up to the High Green. Open Space Web-Map builder…
  • 2019-02-19 SE1274 Jenny Rig and her daughter Tib.jpgJenny Twigg and her daughter Tib 20th February 2019 Ee, I love maps me. I happened to notice the name “Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib” marked on the map of Fountains Earth Moor overlooking Nidderdale, and so I…
  • SE5281 Scotch Corner ChapelScotch Corner Chapel 2nd December 2018 I’m currently reading “The Plot” by Madeleine Bunting. It is the story of her father’s obsession with an acre of land adjoining the old Hambleton drovers’ road as it descends…
  • UndercliffeUndercliffe Hall 11th October 2019 I have posted many times about the whinstone quarry at Cliff Rigg near Great Ayton. It was a major industry for the village. The whinstone was an extremely hard basalt…
  • On Simon HoweProposal to explode a nuke under the North York Moors 29th January 2023 Cracking sunrise this morning as I was running over Simon Howe Rigg, south of Goathland. Just the tetrahedron of R.A.F. Fylingdales breaking the horizon. I recalled the old golf balls…
  • ClitherbecksClitherbecks — Coal, Cottages and Calamity 19th January 2024 Clitherbecks, a very lonely and remote place on the moors near Danby, yet attaining a certain picturesque quality beneath the blanket of snow. The dale is renowned for its coal…

All Time

  • Thimbleby and the Vale of MowbrayFrom Barbados to Morrisons—The history of Thimbleby… 11th August 2023 The agricultural landscape of the Vale of Mowbray stretches across to the Dales , a view made visible through the recent felling of what was called ‘The Big Wood’ on…
  • The Giant’s BootThe Giant’s Boot 8th April 2020 Northern Ireland’s most visited attraction is the iconic Giant’s Causeway, polygonal columns of basaltic rock formed sixty million years ago when molten lava spread across the land and created clouds…
  • RoseberryMiddlesbrough’s Dark Past: the 1961 Cannon… 21st August 2023 A reminder popped up on my phone today that back in 1961, things had hit a boiling point on Cannon Street in Middlesbrough. Three nights of rioting had built up…
  • Duncombe Park Army CampDuncombe Park Army Camp 5th April 2021 About 3km after crossing Rievaulx Bridge with its opportunity to gaze at the majestic abbey, the Cleveland Way crosses a concrete road at Griff Lodge. Here the National Trail bears…
  • SE0478 On Dead Man’s HillOn Dead Man’s Hill 20th February 2019 Or the continuing story of Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib. We parked up at Scar House Reservoir at the top of Nidderdale last night and from across the reservoir,…
  • Roseberry Ironstone MineRoseberry Ironstone Mine 8th January 2020 The site of the Roseberry Ironstone Mine which operated from 1871 to 1926 although, in the early years, there is some doubt as to whether the mine actually produced any…
  • Boxing Day HuntA Boxing Day Tradition — The Hunt 26th December 2023 I chanced upon the Great Ayton Boxing Day Hunt today. A traditional affair, you know. Had completely slipped my mind. Christmas, a season steeped in tradition, yet this one leaves…
  • 2019-02-19 SE1274 Jenny Rig and her daughter Tib.jpgJenny Twigg and her daughter Tib 20th February 2019 Ee, I love maps me. I happened to notice the name “Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib” marked on the map of Fountains Earth Moor overlooking Nidderdale, and so I…
  • Hackness HallThe Hackness Shame 27th August 2020 I had a look around the Forge Valley near Scarborough, a place I’ve always wanted to see but never had the opportunity. I must admit, I wasn’t that overwhelmed. A…
  • Frith HallThe ghost of Frith Hall 9th October 2023   A handful of days nestled within the charming embrace of the Duddon Valley in the Lakes, a forced separation from the digital world. I’ve passed through Ulpha on numerous…