Out & About …

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

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This week

  • A two-story stone house sits on a steep cliff below the coastal town of Salt urn-by-the-Sea. Cars and a bus navigate along the steep road up the cliff. Top left are terraces of four-story dwellings. There is a red-roofed commercial property lower down the cliff.Teddy’s Nook: Where Facts are Optional 9th January 2025 Working with the National Trust at Old Saltburn, tucked away in Littledale—a predictably small valley with a narrow view across to the new town. The place has some flora worth…
  • The TarnThe Tarn, once a winter playground 26th January 2024 On Two Howes Rigg, south of Goathland, is a dainty pool named “The Tarn.” It is manmade, built in the early 20th century. The early O.S. map show the area…
  • A wide landscape photograph of a calm lake surrounded by rugged, steep mountains under a dramatic, cloudy sky at sunset. In the foreground, a curved pebble spit (a tombolo) extends from a grassy shoreline into the dark, reflective water, nearly connecting to a small, rocky outcrop. The mountainside on the left is reflected perfectly in the still water. The lighting is soft, with golden sunlight breaking through grey clouds on the right horizon, illuminating the tawny grasses and distant peaks in shades of green, brown, and gold.Crummock Water And its Tombolo 30th December 2025 On the west shore of Crummock Water sits a small oddity that likes to keep a low profile. It is said to be the only example of its kind in…
  • RoseberryEmpire Day: a forgotten anniversary for an… 24th May 2023 In the last century, for a period of more than 50 years, children were granted a half-day off from school on May 24th to commemorate ‘Empire Day.’ This celebration was…
  • 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…
  • View of the village green of Old Byland surrounded by cottages built of grey limestone.Old Byland, a pretty little village in the Tabular Hills 8th April 2023 When you enter the village of Old Byland, you’ll be greeted by charming pale yellow-grey cottages made of ooidal limestone surrounding a spacious village green. Getting there is a bit…
  • 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 wild, rocky Atlantic coastline on an overcast day, with white-capped waves crashing against dark, lichen-covered rocks in the foreground and a low headland beyond. The sea is a rather lively turquoise-grey, and a distant island sits on the horizon beneath a pale, sulking sky.Burra: In Search of the Kraken 25th May 2026 We went in search of the kraken today, a lap of Kettla Ness, the southern tip of the island of Burra. The weather was a tad breezy, and it was…
  • Lochan of the Lost SwordLochan of the Lost Sword 25th September 2023 Beneath the reflections of the autumnal hues rests an abandoned sword, a long-sword, the claymore that belonged to Robert the Bruce. Near this wee loch lies Dal Righ, a place…
  • 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…

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…
  • 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…
  • 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…
  • 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,…
  • 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…
  • An elevated, wide-angle view of the rolling green countryside of North Yorkshire on a misty, overcast day. In the foreground, a slope of dark reddish-brown bracken and scrub leads the eye down into a valley of patchwork green fields separated by dark hedgerows and thin lines of trees. Dense, low-hanging grey clouds dominate the upper half of the frame, but a dramatic break in the mist allows bright, ethereal "God rays" to beam down onto the valley floor. The light catches the texture of the fields and a distant forested area, creating a stark contrast against the moody, shadowed hillsides in the background. The atmosphere is quiet, damp, and atmospheric.Solmōnaþ — Cake, Mud, and Lowered Hopes 1st February 2026 It is Solmōnaþ. Cake Month. A rare cause for cheer in the damp gloom of February. In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, Solmōnaþ sat where February is now. It marked a time…
  • 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…
  • 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…