Out & About …

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

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This week

  • StebynthwayteSnilesworth’s Callanish 27th July 2023 In a misty embrace of swirling mizzle, this place of intriguing standing stones has been dubbed as “Snilesworth’s Callanish,” though officially it is known as Stephen Thwaites, an old medieval…
  • Loch ArkaigBonnie Prince Charlie’s gold 1st May 2023 Out and about on my own stamping grounds this morning, and the bank holiday meant that Roseberry was bustling with activity. So instead of sharing yet another snapshot of the…
  • From top of Cushat HillIngleby Bank woods — where two bodies were found hidden 22nd November 2023 Looking down on Hagg’s Gate from the crest of Cushat Hill. Hagg’s Gate and Cushat Hill, names no one uses nowadays. Ingleby Bank, on the other hand, is a name…
  • Little EgretThe Little Egret of Great Ayton 28th October 2024 This morning, I set out with some faint notion of a nature photograph for today’s post. Nothing specific, but as fate would have it, on crossing the bridge over to…
  • A close-up of a small, low dry-stone shelter in the foreground, composed of rough grey stones covered with lichen, sitting in green grass. It is surrounded by vast moorland covered in reddish-brown heather, which stretches back to the horizon. A faint, worn sheep-trod cuts through the heather in the middle ground, leading toward the distant, rolling Cleveland Hills under a heavily overcast sky. The overall impression is of a remote, wild, and rugged landscape.Who Was Mitchell Atkinson? 2nd October 2025 Most of you know I am no admirer of memorials. Benches, plaques and carved rocks scatter the moors like litter. Yet this one is somewhat different, as if justified by…
  • A scenic landscape view from the rocky edge of Roseberry Topping. On the left, a large, weathered, lichen-covered rock face juts out, framing the scene. The foreground and middle ground show the sloping terrain of Roseberry Common, covered in dry, reddish-brown bracken and patches of grassy ground, with a thick belt of green and yellow deciduous woodland stretching across the mid-distance. To the right, a dry stone wall runs up the gentle slope of the hill. In the far distance, beyond the woodland, the town of Guisborough is visible in the valley with the North Sea on the horizon under a clear blue sky.Grazing on the Common 6th October 2025 Roseberry Common is, as its name implies, Common land. Once belonging to the Lord of the Manor of Newton, it was vital to village life. Here the people gathered fuel,…
  • Pudding StoneThe Pudding Stone 1st September 2018 And so summer ends. Above the heavily scarred landscape of the Coppermines valley in Coniston is a small dry valley called the Boulder Valley on account of its numerous boulders,…
  • Ayton Bank Ironstone MineAyton Banks Ironstone Mine 28th February 2022 I thought I would have a look around the Ayton Banks Ironstone Mine before the summer vegetation growth takes hold, only to find when I got home that I have…
  • The Three Witches of InglebyThe Three Witches Oak 23rd March 2022 Since my last visit, this veteran oak has acquired a new epithet: ‘The Three Witches Oak’ — from a story in J.J. Hutton’s ‘Murder, Mysteries and Tales of the Supernatural…
  • A view looking down a steep, narrow, rocky gorge, characteristic of a 'hush' in the Yorkshire Dales (a landscape feature created by historical lead mining). The steep sides are covered in reddish-brown moorland heather, and a narrow path runs along the rocky, scree-filled floor. The gorge opens out in the distance to rolling moorland and distant green hills under a cloudy, grey sky.How Hush: A Gorge Carved by Water and Industry 4th October 2025 Another glimpse from Thursday’s wander through Swaledale: this is How Hush, a scar across the hills carved not by nature but by centuries of lead mining. Lead was likely valued…

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…