Author: Fhithich
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Tinghoudale
Visiting wetlands is a rarity for me and has been almost non-existent since this pandemic started. I’ve been keeping an eye then on this little marshy nature reserve in the small valley between the Bousdale ridge and Grove Hill. The valley went by the Old Scandinavian name of Tinghoudale or ‘the valley beside the mound…
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Devil’s Matchsticks
One of the lesser known residents of Great Ayton was William Mudd (1829–1879) who the head gardener for Thomas Richardson, a retired banker and one of the village’s most influential and generous benefactors. Mudd came under the influence of George Dixon, a fellow Quaker and superintendent of the North of England Agricultural School, the predecessor…
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“Murder by a Farmer in the North-Riding” (Part 3)
It is probably a bit of a stretch to say that when Mr. Forth carved his name on this sandstone crag at the top of Roseberry Topping, he had read the report the trial of Bradshaw Brougham Graham four years earlier in the Leeds Mercury. He may have not even been aware of it, but…
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“Murder by a Farmer in the North-Riding” (Part 2)
If you have not read the first part of this history then it might make more sense if you did. We left Bradshaw Graham languishing in gaol charged with the wilful murder of William Johnson on the night of 19th October 1863. Perhaps he was reflecting on his life so far. Perhaps he was thinking of…
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“Murder by a Farmer in the North-Riding” (Part 1)
So ran the headlines on the morning of Saturday, 24 October, 1863 in provincial newspapers throughout the country. From Guernsey to Stornaway. Reports were syndicated in those days, often repeating verbatim the same wording. It was a report that I had come across when researching the arsonist vicar post of two days ago. But the…
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Bousdale Brickworks
With cloud shrouding the moorland tops, I kept low and, taking advantage of the winter vegetation die back, had a little potter around the old brickworks at Bousdale, now part of a fitness course for the Pinchinthorp Visitor Centre. A ‘Brick Field’ is shown on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map (surveyed 1853). It is thought…
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So that was February
How was it for you? We certainly have had some days of snow early in the month: If February give much snow, A fine summer it doth foreshow. But, on the other hand, the last few days have had the air of Spring: If February is dry there is neither good corn nor good hay.…
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St. Botolph’s Church, Carlton-in-Cleveland
I am not religious. In fact, the older I get, the more cynical I become. But I do respect churches. Like any other old buildings, they have a direct connection with the past, many having stood for centuries. A connection to the average folk of the community, not the upper echelons. St. Botolph’s Church in…
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Thruhkelde
Last Sunday I wrote about the 13th-century charter ‘Cartularium Prioratus de Gyseburne’ in which ‘Thruhkelde’ or the ‘spring on the pass’ was mentioned. It is thought to be Codhill Spring on the 1856 Ordnance Survey map. Passing by today, I though I would take a look. It’s easy enough to find, barely five metres from the…
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Castleton Silica Quarries
See the old tramway incline up to the moor edge on the far side of the valley? I walked up it two days ago on my way to Freebrough. Here, from across the dale at High Castleton, it’s quite obvious. It leads to a complex area of disused quarries, with ponds, crags, re-entrants and spurs.…