Out & About …

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

  • The Hackness Shame

    The Hackness Shame

    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 dense tree canopy and lots of mud. Still, it’s good to explore somewhere new. Hackness Hall was impressive though and with a colourful bit of…

  • Capt. Cook’s Monument in Storm Francis

    Capt. Cook’s Monument in Storm Francis

    Woke up to Storm Francis throwing everything it had at us. But on the positive side, under a new Government algorithm, it’s now been downgraded to Force 3 on the Beaufort Scale, a gentle breeze. But what to do. I needed inspiration. That old fallback, Capt. Cook left Plymouth today (25th August) on the first…

  • Skeldersceugh Farm

    Skeldersceugh Farm

    A view from the south of Commondale, named after Bishop Colman of Lindisfarne who had been a monk at Whitby in the 7th-century. Top left, basking in the sunshine, is Skeldersceugh Farm which is likely to be the site of Skelderskew Grange, a monastic grange of Guisborough Priory. The name was first mentioned early in…

  • Bilsdale from Cold Moor

    Bilsdale from Cold Moor

    An out and back run along the Cold Moor ridge giving a super view of Bilsdale. If the proposal for The Ingleby, Bilsdale and Helmsley Railway had come to fruition the far side of the dale would have been forever scarred. The railway would have joined the North Eastern Railway at Ingleby station and tunnel…

  • Hen Harrier Day 2020 Mural

    Hen Harrier Day 2020 Mural

    A YouTube video provided the excuse for a visit to what must be one of the quietest dales on the North York Moors. Hartoft, or should it be Hartoft-dale, is a shallow v-shaped tributary of Rosedale. It could be said to be a Rosedale in miniature, and without the crowds. And the video was an…

  • Ash Bank

    Ash Bank

    The last time I used this track up to Highcliff Nab, was several winters ago, in the dark. It was then, as I’ve always remembered it, a quagmire, enclosed by tall forestry conifers. So it was quite surprising to find the bank clear-felled revealing a surprising view of Guisborough. And removed from the perpetual shade,…

  • Standing stone on the south slope of Roseberry

    Standing stone on the south slope of Roseberry

    Volunteering all day with the National Trust on Roseberry. Path clearing and repairing a dry stone wall. The stones are getting heavier. I grabbed this photo on the walk home. I can find no listing for the standing stone. It’s of dressed sandstone and stands at around the 230m contour on the southern flank of…

  • Rosedale west side

    Rosedale west side

    This feature on the west side of Rosedale below the old mineral railway has always intrigued me. A ridge, perhaps a kilometre long, running parallel to the slope. It’s such an obvious feature yet it seems to have gone unobserved, or at least unrecorded as far as I can tell. I was once asked if…

  • River Leven, Stokesley

    River Leven, Stokesley

    On my bike today, on the country lanes around the Rountons. I need to go onto the flatlands occasionally to help me appreciate the hills. Stokesley town centre was prone to periodic flooding until the flood diversion scheme was built in the late 70s. 1930 was a particularly bad year I understand. When the river…

  • Percy Rigg Farm

    Percy Rigg Farm

    In 1806, Sir Charles Turner of Kirkleatham had a cash flow problem and was forced to sell his Kildale and Westerdale Estates. His family had owned them since 1662 when they were brought from the Earl of Northumberland, who would have been Algernon Percy, the 10th Earl. The Sale Advertisement exists and makes interesting reading.…

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