Month: October 2018
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Acklam Hall
A magnificent avenue of trees, one kilometre long leading to the Grade 1 listed Acklam Hall built by Sir William Hustler around 1680. The house has notable interior joinery and plasterwork, which have somehow survived its latter 20th-century life as a school. It is now a business centre, wedding venue and restaurant.
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A murmuration of starlings
One of nature’s spectacles and another tick off my bucket list. And so close to home, Coatham Marshes at Redcar, in the shadow of the skeleton of the old blast furnace. We waited and waited, was just about to move on to the South Gare to catch the sunset when things happened. A few flocks…
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Rotten Scar
Last Sunday I posted a little question where was I when I took the photo. I thought the hill would be a giveaway but for once no one came close. Further back and a little bit higher on the edge of Urra Moor and Hasty Bank becomes more obvious. The valley is the top end…
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Moor burning, Stanghow Moor
The Farming Today program on BBC Radio 4 on Wednesday covered moorland management (it’s available here as a podcast for 28 days). On it was a representative from the Moorland Association who said that rotational burning of grouse moorland had been “voluntarily suspended”. If you are not aware, rotational burning is the practice when our…
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A moorjock on Barker’s Ridge
Grazing below Stony Wicks, a scrappy sandstone set of crags at the head of Scugdale, this moorland sheep is oblivious to the eerie sight of the morning fog creeping up the dale from the Vale of Cleveland. Colloquially known as Moorjocks, this sheep is probably a Swaledale, said to be one of the mountain breeds…
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When Roseberrye Toppinge weares a cappe …
Towards the weste there stands a highe hill called Roseberry Toppinge, which is a marke to the seamen, and an almanacke to the vale, for they have this ould ryme common, “When Roseberrye Toppinge weares a cappe Let Cleveland then beware a clappe.” For indeede yt seldome hath a cloude on yt that some yll…
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Great Fryup Head
A vague plan hatched. Mooch up to the head of the dale through Canon Atkinson’s undercliff. End up at Yew Grain, the waterfall on the left. But The Hills proved far too interesting so this is as far as we got. The waterfall on the right is Spa Dike. Arising out of George Gap Spa,…
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Where have I been today?
A dreich day, so decided to do a little exploring. I’ve been into this lovely secluded little valley only once before, its name implying a broken rocky cliff but there seems an absence of bare rock. It appears a natural place to graze cattle, hidden away from passing travellers and prying eyes, hemmed in by…
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Prehistoric cross dyke, Fylingdales Moor
Fylingdales Moor is a huge area of heather moorland owned by the Strickland Estate but managed by the Hawk and Owl Trust as a conservation area using “traditional moorland management techniques”. The moor contains many archaeological features. The largest is this prehistoric cross dyke, three parallel ditches with earthbanks between, 780m long. Often the uniformity…
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Bramble leaves
Battered by Storm Callum. Ninety minutes running with eyes down glimpsing the occasional red leaf amongst the browns and yellows. The red of the bramble must be my favourite autumnal colour. Anthocyanins are chemicals found in the blackberries and synthesise in some of its leaves when sugar levels increase in the Autumn, giving them their…