Month: January 2021
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St. Agnes’s Day
Storm Christoph slashed its tail last night as it passed over to the North Sea. I think we got off lightly although the village flood defences kicked in. The rain last evening had turned to snow sometime during the night. Today is the feast day of St. Agnes. She is the patron saint of chastity,…
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Turkey Nab
I’ve just watched the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the USA, the first time I’ve ever watched such a ceremony. I now reside in a feeling of immense relief. Both America and ourselves take pride in our liberal democracies. But there are huge idiosyncrasies on both sides. Our unelected House of…
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Ayton Banks Alum Works
While Capt. Cook was swanning around the South Pacific, back home in Great Ayton, a nascent chemical industry was burgeoning on the escarpment slope at Gribdale. Alum, crystals of hydrated aluminium sulphate in combination with another alkali (usually potassium sulphate), was in much demand for a variety of uses: as a fixing agent in dyeing,…
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Taking advantage of a nice mild day …
… before the weather comes in again. So out on the bike, the first time this year. I stopped off at the Leven Bridge at Hutton Rudby. One village, two ancient townships separated by a river in a deep cleft. On the west side, Hutton; the ‘ton’ ending indicating that this was an Anglo-Saxon settlement so the…
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The Bones of Winter
I don’t know where that phrase comes from but I do like it. The snow has now lost its magic, just the skeleton left. The compacted snow on the paths and tracks are lethal. Another familiar feature today for the main photo, the WW2 control bunker associated with the bombing decoy designed to deflect enemy…
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The ‘Battle’ of Guisborough
Today is the anniversary of the ‘battle’ of Guisborough in 1643. I’ve used inverted commas because there is some debate amongst historians whether it was indeed a battle or just a mere skirmish. Apparently, a battle requires some sort of planning. But a battle is good enough for me and a good enough excuse to…
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Battersby Bank
Damn, I wish I had dug my skis out of the loft. The only trouble with ‘skiløping‘ in this country is the extreme variation we get in the snow conditions. Down in the valley, there is just a ‘flindrikin‘ or smattering of snow that fell yesterday and froze overnight, but high on the moors, a crust had…
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Did I just see a faun carrying an umbrella and parcels?
A few hundred metres climb up from the slushy fields of Great Ayton we were truly in a Narnian world. Do you hear the snow against the window-panes, Kitty? How nice and soft it sounds! Just as if some one was kissing the window all over outside. I wonder if the snow LOVES the trees…
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An unexpected detour
A burst of fulgent sunlight first thing this morning as I stomped across the frozen field in front of Cliffe House. I was heading for Bank Foot where my wife would be waiting for me. But it would be the last of the sun I would see, for the day soon became dull and overcast.…
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A birthday clean up for Roseberry
Roseberry Topping, a National Trust property, was busy over the weekend when the good folk of Teesside seized the opportunity to exercise whilst enjoying the snow. But today, with the last of the snow finally melting, the remains of their adventures are revealed. The debris of broken sledges, the ubiquitous plastic bottles and drinks cans, doggie presents,…