Month: April 2022
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A lost path of Golstandale
Alec E. F. Wright (1900 – 1981) was a local artist whose formative years were between the wars. His work is described as surrealist; some can be browsed here. I hadn’t realised it but Wright drew the maps for Bill Cowley’s book of the Lyke Wake Walk, a copy of which I have had on…
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Wayworth Moor
Wisps of cirrus clouds break the endless blue sky. High on the moors the world seems flat. Wayworth Moor has vague boundaries. It’s clear cut to the east, Sleddale Beck, but to the north and west, it probably falls to that part of Commondale Moor, for which Wayworth Farm has pasture rights. A reference in…
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Redcar Blast Furnace
In many respects the most notable feature of any integrated iron and steel works, whether operational or non-operational, a blast furnace is an impressive example of industrial architecture at its best. Located at the northern end of the development, at the boundary between the North Industrial Zone and Coastal Community Zone Redcar Blast Furnace is…
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‘Ohensberg’
The bridleway between Aireyholme Farm and Hutton village, passing through the col on Roseberry Common, is referred to as ‘the great road of Ohensberg‘ in one of the foundation charters of Guisborough Priory of about 1120. The original is in medieval Latin of course but nevertheless it sounds as if it was a main route…
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Swinsow Dale
Freebrough Hill dominates the view east on the climb up Smeathorns Road onto Moorsholm Moor. But the haze spoiled the view of Freya’s hill, so my interest turned to the small ‘dry valley’ of Swinsow Dale. Elgee calls Freebrough Hill a “roche moutonnée“, explaining that it was completely by the ice, which gave it its…
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The lonely death of Christopher Hutchinson
A farm with a strange name, Stingamires. Named after the gill beyond. But what came first, the farm or the gill? The farmhouse and attached outbuilding are Grade II Listed. The farmhouse was built in the 17th-century as a thatched longhouse typical of the North York Moors and containing a full cruck truss. A year…
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Kirby Bank — a battleground between a David and a Goliath
In 1854 there was a legal dispute over the boundary between Bilsdale and Kirby which has been decribed as a ‘David and Goliath’ legal battle. The plaintiff (he who brought the case) was the rich and influential Lord Feversham, Lord of the Manor of Bilsdale. The defendant was James Emerson who was described in the…
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“New Holy Trinity Secondary School foundation stone laid”
Walking along the Cleveland Way over Codhill Slack, I was reminded of a posting from 2015 when stepping onto this broken piece of flagstone. I surmised then it was half of a foundation stone from the Holy Trinity Church of England Senior School in Halifax. Fifty metres or so further on is the other half.…
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King George on Blackthorn
The flowers of the Blackthorn are, I think, past their prime by now, but this Peacock, one of the aristocrat butterflies according to early entomologists, is feeding on any remaining nectar. In keeping with this blue-blooded theme, the fenmen of Norfolk called the butterfly ‘King George‘. On the other hand, another long-lost dialect name for…
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Rosedale & Lastingham Light Railway
In 1896, the Light Railways Act 1896 was enacted which allowed new ‘light railways’ to be expediently built, principally in rural areas. A light railway was “one constructed with lighter rails and structures, running at a slower speed, with poorer accommodation for passengers and less facility for freight”, and working “with less stringent standards of…