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Saltwick Bay
From the Cleveland Way, Saltwick Bay at low tide looks benign and peaceful. It is a glorious spring day. Families are relaxing on the beach, rockpooling, or just strolling. But the bay has a history of industry and disasters. Alum was quarried at Saltwick Bay in the 17th and 18th centuries. The main quarry for…
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The New Drift, Eston Ironstone Mine
Woke up to rain again and with more rain forecast, it was a hard choice where to go on my morning stroll. Then my notes reminded me that John Marley died this day in 1891. That settled it, I headed for the Eston Hills. John Marley was born at Middridge Grange near Shildon in 1823.…
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Turkey Nab
Turkey Nab is actually at the cairn in the top left of the photo. Where Ingleby Bank and Battersby Bank meet. This disused sandstone quarry to the south of the nab is often used as a rock climbing venue. Not over popular it does nevertheless provide some interesting routes. It is said the name, Turkey…
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Wreck of a buoy, Cattersty Sands
Cattersty Sands near Skinningrove was selected as the 25th best beach in Britain according to the Telegraph, so take what you want from that. On a wet and very windy Easter Monday, it was absolutely deserted, apart from a handful of dog walkers. This wreck is an old buoy, supposedly washed up in the 1950s…
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Young Ralph Cross
I thought I had seen the last of the snow on the North York Moors. It is, after all, April! The Young Ralph Cross is perhaps the best-known wayside cross in the National Park, it appears on their logo. Supposedly erected by as a guidepost by the nuns of Rosedale Priory in the 13th-century after…
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Narcissus fluorescein
I came across this patch of daffodils on an evening walk with the dog. In the dying light, the flowers seemed magically bright. Positively glowing. On closer inspection, the petals and the corona were edged with blue. Even the capillaries in the petals had a blue tinge. Good old Google solved the mystery. Narcissus fluorescein,…
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New bridge over Cod Beck
It was supposed to be ready for the October half term, last year. But, better late than never, I was pleased to see the bridge in use. I understood the idea was to produce a wheelchair accessible route around Cod Beck Reservoir but the installed kissing gate looks to me to be too narrow. Maybe…
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Remembering an air-crash on the Eston Hills
77 Years Ago, March 30, 1941, was Palm Sunday. Cheese rationing was announced at just one ounce per week for the general population but manual labourers could receive eight times that, half a pound. In Stavanger, Norway, a German Junkers Ju 88A took off on a reconnaissance sortie over Manchester. It should have been a…
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Codhill Heights Revisited
A photo I posted earlier this year was of the round barrow at Codhill Heights, an inconspicuous 296-metre high summit on the ridge behind Highcliff Nab. Over the years a cairn has been built over the barrow which dates to around 2,000 BC. The National Park has now removed this “modern” cairn exposing some original…
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