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Husband and wife trees
Thirteen years ago in February, we had snow and I was fascinated by a pair of intertwined beech saplings. Over the years one tree has dominated and has perhaps doubled in circumference whereas the subservient tree, if that is the right term, as hardly grown at all. The two trees have grafted together. The layers…
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Spring lambs
Rain, rain and more rain. So as it’s that time of the year I just had to resort to a photo cliché. Along the lane up from Fletcher’s Farm, Little Ayton. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Eagle Owl
This beauty has been around since mid-February and has made one of the region’s major climbing crags its home. It is a Eurasian Eagle Owl and is normally resident in Scandinavia and Southern Europe although it is estimated that between 12 and 40 pairs nest in the UK. It feeds on small mammals and birds…
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Bransdale
A pair of Scots Pines in Bransdale. Scots pines are the only truly native pines in Britain although the tree was believed to have become extinct in England about 300–400 years ago so these two are the result of re-introductions possibly self-seedlings from the nearby Barker Plantation on Groat Hill. It is only in Scotland,…
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Nesting time on the moors again
They are still burning on the moors. Several people have commented to me that they did not think burning was allowed at this time of the year. Surely it is nesting time? Well yes, burning can still take place, until the 15th April, and yes, it is nesting time. The normal time that burning in…
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Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post
Situated between the old road through Nunthorpe and the modern A172 is a small patch of land that was until recently covered with an impenetrable thicket of thorns. The scrub has now been cleared revealing the entrance to a former Royal Observer Corps Monitoring Post which surprisingly has not been sealed. The post was one…
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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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