Month: April 2018
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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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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,…