Month: December 2020
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Aireyholme
An earlyish start for a walk back home from Pinchinthorpe and once again, setting out in the dull and gloom and thick cloud. Almost home and out pops a sunbeam, a phenomenon which in naval slang would have been termed a ‘Jacob’s Ladder‘. And the sun shone on Aireyholme Farm, and the fields south and…
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The holly and the …
Need I go on? You must be so familiar with the Christmas carol. Holly, traditionally a masculine plant compared with the feminine ivy, although holly is what is called dioecious, meaning that individual trees are either male or female. Flowers occur on both male and female trees but only the female trees have berries and…
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Mount Snever Observatory
To modern ears, the word ‘observatory’ is associated with telescopes and distant stars but the Mount Snever Observatory was built with the intention of viewing nature in all its glory. The 35 feet high belvedere tower is a somewhat austere structure, built in 1838 by John Wormald of Oldstead Hall to commemorate Queen Victoria’s coronation…
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Bankside Farm
A bit of a ‘lucky dip’ walk today. Generally dull and gloomy, with the occasional brief sunny spell. One such spell occurred when I was climbing out of Kildale towards Capt. Cook’s Monument on the Cleveland Way. Above the pasture field known as Ley Close, Bankside Farm and its neighbour Bankside Cottage reflected the apricity.…
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South Gare Fishermenâs Association
An early walk on the beach this morning at South Gare, almost deserted with the sun breaking through the clouds. A few telltale plumes of smoke from the fishermen’s huts give away their occupancy. There have been recent assurances that the 101, 12ft square huts will not be demolished when the steelworks site is redeveloped.…
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Now that’s what I call a green lane …
… but not what most folks usually associate with the term, an off-road route for motorbikes and 4wd vehicles. Actually, the term ‘green lane’ has no legal significance. An unsurfaced route for vehicles would be a ‘byway open to all traffic’ or a BOAT. This is, in fact, a Public Bridleway providing access rights for…
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Sandbeds Plantation
There’s something about a beech woodland is that is magical. Strong low sunshine creating long shadows on a winter carpet of leaves. I know this is not a natural landscape, Sandbeds Plantation above the village of Kildale below Coate Moor. The uniformity of the elegant trunks is a giveaway, probably planted sometime in the late…
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Roseberry and the Covid tiers
FaceBook is buzzing. The local BBC has reported that “while part [of Roseberry Topping] is in Redcar and Cleveland, subject to the tier three restrictions, its peak is in Hambleton in tier two” and folk have really got themselves into a tizzy. The broadcaster had picked up a story from Teesside Live which also headlined…
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The Pennymans of Ormesby Hall
My volunteering with the National Trust has restarted again after the lockdown although the use of Trust vehicles for transport is not allowed due to Covid precautions. This means that trips to Bransdale and the Bridestones will have to wait until we have all been vaccinated. So north to help out in the construction of…
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Otter Hills, Westerdale
I never know what’s the proper name for this dale. It’s the dale of Tower Beck which becomes Whyett Beck before its confluence with the River Esk which takes the name Westerdale up to the river’s source in the Esklets. Yet if you follow Tower Beck upstream to its source just below Young Ralph Cross…