Month: November 2021
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Ardenside
I came across a rather poignant tale the other day. It concerned William Wass of Ardenside who was called up to fight in the Crimean War. Now one way of escaping the call up apparently was to get someone else to go in your place and so Wass persuaded his friend, John Barr, who subsequently…
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Castle Hill, Easby
From a distance Castle Hill is barely a ripple on the flatlands of the Vale of Cleveland. Now dominated by mature trees, it would, in the 12th-century, have commanded fine views and overlooked any movement on the King’s road from Stokesley to Whitby that passed the foot of the eminence on which the castle stood.…
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COP26 continues and I am getting more confused about the statistics brandied about
We are told that, as a species, our activities emit 34 gigatonnes of CO² per year which would need around 68 million square kilometres of forest to ‘sequestrate’ — this is about half the planet’s land area, so a bit unrealistic. These numbers are vast. Gigatonnes. I can no more visualise a gigatonne than I…
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River Leven, Low Green, Great Ayton
I remember the day when the government U-turned on their proposal to allow privatised water companies to continue the routine dumping of raw sewage into our rivers and our beaches, after a public outcry and a rebellion by 22 Tory MPs, an amendment to the environment bill that would have provided some safeguards was voted…
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The day Guisborough led the nation
A view of Highcliff Nab across Bold Venture Gill. This boundary stone is one of a line of marking the former boundary of Guisborough and Hutton Lowcross boundary. It is inscribed ‘T.C. G. 1860’; standing for Thomas Chaloner and Guisborough. But it is his father, Robert Chaloner, I want to write about today. I have…
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Battle of Inkerman
Remember, remember the 5th of November … Not because of “the last man to enter Parliament with honest intentions”, but because it is also the anniversary of the Battle of Inkerman in 1854 when the allied armies of Britain and France defeated the Imperial Russian Army during the Crimean war. 635 British soldiers, 175 French…
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Scarth Wood Moor
Working with the National Trust widening their section of the path around the Cod Beck Reservoir to make it more wheelchair accessible. As we were knocking off, the sun came out giving some dramatic lighting. And tonight I am told is Mischief Night, supposedly because this was the night when Guy Fawkes was up to…
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Cock Howe
A rouky run from the Lords’ Stone Cafe to Chop Gate via Noon Hill and Cock Howe. ‘Rouky‘ — listed in a dictionary of North Country dialect words as misty, damp, or foggy. I did initially type the word ‘claggy‘; for I have some recollection of hearing someone once using it to describe that familiar…
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Flying on a wing and a prayer
Now that the COP26 UN Climate Change Conference is underway in Glasgow I was hoping to feature a photo that shows the effect of climate change on our North York Moors. But, unless you live in an area which has been subjected to flooding or fires, any effects are either incrementally small or subtle. Right…
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Gribdale
I’ve never really figured out where Gribdale begins and where it ends. There is no dale as such. The col between Capt. Cook’s Monument and Great Ayton Moor is known as Gribdale Gate. Beyond that, we’re into Lonsdale, so Gribdale must lie this side. But there is no valley. A stream does spring out from…