Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

Category: Cliff Rigg

  • Sunrise on Cliff Rigg

    Sunrise on Cliff Rigg

    Two major achievements. First I dragged myself out of the house whilst still dark and secondly, I managed a hypnopompic run up Cliff Rigg, the first since my attempt at an Icarus imitation. They say the darkest hour is before dawn. That’s probably not true once your eyes have become accustomed. Dick Turpin and his…

  • Cliff Rigg and Newton Wood

    Cliff Rigg and Newton Wood

    Explored a long-forgotten section of a Public Bridleway up Roseberry Topping that has recently been cleared of bracken. It’s just a wild guess but to me, the route points to an early tourist route up to the summit. I’ve posted about this before. It starts in Newton and goes up Roseberry Lane (or Wood Land…

  • Pinch, punch, first of the month …

    Pinch, punch, first of the month …

    … and no returns. October, the eighth month of the calendar of Romulus, the first king of Rome. And what a miserable morning. But it had brightened up by the end of the afternoon. A view south-east from Cliff Rigg towards Gribdale and Cockshaw Hill. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Cliff Rigg Quarry

    It was the extensive quarrying of whinstone during the 19th and early 20th centuries that created this massive gash in Cliff Rigg. Extremely hard, this narrow wall of igneous rock was formed by molten larva protruding through the sedimentary layers and was much valued for cobble setts and in road building. It has been almost…

  • Great Ayton from Cliff Rigg

    Great Ayton from Cliff Rigg

    An early wander with the dog up Cliff Rigg. Fog creeping up from the Tees Valley, its duvet not quite reaching the village. In an hour’s time, there’ll be sufficient heat in the sun for it to dissipate. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Cliff Rigg and Roseberry

    Cliff Rigg and Roseberry

    A view from Ayton Bank. On the right, Roseberry Topping, “Cleveland’s Matterhorn”, a glacial outlier, the remains of a spur of the moors eroded away by the last ice advance from the north-west as the ice, hundreds of metres thick, met the bulk of the high moors. Cliff Rigg, on the left, has a slightly…

  • Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Former whinstone quarry that dominates the modest Cliff Ridge overlooking the village of Great Ayton. The whinstone seam is part of the Cleveland Dyke, a protrusion of very hard volcanic rock cutting through the surrounding soft sedimentary rocks. It was formed 58 million years ago from a volcano near the Isle of Mull and can…

  • The first frost of the year

    The first frost of the year

    No temptation to hurkle-durkle this morning, a clear sky this dawn promised a good sunrise. Maybe Jack Frost had visited but there was no evidence of his telltale fern-like patterns on the windows. Or maybe nowadays he just avoids double glazed windows. But a thin layer of ice crystals did cover the grass and fallen…

  • Hawthorn tree on Cliff Rigg

    Hawthorn tree on Cliff Rigg

    A stroll up Cliff Rigg. Yesterday’s exertions have taken their toll Corrugated sheeting covers the sky. Plenty of haws for the birds. No shorts today. Autumn is well and truly here. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Middlesbrough Sunset

    Middlesbrough Sunset

    It’s been a while since I posted a sunset. A refreshingly cool dog walk provided the opportunity. Very hazy, probably the sea fret that’s been hugging the northeast coast, I thought the sun would fizzle out but with just a pinprick of sun left, I think it turned out alright. Open Space Web-Map builder Code