Category: Bilsdale
-
Bilsdale
Upper Bilsdale, the dale of William the Bastard so the legend goes who became lost during his harrying of the North. The nearest farm is Whingroves with its inbye fields completely given over to the mass production of pheasant chicks. Inbye land is the most productive on an upland farm, often the closest to the…
-
Bilsdale sunset
A twilight navigation event. Such a great evening to be out on the moors. And for today’s completely irrelevant fact, it was on this day in 1629 that the Speaker of the House of Commons, Sir John Finch, tried to adjourn the House of Commons on the orders of King Charles I. He was held…
-
If the sun smiles on St. Eulalie’s day, …
My reprint of an 1869 book, “Weather Lore” by R. Inwards says that today, 12th February is St. Eulalie’s day. But who was St. Eulalie? St. Eulalie is included in lots of French commune names and the saying quoted is from the French. Now saints are not my thing so I have only made a…
-
Bilsdale from Hasty Bank
One of those magic moments. A shaft of sunlight on an otherwise dull, drizzly, blustery day, picking out the old jet workings of Bilsdale. I was contouring around Hasty Bank looking down the dale, supposedly named after William the Conqueror found himself lost in a storm but more likely derived from a Dane named Bildr,…
-
Nab End Moor
It’s been a while since I popped into Tripsdale, a wonderful remote valley though a lack of paths and a dense covering of bracken made a crossing exhausting. There’s a lot of water around, becks are full. Mist clung in the valleys but blue skies broke out on the tops. This is Nab End Moor…
-
Green Howe
Go to almost anywhere on the North York Moors and somewhere on the skyline there will be at least one round barrow. More likely you will be able to spot a dozen or so. The archaeologists tell us 541 of them have been recorded. Marked in Gothic script on Ordnance Survey maps as ‘tumulus’ or…
-
The Bilsdale Bombardier
A view down Garfit Gap and into Bilsdale. The farm in the centre is Whingroves, which seems to have diversified into an industrial pheasant rearing farm. In 1896 though it would have been a typical North York Moors dales mixed farm, run by Isaac Garbutt, a family name that has been recorded in the Bilsdale…
-
Spout House
On this day in 1914, Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia, exactly one month after Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria had been assassinated by a Bosnian Serb nationalist. It was the start of a world war that would cost millions of lives. Also in that same year, ale was last served in the Sun Inn, just…
-
The Cheshire Stone
But in Yorkshire. Looking towards Haggs Gate or Clay Bank top, the col between Hasty Bank and Carr Ridge. Also called the Cheddar Stone apparently. Another type of cheese. A hazy morning with a struggling sun. Only yesterday I learnt a new word and found myself guilty of it today, lalochezia. Suddenly I found myself…
-
Raisdale
That little offshoot of Bilsdale. The North York Moors seem particularly dour and rugged at this time of the year. Fifty shades of brown. But the cloud breaks and the sun’s morning rays brings an enchanting tranquillity to the dale below. Aelred thought so, writing in the 12th century. He was Abbot of Rievaulx, a…