Out & About …

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

Category: North York Moors

  • Went for a bimble around the Belmont Ironstone Mine

    Went for a bimble around the Belmont Ironstone Mine

    To be clear this is the old mine, which operated between 1855 and 1877, and not the new one which was sited a kilometre further west and which operated in the first half of the 20th-century. I didn’t really expect to find anything. The authoritative “Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mines” by Peter Tuffs doesn’t mention…

  • Back in North Yorkshire and noticeably no rain

    Back in North Yorkshire and noticeably no rain

    One annual ritual about this time is the New Year’s Honours list. Its publication is often met with loathing or apathy, and a pinch of ridicule thrown in. How come Raducanu, aged just 19, can be appointed an MBE, after winning just one Grand Slam title, the US Open (and the BBC Sports Personality of…

  • Roseberry summit

    Roseberry summit

    So here it is merry Christmas, as the song goes. I managed to summit Roseberry before most of the Christmas climbers, and while the sun was shining over Middlesbrough. Thirty minutes or so later I was surrounded by a flurry of snow.

  • ‘Uitwaaien’ on Hasty Bank

    ‘Uitwaaien’ on Hasty Bank

    I was reminded of a Dutch idiom this morning: ‘uitwaaien‘, which means to go walking in windy weather to clear your head or lift your heart. . For the first half hour or so, I took a favourite path of mine, along the southern flank of the long flat-topped Hasty Bank, the easternmost of ‘the…

  • The Glover Landscape Review

    The Glover Landscape Review

    In May 2018 the Government commissioned an independent review led by journalist Julian Glover into whether the legislation for our National Parks and AONBs issued over 70 years ago, is still fit for purpose. The subsequent report was published in September 2019, and became known as the Glover Landscape Report. This 168 page report contains…

  • Another cracking morning

    Another cracking morning

    But a wee bit zneesy below the cloud. Above, the tranquility was disturbed by the sound of gunshots as the seasonal cull of pheasants was in full swing. Or maybe the shooters were after partridges, striving for that rarest of presents to give to their true loves — the partridge in a pear tree. Rare…

  • Dragon’s breath

    Dragon’s breath

    Another outing dominated by low lying mists and the sun’s faculence. Bilsdale today. I wonder what our ancient ancestors would have made of these meteorological phenomena. That temporary blind spot after glimpsing directly into the sun — ok, our ancestors would not have been driving. And that low lying winter mist clinging to the fields…

  • The Nab and Douthwaite Dale

    The Nab and Douthwaite Dale

    Heading to Bransdale to work with the National Trust clearing up after Storm Arwen, my eyes ached from squinting into the sun during the drive along Blakey Ridge. Blue skies all around, and not a cloud in sight. In the distance , the Vale of Pickering was smothered by a blanket of white cotton wool…

  • Scallywag hideout

    Scallywag hideout

    A few weeks ago I had a tip off about a WW2 ‘Auxiliary Unit‘ operations base above Danby Park overlooking Castleton (thanks, Chris). This would have been the hideout for a special detachment of the Home Guard which would have operated as a guerrilla force in the event of a German invasion. Although these were…

  • Wainstones

    Wainstones

    Seen from Cold Moor, across Garfit gap. The morning’s duvet just about blown off, and the December sunshine hitting the crags for the first time. The Wainstones are a popular climbing venue. It’s difficult to get any idea of scale with this shot. The maximum climb is about 35′, just over twice the size of…