Out & About …

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

  • Old Wives’ Well

    Old Wives’ Well

    A chance to explore the moorland south of Goathland known as Simon Howe Rigg and into the depths of Cropton Forest in search of a moorland cross and a well said to be a holy well. The two features are just 373 metres apart which may or may not be a coincidence. Old Wives’ Well,…

  • A late afternoon wander

    A late afternoon wander

    A strange sort of day. Blue skies in Ayton this morning but Nunthorpe enveloped in a low lying fog, which by late afternoon was beginning to creep higher. The cottage is known as Airey Holme Cottage, built sometime in the later half of the 19th-century and recently modernised. Most of the census returns are not…

  • Billy’s Dyke

    Billy’s Dyke

    So named after William the Conqueror, who was supposed to have passed this way in his harrying of the north. Here he met with a storm and cursed in its face. I’m surprised I haven’t posted about this 4.4km earthwork along the eastern edge of Bilsdale before but it’s not exactly the most photogenic subject. Another…

  • When is a moss not a moss?

    When is a moss not a moss?

    The answer of course is when it’s a lichen. Now I’m going to stick my neck out and say this is Cladonia portentosa. Folks commonly refer to it as Reindeer Moss but that name strictly relates to Cladonia rangiferina which is uncommon and found high in the mountains of Scotland and Wales. As the name…

  • Westworth

    Westworth

    When Robert de Brus endowed Guisborough Priory in the early-12th-century, he included vast tracts of somewhat ill-defined moorland. It was left to his son, Adam de Brus, to define the boundaries which named an area of forest known as Westwyth for which de Brus retained his hunting rights. Martyn Hudson in “on blackamoor” describes Westwyth perfectly:…

  • Where is the Elephant Hole?

    Where is the Elephant Hole?

    The National park have recently been at worked erectly a new kissing gate, steps and fingerpost below Aireyholme Farm. One ‘finger’ confuses me, it points to the ‘Elephant Hole’. Where exactly is the ‘Elephant Hole’? Some opinion seems to be that it is the large bowl at the top of Cliff Rigg. But if this…

  • Cuddy Trail — Tods Loup

    Cuddy Trail — Tods Loup

    On 12 March 1840, the Fife Herald carried an advertisement: LAMBERTON COLLIERY TO LET. To be Let, for such a number of years as may be agreed upon, with entry thereto at Whitsunday 1840, THE COAL FIELD situated on the Farm of LAMBERTON, in the parish of Mordington, and county of Berwick, as formerly occupied…

  • River Tweed

    River Tweed

    The River Tweed, traditionally designated as the border between Scotland and England since 1018 when Malcolm II, King of all Scotland, claimed the River Tweed as the boundary of his kingdom. But Berwick-upon-Tweed’s strategic importance, on the north bank of the river, has meant the town has undergone several changes between the kingdoms of Scotland…

  • The Hospital of St. Leonard of Lowcross

    The Hospital of St. Leonard of Lowcross

    A miserable morning so I thought I had better take a photo or two before venturing up into the gloom. The old Ordnance Survey map shows a “Leper Hospital (Site of) A.D. 1392” to the left of centre within the curve of the track. This location is confirmed on the North York Moors Historical Environment…

  • A fresh sprinkling of snow on Roseberry summit

    A fresh sprinkling of snow on Roseberry summit

    A sprinkling of fresh snow coated the summit this morning and judging by the absence of footprints I was the first. It’s quite a rarity nowadays to have the summit to myself. Even at night head-torches can frequently be seen. Besides the 1950s trig point, two pieces of modernity adorn the summit. Both can be…

Care to comment?