Out & About …

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

Tag: moor

  • Hob on the Hill cross ridge dyke

    Hob on the Hill cross ridge dyke

    The heather moorland between Commondale and Guisborough are among the quietest on the North York Moors yet it is rife with prehistoric remains, round burial barrows, ancient field systems and a cross ridge dyke marked by this alignment of standing stones. The dyke is a Middle Bronze Age earthwork, a little over 400m long and…

  • A Green Goddess

    A Green Goddess

    Headed to Wheeldale Moor to look at the standing stone known as Blue Man-i’-th’-Moss but minded of a comment from my wife that this week has been rock week I diverted to seek out a goddess, a Green Goddess. During the hot dry summer of 1976, the North York Moors became tinder dry resulting in…

  • Round Barrow, Codhill Heights

    Round Barrow, Codhill Heights

    A Bronze Age burial mound and possible territorial marker. A large standing stone can be seen on the left. The has been excavated and is capped by a modern cairn. It stands on a slight rise, with a prominence of a mere 12m, on a ridge of Gisborough Moor, overlooking Sleddale.

  • Stone Age rock art or a gamekeeper taking pot shots?

    Stone Age rock art or a gamekeeper taking pot shots?

    Another gloomy day, dry but poor visibility. I came across this large sandstone boulder on Ingleby Moor pitted with small holes, particularly on the north-east face. Stone Age rock art? Or a gamekeeper taking pot shots? Google comes up with a clue. There is an assumption among the rock climbing fraternity that they’re bullet holes.…

  • Boulder, Potters Ridge

    Boulder, Potters Ridge

    It always surprises me that this large flat boulder, on Potters Ridge around the back of Highcliff Nab is not named on any map. It is certainly significant and its location on a high point on the North York Moors escarpment only slightly lower than surrounding tops would have been a natural draw for prehistoric…

  • The Cheese Stone

    The Cheese Stone

    The Cheese Stone is a group of sandstone boulders on the ridge between Grain Beck and Black Beck, two tributaries of Baysdale Beck. One must be the Cheese Stone but which it is, is open to debate. There are at least two contenders. The stones do add some interest on an otherwise featureless moorland that…

  • Capt. Cook’s Monument on Easby Moor

    Capt. Cook’s Monument on Easby Moor

    The dry stone wall might appear ruined but it is still a significant boundary. It is the boundary between the parishes of Kildale and Easby (Stokesley). It separates Easby Moor and Coate Moor (or Court Moor to use its 19th-century name). And it marks the edge of the Open Access Land although there has always…

  • Tintwistle

    Tintwistle

    Sunshine on Arnfield Low Moor, north of Tintwistle in Derbyshire. I must admit I hadn’t appreciated the county extended as far north as this. Obviously, the “moor” has been enclosed and improved over the years to produce lush pasture for sheep and cattle. In the distance the Dark Peak itself: Bleaklow. Apparently Tintwistle is pronounced…

  • Urra Moor

    Urra Moor

    It was very peaceful on Urra Moor today, once I had cleared the sound of a shoot in upper Bilsdale. Blue sky, puddles frozen, no wind, all quiet except for the occasional ka, ke, ke, ke, ke, kekekerrr of a grouse taking flight. But then a group of motorcyclists spoilt the atmosphere. Being on a…

  • Bridestones Moor

    Bridestones Moor

    Bridestones Moor, a National Trust property north of Dalby Forest, is a large area of unintensively managed heather moorland almost unique of the North York Moors where moors are usually either burnt too frequently for the benefit of grouse production or are overgrazed. The result is a moor with a terrific diversity of flora and…