Tag: Col
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Roseberry through Gribdale Gap
They say the Eskimos have 50 different words for snow but this is apparently a myth. The Swedes certainly have 25 but the top prize must go to the Scots who have had 421. From “Mell-moorin”, a fall of fine, drifting snow to “skelvie“, large flakes of softly falling snow. Now I don’t know what…
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Gribdale Gate
It is nearing that time of the year when a mysterious old man appears at Gribdale and then vanishes. But unfortunately on New Year’s Eve, when he has been seen, I am usually in the Lake District. Richard Blakeborough wrote in his book ‘Wit, Character, Folklore and Customs of the North Riding of Yorkshire‘, printed…
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Scarth Nick
A very dull, overcast evening yet peaceful, not a sound to be heard. I took this photo looking back to Scarth Nick during the steep climb of Whorlton Moor. An old track leads down from a sandstone quarry now lost in the plantation of Clain Wood. A great notch in the Cleveland Hills, Scarth Nick…
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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…
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Back of the Cleveland Hills
“What is this life if, full of care, We have no time to stand and stare.” So wrote the Welsh poet W. H. Davies. I didn’t have much time to stand and stare today. Too much of a hurry. The Bilsdale Fell Race for me but managed to snatch this snap towards the end. It’s…
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Roseberry Common
A glorious morning on Roseberry. The light overnight snow has highlighted the scars left by 19th century jet mining. The spoil still sterile after all these years. The hard black fossil of the Monkey Puzzle tree has been prized for jewellery since the Bronze Age but it was made fashionable by Queen Victoria after the…
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Módraniht, a pagan tradition of Christmas Eve
To our pagan Anglo-Saxon ancestors, December 24th was the Night of the Mothers or Módraniht when thanks were given to the mothers of the tribe. It was attested to in Bede’s 8th-century manuscript and probably involved a sacrifice. The tradition may have roots today in the Orkneys where Helya’s Night sees the children of each…
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Trusmadoor
Looking down on that distinct cleft of Trusmadoor in the Great Cockup/Meal fell ridge. Wainwright wrote of it: Nobody ever sung the praises of Trusmadoor, and it’s time someone did. This lonely passage between the hills, an obvious and easy way for man and beast and beloved by wheeling buzzards and hawks, has a strange…
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The Heads, Great Fryup Dale
I always like to make a connection with my daily photo with any words accompanying it. Sometimes, most times, I choose my words after taking the photo. Other times I know what I want to write and go out seeking a photo. So I was over in Great Fryup Dale this morning and struggling to…
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Scarth Nick
The road from Swainby to Osmotherly climbs Scarth Nick, a col on the escarpment of the Cleveland Hills. The name itself derives from the Old Norse ‘skarthi‘ meaning a notch or cleft. This view is looking down on the cleft from Whorlton Moor. The road is following a route dating from antiquity, following the old…