Tag: industrial archaeology
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Slate, Sheep, and Silence: The Legacy of Tranearth Quarry
The tranquil Tranearth Quarry, where wild swimmers now glide through waters once surrounded by industry. Amid Bronze Age cairns and abandoned slate, nature reclaims what human ambition left behind, watched only by sheep and time.
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Newton Wood’s Hidden Industrial Heritage
This morning’s low cloud cover meant there was no chance of capturing any stunning shots of the Cleveland Hills, so I turned my attention to something closer to the ground. Folk often ask me about this brick and concrete structure at the Cliff Rigg end of Newton Wood, recently cleared of bracken and brambles by…
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The White Flint Legacy of Castleton
At the crest of an old tramway incline from the former silica quarries, once the workings of the Sheffield-based firm J. Grayson Lowood & Co. Ltd., one gazes across the Esk valley. Just off-centre in the distance lies the looming hump of Castleton Rigg, climbing to the highest point of the “Fat Moors.” The village…
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Runswick Bay’s Ironworks Beneath the Cliff
Today I was at a National Trust property near Runswick Bay, a hidden gem previously unknown to me. Spanning a 5-hectare meadow, this land is a tapestry of ragwort, thistles, docks, and the occasional blackthorn and willow saplings, all requiring occasional management. The property also boasts 4.5 hectares of precipitous, overgrown cliff and approximately 225…
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Loch Cuithir and the diatomite industry
What had fascinated me was the peculiar wording on the O.S. map, indicating the presence of a “Dismantled Railway,” a six kilometres stretch from the Inver Tote coastline, winding its way towards Loch Cuithir, nestled beneath the formidable Sgurr a’ Mhadaidh Ruaidh, aptly dubbed ‘the hill of the red fox.’ As it turned out, Loch…
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Roseberry Mine Tramway
What a difference when the sun comes out. An otherwise dull walk around a regular route of mine taking in Capt. Cook’s Monument and Roseberry, although I avoided the summits as it’s the weekend. And crossing the field at the top of Thief Lane, brilliant sunshine. To my right, Roseberry was still in dark shadow…
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Marske Sands, do we want a healthy marine ecology or a free Enterprise Zone?
“In many respects the most notable feature of any integrated iron and steel works, whether operational or non-operational, a blast furnace is an impressive example of industrial architecture at its best. Located at the northern end of the development, at the boundary between the North Industrial Zone and Coastal Community Zone Redcar Blast Furnace is…
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Clither Beck
Ruined cottages at Clither Beck. In the distance is Clitherbeck Farm or ‘Doubting Castle’ as it used to be called. Why, oh why was it renamed? This valley was once the scene of extensive coal mining activity. The coal comprised two seams overall 38cm thick with 10cm of shale in the middle at a depth…
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Redcar Blast Furnace
In many respects the most notable feature of any integrated iron and steel works, whether operational or non-operational, a blast furnace is an impressive example of industrial architecture at its best. Located at the northern end of the development, at the boundary between the North Industrial Zone and Coastal Community Zone Redcar Blast Furnace is…
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Bloworth Crossing
Or Blawith, as I’ve seen it written. Or Blowith. Many names, but a well-known feature on several long-distance path over the moors. Where the Rosedale mineral railway crossed the ancient track along Rudland Rigg, a track which, in 1934. Alec E. F. Wright described as a “grass road” and “exhilarating”. In the 21st-century, the Rudland…