Out & About …

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

Tag: wall

  • Orthostatic walling, Westerdale

    Orthostatic walling, Westerdale

    An orthostat, in the true sense of the word, is a large upright stone, think of a standing stone or menhir, but one that has been built into a structure or wall. There’s a few in Stonehenge. However, the term has been applied vernacularly to any huge stones that are built into walls such as this…

  • On this day, in 1971, the end of an era

    On this day, in 1971, the end of an era

    As we further attempt to cocoon ourselves from the European project, now may be the time to think again about that disastrous venture that happened on this day in 1971, fifty years ago. Decimalisation was the brainchild of Ted Heath’s Tory Government, plunging the country into chaos. Overnight the old currency of pounds, shillings and…

  • Piss off early tomorrow’s Saturday

    Piss off early tomorrow’s Saturday

    It was a bit bleak on Newton Moor this Friday morning. In case you don’t recognise where I’m at, it is the ‘hole in the wall’ at Little Roseberry. Odin’s Hill should be visible on the far left. Odin’s wife was Frigg, a Norse goddess in her own right, and Friday is named after her,…

  • Easby Bank

    Easby Bank

    I was torn whether to post today a nature photo, of a Robin, or a landscape of the snow. Bird photos are for me hard to come by, I just haven’t the patience. On the other hand, I may not be able to replicate the photo of a well-known pair of gate posts on Easby…

  • Roseberry Common

    Roseberry Common

    More snow overnight. To use Scottish terms: a ‘fyoonach‘ or a light fall, just enough to cover the ground. By the afternoon, a ‘murg‘ or a heavy fall, ‘skelves‘,  large flakes of snow. And in the evening, with a temperature rise, rain. Changing weather then. Appropriate for January perhaps. January, named after Janus, the Roman god…

  • Roseberry and the Covid tiers

    Roseberry and the Covid tiers

    FaceBook is buzzing. The local BBC has reported that “while part [of Roseberry Topping] is in Redcar and Cleveland, subject to the tier three restrictions, its peak is in Hambleton in tier two” and folk have really got themselves into a tizzy. The broadcaster had picked up a story from Teesside Live which also headlined…

  • Cass Rock Gate

    Cass Rock Gate

    I thought a couple of intriguing features on the 1853 Ordnance Survey map were worth a visit, to see if there are any signs remaining. Both are still recorded on the latest online mapping but I wonder if they have been merely been carried forward without actually resurveying. The first is ‘South Stone’, deep in…

  • If only walls could talk

    If only walls could talk

    I’ve had my eye on this wall for years. Such a fascinating assortment of alterations over the years. Windows, doors, a platform, steps. Until this coronavirus, there are usually cars parked in front of it but this morning I was surprised to see it clear. Even those yellow poppies are taking advantage of the light.…

  • The Mourne Mountains

    The Mourne Mountains

    In September 2009, I paid a flying visit to the Mourne Mountains in County Down. I was taking a group of junior orienteers to the Junior Inter-Regional Championships at the Silent Valley Mountain Park. So I didn’t have the chance to explore the area as much as I would have liked. In fact, now it…

  • Little Fryup Dale

    Little Fryup Dale

    Thanks to Martyn, a slight diversion to investigate the site of Fryup Church. I must have cycled up this lane to the Yorkshire Cycle Hub dozens of times and I never knew there was once a church in this field opposite Stonebeck Gate Farm. But the evidence is there. The wall this side of the…