Author: Fhithich
-
Site of Monastic Cell at Old Byland
Sir Nikolaus Pevsner (1902 – 1983) was an architectural historian who documented the principal historic buildings in every county in his ‘The Buildings of England‘. In his Yorkshire volume under Old Byland, he writes in the introduction to the village “the site of Byland Abbey was 1¼ m. NE of Old Byland“. I was fascinated…
-
Saturday morning in Gribdale
It’s 10:30 on a dreich Saturday morning. Cloud base is about 270m, Roseberry Topping wears a cap, there’s a brisk wind, and it’s mizzling, that light, fine, mist-like rain that nevertheless slowly wets you through. And Gribdale car park is full. Only the odd space remaining. This year, the first lockdown saw a step-change in…
-
Hawthorn tree, Roseberry
The hawthorn trees are laden with their scarlet berries at the moment, awaiting the arrival of hordes of marauding fieldfare. ‘Hopperty haws’ are super-fruit, fabulously rich in both Vitamin C and folklore, associated with protection and sacrifice, perhaps even Christ’s crown of thorns. In Ireland, there are instances where engineers have designed new roads to…
-
Hummersea Bank
I’ve had it in mind for some time now to explore the Public Footpath which drops down Hummersea Bank to the beach. Well, I say beach, but it’s just a sandy rocky sliver only dry at low tide. On the featured photo above, on the left is Hummersea Farm and in front of that, is…
-
Warren Moor Ironstone Mine
I can’t believe it is almost five years since I posted a photo of the elaborate Victorian chimney in the upper reaches of the Leven valley. Back then the site was well fenced off, with inquisitive visitors made unwelcome. Since then, there has been much conservation work carried out. A gate and information board now…
-
Guisborough from Hanging Stone
Following yesterday’s post featuring a quotation from William Camden’s 1586 book ‘Britannia’, his guide to the British Isles, I thought I should post about what he had to say about Guisborough and the alum industry, which, in the Elizabethan times, was still a novelty. This is the first half of the paragraph following yesterday’s quotation.…
-
The col between Cringle Moor and Cold Moor
A morning of swirling cloud and bursts of sunshine. The mist cleared long enough to snatch this photo as I descended Cold Moor to the nameless col with Cringle Moor. Here, there is the base of the ancient Donna Cross and further down towards the low lands a stream develops called Halliday Slack but otherwise…
-
Remembrance Sunday
Members of the Cleveland Mountain Rescue Team conducted a socially-distanced commemoration at the memorial to the airmen who were killed when a Lockheed Hudson aircraft crashed on Easby Moor in the early hours of 11th February 1940. The aircraft was one of a flight of three which had taken off from Thornaby airfield on a…
-
Cleveland Hills
Another temperature inversion in the Vale of Cleveland. Far better than yesterday. Magic. This is from Park Nab above Kildale looking towards Clay Bank. A day when I have become infected by the emotion and relief surging across the USA. But deep down there is a fear that it’s the start of a protracted battle…
-
Dorothy’s Stone
I met an oldish chap on the climb up Turkey Nab once and he told me this was Dorothy’s Stone. I wished I’d have pressed him why now. A mixture of thoughts. After the gloom of the overnight mist, the blue is refreshing and joyous. It’s enazuring or turning azure. An old word that is particularly…