Author: Fhithich
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Easby Moor
It’s that mellow time of the year with every other field growing rapeseed. Used for animal feeds, vegetable oil and biodiesel. Easby Moor in the distance with Captain Cook’s monument. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Moorhen and chick
I don’t normally linger at ponds and wetlands. Usually, I’m too anxious to gain height onto the moors and fells. But I did dally a while at the small pond today at the Pinchinthorpe Walkway and was amazed at the amount of life there. This moorhen had two chicks, this one being fed by its…
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Old Saltburn
Not the “modern” town developed by the Quaker industrialist Henry Pease in the late Victorian period but the small fishing hamlet that can be dated to medieval times and beyond. Neolithic artefacts have been found on the beach and there is a Bronze Age burial mound on Cat Nab, just off to the left in…
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Castleton Rigg
A visit to the seated man sculpture on Castleton Rigg overlooking Westerdale. Almost a year since I last came, just after it was erected. Still a monstrosity but proving very popular. Too popular. Parking is a concern and the route up is now widely bare of heather and vegetation making it susceptible to erosion. So…
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Bluebells and Roseberry
The Bluebell is the sweetest flower That waves in summer air: Its blossoms have the mightiest power To soothe my spirit’s care. Emily Bronte Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Ingleby Moor
On the Cleveland Way snaking across Ingleby Moor. The route follows the dusty tedious landrover track hugging the escarpment with Roseberry Topping never getting any closer. Cast your eyes away from the glorious views of the Tees Valley and every so often a gulley running parallel to the track might be discerned, evidence of Thurkilsti,…
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Paddy Waddell’s Railway
Paddy Waddell’s Railway was never built. A pipedream project beset with problems from the outset, politics and competition from other railway companies. The official name would have been The Cleveland Extension Mineral Railway and link the ironstone mines at Glaisdale with the North East Railway at Skelton. The embankment and cutting on the left were…
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Wild garlic
The favourites of the woods at this time of the year are undoubtedly the bluebells but lower down wild garlic carpets the damp sumps of Newton Wood. Also known as ramsons, the plant has long been used medicinally, usually in tonics made from the bulbs. It is widespread throughout Europe and Asia where the bulbs…
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Kirby Bank Trod
The medieval pannierway built for the monks of Rievaulx Abbey. I thought this trod is now the subject of a Traffic Prohibition Order making use by off-road vehicles illegal but on my return, I spotted a group of 5 motorbikers climbing the bank, too far away to see any number plates. Took a shot or two but not…
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Green Hairstreak
I almost disregarded it. Fluttering by too fast to chance a photograph. And with dull brown colouring on its top side wings, I thought it was a small moth. It was only when it landed and closed its wings that their vivid green undersides were displayed. A Green Hairstreak butterfly, beautiful. Normally liking to feed…