Author: Fhithich
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The carved stone of the Park Pale
Someone asked me to show them a carved stone on Warren Moor. Many years have slipped by since I last saw it, so I figured it’d be wise to retrace my steps and locate it again – can’t have my memory playing tricks on me. The stone didn’t put up much of a fight to…
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Forgotten Fields and Stolen Commons: The Tragic Consequences of Enclosure
On this day in the year 1845, Parliament passed the Inclosure Act 1845, an ominous piece of legislation that concluded a grim transformation to the country. This Act, a tool of the powerful, wrested away the public land and enshrined the authority of enclosure commissioners, who, free from the yoke of parliamentary scrutiny, could enclose…
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From beacons to buried treasure—Tales of Drake Howe
At the highest point of Cringle Moor’s flat summit is a Bronze Age round barrow named Drake Howe. A cairn overlooks the hollow left by Victorian antiquarians in this ancient monument. “Howe,” a term with a Scandinavian etymology, means a mound. But “Drake,” is that a name that carries a folk memory recalling the age-old…
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S by W and beyond — the view from Roseberry
Sundays are not my preferred days to climb Roseberry, as they tend to draw throngs of visitors, making the summit less quiet than I prefer. Nonetheless, this morning, helping the National Trust with their ‘Tea on the Topping’ event, I found myself on the summit, and briefly took in the view towards Cliff Rigg and…
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Captive-bred pheasants—Count down to the shooting season
In the world of shooting and the forthcoming hunting season, the hour has arrived for captive-bred pheasants to be released, ready for the grand start on the 1st October. However, in England, new restrictions are in place this year which require licences for the release of game-birds, including Red-legged Partridges, within a 500m radius of…
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Wharram Percy
In the realm of Scottish history, the Highland Clearances persist as a contentious period, evoking bitter sentiments to this day. The primary catalyst behind these displacements mirrored the fate of Wharram Percy, an abandoned medieval village, where the driving force was the ousting of tenants to make room for sheep. Wharram Percy has earned its…
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And so the Ling season begins
It’s that Ling season. Suddenly, in spite of the damp weather over the last week, the heather blooms have emerged, although they haven’t reached their fullest splendour just yet. Expect more photos of the purple haze to come in the month ahead. Heather, in a wholly natural habitat, gives off a modest display compared to…
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Ernaldsti, never a RUPP
Ernaldsti, that medieval track associated with the Percy family crossing Hutton Moor, down Percy Rigg and over to Ralph Cross, via Westerdale. I suspect that the true line of this historical route over the moor lies concealed within the hollow-way, just a stone’s throw to the right of the modern track, and to the left…
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Robin Hood’s Bay and a method of keeping lobsters all year round
As I rounded the North Cheek along the Cleveland Way, Robin Hood’s Bay, in all its glory, lay before me. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect, as the tide was out, revealing many fingers of rocky scars stretching into the sea. Scores of tourists roamed the exposed rocks, like curious ants exploring their newfound…
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Rediscovering a ford on the River Leven: last captured in 1998
The other day, out of nowhere, I was jolted back to the year 1998 when a long-forgotten photograph emerged out of cyberspace. It shows the ford on the River Leven, nestled gracefully into the grounds of the Friends’ School at Great Ayton. Astonishingly, I have no recollection of ever capturing this moment, and the realisation…