Category: Cliff Rigg

  • Great Ayton from Cliff Rigg

    Great Ayton from Cliff Rigg

    An early wander with the dog up Cliff Rigg. Fog creeping up from the Tees Valley, its duvet not quite reaching the village. In an hour’s time, there’ll be sufficient heat in the sun for it to dissipate. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Cliff Rigg and Roseberry

    Cliff Rigg and Roseberry

    A view from Ayton Bank. On the right, Roseberry Topping, “Cleveland’s Matterhorn”, a glacial outlier, the remains of a spur of the moors eroded away by the last ice advance from the north-west as the ice, hundreds of metres thick, met the bulk of the high moors. Cliff Rigg, on the left, has a slightly…

  • Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Former whinstone quarry that dominates the modest Cliff Ridge overlooking the village of Great Ayton. The whinstone seam is part of the Cleveland Dyke, a protrusion of very hard volcanic rock cutting through the surrounding soft sedimentary rocks. It was formed 58 million years ago from a volcano near the Isle of Mull and can…

  • The first frost of the year

    The first frost of the year

    No temptation to hurkle-durkle this morning, a clear sky this dawn promised a good sunrise. Maybe Jack Frost had visited but there was no evidence of his telltale fern-like patterns on the windows. Or maybe nowadays he just avoids double glazed windows. But a thin layer of ice crystals did cover the grass and fallen…

  • Hawthorn tree on Cliff Rigg

    Hawthorn tree on Cliff Rigg

    A stroll up Cliff Rigg. Yesterday’s exertions have taken their toll Corrugated sheeting covers the sky. Plenty of haws for the birds. No shorts today. Autumn is well and truly here. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Middlesbrough Sunset

    Middlesbrough Sunset

    It’s been a while since I posted a sunset. A refreshingly cool dog walk provided the opportunity. Very hazy, probably the sea fret that’s been hugging the northeast coast, I thought the sun would fizzle out but with just a pinprick of sun left, I think it turned out alright. Open Space Web-Map builder Code

  • Roseberry Topping

    Roseberry Topping

    Woke up this morning to a hard frost, overcast but bright skies in the distant out over the North Sea. By nine o’clock, a whiteout. Utter chaos, all roads south at a standstill. By tea time, blue skies, roads clear, and, with Roseberry as a backdrop, warm enough for a moment’s reflection. Open Space Web-Map…

  • Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.

    Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.

    “Red sky at night, shepherds’ delight. Red sky in the morning, sailors’ warning.” So goes one version of the old saying based on generations of observations of farmers and seafarers. A saying that was first documented in the Bible although probably in use long before that. In Matthew (ch. 16 v. 2), When it is…

  • Sunset on Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Sunset on Cliff Rigg Quarry

    Headed up to Cliff Rigg to view the sunset which sort of fizzled out. The ridge is part of the Cleveland Dyke and is a protrusion of very hard volcanic rock cutting through the surrounding older sedimentary rocks. Formed 58 million years ago from a volcano near the Isle of Mull, it outcrops in many…

  • Early riser

    Early riser

    Eighty minutes after a warm October dawn, although the sun had yet to make an appearance, a butterfly caught my eye. A flighty thing but after ten minutes of stalking I managed to grab this shot. Not the best specimen, it looks as though chunks are missing from the ends of its wings, but by…