Category: Great Ayton
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Capt. Cooks’ Cottage Archaelogical Dig
That’s it. That’s as far as we go. The archaeological excavation at Aireyholme Farm, near Great Ayton, is done. Today has been spent tidying and cleaning for photographing and recording. Going on the evidence of oral tradition of the farmer at Aireyholme that the boyhood home of Capt. James Cook was within a stand of…
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Aireyholme
This made me smile. From the top of Roseberry. It could almost be described as art but I doubt that is what the farmer at Aireyholme intended. A question for the intellectuals amongst you: does there have to be intent to create a work of art? The teardrop island and the squat peninsular closest are where the ground is broken.…
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Elder Flowers
How wonderful to be with a DofE group today who were keen to understand and try out out edible wild plants. The small delicate flowers of the Elder were boiled up with sugar and a lemon flavoured drink powder (they didn’t have an orange or lemon). The elder flower water tasted good and hopefully will…
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Three Coast Charity Tractor Run
Driving back through the village today I was surprised to find 30 or so vintage tractors parked up on the high green. They were taking part in the Three Coast Charity Run from Liverpool to Whitby and back. Apparently it’s the longest annual vintage tractor road run in the world with Great Ayton providing a welcome breather where, as you…
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Oak Leaves
I was watching Springwatch last night and I’m sure I heard Chris P say that there are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 leaves on an oak tree. Mental calculations whilst walking in Cliff Ridge Wood tonight justified that figure. Ten leaves on a spring, ten sprigs on a branch the thickness of a pencil, ten branches the thickness…
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Slacks Beck
Another dreich day. Still it’s the last day of Spring today. Tomorrow it’ll be Summer so it’s bound to be sunny. Mist and low cloud mean my attention is drawn to closer details. This small stream has many names. Just below its source on Great Ayton Moor it is referred to as Howden Gill. Here…
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The Royal Oak, Great Ayton
An early morning view of the Royal Oak in the village. As it’s a Sunday there is an unusual lack of cars. I’ll admit this photo today is a little contrived to connect with today’s useless piece of trivia. Today is Royal Oak or Oak Apple Day when you are supposed to wear a sprig of oak leaves in…
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May Blossom
In Nottingham in the early 60s I remember me mam saying “naer cast a clout till May is out” to me when I tried to go out in the Spring without my duffle coat or string vest. I thought, and I think me mam thought too, that “may” referred to the month of May but it really…
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Aireyholme Farm Archaeological Dig – Outcome
Following my post of the 7 May several readers have asked the outcome of the archaeological dig at Aireyholme Farm. This is an extra post giving you an idea what was found and conclusions. The object was to find evidence of a 18c dwelling at a site on National Trust land at Cliff Rigg, 200m south…
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Archaeological Dig – Aireyholme Farm
Spent the day digging a hole. Well taking part in an archaeological dig really to find the boyhood home of Capt. James Cook. It’s well known that James’ father was employed at Aireyholme Farm near Great Ayton and his family lived there with him at the farm. What is not known is precisely where the…