Category: Bank Foot
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Dorothy’s Stone
Turkey Nab, near Ingleby Greenhow, is one of the steepest “road” climbs in Cleveland. The loose stony track that winds up it is not for the faint-hearted. Any driver attempting the ascent needs both patience and a steady nerve, for there is little room between the track and the sheer drop of the Nab’s edge.…
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Mouldwarps, Misconceptions, and Mass Extermination
Only the other day, we were marvelling at the sheer number of molehills littering the fields this year. Which, naturally, means an abundance of moles—or, if one prefers their grander, more traditional name, “mouldwarps,” an old English term meaning “earth-thrower.” I remarked that their presence must indicate rich soil teeming with earthworms. The so-called “gentlemen…
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Ingleby Manor and Lady Mary Ross’ Spectral Odyssey
I’ve wanted to post a photo of Ingleby Manor for quite some time now. However, the Grade II* Listed building is shielded from view by a formidable stand of lofty lime and oak trees. From this vantage point on Turkey Nab, one can just make out, albeit faintly on this murky morning, the rooftops nestled…
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Ingleby Stone Quarry Company
Howling wind and relentless rain were more than enough to persuade me that a brisk walk on the open moor was no place to be. So, I cunningly decided to park up at Bank Foot and set out for a saunter in the sheltered woods that cover Ingleby Bank. I soon found myself on the…
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Checking on Medusa: A Slippery Slope to the Ancient Oak
Caught on Greenhow Bank in a shower and finding myself taking more time than anticipated, I decided to take a shortcut by descending the bank directissimo, which led me to a spot above Medusa. My thought I would pay a visit to the old gorgon to check on her well-being. The descent was nothing short…
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William Parkinson and the gibbet on Turkey Nab
I reckon Turkey Nab must be one of the steepest hill climbs in Cleveland. It’s one of those routes where vehicles can be driven without tarmac, which makes it popular with 4WD enthusiasts. But for cyclists, it’s a different story altogether. That loose gravel turns it into a proper challenge. This high moorland route has…
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Abandoned sandstone quarry near Turkey Nab
A pair of cairns have been constructed on the nab itself, where once a gibbet stood, last used so I understand, in 1729, when Willam Parkinson was hung there in chains. My notes say that Parkinson was tried at York assizes for the murder of a Scottish drover at Great Broughton. He was brought back…
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Turkey Nab
Turkey Nab with a backdrop of Carr Ridge and White Hill. A gloomy over cast day, which doesn’t do credit to probably the best view of the Cleveland Hills and the fertile plain below. The stiff, steep climb of Turkey Nab, a favourite for off-road enthusiasts, is an ancient track over the dark moors to…
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Park Plantation Quarry Tramway
Hidden away in the forestry above Bank Foot is a tramway incline that served the sandstones quarries higher on Greenhow Bank. It first appears on the 1893 OS 25 inch map. Blocks of sandstone would have been lowered down to a siding by the Rosedale Ironstone railway. I guess here a bridge was built to…
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Face to face with the snake-haired Gorgon
I popped along to see how Medusa’s fairing. Deciding to approach the old dear from above, I descended through a remaining swathe of coniferous trees, sheltered briefly from the incessant rain. For a moment I thought I had blown it as I sled on my derrière past the massive split boulder through which the ancient…