Category: Bransdale
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A Bransdale Stang Stoop That Time has Forgot
Up on Gimmer Bank in Bransdale today, just above Bloworth Slack before it merges with Badger Gill to become Hodge Beck, I noticed this old piece of farming history: a āstang stoopā, or āheaveā, or āslip gateāāback from when labour was cheap and farmers made do with local resources instead of buying five-bar gates from…
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Bransdaleās Dry-Stone Walls: Standing Strong, Sometimes
Dry-stone walls are everywhere on the North York Moors and in other rocky parts of Britain, mostly because they are built to last and farmers found plenty of stones lying around. The concept is hardly original; versions of these walls have existed since Neolithic times, and from Europe to Africa. The idea is simple: pile…
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Springtime in Bransdale
A day spent under the glaring sun in Bransdale, labouring over the track down to the Mill. Enjoying the supposed delights of spring while breaking oneās back shovelling gravel. The sheep, slow as ever, eventually grasped that the trailer contained no food for them. The view of Cockayne was, predictably, lovely, with the Lodge making…
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Cocken Kirke: A History of Threats, Mumbling, and Collapse
A day spent clearing up yet more storm damage with the National Trust at Bransdale. Which storm was it? Storm Ćowyn, perhaps? It is hard to say; they all blur together after a while. Despite a dusting of snow on the high moors overnight, the weather has been suspiciously well-behaved. Lunch on the green at…
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Planting Trees While the Moors Burn
An exhasting day in Bransdale planting broadleaf saplings in the recently clear-felled Bloworth Wood, which sits, predictably, on the catchment of Bloworth Slack. Digging the holes was not the real issue; it was scrambling over the 45-degree slopes, ditches, brashings, and tree stumps that made it a delight. This simple photograph of the dale therefore…
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A Wall, a Track, and Centuries of Erosion: Bransdaleās Legacy
Ah, the wonders of dry-stone walls. This one in Bransdale is quite remarkable, though to many an eye, it might be just a very large pile of stones. Compare it to the more modest wall on the other side of the track, then maybe youāll be as impressed as I am. It is well-built, you…
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Saplings and Shotguns: A Day in Bransdale
A thrilling day of digging in sunny Bransdale, planting Bloworth Wood with saplings. The chosen species were native: oak, hazel, alder, and Scots pine. Once upon a time, Bloworth Wood was a joyless conifer plantation, but thanks to the National Trust, it has been clear felled with the grand dream of establishing a ānaturalā woodland.…
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A Monument to Ingenuity: The Story of Bransdale Mill
It is said that the waters of Hodge Beck have powered a water mill here in Bransdale since the 13th century. The current range of buildings, a veritable monument to early 19th-century ingenuity, was built in 1811 by William Strickland, a man with grand visions of increasing the millās capacity. To this end, he exuberantly…
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The Valais Blacknose: A Woolly Aristocrat of the Alps
Imagine, if you will, a sheep so hardy that it has been roaming about the Swiss mountains since the 1400s. Enter the Valais Blacknose, or, for those who fancy a bit of local colour, the Walliser Schwarznasenschaf. These creatures, bred for the Alpine chill, sport a thick, white fleece that allows them to strut about…
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Echoes of Industry ā The Uncertain Future of Bransdale Mill
Nearly everyone who lays eyes on Bransdale Mill is plagued by the same inquiry: What on earth is to be done with it? When the Feversham family graciously handed over Bransdale and its forlorn mill to the National Trust in 1968, the building was little more than a crumbling relic. The roof had collapsed, the…