Category: Bransdale
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Bransdale
A lovely day in Bransdale. Bransdale’s walls are precarious features. Irregular sandstone boulders built in a single skin with more holes than a colander, yet this wall is shown on mid-19th-century maps but as a boundary between the moor and the richer fields of the dale, it might well be much, much older, first constructed…
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Valley Garden, Bransdale
In 1826 Charles Duncombe of Duncombe Park near Helmsley was given the title Baron Feversham. To celebrate he had built Bransdale Lodge which was gifted to the National Trust in 1969 following the death of the then Lord Feversham in lieu of death duties. Bransdale Lodge was a shooting lodge used spasmodically during the grouse…
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The Old Schoolhouse, Bransdale
The former schoolhouse, now used as a community centre for the families of this isolated dale, which number around 25 including 9 farms. A far cry from Bransdale at its peak in the 19th-century when the population numbered around 400 including innkeepers, shoemakers, blacksmiths, millers, school teachers, dairymen and jet and coal miners. The small…
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A tree guard in the making
According to an old Chinese proverb “the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.” I was reminded of this today when planting an oak sapling in Bransdale. It will take 20 to 30 years until it produces its first acorns and might even still be around…
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Stocking Crags Wood, Bransdale
A slow, misty drive over Rosedale Head. Past the Lion Inn, its solitary light pinpointing our position. Into lovely Stocking Crags Wood with its enrapturing colours and moss-covered boulders. Very autumnal. Cleaning up the bird boxes ready for next year’s tenants. Out with the old nest, just one tiny unhatched egg. And for the treecreepers…
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Cockayne
Bransdale is the home to 25 families of whom 9 make their living from farming. The largest community is Cockayne, at the head of the dale, but describing it as a hamlet might be overgenerous. A few houses and the simple church is there, dedicated to St. Nicholas. The datestone says 1886 but the architecual…
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Wesleyan Chapel, Bransdale
Since the Elizabethan Religious Settlement in the late 1550s, the Church of England had been the official church in England. By the 18th-century new dissenting religious societies had begun to emerge who refused to adopt Anglican principles and practices. John Wesley, an Anglican priest, with his brother Charles led a Protestant evangelical revival. He began…
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Ann Feversham Memorial
I have had a whinge about vernacular memorials many times before. The proliferation of benches on Roseberry, words carved into the rock face on Easby Moor and bunches of flowers wrapped in cellophane which remains long after the flowers have died. On the nose of Cockayne Ridge overlooking Bransdale is another memorial. A non-descript square…
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Poplar Hawk Moth
A distinct lack of sleep last night. Bat surveys at sunset and sunrise followed by an inspection of a moth box left on all night. This little beauty was the king of the box, Poplar Hawk Moth. I guess a 3-inch wingspan. But there are not many poplar trees in Bransdale. Open Space Web-Map builder…
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Bransdale Mill
The National Trust is currently finishing off the renovation of Bransdale Mill as bunkhouse accommodation but the waterwheel and milling mechanism is badly in need of preservation to prevent further deterioration. The mill dates from the 18th-century and rebuilt in 1842 according to a datestone although a mill probably existed on the site since medieval…