Category: Bridestones
-
Dovedale
A stream meanders through the meadows of this lovely steep-sided valley, a National Trust property on the edge of Dalby Forest. Higher up the dale becomes narrower and is known as Dovedale Griff, formed by glacial melt-water from ice fields at the end of the last ice age. When the climate warmed and the permanent…
-
Sundew
On the poor, acidic soils of the moors, such as at Bridestones, some plants need an edge to survive. This small Tolkienesque plant, “the dew of the sun”, supplements its diet by catching small insects. Sticky hairs project from a rosette of red round leaves trapping insects, slowly turning them into a nutritious soup to…
-
Prehistoric linear boundary at the Bridestones
The National Trust’s second winter season of tree and scrub clearance of the prehistoric linear boundary at Bridestones is almost over. Tree felling stops in the spring and summer to avoid disturbance of nesting birds. Just remaining for this winter is to stack the brashings and logs to create wildlife refuges. The Bronze Age earthwork…
-
Litter picking at Bridestones
Volunteering with the National Trust at their Bridestones property. One of the tasks today was a litter pick. Now you might think that as it takes a bit of an effort to get to these fascinating wind shaped sandstone outcrops, ÂŁ8 entry into Dalby Forest, resisting the temptation of the visitor centre, a mile walk…
-
The Pepperpot, Bridestones
Of the fascinating sandstone columns and rock outcrops that are known as the Bridestones, the Pepperpot is perhaps the most photographed. The Bridestones are the last remnants of a Jurassic sedimentary rock layer deposited some 150 million years ago that have been eroded over the millennia by wind, frost and rain. The name is not…
-
Dressed stones on Bridestones Moor
A bit of a mystery. Bridestones Moor is unmanaged diverse heather moorland, a National Trust property, bisected by a steep griff or valley along the edge of which are the Bridestones, calcareous sandstone towers weathered into surreal shapes. There is no other rock exposed on the moor, no scattered boulders. Limestone was quarried in a…
-
Bridestones Moor
Bridestones Moor, a National Trust property north of Dalby Forest, is a large area of unintensively managed heather moorland almost unique of the North York Moors where moors are usually either burnt too frequently for the benefit of grouse production or are overgrazed. The result is a moor with a terrific diversity of flora and…
-
High Bride Stones
Fascinating sandstone columns and rock outcrops eroded over the millennia by wind and rain. Deep wooded valleys or ‘griffs’ cut into the moor, which is a National Trust property a few miles south of Whitby. In the photo is Dovedale Griff. Unlike many heather moors Bridestones is not managed solely for the grouse so is much richer in wildlife.…