Category: North York Moors
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End of Paddy Waddell’s Railway
I’ve written about Paddy Waddell’s Railway before, the railway that never was. A grand plan devised in the 1870s to link the ironstone mines at Glaisdale with the North East Railway at Skelton. Embankments were built and cuttings excavated and just one bridge was constructed here at Rake House near Lealholm just before the line…
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Middlesbrough
Yes, honestly. But not the Infant Hercules by the River Tees, for Middlesbrough is the name of the spur opposite at the foot of Black Hambleton. The one with the small copse on top, Moor House Plantation, and surrounded by fields, ‘improved’ moorland to fatten up the cattle while their drovers rested at the Chequers…
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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…
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White Hill
A large swathe of clear felling on White Hill. It may be a coincidence but the clearance is almost exactly on the disturbed ground of the 1872 landslip when the Stokesley to Helmsley road was covered to a depth of up to 24 feet with rocks, shale and soil. The argument about who should repair…
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Dryads’ Saddle
Dryads were tree spirits of Ancient Greek protected by the gods whose wrath befell anyone who damages a tree without first appeasing these shy and elusive nymphs. They would presumably use this bracket fungus to sit on when riding their ponies. It is quite common and supposedly edible when young but quickly becomes hard and…
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Two months to the Glorious Twelfth
While mother hen feigns an injured wing tempting me off the dusty track, and flying fast and low above the ling, the cock screams ‘Go back, go back, go back’ their moorfowl chick lies perfectly still but in just two months ready for the kill. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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Roseberry from Newton Moor
A cracking morning. Out and back before the crowds make the pilgrimage to the summit. Open Space Web-Map builder Code
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First of the year’s cottongrass
A glorious morning, blue skies with contrails lingering. And not a breath of wind. On Great Ayton Moor.
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The Pheasant vs The Lapwing
In the early 80s, I worked on the tropical island of Borneo for 18 months. It was on my first run on the moors after I returned that I realised just how quiet they were. In the jungle, there was a constant cacophony of sound, so much you tended to become oblivious to it. Here…
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Hanging Stone, Ryston Nab
Hanging Stone, overlooking Hutton Lowcross. one of the many Deltaic sandstone outcrops along the scarp of the moors.The name is pretty common, presumably because like other crags from below it appears to hang over the valley. Ryston Nab, the nose on which its on, has a more interesting name being documented in the 14th century…