Category: North York Moors
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Mystery wall
Deep in the heart of Hutton Lowcross Wood, below the Hanging Stone, this wall of dressed sandstone is a bit of a mystery. It forms a small recess and seems to be on the same level as the old jet workings but these don’t usually have stonework associated with them being just small scale drifts into the…
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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.…
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Oak Leaves
I was watching Springwatch last night and I’m sure I heard Chris P say that there are between 750,000 and 1,000,000 leaves on an oak tree. Mental calculations whilst walking in Cliff Ridge Wood tonight justified that figure. Ten leaves on a spring, ten sprigs on a branch the thickness of a pencil, ten branches the thickness…
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Slacks Beck
Another dreich day. Still it’s the last day of Spring today. Tomorrow it’ll be Summer so it’s bound to be sunny. Mist and low cloud mean my attention is drawn to closer details. This small stream has many names. Just below its source on Great Ayton Moor it is referred to as Howden Gill. Here…
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Calcining Kilns, Rosedale East Mines
A bit of a dilemma. Parked at the Lion Inn and went for a circuit of Rosedale with visibility less than the width of the road and the temperature below 10ºc. And so it remained until tea time when the mist finally cleared and the sun came out. But by that time I was comfortably back home. Rosedale was…
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May Blossom
In Nottingham in the early 60s I remember me mam saying “naer cast a clout till May is out” to me when I tried to go out in the Spring without my duffle coat or string vest. I thought, and I think me mam thought too, that “may” referred to the month of May but it really…
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Bransdale Mill
There has reportedly been a water mill on this spot alongside Hodge Beck since the late 13th century. The present building was built by William Strickland in 1811 increasing the capacity with the addition of a 16 foot overshot water wheel. A window lintel gives a date of rebuilding of 1842. It had been substantially…
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Male Fern
A wet miserable day with low cloud hiding any views of the hills so my attention had to be closer to my feet. In Newton Woods the bluebells have gone off the boil. Their vivid blues have paled and the bracken fronds overtaken them. But less prevalent than bracken are clumps of ferns. Now I’m…
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Roseberry Romp
Runners negotiating the rocks on Roseberry summit in the annual Roseberry Romp, a 5 mile race involving 320m of climb. The race is organised by the National Trust and generally follows paths around the perimeter of the property including a climb up to the summit. Roseberry Topping is owned by the National Trust. The 320m…
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Belmont Ironstone Mine
Why is it that runners always think of biking as an easy option? An active rest day. My own bike ride today enabled me to get into Guisborough Woods which looked green and lush with vicious nettles on the floor and the sycamores not yet dense enough to keep out the light. I was surprised to…