Category: North York Moors
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The Six Stoups
Inspired by the Tour de Yorkshire (see Friday’s post) I took the road bike out for spin. Fourth time this year, am I turning into a cyclist? After climbing Birk Brow (which must be about the worst road surface in the North of England I spotted these stones on the freewheel down to Lockwood Beck. One had…
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St. Mary’s Island
Family commitments in Whitley Bay. My son had an athletics meeting with races at half past one and five o’clock leaving three hours to kill. So I went for a wander along the coast. I love the coast. So exhilarating, especially when gales force winds are blowing and the sea is like a washing machine. This is St.Mary’s Island. A true island…
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Yellow is the color of my true love’s hair …
… so sang Donovan way back in 1965 when fields of yellow rapeseed was almost unheard of in the UK. In 2012 the UK produced 2.6m tonnes of the seeds; worldwide production has increased over 12 fold in the same period. Its seeds are used extensively in animal feed, vegetable oil and bio-diesel. I wonder…
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Alum Clamp, Ayton Bank
The small knoll in the photo is an alum clamp, a relic of an 18c chemical industry to produce alum. Alum had many uses: medicinal, in tanning to make leather supple and durable, as a mordant in dyeing cloth. It does occur naturally and is known to have been used by the Greeks but on Ayton Bank and in other parts of…
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Black Bank
Recent felling of the plantation on Black Bank on the escarpment of Newton Moor has opened up a completely new prospect of Roseberry Topping. Revealed by the felling were a few interesting looking crags, so I battled through the debris resembling the Tunguska event for a nose around. The crags are nothing to shout about. The foresters…
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Flying the Flag on Roseberry
This Union Flag was flying on Roseberry summit this morning. I thought at first it was a BNP publicity stunt, one has recently been erected on Eston Nab, but hand written on the flag were hundreds on names, one I recognised was Lee Rigby so I guess they’re soldiers who have died whilst serving their…
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Tripsdale – T’ Ship Steean
With the dog having had her walkies at the crack of dawn I took the opportunity to have a dogless run and not be restricted to using Public Rights of Way and having to keep her on her lead what with birds nesting and lambs about. So I found myself driving into the Chop Gate…
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Grisedale Tarn
Snow overnight above 500m. A big chill fsctor on the icey wind. To the left is Fairfield. Taken from St. Sunday Crag.
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Lenten Lilies
Lenten Lily is the Yorkshire name for the daffodil, the wild English variety. I’m not sure if these are indeed truly wild daffodils but I like the name. Daffs are poisonous nevertheless they have been used throughout the centuries for medicinal purposes particularly as a cure for cancer. Hippocrates himself recommended a pessary prepared from daffodils for…
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Brian’s Pond
On Bilsdale West Moor, an oasis on a warm spring morning. I often disturb ducks and wild geese here. But not today. The obvious question: who was Brian? I’ve no idea.