Category: North York Moors
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Graffiti, Landslips, and Bonfires
Standing alone atop Roseberry Topping is a rare privilege. From this vantage point, Guisborough lies in the distance, with the North Sea stretching beyond. The crags of the summit are scarred by decades of graffiti, the soft sandstone inviting visitors from the towns of Teesside to carve their names into history. Many of these inscriptions…
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Purple Haze: Ling’s Role in Yorkshire’s Past
For a brief spell each year, the North York Moors are transformed into a sea of iconic purple. The ling, or heather, is not quite at its peak yet; it remains patchy, especially here on Great Ayton Moor. Some may argue that these vast stretches of purple moorland lack diversity and serve only the grouse…
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The Alum Industry of Carlton Bank
It is difficult to imagine that 250 years ago this tranquil scene was a hub of intense industrial activity. For over a century, Jurassic shales were quarried here to produce alum crystals, which were essential as a mordant in dyeing textiles and as a curing agent in tanning. A comment on a previous post about…
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Saint Julian’s Park: a testament to the passage of time
A view across West Beck reveals the medieval Saint Julian’s Park, now known simply as Julian Park. Once a striking landscape feature, this park has transformed greatly over the centuries. Eight hundred years ago, visitors would have encountered a circular boundary enclosing the park, a segment of the so-called ‘Roman road’ crossing it, a grand…
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A Nation’s Shame — Reckoning with Racism
A walk of reflection following the shocking scenes from Middlesbrough and other towns and cities over the weekend. For the first time in almost half a century, I find myself fearing for my family’s safety. My two lovely daughters, both adopted and of mixed race, were born in the North of England. Throughout their upbringing,…
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Osmotherley Show, Thimbleby Hall and the Barwick Lineage
Among my most popular posts this year is ‘From Barbados to Morrisons—The history of Thimbleby and its owners.’ An observant reader noted that I had overlooked a significant chapter in this chronicle.Today, Thimbleby Hall opened its grounds for the Osmotherley Show, allowing the fell race to Black Hambleton and back. And an opportunity for me…
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A Cloud over Rudland Rigg and the Insects’ Plight
An uncommon veil of cloud swathes Rudland Rigg, seen here across the expanse of Farndale. In the foreground, a vivid member of the thistle family teems with insects eagerly gathering its nectar. It is a picture of health, yet beneath this tranquil surface, a serious calamity is unfolding. Even without the trained eye of an…
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Maiden Hair: From Dye to Deficiency
While the day was still fresh, as I wandered across Warren Moor, a vivid expanse of orange-yellow caught my eye. The bog asphodel, with its star-like blooms, presented a scene of rare splendour. Singularly, these flowers might escape notice, but en masse, they transform the landscape. Never before have I witnessed such a display on…
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The Colours of The Carrs
Ah, another stunning panorama from the summit of Cleveland’s iconic Roseberry Topping, captured countless times on phones and often graced by a selfie. It feels like I too have taken this shot so many times before. Below, the quaint village of Newton-under-Roseberry nestles, its new builds seemingly encroaching on the flat farmlands of The Carrs.…
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Welkin’s Cheek
Before “sky” became the common term for the vast expanse above us, it was poetically known as “welkin”—a word closely related to the German “Wolke,” meaning cloud, and even more so to “Wölkchen,” meaning little cloud. Today, the welkin offered a breathtaking sight for those who gazed upward. Shakespeare himself was no stranger to this…