Category: North York Moors
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The Bridge at Baysdale: A Relic of a Lost Priory
This bridge in Baysdale is more than a quaint curiosity. Its single arch spans Black Beck with quiet dignity, yet the quirky little parapets give it certain character. These are later additions, added in the seventeenth or eighteenth century by someone with a flair for decoration but little sense of symmetry. The bridge was originally…
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Aireyholme: The Humble Launchpad of Empireās Favourite Navigator
From the summit of Roseberry Topping, the Cleveland landscape performs its finest impression of timeless rural charm: undulating green fields stitched together by hedgerows, with Aireyholme Farm sitting unobtrusively in the middle like itās been dropped there by a distracted cartographer. This was the patch of the country where the young James Cook grew up,…
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Michaelmas: When the Devil Trod on the Brambles and the Lord Held Out His Hand
The ling has faded, overtaken by the red leaves of bilberry. A fine day, and fittingly Michaelmas: the day the Devil put his foot on the brambles, ending the season for blackberries. A myth, perhaps, but tidier than admitting people simply tired of picking them. Michaelmas once mattered. It was one of the four quarter…
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Osmotherley Moor: Sheep, Turf and Shooting Rights
Dramatic skies hang over Black Hambleton, its summit almost clear of cloud. The view is from Solomonās Lane, a grand name for a track that no longer exists. The surrounding expanse is Osmotherley Moor, part of which is āwaste land of the manor,ā now the subject of an application by the Open Spaces Society to…
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Easterside: Where a German Bomber Crashed
Easterside Hill stands guard over Bilsdale, yet is all too often passed by without a second thought. Perhaps it is too familiar, or perhaps the eye is stolen by the graceful turns of the B1257. Its striking form is no accident. A crown of Oolitic Limestone sits upon Calcareous Grit, itself resting on Oxford Clay.…
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A Schoolmasterās Ruttling Death
A day repairing a fence near the old schoolhouse, now a community centre for the daleās families. Yet its walls may once have echoed with the rod and the recitation, for Bransdaleās children endured the Victorian discipline of Robert Johnson, their schoolmaster. And in 1874, Johnson met an end so vile that the newspapers thundered…
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When Castleton Fed a Queen
From Castleton Rigg above Danby Dale, the eye follows the curve of the valley. To the right stands The Howe, and to the left, on the lower ridge lies Castleton, a village whose name carries the echo of a medieval stronghold. The castle itself rose on Castle Hill around 1089, and with it came cottages…
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Tornado in Commondale
This locomotive racing up Commondale may look like a relic of steamās golden age, but it is in fact a modern creation. It is the Tornado. Built not in the age of steam, but in 2008. A replica of the Peppercorn Class A1 Pacific, a type once common on Britainās railways. All of the originals…
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From Stone Ruck to the Lure of Fascism
A tumulus mapped as Stone Ruck with a view up to Brown Hill, the high point of Carlton Bank. A single boulder, pressed into service as a boundary marker, denotes the Feversham estate from that of the Marquess of Ailesbury. Curiously, the boundary is not drawn at the top of the tumulus but shy of…
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The Pike Stone: From Waste to Common Land
The Pike Stone marks the boundary between the common land of Westerdale and the āwastelandā of Baysdale Moor. At first glance there is little difference: both are heather moor, both are Open Access. Yet the distinction matters, and the Open Spaces Society is seeking to have Baysdale Moor registered as common land. Common land is…