Category: Rosedale

  • Rosedale East Mines

    Rosedale East Mines

    The great sweep of the old railway track as it descends to the calcining kilns of the Rosedale East Mines. The gradient at this point is about 1 in 60. The line continues to terminate at the goods depot and coal yard at Low Baring. On the extreme left of the featured image are the…

  • Rosedale West Kilns

    Rosedale West Kilns

    Ironstone has been mined in Rosedale since medieval times, but it was only small scale operations. It was in the mid-19th-century with the discovery of a very high quality seam near Hollins Farm that extraction became more serious. The mine opened in 1853 with ore being carried down the valley by a pannier train of…

  • In search of a navvy camp in Rosedale

    In search of a navvy camp in Rosedale

    Headed high today. To Blakey Ridge. Through the freezing fog to blue skies and a boreal wonderland. We were in search of the remains of aĀ temporary encampmentĀ for the navvies that built the mineral railway around Rosedale. The location was at Black Intake just west ofĀ Green Head Brow. The first loaded train along theĀ 14-mile mineral railway…

  • Rosedale west side

    Rosedale west side

    This feature on the west side of Rosedale below the old mineral railway has always intrigued me. A ridge, perhaps a kilometre long, running parallel to the slope. It’s such an obvious feature yet it seems to have gone unobserved, or at least unrecorded as far as I can tell. I was once asked if…

  • Ruined water tank, Rosedale

    Ruined water tank, Rosedale

    An early start for a circuit of Rosedale. Dense mist to begin but quickly clearing for a nice day. Much good work has been improving the old mineral railway around the head of the valley; it is now easily cyclable. What is not so good is the conservation of the brickwork ruins of an old…

  • Young Ralph

    Young Ralph

    Walked into Bransdale Mill yesterday with a Duke of Edinburgh training group in what turned out to be a glorious day. The journey out today turned interesting. The cross known as Young Ralph is probably medieval and to me always looks better in wintry conditions. It is perhaps best known as the logo of the…

  • East Rosedale old kilns

    East Rosedale old kilns

    Lovely rich colours of the sandstone masonry of the old calcining kilns at East Rosedale, miraculously still standing after a century of abandonment. The inner linings of fire bricks look very precarious. An idea of the industrial scene in the 1920s can be seen in this old photo https://goo.gl/images/yALTvw although when it was taken the…

  • West Gill in North Dale

    West Gill in North Dale

    Reading the depressing news that a bird of prey had been shot in Rosedale earlier this week reminded me to head down that way. No precise location was given in the report so a toss of the dice saw me in West Gill, North Dale, a deep unfrequented gash in Rosedale Moor. A cracking day…

  • Rosedale East

    Rosedale East

    The fledgling has returned. ā€˜Reading week’ he says. Half term by any other name. A suggestion: ā€œdo you fancy going to the Lion Inn tomorrow? I’ll go on my bike and meet you thereā€. So I find myself in Rosedale for the second time in four days. But a different Rosedale with the Inn in…

  • Rosedale

    Rosedale

    Hallowe’en, and a trip out on the bike in search of a photo relevant to the occasion. Left the Tees Valley under a haze and found blue skies on Blakey Ridge with mists filling the south running dales of Rosedale and Farndale. Magic; who needs a commercial American import. I can’t remember making a fuss…