Category: whitby
-
Masonry Hotchpot: The Medieval Engineering and Modern Preservation of Old Mulgrave Castle’s Wall
Some more photos from yesterday’s rather damp walk around Mulgrave Woods. At first glance, this restored perimeter wall of Old Mulgrave Castle looks like a quiet relict of medieval heritage. Behind the freshly stabilised masonry lies a long record of bulging walls and Civil War gunpowder, followed by a change in landscape fashion. That hotchpot…
-
Mrs Sharp of Mulgrave Castle
This is the 14th-century north-east lodging tower of Old Mulgrave Castle. The keep was certainly occupied in the 16th century, when mullioned windows were inserted, and the 19th century saw it partly rebuilt. Nigel Fossard is supposed to have built the castle around 1200 to replace Foss Castle, 700m to the west. Lord Sheffield turned…
-
Mulgrave Estate Walks: Much Ado About Very Little
We had read about some exciting new walks opened up through the Mulgrave Estate and thought we would give them a try. A chance to explore terrain previously inaccessible to the public. How generous. How progressive. Naturally, I had rather high hopes. In retrospect, perhaps a closer look at the routes before setting off might…
-
Sneaton Castle From Afar
Sneaton Castle has been on my radar for years. Whitby’s suburbs are not inspiring enough for me, though, so I never bothered going that way. Then over the weekend, I caught this view across the Esk valley and thought, well, there it is at last, and dressed rather better than I expected. The pile went…
-
Whitby’s Old Gas Works
Trees, a few old boats, a river in no hurry at the turn of the tide. Hard to believe this corner once fed a town’s cookers. The 1853 Ordnance Survey map called the land The Batts. Nothing more. By 1894 a gas works stood here, and by 1914 the map named it: the Whitby Gas…
-
The Cleveland Way: A Slow March Into The Sea
One from Tuesday’s little jaunt to Whitby. I had fancied a stroll along the coastal path to Saltwick, though the weather had other ideas. A mischievous wind and a steady parade of squalls were doing their utmost to suggest that I might prefer to remain upright. The path here is crumbling with admirable enthusiasm. One…
-
Whitby’s East Cliff
A rare chance to wander through the nooks and crannies of Whitby, where every turn seems to ooze history. This view from the curiously named Kyber Pass looks across the Esk towards the jumble of red-roofed houses that appear to cling for dear life to the crumbling East Cliff. High above them, standing guard against…
-
Larpool Viaduct: The Brick Monument of the Esk
Larpool Viaduct at Whitby stands today like a brick-red monument to an age when Victorian railway engineers thought artistically, even as they fought mud, tides, and buried forests. Completed in 1884 to carry the Scarborough and Whitby line across the deep valley of the River Esk, it was built entirely of brick, a deliberate rejection…
-
Deep Grove Quarry: Smoke, Shale, and Sulphur
High on the North Yorkshire coast, Deep Grove quarry tells the story of an industry that once transformed the landscape—and filled the air with choking fumes. Between 1720 and 1860, quarrymen here carved out the earth by hand, using nothing more than picks and shovels, to extract alum shale. From this shale, alum was produced,…
-
Smoke over Whitby — The Sandsend Bogey
The coast lies quiet beneath a sky heavy with cloud. Small waves slide up the beach with the ebbing tide. It is early yet; the crowds have not arrived. But beyond the headland the scene darkens. A wall of orange-stained smoke rises from the moor, its glow outlining Whitby and the Abbey. The fire on…