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Commondale from Sand Hill
Said to be named after Colmán, Bishop of Lindisfarne. So what was the venerable prelate doing in this remote dale that resulted in it taking his name? It is known he was present at the Synod of Whitby in 664 A.D., having been was appointed bishop 3 years earlier. Colmán led a delegation of monks representing…
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Little Ayton from Larners Hill
I suppose most visitors to Great Ayton wouldn’t know where Little Ayton is. You best direct them to Fletcher’s Farm café and when they get there tell them they’ve passed through Little Ayton on the way. It is an unimposing hamlet consisting of around a dozen farms or houses. The ‘centre’, I guess, would be…
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Roseberry Well
I moved up to the Cleveland area in the Autumn of 1973 and I’ve been climbing Roseberry on a regular basis every since. It’s my patch. And I thought I knew every nook and cranny. I knew about Roseberry Well, where the young Prince Oswy is said to have drowned having been taken to the…
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Phew, that was a hot one
Didn’t venture too far today, just an early climb up Roseberry before it became too hot. This view is north-east from the summit looking down Bousdale to Guisborough.
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Marske-by-the-Sea
I came across a series of articles written in the Cleveland Standard during the 1930s/40 by a Hugh W. Cook of Redcar. They explore the history of ‘Cleveland’ and contain a wealth of information. One article inspired a cycle ride through Marske this morning before the day became too hot. St. Germain’s steeple stands proud…
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Wild fire on Cockshaw Hill
Just a reminder that there is a very high fire risk on the moors at the moment. This morning, I came across the remains of a fire on Cockshaw Hill. I think it happened about three weeks ago and was caused by a disposable BBQ. The lush-looking bracken below disguises the risk, but I think…
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Weir, Scugdale Beck
Just below the familiar crossing of Scugdale Beck on the Cleveland Way are these remains of a weir. The crossing is known as Bittling Mill Wath — ‘wath’ meaning a ford — but the weir is more likely to be associated with a fulling mill that was sited about 200m downstream powered by a race…
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Top of Brant Gate
I learnt the other day of the Old Norse word ‘brantr‘ meaning steep, although it’s unattested and has been ‘reconstructed’ from the Old Icelandic and Old Norwegian form ‘brattr‘. I guess this means that it’s a bit of a guess. However, I read also that ‘brant‘ is actually a Cleveland dialect word for steep, and…
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The Four Sisters
I am not sure who coined the term the ‘Four Sisters’ for the Cleveland hills of Hasty Bank, Cold Moor, Cringle Moor and Carlton Moor. Maybe it was Martyn Hudson who used that term in his book ‘on blackamoor‘. They form a familiar view from the vale of Cleveland. From urban Teesside, the flattened aspect…
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The hills look down on Westerdale, and Westerdale looks at the hills
So the Whitby gazette wrote in 1911, borrowing heavily from Lord Bryon’s poem about the battle at Marathon. Today it’s such a sleepy village, home to about a hundred and thirty retirees and professionals, with a handful of working farms. Its location is not conducive as a base for walking, so most of us fly…
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