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14th February 1779 – Death of Capt. Cook in Kealakekua Bay, Hawaii
I can not let St. Valentine’s Day pass without a mention of Captain James Cook R.N., Great Ayton’s most famous son, who was killed on this day in 1779 in Kealakekua Bay, Hawai’i. He is remembered as a hero, a great explorer, navigator, cartographer, “discoverer” of New Zealand. Ayton was his boyhood home, his father…
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Location, location, location
A wet day with sleet and low cloud on Roseberry Common removing Rowan trees and creating wildlife habitats with the brashings. This might sound harsh, cutting down trees especially in these days of a growing awareness of their essentiality in the removal of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. Roseberry Common is an area of semi-open…
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If the sun smiles on St. Eulalie’s day, …
My reprint of an 1869 book, “Weather Lore” by R. Inwards says that today, 12th February is St. Eulalie’s day. But who was St. Eulalie? St. Eulalie is included in lots of French commune names and the saying quoted is from the French. Now saints are not my thing so I have only made a…
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Aircraft Crash on Easby Moor
80 years ago today, 11th February 1940, a flight of three Lockheed Hudson aircraft took off from Thornaby airfield on a mission to search for enemy minesweepers operating in the Heglioland Bight off the Danish Coast. Within a few minutes after taking off at 04:10 one of the aircraft, NR-E crashed into Easby Moor. Ice…
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Monk’s Trod
From Westerdale, the River Esk flows somewhat leisurely down its broad valley. Until it reaches Glaisdale. There it enters the narrow defile between East Arncliffe Wood and Limber Hill where it speeds up into a mountain river, cascading over submerged rocks. For the modern cyclist, journeying down the dale to Whitby the steep climb up…
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The star attraction in Great Ayton’s Waterfall Park
A snatched photo before the lens fogged up. The Leven’s high, few hardy souls about, the paths awash with flowing streams. In Newton Wood, I disturb flocks of wooshats sheltering from the storm. Returning home so wet and battered, I feel I’ve been through the washing machine. Ah, kissed by Ciara. Except, of course, it’s…
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Bucyrus Erie 1150-B Walking Dragline Excavator
This wee beastie dominates the RSPB St Aidan’s Nature Park near Garforth. It is huge, and some idea of its hugeness can be gained from the people at the head of the jib. Look closely. 1200 tons of “impossible engineering” as they would say on that Yesterday TV programme. With a bucket size of 25…
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The Great Tit – Parus major
The largest member of the tit family, resident throughout the year and well known in our woodlands and gardens. The National Trust maintains 78 bird boxes in Newton Wood, in 2018, and out of 61 occupied, 12 contained Great tit nests (plus 47 Blue tits and 2 Nuthatches). They feed generally on seeds during the…
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Glorious winter sunshine
Today nature was in her calmer moods with snowdrops covering the woodland floor, the sun shining under a cloudless blue sky, giving a primaveral feel to the winter’s day. With the passing of high noon, basking in the warmth, the ‘keepers burning the heather try to hide the sun and raise the temperature still. Every…
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Roseberry from Nunthorpe
An early reference to Roseberry Topping in literature appears in an 18th-century farce by Stockton-on-Tees born Joseph Reed “The Register Office”. His play was first performed in 1761 at the Theatre Royal, Drury Lane and is the story of, what in modern terms we would call an employment agency where workers and prospective employers were…
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