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Farndale
Farndale, one of the quieter dales of the North York Moors. Except in the daffodil season. Five minutes later the rain came.
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Easby Moor from Roseberry
My turn to take the dog out this morning so out early from a damp and misty Great Ayton, the sea fret of yesterday still persisting. Climbing Roseberry the sun began to appear until a cloudless blue sky at the summit with the Cleveland plain hidden below. This is a view to Capt. Cook’s Monument on Easby Moor.
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The complicated sex life of the Knopper gall wasp
Almost three hundred species of insect are associated with the oak tree. And that doesn’t include over 400 species of mites. One of these is a tiny wasp, Andricus quercuscalicis, which lays its eggs in the Spring in the buds of our native oak tree. This results in a woody growth or gall being formed between the…
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Parasol Mushroom, Roseberry
I love mushrooms. Sautéed in butter with a hint of garlic. And if this is a Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota procera, it is reputed to be one of the best to eat. But if it’s a False Parasol, Chlorophyllum molybdites, I would be in trouble as it’s poisonous. Although native to North America it has been found in Scotland. Or then it could…
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Caw Slate Mine
Fit for nothing today after yesterday’s exertions so I thought I would be justified in posting another photo from yesterday. This is Caw Slate Mine on the western slope of Caw, a 529m peak on the Coniston Fells. The view is north across the Duddon valley with Harter Fell the obvious peak left of centre.
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Where was I today?
On the Lake District Mountain Trial so somewhere in the Lakes. But where? A reservoir, although a tarn existed before it was enlarged at the turn of the twentieth century. Apparently there was a riot amongst its construction workers when several were shot including one fatality. Quite peaceful today. No prizes only the kudos of being a…
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Belties below the Wainstones
Belted Galloways, bred to survive on the moors and uplands of South West Scotland, are aptly suited to the rough pastures below the Wainstones on Hasty Bank. They take their name from the distinctive white belt. Their coarse hair easily sheds rain and snow and an underlayer of softer hair provides insulation during the winter months.…
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Hagg's Gate
I didn’t realise it at the time but this is an almost opposite view to a photo I took earlier in the summer. I am on Hasty Bank, one of the bumps of the Cleveland Hills, and looking down onto the col at the top of Clay Bank on a contrasty early evening with bright skies and…
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Yorkshire Fog
A couple of months ago, in the summer, I heard an assessor telling the Duke of Edinburgh group I was supervising that the grass that which grows in profusion on disturbed or burnt areas on the moors is called ‘Yorkshire Haze’. An interesting snippet of a local plant name I thought and locked it away in my grey cells. I…
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Quakers' Causeway
One of the best preserved pannierways on the North York Moors. It crosses Commondale Moor in a south westerly direction to White Cross. Its true purpose is not known. And difficult to date with any degree of confidence. Perhaps it is one of the pannierways mentioned in the foundation document of Guisborough Priory in the 12th…
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