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Grimy Gutter Hags
Grimy Gutter Hags; what a fascinating name. On the slope of Little Shunner Fell, an outlier of its bigger brother Great Shunner Fell in the Yorkshire Dales. A hag is the northern name for an exposed, eroded face of peat, too steep for the heather to grow and which is further eroded by wind, sheltering sheep or water dripping…
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Waterfalls, Hoods Bottom Beck
Sunday: my Duke of Edinburgh group had planned to walk from Muker to Keld taking in some of the dales and moors north west of Keld. I was looking forward to it. It’s an area I don’t know. Perhaps because there are no Public Rights of Way through them, or perhaps because they are at…
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Gunnerside
A lovely village in Swaledale, locating at the foot of Gunnerside Ghyll, a site of extensive lead mining activities in the 19c century. The village developed during this period to house the mining families. Low cloud, showers with a touch of sleet. Otherwise a good day out following a Duke of Edinburgh group.
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Apedale Beck
In Swaledale for a few days. Vodaphone has not managed to get here yet so postings may be delayed a bit. This is Apedale on the wide open moors between Reeth and Leyburn.
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Alum Clamp, Ayton Bank
The small knoll in the photo is an alum clamp, a relic of an 18c chemical industry to produce alum. Alum had many uses: medicinal, in tanning to make leather supple and durable, as a mordant in dyeing cloth. It does occur naturally and is known to have been used by the Greeks but on Ayton Bank and in other parts of…
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Black Bank
Recent felling of the plantation on Black Bank on the escarpment of Newton Moor has opened up a completely new prospect of Roseberry Topping. Revealed by the felling were a few interesting looking crags, so I battled through the debris resembling the Tunguska event for a nose around. The crags are nothing to shout about. The foresters…
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Tidkinhow Slack
Late evening walk across Guisborough Moor. The view is NNE across the small stream known as Tidkinhow Slack to Boosbeck, Brotton and the North Sea beyond. Tidkinhow Farm, located on the rise across the field, is almost at the same height above sea level as from where I was standing. It must be quite exposed yet I…
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Hand Stone, Ingleby Moor
On the moor above the village of Ingleby Greenhow is a sandstone post with a carving of a hand on it. I don’t think it actually has a name but most people know it as the hand stone. Above the hand there is carved: TO INGLE BY AND STOX LEY And on the opposite side: TO KIRBY AND HEM…
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Long-Spined Sea Scorpion
Stiff legged from yesterday so an easy day. Low tide at Saltburn this morning and a wander on the beach. Very cold and windy, a complete contrast to yesterday. Explored the rock pools on the scars below Huntcliff. Plenty of crabs and this fish was interesting. I think it’s a long-spined sea scorpion, sometimes called a bullhead or rockfish. It’s…
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Anniversary Waltz
Some couples for their wedding anniversary go out for a romantic meal, others give each other the traditional gifts according to the year (cotton for 1st, paper for 2nd etc.). Wynn and Steve organise a fell race. And have done so for the last nineteen years. The Anniversary Waltz Fell Race starts at Stair, near Keswick…
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