Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

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This week

  • Thimbleby and the Vale of MowbrayFrom Barbados to Morrisons—The history of Thimbleby… 11th August 2023 The agricultural landscape of the Vale of Mowbray stretches across to the Dales , a view made visible through the recent felling of what was called ‘The Big Wood’ on…
  • Low MillLow Mill, Bilsdale 4th April 2024 Low Mill, a small corn mill presently under private ownership, stands beside the swift waters of the River Seph amidst the charming valley of Bilsdale. Historical records date its inception…
  • A sunny outdoor shot shows a large flock of sheep with black faces and legs, and thick white woolly bodies, many marked with red dye, standing in a green field. Some sheep are closer to the viewer and in focus, while others are further back. In the background, there's a low stone wall, and behind it, a few trees with green foliage and some dry, dead trees. The sky is blue with some white clouds.Yan Tan Tether Mether Pip … 16th July 2025 Old Molly Metcalfe counting sheep Yan tan tether mether pip she counted Up upon Swaledale steep and bleak Yan tan tether mether pip she said… So sang Jake Thackray about…
  • Roseberry Plant BedRoseberry Plant Bed 23rd March 2018 On this day, in 1769, William Smith was born in Oxfordshire. In later life, he moved to Scarborough and became known as the Father of Geology. But I jump too…
  • Grimy Gutter HagsGrimy Gutter Hags 27th April 2015 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…
  • A tidal rock platform, the scar, stretches across the foreground towards a sandstone cliff on the horizon. Cut into the rock is a line of parallel slots, once used to hold the sleepers of a narrow gauge tramway, running around the base of the cliff. The surface is wet and pitted with small pools, and the cliff face above shows horizontal banding from centuries of weathering.Penny Nab at Low Tide: A Hunt for a Lost Tramway 4th August 2026 One from Sunday, when the tide finally allowed a proper wander along the scar below Penny Nab at Staithes, hunting for traces of a narrow gauge tramway that once skirted…
  • This photograph captures a section of the ruined Bronze Age orthostatic wall on Scarth Wood Moor. In the foreground, a line of large, weathered grey boulders and upright stones (orthostats) stretches across a grassy, yellow-toned landscape. Some stones stand upright as originally intended, while others have fallen or become partially embedded in the soil. The background features the rolling, undulating skyline of the Cleveland Hills, with slopes covered in a mix of green grass and purple heather. To the right, the land dips into a valley where a distant road and the Sheepwash car park are visible near the wooded area surrounding Cod Beck Reservoir. The scene is set under a bright blue sky filled with scattered white clouds.The Symbolic Shield: Decoding the 800-Metre Wall of… 30th July 2026 Scarth Wood Moor looks like empty, timeless terrain, but under the heather sits what used to be a busy Bronze Age settlement. This worn line of boulders belongs to an…
  • A scenic view of Kielder Reservoir with low water levels exposing a stretch of muddy, dry bank in the foreground. In the centre, the remains of an old railway embankment, with possibly a bridge or culvert structure, cuts across the dry shore, creating a small channel where some water may be flowing. An old, dark tree trunk lies exposed on the muddy shore in the centre. The main body of the reservoir water is visible behind the exposed bank, stretching towards a dense, dark forest on the distant shore under a bright blue sky with white, fluffy clouds.Drowned Tracks: The Railway That Kielder Swallowed 29th October 2025 I had always imagined Kielder reservoir as an endless supply of water, vast and untouchable. So when I saw it shrunken, its shoreline drawn back to reveal the bones beneath,…
  • Brian's PondWho was Brian? 10th June 2022 Brian’s Pond at Clough Gill Top has always intrigued me. An oasis on the bleak Bilsdale West Moor. But just who was Brian? The name and pond appears on the…
  • Skinningrove JettySkinningrove Jetty 18th July 2021 The old jetty at Skinningrove dominates the uncommercialised Cattersty Sands. It was built in the 1870s when the first two blast furnaces were built on the hill overlooking the little…

All Time

  • Thimbleby and the Vale of MowbrayFrom Barbados to Morrisons—The history of Thimbleby… 11th August 2023 The agricultural landscape of the Vale of Mowbray stretches across to the Dales , a view made visible through the recent felling of what was called ‘The Big Wood’ on…
  • The Giant's BootThe Giant’s Boot 8th April 2020 Northern Ireland’s most visited attraction is the iconic Giant’s Causeway, polygonal columns of basaltic rock formed sixty million years ago when molten lava spread across the land and created clouds…
  • Duncombe Park Army CampDuncombe Park Army Camp 5th April 2021 About 3km after crossing Rievaulx Bridge with its opportunity to gaze at the majestic abbey, the Cleveland Way crosses a concrete road at Griff Lodge. Here the National Trail bears…
  • RoseberryMiddlesbrough’s Dark Past: the 1961 Cannon… 21st August 2023 A reminder popped up on my phone today that back in 1961, things had hit a boiling point on Cannon Street in Middlesbrough. Three nights of rioting had built up…
  • SE0478 On Dead Man's HillOn Dead Man’s Hill 20th February 2019 Or the continuing story of Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib. We parked up at Scar House Reservoir at the top of Nidderdale last night and from across the reservoir,…
  • Lochan of the Lost SwordLochan of the Lost Sword 25th September 2023 Beneath the reflections of the autumnal hues rests an abandoned sword, a long-sword, the claymore that belonged to Robert the Bruce. Near this wee loch lies Dal Righ, a place…
  • 2019-02-19 SE1274 Jenny Rig and her daughter Tib.jpgJenny Twigg and her daughter Tib 20th February 2019 Ee, I love maps me. I happened to notice the name “Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib” marked on the map of Fountains Earth Moor overlooking Nidderdale, and so I…
  • Hackness HallThe Hackness Shame 27th August 2020 I had a look around the Forge Valley near Scarborough, a place I’ve always wanted to see but never had the opportunity. I must admit, I wasn’t that overwhelmed. A…
  • A high view capturing the vast, green, hilly landscape of the Outer Hebrides. In the foreground, large, grey, flat rocks are scattered amidst patches of grass. The midground features rolling green hills with visible sheep paths, leading down to a cluster of small white houses with dark roofs. Beyond the houses, a calm blue loch, dotted with several small boats, extends towards the horizon, where more hills rise. To the left, a turquoise bay with a sandy beach glistens. The sky is partially cloudy with patches of blue.Crash on Vatersay: The Lost Catalina of 1944 7th June 2025 I had hoped to photograph the tombolo that links the two high points of Bhatarsaigh—a narrow strip of machair, that low, sandy grassland so typical of the Outer Hebrides. But…
  • An elevated, wide-angle view of the rolling green countryside of North Yorkshire on a misty, overcast day. In the foreground, a slope of dark reddish-brown bracken and scrub leads the eye down into a valley of patchwork green fields separated by dark hedgerows and thin lines of trees. Dense, low-hanging grey clouds dominate the upper half of the frame, but a dramatic break in the mist allows bright, ethereal "God rays" to beam down onto the valley floor. The light catches the texture of the fields and a distant forested area, creating a stark contrast against the moody, shadowed hillsides in the background. The atmosphere is quiet, damp, and atmospheric.Solmōnaþ — Cake, Mud, and Lowered Hopes 1st February 2026 It is Solmōnaþ. Cake Month. A rare cause for cheer in the damp gloom of February. In the Anglo-Saxon calendar, Solmōnaþ sat where February is now. It marked a time…