Tag: history
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1772: A Path, A Stone, A Hanging
The so-called âMinersâ Trodâ, with Cold Moor rising beyond it, cuts a broad, unsightly scar along the hillside courtesy of the forestry workers. The pathâs name comes from the nineteenth-century jet-miners, though it is unlikely they were its first users. That large boulder to the left bears the date â1772â and a scatter of initials,…
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Foxgloves and Stone
The bright purple foxgloves inject a sharp burst of summer colour into this view of Roseberry Topping, the conical shape of which remains instantly recognisable even from its backside. The rough dry-stone wall that cuts across the scene, adds texture and, for me, some interest. Yesterday I was out on the coast with the National…
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The Black Gold of Far Jetticks
A sheer cliff edge north of Robin Hoodâs Bay gives a sweeping view of the Yorkshire Coast, where rock and industry meet. This coastline is now known more for its beauty than for what has been pulled from beneath it: ironstone, alum shale, jet, coal, sandstone, cementstone. Today, the prize is potash and polyhalite, mined…
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DĂčn VĂčlan
This was an unexpected discovery on South Uist, though the Gothic lettering on the map did hint at something worth noting. Rubha Ăird Mhuile is a low, sandy peninsula that juts into the Atlantic. Most of it is taken up by a shallow âinlandâ loch. On the summit of a storm-thrown shingle ridge, barely ten…
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Departing the Hebrides, Not Quite Yet
That is it. The Hebridean escape has come to an end. But while I drag myself back into a Yorkshire frame of mind, I can still make use of the heap of photos that never made it into the daily posts. This one shows the summit of Hacklett Uachdar, a rocky rise on the southern…
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Ardtornish Castle
After a smooth and unexpectedly quiet crossing of The Minch, with only dolphins or porpoises for company, the Sound of Mull offered a surprise: Ardtornish Castle. Once a key stronghold of the Lords of the Islesâdescendants of Somerled and rulers of the Western Seaboard until the late 1400sâthis ruined 13th-century fortress stands at the tip…
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Crash on Vatersay: The Lost Catalina of 1944
I had hoped to photograph the tombolo that links the two high points of Bhatarsaighâa narrow strip of machair, that low, sandy grassland so typical of the Outer Hebrides. But from the summit of Beinn Ruilibreac, I was just short of a clear view of the twin beaches that lie back to back on either…
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The Lost Graves of Ăird Allathasdail
TrĂ igh Hamara: a sweep of pale sand where today the Atlantic was rolling in quietly, one more perfect beach among many on Barra. But our attention was not on the beach. It was drawn to the headland opposite. Not the distant one, but the nearer stretch of low dunes and machair: Ăird Allathasdail. In 2005,…
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DĂčn SgĂčrabhal
DĂčn SgĂčrabhal stands on a low hill, facing the sea to the west and the expanse of TrĂ igh Eais to the south. What remains is a collapsed stone structure, but it is still recognisable. Among the rubble, archaeologists have identified a double wall with a gallery betweenâclear signs of Iron Age construction. Though it has…
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The Black Stacks and the Weaverâs Castle
There was a brief sense of relief when the ferry finally slipped past the headland. Several sailings had been cancelled thanks to the breezy weather. I then endured ten minutes on the poop deck being drenched by the bow spray before giving up and retreating indoors. The unease only lifted once our wheels touched the…