Tag: history
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The Nuns’ Well: The Last Remains of St Andrews Priory
The so-called Nuns’ Well in Ryedale is a peculiar sight, sitting incongruously among the trees. A perfect circle, 2.4 metres across, with a stepped stone base and sides, it is thought to be medieval. Its water, fed by springs, is clear enough to impress those easily impressed by such things. It lies due north of…
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Hill Hill and the Art of Furtling
It was one of those charming so-called “lazy winds”—the sort that cannot be bothered to go around you and instead cuts straight through, ensuring you feel every bit of its bitter, bone-chilling embrace. Hardly the sort of day for a leisurely stroll around Kildale Moor, but, there I have been, engaged in the enthralling task…
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4th February, 1921: Redundancies at Roseberry Ironstone Mine
His day began long before any sensible person would even consider waking. At 4:30 in the morning, he and his wife dragged themselves from their bed, greeted not by comfort but by the biting cold. The morning’s first ordeal was the outhouse—an unenviable journey in deep winter, where snow, ice, and the ever-present risk of…
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A Wall, a Track, and Centuries of Erosion: Bransdale’s Legacy
Ah, the wonders of dry-stone walls. This one in Bransdale is quite remarkable, though to many an eye, it might be just a very large pile of stones. Compare it to the more modest wall on the other side of the track, then maybe you’ll be as impressed as I am. It is well-built, you…
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Hinderwell’s Holy Well and the Legacy of St. Hilda
Storm Éowyn made it rather wild on Roseberry this morning, so let me take refuge in recent memories and revisit Wednesday’s more gentle jaunt to the Yorkshire Coast instead. This is the Holy Well in the churchyard at Hinderwell, once the village’s sole water supply. Apparently, the waters were deemed miraculous, curing eye diseases and…
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Port Mulgrave: A Harbour of Erosion and Memory
The last time I ventured down Rosedale Cliff to Port Mulgrave was sometime before the world discovered a new way to grind to a halt — the dreaded COVID. Shortly afterwards, a landslip completely wiped out the path. Today, visiting the beach was not on the itinerary, but fate – in the form of National…
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Cleopatra’s Needle and its Tenuous Connection to the North Riding
Let us journey back to this day, 21st January in 1878, to Gravesend, Kent. Imagine the children, thrilled to avoid school, lining the Thames estuary to witness the grand arrival of Cleopatra’s Needle. This 3,500-year-old, 224-ton, 21-metre-high granite obelisk had been towed from Alexandria to London in a cumbersome iron vessel shaped like a cylinder.…
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Bold Venture Gill
The public footpaths through Highcliffe Farm have been diverted. Fascinating. I am sure there is an entirely compelling reason for depriving the public of paths they have used for decades. Perhaps the landowner fancied some peace and quiet, or maybe there was a pressing need to shift things about for reasons too profound for us…
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Teddy’s Nook: Where Facts are Optional
Working with the National Trust at Old Saltburn, tucked away in Littledale—a predictably small valley with a narrow view across to the new town. The place has some flora worth noting, though you will be mostly clawing your way through Blackthorn, Gorse, and Brambles. Today’s thrilling task was hacking back this jungle. Perched smugly on…
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Wellies, Floods, and the Debate over Captain Cook
Billy Connolly once sang about the virtues of wellies: “Cause they keep out the water, and they keep in the smell.” This morning, I was rather pleased to have followed his wisdom, as the path to Little Ayton was a sodden mess thanks to the rain and snowmelt. Here is a photo of the path…