Tag: National Trust
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Late afternoon on Cliff Rigg
A morning spent volunteering alongside the National Trust, cutting sycamore saplings in Cliff Rigg Wood. Not exactly a photogenic opportunity, but later the dog was insistent that we ascend the ridge to bask in the waning afternoon sun. There, the lighting nicely highlighted a strange remnant from a bygone industrial era, the rocky pinnacle once…
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St. Cuthbert’s Cave
A pit stop to stretch our legs during the lengthy journey up to Edinburgh. St. Cuthbert’s Cave, a property owned by the National Trust in the Kyloe Hills, earned its name thanks to a group of monks back in 875. Fearing the looming arrival of the Great Heathen Army, they fled from Lindisfarne Abbey with…
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United Nations Day
With the promise of rain in the forecast and a list of errands to do in Stokesley, a swift blast up Roseberry was the imperative for the day. “How many roads must a man walk down Before you call him a man?” In 1962, so Bob Dylan sang, and, during my formative years, I couldn’t…
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Storm Babet
A deserted High Street in Great Ayton. Not a soul in sight. Everyone’s hunkered down. For me, a pluvious and tempestuous battle up Roseberry, though I skipped the summit. A short walk, leaving the rest of the day for housework. There’s an Old English word that suits our usual cleaning routine — ‘scurryfunge.’ It means…
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St. Michael’s Day
Apart from the purplish hue of the ling, the crimson shade of this bramble leaf also holds a special place in my colour preferences. It seems this vibrant colouration owes its existence to anthocyanins, naturally occurring chemicals found in blackberries. These compounds come together within certain leaves when sugar levels experience an increase during the…
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A Return to Bransdale: Battling the Tenacious Pine and Larch Saplings
After a hiatus of a few weeks, I find myself once again in Bransdale, volunteering my time to the National Trust. The task at hand is none other than the removal or trimming of young larch and pine saplings that have sprouted up on their own in Bloworth Wood, which was clear-cut a couple of…
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Woolly Wanderers on Roseberry Common
On Roseberry Common, a flock of sheep takes refuge from the rain and blustering wind amidst the sterile shale remains of an old jet quarry. A hundred and fifty years on, Mother Nature’s still struggling to reclaim the spoil left behind from the hunt for that fossilised wood of the Monkey Puzzle tree, deposited on…
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Mickleden, one of the two main tributaries of Great Langdale
Great Langdale, a lovely dale largely under the vigilant eye of the National Trust, holds in its embrace several imposing farms, an establishment of refreshment known as the New Dungeon Ghyll, and a haven for weary travellers in the form of the campsite. These riches, it is worth noting, were bestowed upon the Trust by…
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Woke Showdown: National Trust vs. Restore Trust
Ah, Roseberry Topping, Yorkshire’s Matterhorn, one of those many places the National Trust looks after. Now, in 2020, the Trust issued a report, a bit of a mouthful, called ‘Addressing our histories of colonialism and historic slavery.‘ They wanted to tell about how their 93 historic houses are tied up with the British Empire, the…
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Beneath Billowing Clouds: A Farmer’s Tale of Timing and Toil
In the rolling pasture that stretches down to the sprawling Dalby Forest, a farmer toils under a billowy sky. In this photograph, from near Low Pasture Farm, he is seizing a precious respite from the recent rain to harvest the bounty of his fields. In this delicate dance with nature, timing is everything. A mere…