A lone, rectangular stone rests like a forgotten sentinel on a hillside blanketed in dry, brown bracken. Scattered trees and shrubs add to the desolate feel. A patch of vibrant green grass breaks up the monotony to the right. The scene is shrouded in a thick, eerie fog, lending an air of mystery to the landscape. The stone, seemingly misplaced amidst the natural surroundings, piques curiosity about its origin and purpose.

Falling Rocks: One from Space, One from a Chopper?

On this day in 1795, a meteorite made an unscheduled stop in Wold Newton in the East Riding, thrilling a ploughman who narrowly avoided being flattened. Witnesses reported a dark object streaking through the sky before slamming into the earth, leaving a crater nearly a metre wide. It punched through 300 mm of soil, embedding itself 180 mm into the chalk below. Weighing 25 kg, this cosmic intruder now sits in the Natural History Museum in London, sadly sans any Kryptonian babies to spice up the story1Wold Cottage meteorite. Wikipedia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wold_Cottage_meteorite [Accessed 13 December  2025..

A close-up of a large, rectangular stone with much graffiti carved into its surface. The stone is weathered and shows signs of age. The carvings are difficult to decipher, but appear to be letters or doodles.
Close up of the mystery boulder.

Here on Roseberry Topping, a more terrestrial enigma has appeared: a graffitied boulder on a slope otherwise free of such features. The graffiti suggests the stone to be lying prone, though its origins remain as grounded as its current position.

I came across this curiosity while following the track left by the digger used during recent repairs to the summit path. It lies conveniently by the side, suggesting it might have fallen from the digger’s bucket. Unfortunately, this theory falls apart when one remembers all the stones for the project were airlifted in by helicopter. I recall this well, having been tasked with keeping curious bystanders clear of the flight path. Most of the stones were lugged about in the typical large rubble bags, except for a few oversized boulders that were given the solo treatment. I distinctly remember a piece breaking off one of these but that fell much closer to the summit. Still, once might mean twice. Future archaeologists will no doubt enjoy puzzling over it, assuming they care enough.


Posted

in

, ,

by

Tags:

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *