Crannimoor: A Hill, a Café, and a Case of a Misplaced Apostrophe

On Cringle or Cringley Moor, or if one wants to sound particularly archaic, Crannimoor. A Victorian writer hailing from the West Riding once claimed this was pronounced “Creenay.”¹“On the Sea Cliffs of Cleveland: 1864”. William Stott Banks (1820-72). https://northyorkshirehistory.blogspot.com/2021/02/on-sea-cliffs-of-cleveland-1864.html As for its origin, the modern thinking is that it comes from the Old Norse ‘kringla,’ meaning a “circle.”²Kirby, John R. “Identifying Brúnanburh: ón dyngesmere – the sea of noise.” Page 25. Archaeopress and J R Kirby 2019. However, the ever-reliable Reverend R. C. Atkinson, walking dictionary of Cleveland dialect, suggested its sibling word is “crunkle,” supposedly from the same Scandinavian root, meaning “to tumble or rumple linen, &c., so as to cause it to form creases.”³Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE. One could argue that from the Cleveland vale, the hills do indeed look rather creased.

Crannimoor is an impressive landform, triangular, isolated, and reaching 434 metres—second highest on the North York Moors and, allegedly, the finest hill on the escarpment. It is separated from Carlton Bank’s steep slope by the flat col of Green Bank, head of Raisdale, now lorded over by the Lord Stones Country Park.

This privately owned park began, with seeming modesty, in 1986 as a “car park with public toilet and refreshment facilities together with accommodation for agricultural equipment.”⁴Northyorkmoors.org.uk. (2021). Online Standard Details. [online] Available at: http://planning.northyorkmoors.org.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Constraints&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20786363&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/NorthYorkMoors/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Details&DAURI=PLANNING&XMLSIDE=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/NorthYorkMoors/Menus/PL.xml[Accessed 26 Jul. 2021]. Even at the time, there was much grumbling, though the café’s grassed-over roof was deemed a sop to the purists. Whatever its eccentricities, it became a favourite haunt of walkers, runners, and cyclists, and during the 2001 foot-and-mouth crisis, it had the distinction of being the only countryside left open. Since then, it has changed hands and expanded in a way that only the most generous would call subtle.

It would seem the café takes its name from the Three Lords’ Stone, which supposedly marks the meeting point of the estates of Lord Duncombe of Helmsley, Lord Marwood of Busby Hall, and Lord Aislesby, whose lands lay in Scugdale. The stone itself sits unassumingly on a tumulus near the Cleveland Way road crossing.

Observant readers might notice my fussiness with the apostrophe. Like Crannimoor, names evolve over time, though it is always a pity when old ones fade away. The name The Three Lords’ Stone now risks obliteration, thanks to its misappropriation by the café. If the café name refers to anything else, perhaps it is the five stones planted in 2013 in a so-called stone circle—actually a semi-circle—on top of Green Bank. A modern take on a Georgian folly, if one is feeling charitable.

The Lord Stones café, to put it bluntly, is not to my taste. I recall a visit shortly after its grand refurbishment, when I arrived, cold, wet, and in need of a bacon sandwich. First, I was made to remove my running shoes and shuffle about on the cold floor in my wet socks; then I was informed I had arrived too late for breakfast (which ended at 11:30) and too early for lunch (which began at noon). The contrast with the previous, more relaxed owner could not have been greater. The more recent enthusiasm for piping music into the outdoors on warm days has done little to improve my view.

• 1
  “On the Sea Cliffs of Cleveland: 1864”. William Stott Banks (1820-72). https://northyorkshirehistory.blogspot.com/2021/02/on-sea-cliffs-of-cleveland-1864.html
• 2
  Kirby, John R. “Identifying Brúnanburh: ón dyngesmere – the sea of noise.” Page 25. Archaeopress and J R Kirby 2019.
• 3
  Atkinson, Rev. J. C. “A Glossary of the Cleveland Dialect” 1868. JOHN RUSSELL SMITH,SOHO SQUARE.
• 4
  Northyorkmoors.org.uk. (2021). Online Standard Details. [online] Available at: http://planning.northyorkmoors.org.uk/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/Generic/StdDetails.aspx?PT=Constraints&TYPE=PL/PlanningPK.xml&PARAM0=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20786363&XSLT=/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/NorthYorkMoors/xslt/PL/PLDetails.xslt&FT=Planning%20Details&DAURI=PLANNING&XMLSIDE=%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20/Northgate/PlanningExplorer/SiteFiles/Skins/NorthYorkMoors/Menus/PL.xml[Accessed 26 Jul. 2021].