Out & About …

… on the North York Moors, or wherever I happen to be.

A wide, eye-level shot captures a sun-drenched, heather-covered hillside beneath a clear, bright blue sky with a few wispy clouds near the horizon. The hillside slopes upwards from the left towards the right, where a dark, cave-like opening is visible, surrounded by an arch of large, light-coloured sandstone blocks. The dominant vegetation is a low-lying, brownish-purple heather, interspersed with patches of dry, golden-brown grasses and scattered light-coloured boulders of varying sizes. On the far left, a glimpse of a green, lower-lying landscape is visible under the bright sunlight. The overall lighting suggests a sunny day, casting harsh shadows on the textured surface of the hill.

The Forgotten Incline of Ingleby Moor

I had heard the National Park was up to something on the old railway incline up Ingleby Moor, so I went to see what the fuss was about.

A sweeping panoramic view from a high vantage point captures a vast landscape under a clear, bright blue sky. The foreground features a rugged, undulating terrain covered in dry, golden-brown grasses interspersed with patches of green vegetation and scattered dark rocks. To the left and right, dense forests of tall, dark green coniferous trees blanket the slopes of rolling hills, creating a sense of depth and enclosure. The middle ground opens up to a wide, verdant valley with a patchwork of fields in various shades of green and hints of yellow, suggesting agricultural land. Scattered trees and small clusters of buildings dot this lower terrain. In the far distance, the landscape stretches out towards a hazy horizon where the sky meets the land in a pale blue. The overall impression is one of expansive natural beauty and a sense of being high above a broad and varied terrain.
View down the incline.

This is not the famous incline that once carried ironstone from Rosedale. It is one that runs roughly 350 metres to the south, leading to the Ingleby Mining Companyā€™s ironstone workings beneath Rudd Scar.

Rudd Scar itself is a ragged line of sandstone cliffs, with evidence that water trickles over the edge and heaps of fallen rock at the base. Clearly, the rock face has slowly collapsed over the millenia. In winter, water freezes in the cracks, expands, and pries the rock apart. Add the slow grind of running water, and eventually chunks of sandstone fall away, crashing down the slope. The result is bleak, raw, and dramatic.

During the ironstone rush, landowners were quick to see profit. In 1855, the North Yorkshire and Cleveland Railway drew up plans for a line from Picton to Kildale, with stations at Stokesley, Ingleby, Battersby, and Kildale. Lord de Lisle and Dudley seized the chance to lease out 2,600 acres for mining1Durham Chronicle – 06 July 1855 ā€œVALUABLE IRONSTONE MINES, &C. INGLEBY MANOR, CLEVELAND, YORKSHIRE. TO BE LETā€ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001653/18550706/053/0004. The offer included ā€œall the ironstone, iron ore, and lime-stone,ā€ with claims the ore held up to 49 percent iron. There was also provision for building blast furnaces and the usual infrastructure.

At the same time the railway reached Kildale, the Ingleby Ironstone & Freestone Mining Company opened a narrow gauge line from their mine at Rudd Scar to Battersby. It ran for about three miles, including a steep 600-yard incline.

A close-up, eye-level shot captures the weathered remains of a stone archway, possibly the entrance to a collapsed mine, nestled amidst a rugged, overgrown landscape. The arch itself is constructed from roughly hewn, rectangular stone blocks, showing signs of age with varying shades of grey, brown, and hints of orange lichen or mineral staining. Several key stones appear to have shifted or fallen, contributing to a sense of decay and the passage of time. The opening beyond the archway is dark and filled with loose rocks and debris, hinting at a hollow space within the earth. Patches of green moss and small sprigs of vegetation cling to the damp surfaces of the stones inside the opening. Surrounding the arch, the ground is steep and covered with a mix of large, angular rocks and sparse vegetation, including patches of green grass and low-lying, dry heather in muted tones of brown and grey. The overall impression is one of a forgotten and slightly hazardous location, where nature is slowly reclaiming a man-made structure. The lighting suggests the arch is shaded, casting soft shadows within the archway and highlighting the textures of the stone.
Close-up of the arch.

The railway company later struck a deal to use part of their route as part of its West Rosedale branch. After being absorbed by the North Eastern Railway, a standard gauge line from Battersby to West Rosedale Bank Top opened in 1861, complete with a new incline. But by then, the Ingleby mine had already closed. The seams were too narrow to be worth the effort. A connecting spur had been laid to the new incline, but as far as I can tell, it was never used. The whole venture had lasted about four years2Tuffs, Peter. “Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mines”. Cleveland Ironstone Series 19963Hayes, R.H. & J.G. Rutter. “Rosedale Mines and Railway”. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society. Research Report No. 9 Reprinted 1991..

Now, there is little left. The clearest relic is a stone arch ending in a short, stone-walled chamber at the top of the incline. Some who know about these things say it may have housed the brake drum.

As for the incline itself, you can make out a wide cutting above the treeline. It is not the dark ride you see running through the forest ā€” that was felled out for a gas pipeline. The real incline lies fifty metres to the right, hidden under a mess of brambles, brashings, and dead wood. I was in shorts and had left my machete at home, so I chose not to press on. Sensible, I thought.

  • 1
    Durham Chronicle – 06 July 1855 ā€œVALUABLE IRONSTONE MINES, &C. INGLEBY MANOR, CLEVELAND, YORKSHIRE. TO BE LETā€ https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001653/18550706/053/0004
  • 2
    Tuffs, Peter. “Catalogue of Cleveland Ironstone Mines”. Cleveland Ironstone Series 1996
  • 3
    Hayes, R.H. & J.G. Rutter. “Rosedale Mines and Railway”. Scarborough Archaeological and Historical Society. Research Report No. 9 Reprinted 1991.

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