Category: North York Moors
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Blakey Topping
The story goes that a giant by the name of Wade had an argument with his wife and in a fit of temper he scooped by a handful of earth and threw it at her but missed creating Blakey Topping in the process. And the hole left became the Hole of Horcum. Elgee writing in the 1930s recounts a…
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Brambles
Autumn is rapidly setting in. It’s going to be a good year for Autumn colours. Unless we have storms blowing the turning leaves off. Some bramble leaves are a deep red yet others are still green. Maybe different species. There are plenty of them. 320 at the last count. Off the main drag up to Capt.…
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Scarth Wood Farm
An intriguing building. Named on the modern map, as well as the Ordnance Survey Six Inch 1854 edition, as a farm but I can’t help thinking there is more to it than just a common or garden farmhouse. It is roofed with Welsh slate, a relatively expensive material, compare with the pantile roof of the outbuildings in…
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Birdsfoot Treeroot
A break with tradition. An arty closeup. Had an explore along Black Bank, an area of clear felling on the escarpment of Great Ayton Moor where some crags and boulders have been revealed. Interesting enough but I was fascinated by this tree stump where the bark has worn off to expose knobbly, wavy roots. Reminding me of a bird’s foot. Or…
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White Gill
In the Tabular Hills, limestone country in the southern half of the North York Moors and a view west over the Vale of Mowbray to the Yorkshire Dales, supposedly one of the “finest views in all of England”. White Gill, the stream at the bottom of a deep valley with no name, and downstream, the village of Kepwick.…
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Farndale
Farndale, one of the quieter dales of the North York Moors. Except in the daffodil season. Five minutes later the rain came.
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Easby Moor from Roseberry
My turn to take the dog out this morning so out early from a damp and misty Great Ayton, the sea fret of yesterday still persisting. Climbing Roseberry the sun began to appear until a cloudless blue sky at the summit with the Cleveland plain hidden below. This is a view to Capt. Cook’s Monument on Easby Moor.
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Parasol Mushroom, Roseberry
I love mushrooms. Sautéed in butter with a hint of garlic. And if this is a Parasol Mushroom, Macrolepiota procera, it is reputed to be one of the best to eat. But if it’s a False Parasol, Chlorophyllum molybdites, I would be in trouble as it’s poisonous. Although native to North America it has been found in Scotland. Or then it could…
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Belties below the Wainstones
Belted Galloways, bred to survive on the moors and uplands of South West Scotland, are aptly suited to the rough pastures below the Wainstones on Hasty Bank. They take their name from the distinctive white belt. Their coarse hair easily sheds rain and snow and an underlayer of softer hair provides insulation during the winter months.…
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Hagg's Gate
I didn’t realise it at the time but this is an almost opposite view to a photo I took earlier in the summer. I am on Hasty Bank, one of the bumps of the Cleveland Hills, and looking down onto the col at the top of Clay Bank on a contrasty early evening with bright skies and…