Category: Urra Moor
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Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch — Part II
Back on the Cleveland Hills after a few days break. I was reminded crossing Urra Moor that I need to post the second part of Richard Blakeborough’s 1902 tale of Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch. For Part I see here. NANNY NEWGILL, THE BROUGHTON WITCH. SYNOPSIS OF PART I. Dinah Curry, a Broughton girl, marries […]
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Carr Ridge, Urra Moor
It is recorded that this standing stone is a “Post Medieval” waymarker. A stone has stood over 450 winters reassuring travellers across the bleak Urra Moor, the highest point of the North York Moors. The only sound that broke the muffling of the cloud was the frequent ‘go-back, back, back‘ call of the Red grouse […]
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Help me out here!
I was making my way along the sandy track over Urra Moor when I noticed the catoptric morning sun on a myriad of small bogs and pools far, far in the distance. I took a photo expecting to be able to identify the location but … At first I thought it might be Jewel Mere […]
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Hrímfaxi, the goddess of the night’s horse, pulls her chariot through the dark sky
It was pretty bleak on Urra Moor this morning. I had half expected to see ‘The Hagmare of Orrer‘, a witch that was said to roam the moor in the guise of a horse. I had met this beast earlier on Greenhow Moor. The great plow of Watership Down thundering out of the freezing mist. […]
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Billy’s Dyke
So named after William the Conqueror, who was supposed to have passed this way in his harrying of the north. Here he met with a storm and cursed in its face. I’m surprised I haven’t posted about this 4.4km earthwork along the eastern edge of Bilsdale before but it’s not exactly the most photogenic subject. Another […]
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The Great North Bog
Whenever I hear the dull throb of a helicopter I am reminded of the 1970s American T.V. comedy series ‘M.A.S.H.’ I can’t get that theme tune out of my head now. Last Thursday, whilst working with the National Trust in Bransdale, a helicopter had been operating from Bransdale Ridge. It was busy all day ferrying […]
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WW2 Aircraft Crash Site, Urra Moor
A return to Urra Moor. Second day in a row. I have been minded to try to find this site for some time. Armed with an eight digit grid reference, it was surprisingly easy to find, the pieces of bleached aluminium had been piled up and acted as a beacon. The wreckage is of an […]
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Botton Head
An obscure sandstone outcrop on Carr Ridge of Urra Moor, and overlooking to narrow north-facing valley of Ingleby Botton. The word Botton comes from an Old Scandinavian word ‘Botn’ for a hollow or head of a valley of just this shape, rounded and flat-bottomed. The early surveyors of the Ordnance Survey must have misinterpreted the local […]
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‘A Wild Year’
Did you watch ‘A Wild Year‘ on BBC2 on Friday evening, featuring the North York Moors? It’ll be available on iPlayer for a while. I was left feeling disappointed. The filming was superb of course, slow motion and time lapsed, the usual BBC quality, but when it came to the inevitable section on grouse management, […]
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Bell heather
The North York Moors contains the largest continuous tract of upland heather moorland in England and are renown for their display in the late summer of heather. Swathes of the lilac Ling or Calluna vulgaris cover the moors for a brief period in August. There is another heather, which is a much richer purple colour […]