The sight of low cloud from Bilsdale pouring over the cols in the Cleveland Hills always leaves me with wonder

This is looking down on Green Bank, a flattish ring contour rise marking the head of Raisdale, and separating Cringle or Cranimoor from the steep slope up Carlton Bank. The col is nowadays more commonly known as the ‘Lordstones‘ on account of the country park.

On the 22nd December 1892, the Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough reported¹‘A Cleveland Highway Robbery. | Daily Gazette for Middlesbrough | Thursday 22 December 1892 | British Newspaper Archive’. 2023. Britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk <https://www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0000159/18921222/020/0003> [accessed 24 January 2023]‌:

A CLEVELAND HIGHWAY ROBBERY.

RUFFIANLY ATTACK ON A FARMER.

As Mr Joseph Hugill, farmer, of Raisdale, Bilsdale was returning home by the road leading from Kirby to Bilsdale on Tuesday night he was attacked by two men, who had concealed themselves in a plantation. He was knocked down by one of the assailants, whilst the other knelt upon his chest, and together they abstracted from the unfortunate farmer a sum of £4 10s and also a watch. No arrests have yet been made. The spot where the robbery occurred is one of the most secluded parts of the Cleveland Hills.

It’s interesting to speculate where this ‘most secluded‘ plantation was. The coniferous trees that dominate the col are not depicted on the Ordnance Survey map of the time.