From Cawdma to Cranimoor

Cold Moor, known as Cawdma in the local dialect, possesses a mysterious aura, often overshadowed by its more prominent neighbours, Cringle Moor and Hasty Bank, albeit it is only the former that is loftier. Viewed from the Cleveland plain, Cold Moor presents a seemingly conical silhouette, yet it unfolds as a ridge of rugged moorland, stretching two miles from north to south, and nearly a mile wide. Dividing the heads of Bilsdale and Raisdale, it commands attention with its sweeping slope, ascending majestically from the south to the very brink of the Cleveland escarpment.

But what of its historical name, ‘Mount Vittoria,’ given to it on the 1857 6” OS map? What stories lie buried within the memories of the generations who crossed its ridge, journeying between Stokesley and Chop Gate? And what secrets lie behind this peculiar pit and boulder field crowning the ridge? Both defy convention and beckon curiosity.

Ahead lies the col at Donna Cross, with the distinctive hog-backed profile of Cringle Moor or Cranimoor to its left. Cringle stands as a magnificent geological marvel, triangular in form, utterly solitary, and reaching an elevation of 432 metres. It is, perhaps, the crowning jewel of the entire Cleveland Hills escarpment.