This morning’s short walk along Battersby Moor offered this view towards the upper reaches of Baysdale, formerly known as Basedale. From here, you can see the two main tributaries—Black Beck and Gain Beck—separated by the ridge aptly named Middle Head, while the moorland edge is dominated by commercial plantations that create a stark contrast to the lush valley pastures.
The dry-stone wall in the foreground is particularly intriguing. Take a closer look at that notch or step in its length; might it be the ghost of an old gate? Notice too that this wall is built with a single layer of stones, allowing daylight to filter through the gaps. Very precarious looking indeed. The normal method of dry-stone wall construction method is with double-skin walls, which are filled with ‘harting’, smaller stones to enhance stability. While such single-skin walls are not the norm, they can be found in various dales of the North York Moors, including Bransdale.
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