Tag: 18th-century
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Smelly Farm and the 18th Century Enclosures
A rather drab photograph capturing a drab-looking collection of barns, reflecting an exceptionally drab overcast day. The presence of a strong wind and rain in the air adds to the overall drabness. Lounsdale — sometimes spelt Lonsdale — stands before me in all its aromatic glory. The barns, once known to my friendship group with…
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Clitherbecks — Coal, Cottages and Calamity
Clitherbecks, a very lonely and remote place on the moors near Danby, yet attaining a certain picturesque quality beneath the blanket of snow. The dale is renowned for its coal mining legacy. Modest, isolated shafts were operated using a ‘horse gin.’ Upon reaching the seam, horizontal headings were dug in various directions until deemed too…
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Brock or Huckster? What’s behind the name of the Badger Stone?
I succeeded in reaching the Badger Stone before the snow came. By the time I returned to the car, I had transformed into a snowman. The Badger Stone, an oddity in itself, is a sturdy sandstone outcrop standing alone and distant on the periphery of a plateau within a desolate moorland, rising to a height…
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Brathay Hall — “Mr. Law’s White palace – a bitch!”
Brathay Trust is based in an elegant 18th Century Georgian country house. It was built by George Law, the son of an Attorney who was involved in Backbarrow ironworks. On his death, in the West Indies in 1802, the house passed to his son Henry, who rented it to John Harden, a gentleman with connections…
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The Green Bag Rebellion: Guisborough’s 1820 Guy Fawkes Night
This morning’s images of politicians’ effigies being paraded and set ablaze in Lewes reminded me of a tale from 1820 in Guisborough. After Guy Fawkes’s infamous plot in 1605, the King and his government had started a public day of thanks by an Act of Parliament (which wasn’t repealed until 1859) and was taken up…
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The Hand Stone of Ingleby Moor
On the desolate expanse of Ingleby Moor stands a weathered stone guidepost, rising tall beyond a metre. Its west face bears the inscription “TO INGLEBY AND STOXLEY,” while the east face proudly displays “TO GUISBORO,” and on the south face, the words “TO KIRBY AND HELMSLEY 1757” are inscribed. But what sets this landmark apart…
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18th-Century stables and cartshed at Bransdale Mill
If you’ve ever been to Bransdale Mill, you will have seen the old barn propped up for years by scaffolding to prevent collapse. This has been necessary since the Public Footpath passes directly below the north end gable. Now the barn is stable at last, its scaffolding gone. And a fine sight it is. One…
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William Parkinson and the gibbet on Turkey Nab
I reckon Turkey Nab must be one of the steepest hill climbs in Cleveland. It’s one of those routes where vehicles can be driven without tarmac, which makes it popular with 4WD enthusiasts. But for cyclists, it’s a different story altogether. That loose gravel turns it into a proper challenge. This high moorland route has…
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Joseph Foord: The man who brought water to Fadmoor and Gillamoor
This is Sleighthome Dale, which is drained by Hodge Beck. Bransdale is upstream and Kirkdale is downstream, but it’s unclear where one dale ends and the other begins. Across the dale, there’s a limestone plateau called Boon Hill, with the twin villages of Fadmoor and Gillamoor. In the 18th century, both villages had no easy…
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The Rise and Fall of Alum Production in Great Ayton
As I descend from Capt. Cook’s Monument, approaching Gribdale Terrace, the former whinstone quarrymen’s cottages gleam white, with Cliff Rigg rising behind them. Before me, in the centre of the photo is a range of sandstone buildings mapped as Bank House Farm on the 1853 OS Six-inch map, but an auction advertisement in the Yorkshire…