Category: ingleby greenhow
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Witch Tree, Maiden Tree
This week, public outrage greeted the news that two men have been found guilty of cutting down the Sycamore Gap tree beside Hadrianâs Wall. Though obviously a cultural icon, sycamores are not native to Britain. The tree came from Europe and only arrived in Britain around the fifteenth or sixteenth century. The idea that Robin…
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Lake Greenhow: A Forgotten Relic of the Ice Age
Yesterdayâs post led me to glaciers, glacial lakes, and the like. At Botton Head, my imagination ran riot. Difficult as it is to picture now, 10,000 years ago, a glacier covered the Tees Valley before me. The ice sheet, it is well-known, never quite managed to smother the North York Moors. So, naturally, I wondered…
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Mouldwarps, Misconceptions, and Mass Extermination
Only the other day, we were marvelling at the sheer number of molehills littering the fields this year. Which, naturally, means an abundance of molesâor, if one prefers their grander, more traditional name, âmouldwarps,â an old English term meaning âearth-thrower.â I remarked that their presence must indicate rich soil teeming with earthworms. The so-called âgentlemen…
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On this day in 1933, Germany passed the Enabling Act
Also known as the âLaw to Remedy the Distress of People and Reich,â the act was a charmingly titled law that, in reality, handed Hitler absolute power and turned Germany into a totalitarian dictatorship. Yes, the âGesetz zur Behebung der Not von Volk und Reichââa masterclass in euphemism. A harmless little law that merely allowed…
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Greenhow Botton with a Fleeting Glimpse the Birthplace of Ivor Cummings
A view down Greenhow Botton towards Roseberry, which distinctive shape barely manages to poke above the skyline. Remarkably, it is a clear dayâclear enough that, far off in the distance, from this the highest point of the North York Moors, Hartlepool is visible, gleaming faintly through a break in the clouds. Why bother mentioning Hartlepool,…
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Ingleby Manor and Lady Mary Ross’ Spectral Odyssey
I’ve wanted to post a photo of Ingleby Manor for quite some time now. However, the Grade II* Listed building is shielded from view by a formidable stand of lofty lime and oak trees. From this vantage point on Turkey Nab, one can just make out, albeit faintly on this murky morning, the rooftops nestled…
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Ingleby Bank woods â where two bodies were found hidden
Looking down on Hagg’s Gate from the crest of Cushat Hill. Hagg’s Gate and Cushat Hill, names no one uses nowadays. Ingleby Bank, on the other hand, is a name that has roaming issues. The O.S. map claims it’s the slope of that ridge on the other side of the vale of Greenhow. But it’s…
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Midnight Corner
Today’s post comes swift and direct, plucked from the heights of the Ingleby Incline, that rapid ascent from the Cleveland plain to the moor’s crest in just over a mile. Unveiled in 1861 and closed in 1929, this line’s purpose was to transport Rosedale Ironstone to the steel mills of Ferryhill in County Durham. Down…
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Ingleby Stone Quarry Company
Howling wind and relentless rain were more than enough to persuade me that a brisk walk on the open moor was no place to be. So, I cunningly decided to park up at Bank Foot and set out for a saunter in the sheltered woods that cover Ingleby Bank. I soon found myself on the…
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Checking on Medusa: A Slippery Slope to the Ancient Oak
Caught on Greenhow Bank in a shower and finding myself taking more time than anticipated, I decided to take a shortcut by descending the bank directissimo, which led me to a spot above Medusa. My thought I would pay a visit to the old gorgon to check on her well-being. The descent was nothing short…