Category: North York Moors
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Flashback to 1948: ‘Yorkshire dale to begin new life’
Bransdale Eastside and the farmsteads of Smout House (formerly Loft House and now the National Trust’s office and stores), Toad Hole, and Cow Sike. I came across an interesting article in the Yorkshire Post dated 27 November 1948, which gives a very good insight of what life was like in Bransdale in the first half…
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Powder House at Roseberry Mines
Had a wander down to the old Powder House to see how it’s faring. The pointing applied to conserve the gable wall facing Roseberry looks as though it’s doing its job. The rest of the stone walls, reduced to a few courses, are grassing over. The tramway down is a jungle of bracken. At this…
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Dunmail Raise
A view down Raise Beck to Dunmail Raise.
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‘THIS may be called a Bee country’
THIS may be called a Bee country;— especially the Morelands, and the northern margin of the Vale ; where great numbers of bees have been usually kept, and great quantities of honey collected ; chiefly from the flowers of the heath, which afford an abundant supply ; but the produce is of an inferior quality;…
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Oh! rowan tree, oh! rowan tree,
Thou’lt aye be dear to me,
En twin’d thou art wi’ mony ties
O’ hame and infancyThe Rowan tree, immortalised in the Scottish folk-song. This tree — alternative names being Mountain Ash, witchwood or wicken-wood— is on the climb up Whetstone Nab to Capt. cook’s Monument, and is absolutely laden with bright red berries. Rowan is traditionally a powerful protection from evil influence. Pieces of the wood were often carried in…
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Danby Botton
Danby Dale’s middle section is termed ‘Danby Botton’, where Botton comes from an Old Scandinavian word ‘Botn’ for a hollow. The farm nearest is Stormy Hall which is the centre of a tradition dating from the time that Danby Castle was in the possession of the Latimers. Apparently, the hall takes its name from the fact…
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Fishy WW2 code-names
A view down from above the WW2 Starfish Decoy Command Bunker on Hutton Moor down Codhill Slack, or Rivelingdale to use its medieval name. Starfish seems a strange name to have used for decoys created to simulate burning British cities. I guess a secret code-name should be completely unrelated to the operation or else it…
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The foothills of Eston Moor
I’d like to say that it was the two small hills across the vale of Cleveland caught my attention, but it was actually the two cols; cols through which the roads of Ormesby Bank and Flatts Lane pass. The hills though — but perhaps ‘knoll‘ is a better word, ‘hill‘ sounds much too lofty — …
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The Wicked Squire of Basedale
A photo of Baysdale to accompany this story I came across by Richard Blakeborough in the Northern Weekly Gazette from 1912 It’s a cracking story, which I fear would be diminshed if I attempted to trim it down. I am therefore repeating it in full which makes this my longest post ever (which I’ve split…
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Johnny Longstaff
This photo of Cliff Rigg quarry looks along the whinstone ridge of the Cleveland Dyke towards Stockton-on-Tees where it crosses the Tees at Preston. I’ve posted about the Dyke many times before, so today I will write about a Stocktonian — Johnny Longstaff, who on this day in 1938 was shot and seriously wounded while…