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Tussock-Skipping and Bog-Trotting — Adventures in Rivelindale
Today’s misadventure took me to a wide, flat valley flanked by low heather-clad moors. Sounds lovely, right? But Codhill Slack, or Rivelindale to use its Medieval name, has a bottom that is a boggy morass with plenty of standing water, thanks to yesterday’s heavy rain. In the distance are a couple of well-known landmarks. Highcliffe…
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Cockayne — Bransdale’s ‘centre’
Bransdale is a peaceful community consisting of dispersed farmsteads that has remained seemingly unaltered throughout history. At one time, Eastside and Westside were two separate townships, each belonging to different parishes. Nonetheless, they were combined in 1873 to establish Bransdale-cum-Farndale. Bransdale differs from typical communities in that it lacks a central village. However, Cockayne, a…
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Through Mist and Mud
Amidst the bleakness of a dreary day near the old site of Summerhill Farm, stand these lichen covered gate posts, a testament to times long gone. The muddy path between them is now only trod by sheep, and the ruinous dry stone wall adds to the sense of abandonment. Yet, in the midst of it…
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The graceful and capricious roe deer
I’ve had many close encounters with roe deer over the years. Many times have I disturbed them on my woodland runs and walks, just catching a glimpse as their bouncing white rumps quickly disappeared through the trees. Occasionally I’ve been lucky to get a closer look when the breeze has been in the right direction…
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The Shops and Businesses of Hutton Rudby — A Nostalgic Look Back
If you look at old black and white pictures of Cleveland villages and compare them to what they look like today, you can see that there’s a big difference in the amount of trees. It seems like people didn’t really like having trees around until later in the 18th century. Hutton was no exception. In…
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Revd. J C Atkinson’s ‘Forty Years in a Moorland Parish’
I have often referred to the Reverend John Christopher Atkinson’s book, ‘Forty Years in a Moorland Parish,’ published in 1891. It offers a detailed account of life in and around the village of Danby, and is a much thumbed addition to my bookshelf. This morning I ventured into Danby Dale, Atkinson’s former parish. Atkinson was…
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April Fools’ Day
And so we fly into April. Tempus fugit. I was planning on an April Fool, but didn’t have enough foresight. And by the time I post this, it’ll be past the 12 o’clock deadline. So, instead, I’ll just post about the history of the tradition. But first, my morning’s exercise. With the weather looking pretty…
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Miley Pike
Miley Pike is a type of prehistoric round burial mound that was built during the Late Neolithic period to the Late Bronze Age. These mounds are located in important positions throughout the North York Moors and are an important part of the area’s historical landscape. Round barrows are ancient monuments that were used for burials.…
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The Ionic Temple, Rievaulx Terrace
They say that things often come in threes, and that certainly seems to be the case for me this week, as I have encountered the Duncombe family for the third time. In 1687, a nouveau riche banker named Sir Charles Duncombe purchased the Rievaulx and Helmsley estates for the staggering sum of £90,000. He was…
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Hunter’s Sty Bridge
The River Esk has a few single-arched bridges, but the best one is probably the Hunter’s Sty Bridge. It’s located at the bottom of Huntersty, the ‘steep path of the hunters,’ just past the northern end of Westerdale village. Hunter’s Sty Bridge was most likely built in the late 13th century to provide access to…
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