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Great Fryup Dale: Cooking Up Change
Nestled in the dramatic expanse of the North York Moors National Park, where heather dominates the moors, trees line the becks in the dales, and the coastline is battered by the North Sea, lies Great Fryup Dale, a place as delectable as its name. It is, by all appearances, a great deal like its sibling,…
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The Miner’s Path: From Ironstone to Ypres
The constant rain has transformed Airyholme Lane into a stream, though it mercifully spills into the field before it reaches the farmyard. I cannot help but wonder what the weather was like on this day in 1917. The miners from Roseberry Ironstone Mine would have trudged along this track to and from their shifts. Did…
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Geese over the Moor, Jets in the Sky: My Morning Routine Disturbed
Wednesday mornings have become a predictable affair—each week beginning with a stroll across Battersby Moor. This morning, however, my private reverie were rudely interrupted by the coarse honking of a skein of geese, or what I dare venture to call greylags, flapping about in that charmingly organised way they have, perhaps several hundred strong, hurtling…
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Gateposts to Nowhere, Retired Urinal
I took this photo because of the rather grandiose gateposts that stand in lonely splendour by the footpath near Suggitt’s bridge. These have always intrigued me for they seem far too well-dressed for their rural setting, yet the Ordnance Survey 25” map from 1894 offers no hint for such ostentation. They remain a mystery, guarding…
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Zen and the Art of Being Out & About
Another gloriously miserable day on the North York Moors, the sort of day where fog clings like a wet blanket over everything, damping one’s bones. I heard later the Great North Air Ambulance had been grounded due to poor visibility. It is, as ever, a perfect day for a bit of being out and about.…
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The night lengthens and the day wanes
Ah, Roseberry on the autumnal equinox – or, perhaps I should say: “a day with not much to see.” At precisely 1:44pm BST, the Earth performed its annual act of balancing on a metaphorical tightrope. It’s axis, normally so busy tilting this way and that, was for once perfectly upright, neither tipping its cap to…
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From Widheris to Wether House: A Farmstead’s History
On Wetherhouse Moor, nature is quietly concealing the remains of a post-medieval farmstead beneath the watchful eye of a solitary sycamore. Of the original three ranges, little can be discerned now, save for a crumbling gable end of a barn. It has, for more than a century, since the last tenants left, been steadily yielding…
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Mauley Cross: Linking Ancient Ritual with Regency Enterprise
Mauley Cross, that modest monument to the caprices of the de Mauley family, likely served as a marker of their grazing rights or, if we are to believe the National Park’s heritage record, a humble wayside guide for those wandering the moors. It could, of course, have been both, though neither role saved it from…
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Turtle Doves and the Dew Pond of Newton-on-Rawcliffe
As we pedalled merrily through the village of Newton-on-Rawcliffe, we stumbled upon this delightful little dew pond. It was instantly recognisable from the photographs we’d seen in the Birds on the Edge exhibition at the Danby Lodge National Park Centre. This pond, restored by the North York Moors Trust, is now a haven for wildlife,…
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A Glimpse of Baysdale
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…
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