Tag: agricultural
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Kildale’s Agrarian Past
A stunning view of Kildale, seen from the sandstone crags of Ward Nab. Kildale, with its postcard-worthy scenery and quaint stone buildings, represents the sort of agricultural nostalgia many enjoy romanticising. Yet, beneath this charming façade lies a tale of upheaval and supposed progress. In the 18th century, Kildale’s open fields were carved up through…
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Purple Haze: Ling’s Role in Yorkshire’s Past
For a brief spell each year, the North York Moors are transformed into a sea of iconic purple. The ling, or heather, is not quite at its peak yet; it remains patchy, especially here on Great Ayton Moor. Some may argue that these vast stretches of purple moorland lack diversity and serve only the grouse…
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Hemmell Stones — Raising the Harvest
Hemmell stones served to raise barns, granaries, hayricks, and beehives off the ground, protecting them from damp and vermin. Usually comprising a separate head and base, these stones gave them a distinctive mushroom-like appearance. In other parts of the country, they are more commonly known as ‘staddle’ or ‘steddle’ stones, with variations in design depending…
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From Blue Fields to Empty Skies—The Plight of Pollinators
Blue tansies, a splendid sight, brightens up this field in Kildale. Belonging to the borage family, Phacelia tanacetifolia, though not native to Britain, is cultivated as a cover crop and green manure. Its nectar-rich flowers bloom sequentially, ensuring an extended flowering period that attracts insect pollinators such as bumblebees. Meanwhile, wildlife experts raise an alarm…
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Making Hay While the Sun Shines
Aireyholme Farm has been hard at work hay making. The creation of dry hay is an elaborate process, involving a sequence of operations each requiring specialised machinery. These stages are: mowing, tedding, raking, and baling. The procedure begins with cutting the grass, which is then left in the field for several days, depending on the…
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Toad-under-a-harrow
At first, it’s all dreary drizzle, the kind that makes you question your decision to leave the comfort of indoors. But wait an hour, and the heavens part ways, allowing the sun to cast its golden glow upon Roseberry, turning it into a vision against the still brooding rain clouds. A rainbow always spruces up…
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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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The Tragedy of the Commons
Aireyholme was once the common pasture for the parish of Great Ayton. Parishioners had various rights on the land. Usually this would include the right right to pasture cattle, but Common Land may include other rights such as collecting wood, piscary, the right to fish and turbery, the right to cut turves of peat for…