Tag: history
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A Bransdale Stang Stoop That Time has Forgot
Up on Gimmer Bank in Bransdale today, just above Bloworth Slack before it merges with Badger Gill to become Hodge Beck, I noticed this old piece of farming history: a âstang stoopâ, or âheaveâ, or âslip gateââback from when labour was cheap and farmers made do with local resources instead of buying five-bar gates from…
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The Pannierman Way
A pair of ancient standing stones flank a stretch of weather-worn path known as the Kirby Bank Trod. This marvel of medieval civil engineering forms part of a so-called âLong Trodâ â a term employed because it would have required âconsiderable resource and supra-parochial organisationâ to build such an âeconomic venture of some significance.â The…
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Saltburn Bank and the Uphill Struggle of Womenâs Cycling
To Saltburn, of all places, to witness the East Cleveland Classic cycle race. It has indeed become a âclassic,â though one suspects the term was originally used here with the same generosity applied to overcooked Sunday roasts and tribute bands. The photo shows the Womenâs race, which, in a rare nod to dignity, begins at…
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The Shah of Thorgill and His ÂŁ26 Rebellion
This is Thorgill: a tributary of the River Seven, the main drainage for Rosedale. While technically a watercourse, it is perhaps better known as a hamlet, once even managing to sustain a Methodist Chapel. Thorgill briefly staggered into the national spotlight in the 1950s, not through any great achievement, but thanks to the antics of…
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Whitby Abbey: Holy Vows, Pagan Wars, and the Problem of Easter
I usually try to avoid posting touristy photographs, but in this case, my resolve faltered. This one was taken looking back as we wandered towards Ruswarp, along the River Esk, with the ruins of Whitby Abbey brooding in the distance. A clichĂ©, admittedly, but quite picturesque in a ruinous sort of way. As for the…
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Ruswarpâs Chainbridge
Ruswarp once had a suspension bridge. James Wilson built it in 1825, his money coming from slavery. Perhaps the river knew, it hated the bridge, and washed it away. Twice.
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Wheeldale Lodge: From Shooting to Youth Hostel to Private Residence
My memories of Wheeldale Lodge are, regrettably, a jumble. One of the earliest involves the unremarkable joy of dunking sore feet in Wheeldale Beck after a needlessly long march across the Lyke Wake Walk. This was in 1969, and my 17-year-old self had been trudging for twelve and a half hours. The route comes down…
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St. Anneâs Church, Catterick
I found myself in Catterick with ten minutes to spare. Grand plans of a leisurely stroll quickly shrank to a brisk glance around. The village tries very hard to be charming, with its oversized green and a stream obligingly flowing by. One would not expect such rural pretence given its awkward positionâwedged between a military…
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The Ancient Hollow-Way to Nowhere in Particular
The Public Bridleway from the hamlet of Urra winds its way up to another Right of Way that follows Billyâs Dyke, that Bronze Age boundary fortification of earth and stone. This grand construction supposedly gets its name from Billy Norman, better known elsewhere as William the Conqueror, who apparently managed to get lost in a…
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Sunset Over Kikdale and a Sporting Legacy
I suppose Iâm not necessarily a diurnal sort of person. But at this time of year, I have yet to shake off the winter habit of retreating indoors as soon as the temperature drops and dusk approaches. So, finding myself on Park Nab, looking over Kildale at sunset yesterday, was something of an anomaly. The…