The Rise and Fall of Alum Production in Great Ayton

As I descend from Capt. Cook's Monument, approaching Gribdale Terrace, the former whinstone quarrymen's cottages gleam white, with Cliff Rigg rising behind them. Before me, in the centre of the photo is a range of sandstone buildings mapped as Bank House Farm on the 1853 OS Six-inch map, but an auction advertisement in ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31921

#AytonBank #GreatAyton #Gribdale #NorthYorkMoors #18th-century #alum #history

Andrew Carter: A Story of Canny Yatton 270 Years Ago

Another story from the works of Richard Blakeborough set in Canny Yatton, the local name for Great Ayton.

Blakeborough wrote this account in 1902, stating that the event took place approximately 150 years prior, in 1752. At that time, James Cook, the most well-known resident of Great Ayton, was just 24 years old and had already left the village to work on trading ships in the Ba ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31710

#GreatAyton

River Leven

A paddling of ducks in Ayton can be seen swimming leisurely on the River Leven, located downstream of a weir, which is referred to locally as a waterfall.

Despite the serene ambiance, there are several concerns about the condition of the river. Agricultural lands located upstream contribute to high levels of nitrates and sediment runoff. In addition, the sewer storm overflow at Gribdale has ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31658

#GreatAyton #NorthYorkshire #RiverLeven

Arrow Stones

Not a day for photography on the moors. So a quick visit to the local church. All Saints Church, Great Ayton.

The present building dates from the 12th-century but an an Anglo Saxon church in the Domesday Book.

One curiosity is a series of groves incised on a quoin (cornerstone) of the gable to the chancel.

Many medieval churches have similiar features and the commonly held belief is ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31631

#GreatAyton #ChurchArchitecture #medieval

Roseberry Mine Tramway

What a difference when the sun comes out.

An otherwise dull walk around a regular route of mine taking in Capt. Cook's Monument and Roseberry, although I avoided the summits as it's the weekend.

And crossing the field at the top of Thief Lane, brilliant sunshine. To my right, Roseberry was still in dar ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31575

#GreatAyton #NewtonWood #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #industrialarchaeology #ironstonemining #NarrowGaugeRailway

The frogs have woken up

About five days earlier than last year. Yesterday, there were none, today about fifteen.

At the peak last year there were about forty frogs. Perhaps these were those that spent the winter in a state of torpor in the mud at the bottom of our little pond. Getting a head start on those that made their abode in hollows behind the dry stone retaining walls and deep in the leaf litter. ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31567

#GreatAyton #fauna #Frog #Ranatemporaria

The talus of sandstone boulders at the foot of Roseberry Topping resulting from the landslip that occured in 1912

A scene of rocky confusion.

'Talus' is a strange word. It's a word I actually find uncomfortable to use, long past its sell-by date. In this context it means the slope of rock debris but an alternative meaning is an anklebone. Each derives from different Latin words. Until 1830 ta ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30825

#CliffRigg #GreatAyton #RoseberryTopping #etymology

Quiz time: what links this photo to the Yangon-Mandalay railway in Myanmar?

Myanmar was once a province of British India which, from 1824 to 1948, and was known as British Burma.

The British first introduced a railway to Lower Burma in 1877 connecting Rangoon (Yangon) to Prome (Pyay) — 161 miles long. Subsequent developments included, ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30775

#GreatAyton #LittleAyton #NorthYorkshire #RiverLeven #19th-century #BritishEmpire #StocktonForgeCo. #Victorian

It took me a while to realise that something was missing from this pastoral scene

Normally the tranquility would have been broken by the hissing of the resident flock of geese irritated by my presence here at Aireyholme Farm.

But today there was silence. And back home, it came to me: the geese are under lock down, housed indoors by order of DEFRA to prevent the spread of the av ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30736

#Aireyholme #GreatAyton #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #BirdFlu

An early start

It was dry when I left home but by Gribdale Gate, the wind had picked up and it was beginning to spit, and any thoughts of photography had been forgotten.

Still, it was pleasant to see Gribdale empty of cars; apart from two early dog walkers.

It's has always been a popular car park as the easiest ascent up to Capt. Cook's Monument, ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30716

#Capt.Cook'sMonument #GreatAyton #GreatAytonMoor #Gribdale #NorthYorkMoors #BeatingoftheBounds

“The autumn rain-rot deeper and wider soaks”

This autumnal carpet of dead leaves caught my eyes.

The Scots have a word for a "circle of rotted dead leaves round the foot of a tree": "Rain-rot". Not to be confused with the modern useage for an equine skin disease.

The word seems to have been a favourite of the Victorian Engliah poet William E ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30675

#GreatAyton #NorthYorkshire #autumnal #Rain-rot #VillageGreen #WilliamErnestHenley