When is a motorbike not a motorbike?

Why, when it's an 'electronically assisted pedal cycle' of course. Or EAPC. Or e-bike.

Ah, what a glorious morning it was! Roseberry was draped in a luxurious blanket of cloud, obscuring any hint of beauty or interest. As I ascended Little Roseberry, I stumbled upon a lad indulging in a fag and soaking up the "atmosphere". Apparently, he was ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31976

#LittleRoseberry #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #NationalTrust

W.T. Stead and the birth of tabloid journalism

On this day, April 10th, 1912, the luxurious liner Titanic embarked on its maiden voyage from Berth 44 at the White Star Line dock in Southampton, with the destination of New York. A total of 920 passengers were on board, comprising 179 First-Class, 247 Second-Class, and 494 Third-Class passengers.

Among the First-Class passeng ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31915

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #19th-century #history #OTD #WTStead

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 all, a clump of daffodils blooms, a small splash of colour amidst the withered brac ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31880

#AytonBank #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #Daffodils

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 and they' ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31875

#NewtonWood #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #Capreoluscapreolus #fauna #NationalTrust

#roseberrytopping and #cookmonument #hiking

Roseberry Common: Reliving an old training route over the bracken

One of my favourite training routes used to be a circuit around Roseberry Common, where I would carefully choose the best path through the varied terrain. I like to revisit this route before the bracken becomes too thick to navigate. When I look at the Topping from this viewpoint, the dominant colours are ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31787

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryCommon #RoseberryTopping #geological #NationalTrust

Winter’s last stand?

The brief return to Winter didn’t last long, but the last stubborn snow patches are hanging on for dear life on the fields of Aireyholme. But Roseberry Topping’s sandstone cap is clear, anxious to let go of winter fashion.
Ah, Roseberry Topping, the hill that thinks it's a volcano. With its unique shape, it's the diva of the Cleveland hills, always demanding attenti ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31704

#Aireyholme #EasbyMoor #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping

An echo of the past silenced as hawthorn trees are felled — a loss for nature and history

Three years ago I lamented on the felling of a patch of semi-open woodland on the southern flank of Roseberry Topping.

It was a parcel of scattered trees, mostly Hawthorn, the felling of which was a significant loss, not only in terms of its wild beauty but also its ecological importance. Hawthorn t ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31636

#Aireyholme #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #ecology

Odin’s necklace

Deep shadows from the winter sunshine emphasise the contour features on the northern face of Roseberry.

There are three lines of pits. One follows the 200m contour above Cockle Scar, I've posted about these before. Their origins remain unclear, from a supposed British settlement by Victorian antiquarians to military, defensive or ritual.

Next up, at around the 2 ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31587

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #Earlymedieval #Pre-history

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

“T’ biggest hill in all Yorkshur”

It is generally accepted that the now populous district of the North Riding which we call Cleveland is bounded on its southern extremity by the Cleveland Hills. This is not so.

The district of Cleveland comprises the archdeaconry of that name, which extends considerably farther south, as far as Picker ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31516

#ClevelandHills #CliffRidgeWood #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #18th-century #medieval #NationalTrust

A poem wot I rote

There have been much enthusiasm recently about AI (artificial intelligence) generated text using companies such as ChatGPT.

Always on the lookout for a lazy opportunity,  I thought I would give it a go and downloaded the app.

So to accompany today's photo of the summerhouse below Roseberry Topping I thought I would get the AI bot to write me a poem — specifically one in iambic pen ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31432

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #ChatGPT

Sacred Hills. Roseberry Topping & Freebrough Hill

#https://northumbriaghostloresociety.wordpress.com/2021/09/05/sacred-hills-roseberry-topping-freebrough-hill/

#NorthumbriaGhostloreSociety #NorthYorkshire #AndyPaciorekPhotography #RoseberryTopping

On this day in 1933, Hitler was appointed chancellor, the head of the German government

A short wander up Cliff Rigg this, reflecting on happenings 90 years ago today,

Then, the elderly Weimar President, Paul von Hindenburg, was persuaded by the conservative elite to appoint Hitler as chancellor, the head of the German government. An appointment that was entirely legal and constitut ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31387

#Aireyholme #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #OnThisDay #OTD

Roseberry Directissimo

The main path up Roseberry Topping, stairway into the cloud. Deteriorating badly.

The path was improved in 1993, when a helicopter was used to airlift 200 tonnes of stone from the lane past Aireyholme Farm. The zig-zag path was then pitched using a "technique used since Roman times" and the verges revegetated.

The work was funded by the Countryside Commission and carrie ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31363

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #NationalTrust

I ought not allow this day to pass without mentioning Rabbie Burns, born on this day in 1759 in Ayeshire

But I won't quote the National Bard of Scotland's poem most associated with Burns Night and recited worldwide on this day: 'Address to a Haggis'.

Instead a poem in which Burns reflects on the treatment of nature and the fortunes ‘Of Mice and Men’, a line later immortalised in t ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31334

#LittleRoseberry #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #RobertBurns

“Lay pretty long in bed, and then rose, leaving my wife desirous to sleep, …

"... having sat up till four this morning seeing her mayds make mince-pies."
356 years ago, the Pepyses may have had a lie-in, but we were up and about on Little Roseberry taking in the fresh air and blue skies.

Samuel Pepys went on to complete his diary entry:—
"I to church, where our parson Mills made a good sermo ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31044

#NewtonMoor #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping

Nanny Newgill, the Broughton Witch

On a drizzly Cold Moor this morning I was reminded of one of Richard Blakeborough's tales about a witch who lived at Broughton.

That's Great Broughton on the Cleveland plain below, just left of centre. The peak of Roseberry Topping is on the skyline just right of centre.

Blakeborough's story appeared in the Northern Weekly Gazette ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31010

#ClevelandHills #GreatBroughton #NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #folklore

With the cloud hiding most signs of modernity — a notable exception being the well-worn paths — I can’t help thinking that this a timeless view

It is certainly a view the young James Cook would have recognised while he lived with his family at Aireyholme Farm.

Cook of course would go on to achieve fame with his navigational exploits in the Pacific, beginning with h ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30897

#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #CaptainJamesCook #temperatureinversion

There is nothing as exhilerating as being out in the snow.

Well ok, it was only a smattering, a ‘greymin‘, barely enough to cover the rocks on this Bronze Age tumulus on Great Ayton Moor. ” ‘Twas frost and thro leet wid a o’ greymin snaw“.

...
http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30861
#NorthYorkMoors #RoseberryTopping #Snow