Tag: North York Moors
Whinbusks in bud
I walked up onto the moor yesterday morning, there had been a hard frost overnight covering the ground dusty white. Through the cold came the birdsong and the gleam of the rising sun and I felt the push of spring despite the chill. Once on the moor path along Lastingham Ridge, I’m aware of […]
Stone, a bird, and a man in a top hat
This stone is an example of 19th century rock art (graffiti) at an ironstone industrial railway site in the North York Moors – it shows a man in a top hat, and a bird. Someone has spent time in carefully carving out this image, it is no idle sketch, there are charming details, feathers […]
Lovely Ling
The heather on the North York Moors just now is breathtaking – I love the deep honey-sweet, woody smell. There are hints of peat too and occasionally the wind blows over the aromatic scent of Bog-myrtle. The senses are filled up, long stretching views of purple hue, a distinctive atmospheric light, […]
Out on Lastingham Knoll
If I walk a few hundred yards of steep hill out of Lastingham village, I’m on the moor. A track leads out along Lastingham Ridge with spectacular views over Spaunton Moor, all of which is part of the greater North York Moors. I wanted to clear my head, and the air up here is […]
Smoke Signals
It is a familiar sight at this time of year, billowing smoke on the horizon. I remember as a child playing camp and sending smoke signals back to the house with and old blanket waved over a makeshift wood fire. I hoped the smoke would be seen from far away, and my magic messages understood […]