Coast to Coast Opens — But Not For All

The Coast to Coast is now an official National Trail. Years of effort, a considerable sum of public money, and another grand ceremony. But one writer greets the opening carrying not a celebratory banner but a rather pointed question: Who, exactly, is it for?
Charlotte Ditchburn is happy to acknowledge that these ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/04/10/coast-to-coast-opens-but-not-for-all/

#CarrRidge #CoastToCoast #NorthYorkMoors #AccessRights

Guardian of the Cleveland Way

Had those two ominous notes from Jaws been playing in my earphones, I might have sensed what was coming. Just two notes, faster and faster, the sound of danger creeping closer.
This red grouse appeared on the Cleveland Way path over Carr Ridge, no more than ten metres away, a plump silhouette against the heather. I expected it to take ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/08/20/guardian-of-the-cleveland-way/

#CarrRidge #ClevelandWay #NorthYorkMoors #grouse

Hagg’s Gate, Clay Bank or Whatever it’s Called This Week

Another photograph from yesterday. I am standing on White Hill, the easternmost bump of the so-called Four Sisters of the Cleveland Hills and gazing across the col at Hagg’s Gate, or at least what used to be called Hagg’s Gate, towards Carr Ridge and the high ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/04/27/haggs-gate-clay-bank-or-whatever-its-called-this-week/

#CarrRidge #ClayBank #ClevelandHills #NorthYorkMoors #WhiteHill #history

Jackson’s Bank—Medieval Trod

As you reach the top of Jackson’s Bank, it is hard not to imagine that, at the turn of the last century, weary walkers resting upon these boulders were serenaded by the rather pastoral sounds of iron-laden trucks grinding, screeching, and clattering their way down that incline on the opposite side of Greenhow B ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=36716

#CarrRidge #ClevelandHills #Greenhow #NorthYorkMoors #20thCentury #history #ironstone #medieval #railway

Boundaries in Stone

Dry stone walls stand as testament to the enduring craftsmanship of generations past. They are a quintessential feature of the North York Moors and other rocky regions of the British Isles. From Cornwall and the Cotswolds, to Scotland and Ireland, these walls served as swift and sturdy field boundaries, surpassing the time it would take for hedges or trees to mature.

The technique of dr ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=35808

#Bilsdale #CarrRidge #NorthYorkMoors

“T’ back-end’s ola’s t’ bare-end”

I stumbled upon a Facebook post the other day claiming Cumbria has five seasons. The fifth, the Back End, supposedly hits between Autumn's fall of leaves and Winter's icy grip. Having woken up to a dusting of snow on Cleveland Plain this morning, I headed with high hopes up onto Urra Moor, the highest point on the North York Moors. The snow cover there was just a smattering ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=33788

#CarrRidge #NorthYorkMoors

Carr Ridge, Urra Moor

It is recorded that this standing stone is a "Post Medieval" waymarker. A stone has stood over 450 winters reassuring travellers across the bleak Urra Moor, the highest point of the North York Moors. 

The only sound that broke the muffling of the cloud was the frequent 'go-back, back, back' call of the Red grouse celebrating their survival of another year's shooting season.

[o ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=30869

#CarrRidge #NorthYorkMoors #UrraMoor #snow