The Pale — Playground of the Percys
Viewed here from Percy Cross Rigg, Capt. Cook’s Monument is just about visible on the highest point of Easby Moor. This eastern end, in the parish of Kildale, is known as Coate Moor and those unforested fields on the spur are labelled “The Pale” on Ordnance Survey maps. It is a relic of one of the three medie ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/03/24/the-pale-playground-of-the-percys/
#CoateMoor #Kildale #Lonsdale #NorthYorkMoors #history #medieval
Iron Age on the Moors: Percy Rigg’s Hidden Houses
For centuries, five Iron Age round houses sat quietly on this ridge in North Yorkshire, and nobody noticed. Not bad for a neighbourhood that was probably occupied for over 300 years.
The site was only spotted in 1962, when Fred Proud of Sleddale Farm found it and reported it to ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/03/21/iron-age-on-the-moors-percy-riggs-hidden-houses/
#Kildale #NorthYorkMoors #GrouseMoorManagement #history #IronAge
When Infographics Burn Brighter Than Evidence
An image drifted across my feed this morning: a mugshot of a certain former prince. Briefly amusing, obviously fake, the work of some obliging AI dressed up as reality. Elsewhere, a Facebook post from the Moorland Association offered something far less harmless. A polished infographic declared, ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/02/21/when-infographics-burn-brighter-than-evidence/
Coate Moor, Larches
A view from the top of Coate Moor towards the head of Kildale, an obsequent valley biting back into the Cleveland escarpment. The glacial upheaval forced the River Leven to scour a narrow gorge through the shales and sandstones below Coate Moor. I have posted about this before.
But Kildale has another, somewhat obscure, point of interest. A map from 1612 sti ...
Under the Beech: Kildale’s Tribute to the Fallen of WW2
In the quiet heart of Kildale stands this modest stone shelter. Walkers on the Cleveland Way pause here to rest, unwrap their sandwiches, and watch the rain fall. Each morning, local children gather beneath its roof, waiting for the school buses to Stokesley or Ingleby Greenhow, th ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/11/09/under-the-beech-kildales-tribute-to-the-fallen-of-ww2/
Echoes of Killi: A Brief History of Kildale
Hidden behind the trees to the left in the photo stands St Cuthbert’s Church, its quiet stones guarding secrets far older than the building itself. During construction in the 19th century, workmen uncovered a remarkable find: several Viking graves, complete with swords and traders’ weighing scales. The discovery hinted that ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/10/08/echoes-of-killi-a-brief-history-of-kildale/
Yan Tan Tether Mether Pip …
Old Molly Metcalfe counting sheep
Yan tan tether mether pip she counted
Up upon Swaledale steep and bleak
Yan tan tether mether pip she said...
So sang Jake Thackray about a Yorkshire shepherdess. It is tempting to think her sheep-counting chant is native to Yorkshire alone, but its roots run far deeper. The method likely began with Cumbric, a lost Celtic language ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/07/16/yan-tan-tether-mether-pip/
Leven Vale and its Wayward River
The 1856 Ordnance Survey 6-inch map labels this ruin as a sheepfold. I remain unconvinced. It looks too small, for a start. But what would I know.
This view looks down into Leven Vale, where the River Leven begins its oddly ambitious journey. It starts here in the upper reaches flowing east, then pulls off a dramatic U-turn, be ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/07/09/leven-vale-and-its-wayward-river/
VE Day: 80 Years On
Eighty years have passed since Victory in Europe Day, a moment etched in the collective memory by black-and-white newsreels showing ecstatic crowds flooding the streets of London and other major cities. But away from the capital, in the quieter corners of Cleveland and North Yorkshire, the mood was more restrained — though no less meaningful, filled with ...
The Terminal Moraine at Kildale: Elgee Revisited
An early morning climb up Park Nab before the day’s work began at the Kildale chapel archaeological dig (Out & About passim). I shall wait until later in the season to write properly about that—when we have found something to write about.
Instead, as I looked out over the valley, I found myself ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/05/07/the-terminal-moraine-at-kildale-elgee-revisited/
Mick Garratt
