Michaelmas: When the Devil Trod on the Brambles and the Lord Held Out His Hand

The ling has faded, overtaken by the red leaves of bilberry. A fine day, and fittingly Michaelmas: the day the Devil put his foot on the brambles, ending the season for blackberries. A myth, perhaps, but tidier than admitting people simply tired ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/09/29/michaelmas-when-the-devil-trod-on-the-brambles-and-the-lord-held-out-his-hand/

#NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #folklore #history

Sleddale: The Making of a Moorland Dale

I once thought myself original in calling Sleddale an island in a sea of heather, only to find that Elgee had written the same words long before I was born. Perhaps I had read them somewhere, the phrase lingering at the back of my mind, waiting to be claimed as my own. No matter. The image fits.

Centuries earlier, Robert de Brus ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/08/22/sleddale-the-making-of-a-moorland-dale/

#NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #history

The Government’s Proposals to Curb Heather Burning

Gisborough Moor, from across Sleddale, is marked by neat, rectangular patches of scorched heather. These are “swiddens,” the product of controlled burning, a practice designed to create the perfect environment for grouse. The idea is simple: burn the old heather, let fre ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/31/the-governments-proposals-to-curb-heather-burning/

#GisboroughMoor #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #ecology #GrouseMoorManagement

Kildale Moor Revisited

Ah yes, for the second day in a row, I found myself wandering around Kildale Moor, once again staring down at Sleddale Slack—though, to keep things fresh, I chose a slightly different vantage point. Variety is the spice of life, after all. Off to the right, perched on the high ground, is Percy Rigg, home to a farm that’s gone through more name chan ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/07/kildale-moor-revisited/

#Kildale #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #flora #history

Kildale Moor: Cairnfields and Forgotten Paths

The sky is a washed-out blue, untroubled by clouds. Even in their dreary winter shades, the moors still manage to look grand.

I find myself on Kildale Moor, a vast expanse littered with prehistoric cairnfields, settlements, and funerary monuments. Allegedly. In reality, one must squint to discern any such fe ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/03/06/kildale-moor-cairnfields-and-forgotten-paths/

#Kildale #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale #history

Sleddale

The secluded valley of Sleddale, derived from the old English term ‘slaed’ for a wide flat valley, is enclosed by the moors. The farmstead, once part of the lands belonging to Gisborough Priory and formerly Sleddale Close, stands isolated amidst the heather. While historical records indicate its enclosure during the priory's ownership, there's scant evidence of earlier settlement or cultivation, despite traces ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=35415

#NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale

Percy Cross Rigg’s Hut Circles

I thought I would take a re-look at the Percy Rigg Iron Age hut circles. It has been quite some time. Alas, the perimeter fence lies in disrepair, casting a pall of melancholy over the entire site.

Located on the Percy Cross Rigg, just 460 metres down from the remains of the medieval cross, this round house site had eluded the notice of a ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=34705

#Kildale #NorthYorkMoors #PercyRigg #Sleddale #Ernaldsti #IronAge

Commondale, or should that be Sleddale?

From Three Howes Rigg, if you look westward, you might've thought you are seeing into Commondale, or maybe Sleddale? Those fields of green let their waters drain into Sleddale Beck. The village of Commondale is tucked away in the dale.

Back in its heyday, that Guisborough Priory was a big landowner in the north of England. It was Robert de Brus from Skelton Castle, ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=32952

#Commondale #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale

I walked past the entrance to Sleddale Farm today

There are several noticeable changes since, in the late 1970s, just before Christmas, I would take a bottle of malt to the Sleddale farmers — two brothers by the name of Proud if I recall — in recognition of them allowing the Guisborough Moors Race to run through their farmyard. Neither of the two Public Footpaths that go to the farm, actually come up this a ...

http://www.fhithich.uk/?p=31101

#Guisborough #NorthYorkMoors #Sleddale