When Eskdale Held Its Breath
A dreich day in Bransdale, so I am clinging to a favourite photo from yesterday, taken high above the clouds under a blue sky. It does the soul some good to watch mist creep up the dale while back home in the Tees valley was wrapped in damp fog like a forgotten parcel, although I did not know that at the time. Nature’s q ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2026/01/29/when-eskdale-held-its-breath/
#Eskdale #GreatFryupDale #LittleFryupDale #NorthYorkMoors #glacial
The Bottom End of Castleton, Where a Door Closed…
I had been leafing through Joseph Ford’s “Some Reminiscences and Folk Lore of Danby Parish and District”, when one small passage stopped me in my tracks. Ford described the steady trickle of those who slipped away from the Esk Valley in the nineteenth century, chasing whispers of a new life across the ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/11/14/the-bottom-end-of-castleton-where-a-door-closed/
When Castleton Fed a Queen
From Castleton Rigg above Danby Dale, the eye follows the curve of the valley. To the right stands The Howe, and to the left, on the lower ridge lies Castleton, a village whose name carries the echo of a medieval stronghold. The castle itself rose on Castle Hill around 1089, and with it came cottages and workshops, likely clustering ar ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/09/17/when-castleton-fed-a-queen/
Mediobogdum: A Harsh Posting for Rome’s Auxiliaries
It was not my first visit to Mediobogdum, better known as Hardknott Roman Fort, but it was the first time the weather allowed me to see it properly. The forecast had promised worse, yet the skies shifted restlessly, throwing sudden light and shadow across the valley of the River Esk, a green quilt of fi ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/09/12/mediobogdum-a-harsh-posting-for-romes-auxiliaries/
Nab Gill: The Lost Industry of Eskdale
Cross the little packhorse bridge by Eskdale Mill in Boot, glance left, and you will see stonework that have long been forgotten. The remains stand upon a loading platform, above the overgrown site of Boot railway station. These are the offices and works of Nab Gill Ironstone Mine, named after the great cleft high on th ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/09/11/nab-gill-the-lost-industry-of-eskdale/
Stand-off in Eskdale
A stand-off on the path below Harter Fell. The lead yow stood her ground until I raised the camera, then broke into a dash that set the rest of the flock thundering up the fell.
The Lakes is quintessential sheep country, and the sheep that defines it is the Herdwick. Black-faced, wiry, and stubborn, they seem as much a part of the fells as the rock and bracken. T ...
Marc Riley mentioned the #KrankenhausFestival near #Ravenglass in #Eskdale #Cumbria earlier. Having camped near Ravenglass a month ago, it's hard to believe they could have a music festival there - the Boot Beer Festival was good though.
The website lists a Post Office as the nearest shop - it's a great Post Office which also sells camping and hiking gear, but it's a bit far from the festival site to buy milk!
I wonder if they would sell as many tickets if they described it as near #Sellafield
“HORRID MURDER AT ESKDALE NEAR WHITBY”
So screamed the headline of the Yorkshire Gazette on 18 September 1841. The grim report told of the brutal killing of 61-year-old Mrs Robinson, murdered alone in her home at Eskdaleside, near Sleights. Her husband, William Robinson, a yeoman farmer of decent standing, had gone to Egton Fair that day. His servants were ...
http://www.fhithich.uk/2025/07/06/horrid-murder-at-eskdale-near-whitby/
just got back from a trip to #Cumbria / #Eskdale / #LakeDistrict
- I found two pubs that sell beer for less than £5/pint:-
- Ship Inn on Piel Island, delightfully hard to reach - either ferry or walk across mudflats
- Inn at Ravenglass
- The beer festival was fun (£5/pint)
- I wish FirstBus/Trenitalia would check tickets more often/at all so the people squatting in my expensive seat could have been moved on
- Very friendly and helpful campsite owner, all the taxi drivers seemed to know him
I have never been to #Eskdale, apparently in #Cumbria, but I do like this observation:-
https://eskdale.info/attractions.html
"I am always wary of those wayside 'poterie' signs, in France, that have you doubling-back up 60km of woodland track only to be met with a grouchy Gallic gesture. So here is a guide to Eskdale's arts and crafts haunts, all of which are less than a pot's throw from where you are staying."
Accommodation and activity directory for Eskdale in Cumbria the Lake District, Eskdale is a spectacular valley on the western side of the lake district, offering quality accommodation including hotels, Inns, self catering and camp sites, all centered around the village of Boot and the little steam railway.
Mick Garratt
Jon PENNYCOOK