http://becausetheyrethere.com ...and a few more reasons for climbing mountains Tue, 18 Aug 2015 01:22:04 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.com/ http://s2.wp.com/i/buttonw-com.png http://becausetheyrethere.com http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/#comments Thu, 07 May 2015 10:25:01 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=9206 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/05/07/on-a-whim-to-william-gill/feed/ 33 McEff william gill 14 william gill 2 william gill 3 william gill 4 william gill 5 william gill 6 william gill 12 william gill 12a william gill 12b william gill 7 Someone has tried and failed (not me, I add) to lob these great rocks down the shaft. Good job there was a grille on top or they might have ended up down there themselves william gill 9 william gill 11 william gill 13 william gill 15 william gill 16 william gill 10 william gill 19 william gill 20 william gill 21 william gill 22 william gill 1 image1 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/#comments Tue, 17 Feb 2015 09:00:50 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8899 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2015/02/17/arkengarthdale-moor-and-the-death-of-sods-law/feed/ 43 McEff tan hill 1 Tan Hill 2 Tan Hill 5 Tan Hill 4 Tan Hill 3 Click map for full-size version Tan Hill 6 Tan Hill 7 Tan Hill 8 Tan Hill 9 Tan Hill 10 Tan Hill 11 Tan Hill 12 Tan Hill 13 Tan Hill 14 The Peat Cart, a painting by George Walker, 1814, from his Costumes of Yorkshire series. The mountain in the background is Ingleborough Tan Hill 15 Tan Hill 16 Tan Hill 17 Tan Hill 18 Tan Hill 20 Tan Hill 21 Tan Hill 22 Tan Hill 23 Tan Hill 24 Tan Hill 25 Tan Hill 26 Tan Hill 27 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/#comments Wed, 17 Sep 2014 08:09:41 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=8263 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/09/17/black-gold-tan-hill-tea/feed/ 23 McEff tan hill 1 tan hill 3 tan hill 4 This might look like a band of grass in the heather but it???s actually an old colliery roadway. Old roads like this are not uncommon in the area tan hill 6 These conical depressions are quite common on the moor. They are collapsed colliery shafts. The shafts were quite narrow ??? about five feet (1.5m) in diameter. But without regular maintenance they just collapsed in on themselves, the result being the surrounding ground disappearing egg-timer fashion. Not a good place to be standing at the wrong time Old boundary stone Old survey of the Tan Hill mines on the wall of the Tan Hill Inn tan hill 9 tan hill 10 Horse gins marked on the Tan Hill survey, one shown as coming into production in 1829 Old colliery road crossing the moor to a pit Horse gin on the horizon beneath a moody sky Colliery shaft tan hill 14 tan hill 15 tan hill 16 tan hill 17 Flooded colliery shaft. Not suitable for paddling in, no matter how hot your feet get You had to watch where you put your feet up here two hundred years ago. No telling what you might stand in. Colliery shaft craters are everywhere This one's got a fence around it. Must still pose a threat Closer inspection reveals it's only a few feet deep. Still, enough to break a leg or worse I could have spent a few fruitless hours wondering how these circles had been formed if it hadn???t been for the timely appearance of a retired gamekeeper from an estate in Wharfedale who was on what he called a ???busman???s holiday??? day-tripping on the northern grouse moors. This is the modern way to burn old heather to promote fresh shoots for the grouse to feed on. You drive a quad bike in a circle, cutting the heather to produce a circular fire break, then burn the centre. Apparently, during the London 2012 Olympics it was fashionable to link these heather circles to form the Olympic rings ??? public art on the moors. Can???t say I noticed them myself, but the grouse were really impressed and cheered on Team GB gold medal winner Peter Wilson in the shooting events tan hill 24 tan hill 25 Yes. It burns tan hill 30 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/05/02/scaud-hill-and-beyond-at-my-leisure/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/05/02/scaud-hill-and-beyond-at-my-leisure/#comments Fri, 02 May 2014 07:00:04 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=7781 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/05/02/scaud-hill-and-beyond-at-my-leisure/feed/ 39 McEff scaud hill 1 The main adit level at Ashgill Head Mine, right by the side of the main road One of the old mine buildings, now used as a storehouse for the local farmer scaud hill 4 scaud hill 5 Old lead mine shafts such as this pockmark the landscape like craters on the moon scaud hill 7 I lobbed a stone down this shaft and counted to twenty but didn't hear it hit the bottom. It might still be falling scaud hill 9 And here's another. Dangerous places these. Fall into them and you'll never get out This might look like a harmless heap of stones but there is a reason it's fenced off. This is what's known as a bee-hive cap over a shaft. Sometimes, rather than just abandon old workings, the miners built a cairn over the top of a shaft ??? igloo fashion ??? to preserve the shaft and prevent people and animals falling down it. If you removed some of these rocks you'd be able to peer down a very deep hole. A more likely scenario would be you removing one or two stones and the whole lot ??? along with yourself ??? disappearing in a mighty great whoosh never to be seen again scaud hill 12 scaud hill 13 scaud hill 14 scaud hill 15 scaud hill 16 scaud hill 31 scaud hill 17 scaud hill 18 scaud hill 19 scaud hill 20 scaud hill 21 scaud hill 22 scaud hill 23 scaud hill 24 An old lime kiln scaud hill 26 This is a pleasant retreat for the grouse-shooters. Do you know what the only difference between a grouse-shooters' hut and a mountain bothy is? The answer's in the next picture scaud hill 28 scaud hill 29 scaud hill 30 scaud hill 32 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/01/07/arkengarthdale-and-the-hungry-hushes/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/01/07/arkengarthdale-and-the-hungry-hushes/#comments Tue, 07 Jan 2014 08:00:44 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=7173 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2014/01/07/arkengarthdale-and-the-hungry-hushes/feed/ 36 McEff hungry hushes 1 hungry hushes 2 hungry hushes 4 hungry hushes 5 hungry hushes 6 The Water Splash. See next paragraph hungry hushes 9 The remains of a reservoir on the top of the moor above the Hungry Hushes hungry hushes 8 hungry hushes 10 hungry hushes 11 hungry hushes 12 hungry hushes 13 The walls of a ruined smithy high in the Hungry Hushes Scratting about near the hearth I find cinders and bits of clinker. They are still warm. Just kidding hungry hushes 16 hungry hushes 17 hungry hushes 18 hungry hushes 19 hungry hushes 20 hungry hushes 21 hungry hushes 22 hungry hushes 23 hungry hushes 24 hungry hushes 25 http://becausetheyrethere.com/2013/10/28/the-long-surrender-brandy-bottle-incline/ http://becausetheyrethere.com/2013/10/28/the-long-surrender-brandy-bottle-incline/#comments Mon, 28 Oct 2013 08:30:04 +0000 http://becausetheyrethere.com/?p=6877 Continue reading →]]> http://becausetheyrethere.com/2013/10/28/the-long-surrender-brandy-bottle-incline/feed/ 24 McEff brandybottle 1 brandybottle 2 brandybottle 4 brandybottle 5 brandybottle 6 brandybottle 7 brandybottle 8 brandybottle 9 brandybottle 10 brandybottle 11 brandybottle 12 North Rake Hush ??? Carved by men and lots of water brandybottle 3 brandybottle 14 brandybottle 17 brandybottle 15 brandybottle 16 "Lucy was dismayed to find that Mr Tumnus had been on the vodka again and had taken a sledge-hammer to the lamp-post. She sighed dramatically, as children do when they are vexed, and kicked the empty bottle into the stream." brandybottle 20 brandybottle 24 brandybottle 22 brandybottle 23 brandybottle 25 brandybottle 26 brandybottle 27 brandybottle 28 brandybottle 30 brandybottle 31