Category Archives: Legends

Gibbet Hill and Carlin Gill ??? That???s Entertainment

Posted on April 14, 2015 by

GIBBET Hill has history. Little more than a slope in the Tebay Gorge ??? which separates the Howgill Fells from the Lake District ??? it was the site where, in 1684, local villain William Smurthwaite???s body was left to rot … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Death, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Mountains, Rivers, Running, The Romans, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 29 Comments

Days Like This, No 12: Dawn on Dove Crag

Posted on January 21, 2015 by

WALKING is a dangerous business. Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov has just been stabbed while walking over Waterloo Bridge. And get this: his assailant used an umbrella with a poisoned tip. We down another round of pints in the Brotherswater Inn … Continue reading →

Posted in Beer, Camping, Caving, Climbing, Hiking, History, Legends, Mountains, Traditions, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , | 17 Comments

A Christmas Walk: With Ghosts on Baysdale Moor

Posted on December 16, 2014 by

I AM wary of the North York Moors because they are more than a little bit sinister. They are wild and empty, peppered with the scratchings of forgotten people, laced with legends, and punctuated with the stumps of ancient crosses … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Captain James Cook, Cleveland Way, Death, Environment, Footpaths, Ghosts, Hiking, History, Hunting, Industrial archaeology, Legends, Mountains, Politics, Ranting, Ruins, Teesside, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , , | 42 Comments

Lindisfarne ??? A Pilgrim’s Progress

Posted on June 17, 2014 by

THERE are not many walks in Britain best undertaken barefoot ??? but crossing the two-and-a-half miles of mudflats to the island of Lindisfarne is one of them. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do and today I have the chance. … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Life, Religion, Ruins, Shipping Forecast, Vikings, Walking, Weather, York | Tagged , , , | 49 Comments

Cross Fell ??? Fiends, Rivers, Paths and Poets

Posted on May 23, 2014 by

A walk up Cross Fell and down the Tees and Tyne . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Ghosts, Hiking, History, Legends, Life, Mountains, Pennine Way, Poetry, Railway goods wagons, Railways, Religion, Rivers, Teesdale, Teesside, Tyneside, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 24 Comments

Wild Winds and the Wain Stones

Posted on February 13, 2014 by

FOR many years I lived under the misguided impression that Ewan MacColl???s iconic mountain song The Manchester Rambler included a mention of the Wain Stones in the Cleveland Hills. Only recently did I discover there is another set of Wain … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Bronze Age, Cleveland Way, Climbing, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Ewan MacColl, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Mountains, Teesside, Vikings, Walking | Tagged , , , , | 35 Comments

Stamford Bridge: A Long Walk to the Last Battle

Posted on January 20, 2014 by

Walking from York to Stamford Bridge in search of Vikings . . . Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Beer, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Legends, Northern Echo, Railways, The Romans, Vikings, Walking, York | Tagged , , , , | 40 Comments