Category Archives: Vikings

Faggergill: Out of the Fryingpan into the Mire

Posted on November 7, 2014 by

BETWEEN Reeth and Tan Hill lies a land of strange names. It???s a country where wild open moors and grassy dales are neatly partitioned by walls built seemingly randomly, and generations of people have drifted through in search of shelter … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Belfast sinks, Bronze Age, Climbing, Cup and ring carvings, Environment, Explosives, Footpaths, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Railway goods wagons, Stone Circles, Tan Hill Inn, The Romans, Unemployment, Vikings, Walking | Tagged , , , , , | 27 Comments

A Cook’s Tour of the Cleveland Hills

Posted on October 22, 2014 by

CAPTAIN James Cook is one of Britain’s most celebrated maritime heroes. Born to lowly farming folk in the Teesside village of Marton, his destiny lay not in farming ??? or shopkeeping, to which he was briefly apprenticed ??? but as … Continue reading →

Posted in Camping, Captain James Cook, Cleveland Way, Climbing, Death, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Mountains, Railway goods wagons, Railways, Teesside, Vikings, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , , | 32 Comments

High Street and Fusedale ??? War and Pieces

Posted on September 30, 2014 by

HIGH Street is a great mountain with a rubbish name. When someone asks where you’re going walking and you say High Street, they glance at your boots and backpack and wonder why you need all that stuff for a trip … Continue reading →

Posted in Archaeology, Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Hiking, History, Iron Age, Mountains, Ruins, The Romans, Vikings, Walking, Weather | Tagged , , , , , | 35 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

Days Like This, No 5: Ireland’s Deep Secrets

Posted on April 18, 2014 by

DAWN breaks over Belfast. A van and a minibus rattle through the city and head down the main road towards Dublin, stopping only at the cross-border road block on the hills above Newry where a British squaddie peers at our … Continue reading →

Posted in Bronze Age, Camping, Caving, Environment, Geology, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Potholing, Ruins, Vikings, Walking | Tagged , , , | 28 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

Blue Pie Thinking on Fremington Edge

Posted on January 29, 2014 by

THERE???S a village in the hills above Reeth that is an absolute pleasure to visit because the only people who go there are the postman, the coalman, and the villagers themselves. Forgive me for sounding sexist. I know there are … Continue reading →

Posted in Climbing, Environment, Footpaths, Fray Bentos, Hiking, History, Industrial archaeology, Mountains, Ruins, Running, Vikings, Walking | Tagged , , , , , , | 30 Comments