Author Archives: Paul Beal

The famous chalk tower at Flamborough Head was built in 1674 as a lighthouse by Sir John Clayton and partner George Blake who were granted additional patents from Charles II to build lighthouses at Farne Islands, Cromer, Lowestoft and Portland Bill. Constructed of brilliant white chalk, the tower was a visible beacon from afar, both […]

Standing prominently above the surrounding countryside, Freebrough Hill is an enigmatic landmark visible from the A171 Guisborough to Whitby route. It lies on the south side of the road between Lockwood Beck Reservoir and Scaling Reservoir. There has been much speculation in the past as to how this hill came to possess its distinctive rounded […]

Warren Moor Mine is located in Leven Vale, about 1½ miles south-east of Kildale in the North York Moors. It features England’s only fully intact Victorian ironstone mine chimney. A relic of a speculative enterprise that came to nothing.

This historic site in the Farndale area of the North York Moors is a burial ground of the Religious Society of Friends, or Quakers. It was established in 1675 when the Quakers were being fiercely persecuted.

The North York Moors village of Grosmont lies on the Whitby to Pickering railway line, which was built by George Stephenson and opened over its full length on 26 May 1836. There are two adjacent railway tunnels to the south of the village, and the current line passes through the large one. The earlier small […]

The sculpture ‘Pillars Past’ is just a couple of minutes walk from Pateley Bridge town centre. It can be found by following the Six Dales Trail towards Glasshouses alongside the River Nidd. Commissioned by Sustrans, it forms part of the public art trail ‘Passing Places’ which mirrors the long distance Way Of The Roses Cycle […]

Easby Abbey was known in the Middle Ages as the Abbey of St Agatha by Richmond. It was founded in 1151-2 by Roald, constable of nearby Richmond Castle. Easby was a house of Premonstratensian canons, the third house of this order to be founded in England. They were an order of regular canons, meaning communities […]

This building is one of the earliest Nonconformist chapels in the North Pennines and was an important meeting place for dales people during the 18th and 19th centuries. It is situated in Briscoe, Baldersdale, about three-quarters of a mile east of the Hury Reservoir dam. The property originally had a roof thatched in heather from […]

The group of buildings that make up this radar station can be found in a field on the Yorkshire Coast about one mile south-east of Ravenscar. Access to the site is by way of the Cinder Track dismantled railway line, or the Cleveland Way cliff-top footpath. During World War II radio waves pulsing from this […]

Smardale Gill is a beautiful valley in the Yorkshire Dales just a couple of miles north of Ravenstonedale and contains Smardale Gill National Nature Reserve. One of the joys of the reserve is its easy access. A wide path, of very little gradient, allows visitors to experience a range of truly glorious, unspoilt habitats, from […]