thelonious

08/05/2015 – Starting from the village of Guisborough, we set out for a day strolling about the moor looking at cairns and really just taking in the fine views from the top. No set plan, just a day taken slow.

The low cloud from the day before was still hanging around as we climbed the hill but by the time we broke clear of the trees the early morning sun had worked a bit of magic and the rest of the day was left to us and the sunshine to go for a walk.

Making our way south across Gisborough Moor, we stopped to look at the cairns called Three Howes just past the trigpoint. Whilst there we got chatting to the game keeper (top man) after he saw us looking at the cairns (the place is covered in them!). Seeing we were interested in old stones, he told us about this stone circle and gave us great directions, so we duly set off to see if we could find it.

Though it’s in a open area of the moor which the track to the north looks down upon, I could easily have walked past and never known it was there. Look for a couple of old gate posts, either side of the track and look southish. It is about 200 meters away.

This is a lovely stone circle of about 18 small stones and a wonderful place to sit and while away the day. A really fantastic spot for it too with fine views. It was hard not to drift asleep as we sat there in the warmth of the sun. A real favourite. It was tough to leave to make the slow walk back over the moor.

06/05/2016 – Starting from Thrunton Wood. Anticlockwise loop round Callaly Crag, Hard Nab, stopping by this cairn for a brew then south to Long Crag, Coe Crags and back north to the start. Nice walk. (The cairns just north of Hard Nab are a bit hidden amongst trees).

02/05/2016 – Sometimes when I’ve read about a site and seen the photos, if the place is as good as Kettley Crag it’s hard to actually believe it exists and that I was there, walking up Chattonpark Hill with the rock shelter just on the other side, a few minutes walk away. It doesn’t get much better than Kettley Crag with its floor covered in the most wonderful rock art.

First things first, I had to get past the rock art on the south side of the hill. Easy parking in the layby and good access straight onto the hill. There’s rocks everywhere. The simple action of walking a hillside, having a nosey at each new rock we came across for any trace of markings is one of pure joy. Still happy just thinking about it again today. What a wonderful afternoon.

The pull of Kettley Crag proved too strong, so we made the walk over the top to the north side. It felt too soon. The Rock Shelter is quite magical and I hadn’t realised how good its location and view of the landscape was going to be. Wonderful markings.

After a while we strolled back to the Chatton rocks again. This time just sitting by the largest panel and trying to take in all we had seen. The sunshine was in and out of the clouds, making the markings on the main panel seem to nearly disappear then magically reappear again to surprise us once more. Again the views from here are too good. The Cheviots in full view.

Finally it was time to go. I came to see Kettley Crag but in the end this main panel at Chatton stole a little bit of our hearts. Perfect day.

09/05/2016 – Starting from Clay Bank car park, nice walk over the tops to Drake Howe. Fine weather today with good views. The top of Drake Howe is a really good place for a cairn and this cairn is a fair size. Time hasn’t been good to it though. Wainstones worth a look at on the way.

12/05/2016 – If you are thinking of visiting one of the two hills mentioned in local rhyme posted by Rhiannon below I’d pick Rubers Law over Dunion Hill any day of the week.

Access can be gained from most directions but I liked the walk from Denholm (nice coffee shop there) to the NW. Follow the footpath heading SE out of Denholm, then take the path through the trees which lead you first SW then SE. After that it’s a short climb up to the top.

The fort is on the summit of a great little rugged hill. Some nice overgrown walls to see but this fort’s best defence is the hill’s natural outcrops. Lovely site to walk around and great views from it.

12/05/2015 – Like Rubers Law hillfort nearby, the history of this fort looks quite complex. Unlike fantastic Rubers Law, this fort and the hill it’s on has been quarried to near oblivion. It’s in a sad state nowadays. Parking at the entrance to the quarry we walked past Dunion Hill on the way to the much nicer Black Law. Access this way is probably frowned upon but if you don’t tell, I won’t either.

03/05/2016 – From The Chevoit. Weather was cold, sunny, windy, cloudy, snowy, calm ...

03/05/2016 – It’s a fine walk round The Cheviot and Hedgehope Hill apart from one thing – the bog. As Rhiannon’s folklore post below puts it – ‘..a perfect bog’. We’ve walked a few soggy hills in our time but this was something else. The top’s so bad they’ve laid over 1 km of stone slabs to help folk across the flat summit. It wasn’t that much better before or after the top as well today. I’m not sure my boots will ever recover. Apart from that, it’s a pretty straight forward circuit of the hills from the end of the public road in Harthope Valley. Couple of cairns on The Cheviot and one on Hedgehope Hill to look at but I guess the main reason to go is a day in the hills away from the hustle and bustle of modern life.

07/05/2016 – After missing the view on our misty trip to Erra Moor in the morning, we thought we’d try another hill in the afternoon but if anything the cloud was even worse on this one. Starting from the Cross Keys hotel on the A171 to the south, footpath heads north up the hill all the way to the top. Nice walk and the hillfort looks decent from what I could see of it!

07/05/2016 – Easy walk up from Clay Bank car park. Cairn on summit with trigpoint on top. Thick cloud today so the views (which I bet are good) will have to wait until next time.

11/05/2016 – In an area of many hillforts, if you are looking for one with good views they don’t come much better than this. Starting from the village of Morebattle, we took the St Cuthbert’s Way until just after Grubbit Law then followed the gentle incline round to Hownam Law. A fine walk that didn’t take as long as it first looked from the bottom. The summit is an ideal place for a fort. With its impressive 360 view, no one’s sneaking up on you here. Not really much walls to look at, best maybe on the south side. There is an enclosure to the east and two probably artificial ponds on the level ground north of the top. The trigpoint sits on a grassed over cairn. Great place for a day trip. We sat for a good while eating our sandwiches in the sun and murdering the theme tune to Grange Hill after noticing the name of the top just to the west on the OS map. I liked this one.