fitzcoraldo

I parked up at the Lord Stones cafe and followed the bridal way up onto Bilsdale West Moor.
Today I thought I’d go and hunt out the Three Thumb Stone and the Raven Stone. When I got onto the moor it became obvious that today was not the best day to search for stones basically it was a beautiful day with clear skies and very little wind. The problem was a foot of snow covering everything, the moors are especially beautiful following snow, the subtlties of the landscape are revealed but many other features become hidden, such as the stones I was seeking.
Stone Rook is a loose collection of large boulders set around a mound and topped by a cairn, a Tor in minature. I will need to return after the snow has melted to collect further details.
I then crossed the shallow valley and headed north west towards the OS marker, on looking back I noticed a fairly well defined rectangular ditched enclosure on the hillside just below Stone Rook, adjacent to this was another area that appeared to be a field system.
The enclosure looks very similar to the Ayton Moor enclosure.

This is a lovely little site, it consists of a cairn that has been robbed of much of it’s stone fill leaving part of the cairn and a kerb consisting of large stones. There is also a stone row consisting of four large stones and a nearby Round barrow with a possible headstone.
I visited this site with Moggymiaow after checking out her ? ruined circle on Hunt House Crag.
There is a well defined track running from Hunt House road up to the Howe.
The situation of the Howe is unusual as it is on the top of the hill rather than the prefered brow ( the usual site here-abouts).
The site itself consists of a well defined kerb of large stones enclosing a cairn. The cairn appears to have been robbed of some of it’s stone filling, some of which has been used to build a windbreak* within the kerb.
The diameter of the circle is approx 12 metres. To the north of the circle is a row of four large stones aligned SE-NW.
Approximately 50 metres north of the circle is an un-named barrow & trig point, this barrow has what appears to be a marker or head stone on its southern flank.

*Fieldnotes amended to reflect the information from Hotaire regarding the recent structure within the kerb

I was told about this place by moggymiaow and duly arranged a joint expedition.
The road to this area (Hunt House Road)
has three lovely stones beside the road in just over a mile. None of these stones are over 3 feet high but they are worth mentioning due to the obvious antiquity of the area. This road is also along the route of and overlays Wade’s Causeway Roman Road. The road also parallels the Wheeldale Road and its own stones.
Down to business, I met Moggymiaow at Hunt House and we trecked up the well worn path the a site where Moggy has identified a possible circle.
The area is a right old mess but there are definite upright stones and with lots of squinting and tilting of heads you can tune into a circle ( a big bugger approx 40m diameter), in fact with a bit of imagination you can tune into a circle within a circle.
This is a megalithic bombsite but the hand of man does appear to have touched this landscape. there is a cairn on the margins of the circle and the trackway that skirts the site leads to a definite megalithic monument further uphill at Simon Howe.
If you were to make a specific journey to visit this site, you may leave a bit dissappointed, Burl would give it a minus one and define it as FUBAR in his classification but if your in the area, check it out and play spot the circle.

On a recent visit, the eagle-eyed Moggymiaow spotted what could possibly be another circle, (she has a talent for this sort of thing) there are a couple of large-ish stones and a hint of a possible embankment.
The circle is amongst the cairn graveyard to the east of the cairn circle/standing stone and is best seen in winter with the heather burned back.
It’s subtle, so keep your mind opened pilgrim.

Once again I set off in search of Elgee’s discoveries.
This time a stone row and a stone triangle were my goal.
Guess what i found..yep, nowt
There are two excellent stone rows on the moors here but unfortunately they are not prehistoric, they divide lord Snot’s grouse moor from the Earl of Arse’s grouse moor.
Killing daft birds with shotguns, I ask ya?
Anyway back to the stones, I followed Elgees we map and stuff but came up empty.
I did have a weird experience beside the Black Howes when the low winter sun went behind the clouds and dusk came two hours early.

A nice accessible group of round barows with one big bugger standing out above the rest. This fella has a number of large stones around the base which could possible be the remains of a Kerb.
Also there are an enormous amounts of many varieties of fungi growing on the large barrow!

Frank Elgee describes a kerb stoned barrow here.
I’m afraid there’s now nothing left of the kerb and the barrows are very low key.
However they do occur on the ancient track known as Robin Hood’s Bay Road which takes in quite a number of ancient sites including the Ramsdale Stones and the Old Wife’s Neck.
Strictly one for the enthusiast!

This lovely stone is situated on Stoney Marl Moor.
The easiest way to access it is to park up in the layby on the A171 where you will also find a caravan selling teas and assorted fried meat products.
Use the northerly footpath that runs by Cook House and then follow your nose onto the moor.
There are cup and ring marked rocks recorded on this moor and the search continues.
As the name of the moor implies, there are many rocks on the moor and the local stone contains ferruginous nodules that weather out to produce what I call pseudo cups, so be aware (they’ve caught me out a couple of times).
Further up the path there are some nice round barrows, one of which shows signs of recent disturbance. ( the ghost of Cannon Greenwell perhaps?).

This is a nice well-defined square earthwork, with a good ditch and bank. It has a lovely aspect overlooking Lonsdale.
There are some equally interesting features just a few dozen metres to the north west.
A large ?hut circle. This can be seen as a change in the foliage, there is no bank or ditch but when you see it you’ll have no doubts. It is marked by the grass ring and lack of bracken and is 24m across. Close to this is a hut circle that is well defined on a raised bank, most of the bottom course of stone is intact with a few of the second course in-situ. Diameter 10m

The Neolithic is represented on Ayton Moor by a lovely chambered cairn with two ring cairns next to it.
When paced out the cairn is 50m long and 10m across.
It is shaped a bit like a fat carrot. The chambers can still be seen, albeit somewhat wrecked, at the Northern end of the cairn.
The two ring cairns are fairly well defined and butt-onto each other. The moor itself contains many small. low lying round cairns.
You can reach this site in two ways.
The scenic route is from Great Ayton up past Roseberry Topping and on to the moor via Newton Moor.
The quick route is to park your motor at NZ594111 and take the Cleveland Way for about 600m onto the moor...easy peasy

This was brigantesnations and I’s final stop on our journey of discovery through this part of The North York Moors.
We parked up in the car park of the Hole Of Horcum/ The Devil’s Punchbowl.
The hole is a huge glacial feature and is well worth the trip alone.
Our destination was the site marked on the OS map as “Bloomety” .
We walked to the head of the hole crossing the Gallows Dike and then onto Levisham Moor, after we tramped across the moor for ten minutes I remarked as to how featureless the moor was. In my neck of the NY Moors the sky line would have been dotted with barrows. Just as I said this we came across a plaque stating that there were three barrows within the vacinity. We did eventually spot them- not impressed.
I’m sure Brigantesnation will add his description of the habitations and dikes that we came across, he’s far better at these earthworky Iron age things.
I was gutted I hadn’t seen a stone all day and now wasn’t likely too.
This said don’t let me put you off, this is a beautiful place with a fairly unique post glacial landscape.

Seamer beacon is located just off the A170 on the edge of Scarborough.
To access the site, turn off the A170 at Irton Mount and drive up to the wireless station and park in the car park there.
The beacon is an obvious feature and easy to access. The top of the beacon was once a folly which has now fallen into disrepair. The folly was constructed from large and generally unworked stone.
The possible source of this stone could have been the stone circle and cist reported by Frank Elgee ” Forty five feet from outside of the barrow, a stone circle surrounded the cist.”
There are a number of barrows in this area including the lovely named Hagworm Hill.
The beacon itself has an excellent aspect and is perfectly placed to relay signals from Scarborough Castle to the hinterlands of the vale of Pickering and beyond.
There was once a Roman signal station (not to mention Bronze and Iron age settlements) situated on the Scarborough Castle site and given the local barrows and earthworks I think it it safe to assume that this site has been utilised since the Bronze Age.
The position of this site has not been lost on telecommunications folk, there is a large array of dishes and masts situated close to the site, continuity of use or what?
The OS map has an earthwork marked between the beacon and Hagworm Hill, Brigantesnation and I searched extensively and found no trace of this earthwork.

Brigantesnation and myself set out to check out these multiple dykes that so dramatically cross the landscape of the tabular hills .
Our first target was the multiple dikes of the Cockmore system.
We drove to Snaiton and the turned right along Nettledale lane.
As we moved into the dry valley of Wydale we became aware of the dyke running along the ridge to our right. Most of the time it was signified by an unploughed zone running along the ridge, but where the plough had got through a soil or crop mark was left to indicate that the dyke was still running true to line.
The valley peters out just beyond Cockmore Hall, this is the really interesting zone. The valley is funneled into a gap between the hills and drops away dramatically into Troutsdale.
As for The dyke, as the ridge flattens out towards the head of the valley, the dykes become more numerous until you have 20 or so parallel dykes runing towards the head of the valley and then dropping over the brow into Troutsdale gradually petering out about 10 meters over the brow.
There is also a lovely round barrow that appears to be associated with the system, it is either part of the system or older because the dyke deviates around it .
The traceable length of the dyke is about 3km.

Next we move on to the the Scamridge Dyke. We followed an extremely muddy path into the woodland. the dyke bisects the path about 500km into the wood. The dyke at this point is about 30 metres across and is made up of four dikes and ditches. Again this dike runs across the landscape and terminates at Troutsdale brow.

If you continue along this path you will come out at thew Oxmoor Dykes, which again are multiple dykes and can be seen on the landscape as a large unploughed coppice area running across the landscape.

As for the purpose of the dykes, who knows? They are probably not ‘kingdom’ boundaries as there are too many of them and they make no sense as military structures.
The best Brigantesnation and I can come up with is that they served a ‘none-functional’ role.
Personally I think it may be significant the the valley below the terminations of the dykes, Troutsdale, has a number of springs, two of them have names, Magerick keld and Jenny Thrush. This is limestone country so water appears and disappears as dictated by the geology.

This is a site that has puzzled the antiquarians for at least a hundred and fifty years, mainly because of it’s famous pits, but we come to that presently.
To get there you should park up in the Scaling Dam Sailing club car park, walk back out of the main gate, turn left past the wee clump of trees and then turn left again along the bridleway (quarry road). Follow the footpath over the various bridges and duckboards past the Boghouse beck and the end of the reservior. Turn south and head up onto the moor. You will see a number of prominant dykes and ditches along the way. I dont know the age of these features but judging from the standing stones along their margins, some of them are ancient.
The standing stones are marked on the map as BS, boundary stones, but unlike typical NYM boundary stones they are unworked natural monoliths with no markings upon them. Follow this track as it turns west and crosses the Bella Dale slack.
Presently you’ll come to the Long Stone, a handsome 3 1/2 -4m stone with some weathered lettering on the south face (the letter ‘c’ I think).
400m to your south you’ll see the Three barrows of Three Howes Rigg. I recommend you wander over to them and check out the famous pits.
Basically what you’ve got is a double alignment of circular pits bounded by a low dyke. The pits run in the same NNE SSW alignment as the barrows.
There is no sign of spoil around the pits and they are 3-4 m apart so I don’t think they are the result of mining activity. If anyone did want to mine the thin iron stone bands, they would have worked the two valleys that bound the area and I could find no evidence of any such activity. The pits are circular, about 3m diameter and ‘flush’ with the ground. About 200m from the eastern end of the pits is a large mound which I presume is another barrow. The theory that these pits were habitations seems a little bizzare, they seem more defensive, but defending what?
Beats the hell out of me!
Anyway check it out ,its a lovely place and the area is covered in barrows and lovely stones.

Gerrick Moor is one of those busy little sites with something for everyone.
Park up on the layby on the northern side of the A171 and then cross the road and walk back down the bank. You’ll come to a gate, this leads you onto the ancient Siss Cross pathway , which was an ancient pannier route.
Turn left up onto the moor and head for the prominent Herd Howe barrow. If you glance behind, you will be rewarded with lovely views of Freebrough Hill (who needs to build a Silbury when nature has provided one ready assembled!).
There are numerous earthworks and barrows in this area indicating it was a busy little spot. Although it’s not mentioned on any map, there is a beautiful standing stone about 200m north east of Herd Howe. Its a typical North York Moors stone, about 3m tall. Also check out the enclosure 200m north west, its a rectangular enclosure with a low bank and ditch approx 50m across.
The proximety of this site to the road makes it a nice little place to spend an hour. I’d recommend it.
Theres a pub at the bottom of the hill too.

Revisited.
A little more meat to add to the bones.
The settlement marked on the OS map is a large stone banked circle with a raised bank and ditch. It would have been the foundation for a very large ‘hut’*. It is stone walled with a definite entrance marked by large stones.
Nearby are other smaller earthworks that could be the remains of hut circles. And the site is defended by large double ditches to the south.
The cairn circle is the prize site
It is 12m in diameter and contains one large standing stone.
One thing I have never noticed about the Rigg before is that the peaks of both Freebrough hill (to the north) and Roseberry Topping ( to the west) are visible poking up over the surrounding moors. The site is overlooked by the areas main mother and father hills.
I’m sure this wasn’t lost on our ancestors.

*19th September 2004
According to Harding & Ostoja-Zagorski’s 1994 report, this is a Ring Cairn

Approach this site from the A171 to Castleton Road.
A track leads down to the enclosure.
The structure is roughly rectangular 26m x 40m and faces west overlooking Commondale Beck and Moor.
It is a banked enclosure with a shallow ditch.
Within the enclosure on the North West end is a circular depression approx 4m across.
20m to the north is a row of stones ? ancient field boundary with another row running off at right angles. Two large stones mark the corners.

This one eluded me today.
It’s marked on the OS Explorer.
I just couldn’t get to it.
I first tried down the lane from Mayburgh..dead end
Then from Yanwath..dead end
Then into the Skirsgill depot site from the M6/A66 roundabout...no joy
I thrashed around a farmers field and found nothing but a small low lying glacial boulder at the foot of the embankment of the A66.
There is a farm there and you can see the lane, but were it starts and how to access it beat the crap out of me today.
next time .......

I stopped off at this fella.
Very difficult to assess. If I hadn’t been told it was there I would never have guessed in was a long cairn.
The whole thing seems more like a long Dyke. I can see where the cairn side comes in because someone had cut into the side of the beast and the thing is definitely constructed of rocks.
The Easterly end is truncated by a ditch and bank, this could be a drainage ditch but it seems unlikely.
All in all a very unsatisfying site.
One thing though.
It is yet another site on the eastern margins of the lakes running from Grey Yauds in the north to south of Shap following what I call the Eden/Lowther Corridor of sites (at least 30 of ‘em).
I’m sure the rivers are significant in possibly what were axe trade routes and junctions.

This is a fantastic site although I would not advise anyone to approach it by the route we took.
Myself and my two dodmen apprentices took the road to Burnbanks at the head of Hawswater and parked up.
We then walked along the well made path until we reached Mile Craggs and the took the uphill route following the beck (no footpath).
My apprentices had a hard time of it but remained uncomplaining as they sank into bogs and were totally lost in a forest of bracken. I was trying to show them how to follow the sheep paths but failed miserably as even sheep are not daft enough to take this route up the fell.
We eventually made it to the top and were rewarded with fabulous views across Haweswater to Hare Shaw in the east and High Rise and Long Stile in the south.
The site itself is nestled in a lovely sheltered high vale.
You are first aware of the two stones on the horizon, as you walk up to them they seem to get smaller. One stone is upright the other is leaning. They look out over the southern flank.
As you move into the site you come across a small pond (about 30M long, very shallow) that is bizzarly flanked by a lowline of stones ( ?an ancient wall structure), slightly up the rise to the North east is a lovely hut circle about 10M across.
The combination of these three features coupled with the views and absolute isolation of this site make it a wonderful place to visit.
As we sat and admired the views we watched a storm move towards us, helpless to escape it we got soaked, when the storm moved on it left a beautiful rainbow across the fell.
Out of interest I’m sure this site used to be called the Giants Grave or graves but cannot find a reference to back me up.
I also wonder what happened to the other two stones of Four Stones Hill.
Any info?
My lad collected a mean set of sheeps bones on the way down! ” look dad , some of ‘em still have the skin on!”
His mum was well impressed when he took them home to show her.
If you visit this site, I would advise the safer less strenuous route from Drybarrows. Or walk along the lakeside to the Forces and follow the footpath past the waterfall.

This site has been an important cross roads since the beaker folk took residence on near-by Danby Rigg.
Close to this site are Old Ralph Cross, Young Ralph Cross and White Cross. These crosses make the confluence of major moorland pannier ways and also link the ancient sites of Danby Rigg, Castleton Rigg, Westerdale Moor (mesolithic) and Blakey Rigg.
Flat Howe is a minor round barrow but the nearby boundary stone is lovely.
It stands beside the road and is visible for some distance. The stone does not have the usual appearance of the local stones (see Blakey Howe) it is marked as a boundary stone with the Initials of the estate but from it’s appearence alone predates any of the Cleveland landed gentry.

Located just beside the Lion Inn on the Castleton to Hutton -le-Hole road.
Blakey Howe is easily mistaken for one of the many mine workings that cover High Blakey Moor.
If you check it out you will find a dug-out round barrow topped with a boundary stone.
The usual boundary stones for this area are about .5m tall, rectangular and fairly uniform. This fella is 1.5m tall and doesn’t look like any of the other stones.
The carved letters on the side proclaim the boundary of whoever owned the moor (and probably still does) but the stone implies a greater antiquity.
Whilst your there call in at the Lion Inn, great beer & decent grub.
There are excellent views across Rosedale to the Victorian Ironstone workings and the calcining kilns.

I came across a boundary stone at East Hare Crag NY959168. It was approx 2 Metres tall by 0.75 Metres wide
The face was marked with a date of 17** (obscured) and the left side was marked with a ‘G’ right side with a ‘C’.
Curious thing is that halfway down the front face are a number of cupmarks.
Also on the crag nearby are two abandoned millstones, I know they’re not really ancient but are a good example of recent megaliths. How the hell did they get these things from an isolated Pennine crag? and why abandon them? maybe the arse fell out of the millstone market?
I suppose they could have been used for crushing ore or limestone, there are limekilns about a mile away..who knows?

I arrived at the Loups area via Goldborough. Stan Beckensall and Tim Laurie have documented 11 sites in this area, 8 of which are on MOD land are require permission from the range warden to visit.
Of the 3 sites that are accessable, I have dealt with one in the Goldborough posting, 1 is covered with vegetation so that leaves 1 out of 11 but don’t despair ‘cos it’s a doosie!

To get to this rock you need to follow the Pennine Way across Cotherstone Moor and the pass through the gate at Loups Hill. You’ll know your there by all the MOD signs.
The rock is about 40 Metres from the gate, as you walk down the path it’s on your right just before the boundary fence on your left.
The rock looks pretty unremarkable until....you peel and reveal 4 lovely cups and rings all in a row and pecked grooves.
Don’t forget to put the turf back over the rock, these boys have lasted a few millenia and should last a few more if we keep them covered.

I parked-up at the Blackton reservoir and picked up the Pennine Way at East Friar house, this leads you to the moorland top road and a bridleway onto Goldsborough.
The sandstone crags of Goldsborough are beautiful but devoid of rock art, you need to be on the eastern rigg to find the treasure.
I was using Stan Beckensall and Tim Laurie’s book as a guide, they state that there are 4 rocks on the rigg that have carvings upon them. I only found one, but what a beauty it was.
The rock is zoned by pecking the natural faults, within each zone are cups. rings and grooves.
The stone measures about 1.2M across and 1.0M long. You need to peel back a bit of vegetation to see the whole thing and the more you look, the more you see, at least a dozen cups with rings and at least another dozen cups. A photo cannot do this rock justice you have to feel it and stare into it to see it’s beauty.
If you walk EES to the How Beck you’ll find a sandstone boulder with at least 30 cups carved upon it.
When I found it I was a little disapointed because the cups are very hard to see, this is one that you have to get to grips with, you have to feel the cups, they are there.
Brilliant site with lovely views across Baldersdale and on to the Tees valley.
Get yersel’ there!

I got to this site via Lartington Green Lane. There is a well made path that runs from the lane south across lartington Green. The path cuts through a small wood where you can see hares on the path and hear the lovely tinkling music of the Gill Beck.
After the wood you reach a cow field full of Jet Black Ninja cows and their offspring. These cows are not the big fat-uddered dairy type, they are, stare you out, give no ground, Yorkshire fighting cows. If you have a go at them they’ll stomp you into cattle cake. You can tell all this just by looking at them. Or at least, I could...oh no I’ve got the fear...!
back to the site.
At the end of the cow field you hit a entrance to a wood, this is where you’ll find the rock art. Don’t go through the entrance, stay in the field. About 40 metres to your right, just before the big dying tree, you’ll find an earthfast rock with about a dozen visible cup marks, gently peel back the turf to reveal at least another 30 with a couple of joined cups and long grooves. This is a lovely stone with nice fresh cups.
When you’ve finished, don’t forget to replace the turf properly and cover them up for the next pilgrim to discover.
Now go back to the entrance to the wood, on your left is another gate, go through this gate and you’ll find another earthfast rock that is split in two...peel to reveal... another set of lovely cups and grooves, not so many this time, but lovely all the same.
There is more art in the farmers field but with no right of way, the overlooking farmhouse and my current paranoia I decided to save them for another day.
All in all this is a lovely site with fantastic carvings, well worth a visit.

Situated on the Cotherstone to Bowes road.
The Butter Stone is an ugly little amorphous solitary stone situated on a bland sedge moor about 5 metres from a none descript moorland road. Opposite the stone is a yard with a couple of Nissin Huts and a few JCBs.
The thing that gives this stone some charm, and this will piss off the purists amongst you, is someone has glued a 1950’s Scottish shilling into a single cup mark on the top of the stone.
I normally disapprove of such behaviour but I will make an exception in the case of this sad little stone (with a lovely name).

With reference to the “cup-marks”. The jury came back with a verdict of....natural weathering.

The OS calls this a Hut Circle, I’m going to stick my neck out and call it a stone circle possibly a cairn circle (oh no I’m introducing seeds of doubt!).
No! stone circle it is. Its a neat little circle 18m X 18m with six irregulary place stones, the largest being 1.5m tall. The largest stone has some lovely fossils on its surface. The stones are the local stone.
It has an embankment and no obvious entrance. It resembles many of the other dales circles. It is neat, small and intimate.

A fairly unremarkable low round barrow bisected by a dry stone wall and topped with a OS trig point.
I can’t describe the setting because visibilty was down to 15m. All I know is the moor is very boggy and the rain is very wet.

Amended 11/06/02
The above report is of the How Tallon mound only.
There is a stone circle at How Tallon It is just south of Osmonds Gill. When I visited it was so foggy that I nearly fell over the gill and abandoned the whole thing. There is also a major rock art site centred on this area.

I approached Maiden Castle from Harkerside Moor, the weather was filthy with fog and rain. I was also hassled by screeching peewits who are currently in the middle of their breeding season, the only other sound to be heard was an intermittant cuckoo.
The site is on the north facing slope of Swaledale and quite difficult to spot.
So what is it? I don’t know but it isn’t half impressive and must have took some building.
Firstly you’ve got an tumbled down dry stone avenue 4m wide and 110m long. The avenue runs from the east and appears to narrow to about 3m at the entrance to the enclosure. At the beginning of the avenue is a large mound, which may be a spoil heap but I don’t think it is especially being so close to the entrance. There is a structure built into the avenue but I think this may be a recent grouse butt.
The enclosure it self is a massive wonky pear shape 140m (E-W) X 120m (N-S). It is surrounded by a rubble wall and deep ditch 4m deep with steep sides and 10m wide. The floor is fairly flat with 1 possibly two stone structures built into the southern side of the entrance.
The site is overlooked by the hillside on the southern edge so could not be a defensive structure, the enemy could fire down into the enclosure.
The site does not dominate the hillside but fits neatly into it and cannot be seen from the road which is only 200m away.
The structure seems too elaborate and too large to be an animal enclosure, why bother building a huge ditch and wall when a gorse hedge would suffice. There are a lot of man hours in this structure.
To get a good idea of the site, check out the aerial photo on multimap at 1:10000.
It has the feel of Mayburgh Henge but hmmm.. the wall is inside the ditch....... I just don’t know
If you want to visit, the easiest way is to take the Grinton, Crackpot (really!) road and walk the 200m up the hillside, it’s well worth it.

This is a strange one. 6 standing stones along a four mile stretch of moorland road.
If you approach from the south, the first stone is on the brow of a hill just after the ford over the Wheeldale Gill. The stones all vary in shape and character. Three of the stones have a single rectangular hole cut into them.
Unfortunately I could only spend a few minutes at each stone but I shall definitely return here soon and make a more thorough investigation of this strange site.
A little further south on the same road you can see an exposed section of roman road, known locally as Wades causeway.

This site is located on the northern edge of the North York Moors escarpment at the northern end of Raisdale.
The site is just beside the Carlton in Cleveland to Chop Gate road in a meadow beside The Lord Stones Cafe.
The site consists of at least three small round barrows one of which is a cairn circle with large prominent stones.
The are also a couple of standing stones on the site. The site has had a lot of disturbance, not least with the building of the cafe. Several large stones have been incorporated into the fabric of the building that may or may not have come from the site.
The site itself is a nice green meadow with nice views across the vale of Cleveland and beyond.
The cairn circle is behind the cafe is on the path of the Cleveland Way and a couple of metres from the road, it is approx 6m across. 4m to the north of this is a barrow that has a turf covering with a few stones ‘poking through and then another 20m North of this is another barrow also turfed and also with a couple of small stones showing.
A few metres to the east of the cairn circle is a single standing stone.
There is another large standing stone on the site, this is a large rectangular block which has been dressed at some point in the past, it is marked on the OS map as a boundary stone. It is much larger than the usual NYM boundary stones so may have been adapted from an existing standing stone.
If you follow the Cleveland Way East from the site you will climb up onto Cringle Moor where you will see two things;
1.A most excellent 180 degree panorama with views to, starting from the west and moving east, Ingleborough and Whernside, Stainmoor, Cross Fell, Weardale, The Penshaw Monument (on a very clear day), Hartlepool, Teesmouth, Upleatham and the sea beyond, Roseberry Topping, Park Nab and Turkey Nab.
I know all this because there is a plaque there that told me so.
2. The large round barrow of Drake Howe NZ539029. A big-un measuring in at 25m across.
All in all, an nice and accessible site.
If you do go up to Cringle Moor, dont forget to wrap up warm.

Driving along the Kildale to Commondale road I noticed this fella standing on whats called by the OS, a cairn. It’s a single stone on a raised platform, more of a tumulus than a cairn, but who am I to argue with the OS.
I traipsed up to investigate, its only 2 minutes from the road.
The stone is been standing there a long time judging from the weathering on his top. He stands approx 1.6m X 0.6m.
It’s not a cross stone and doesn’t appear on the map as a boundary stone.
There is some graffitti on the stone which says ?“B died here”
Some party that must have been.

The Old Wife’s Neck is two standing stones incorporated into a linear earthwork. To get there, start at the Maybeck Forest Walk car park and then hike back up the road to New Maybeck Farm, the scruffiest farm you ever saw! Turn right here and follow the path along and past the woods until you come to the moor and the sad remains of John Cross. Turn right and follow the path parallel to the forest.
You cannot see the stones until you arrive at the double dyke earthworks, then you will see them on your right.
The long linear dyke is orientated East – West and is approx 1km long.
The stones on on the western end and are within the dyke feature.
There are two stones, the first is approx 0.9m high and the second 1.2m high.
Observed from either the east or west the larger stone appears not unlike a human head and neck although from the north or south it appears to be a squat ‘L’ shape.
The stones are orientated to a pair of mounds on the western horizon ? Foster Howes. The view to the east is obscured by the rise of the hill and the dyke feature. If you walk a few meters up onto the dyke you can see across to Robin Hood’s Bay and the sea.
You can also see Standing Stones Rigg from here ( the site of Ramsdale Stone circle).
This is a lovely bleak spot, the sound of the wind blowing through the nearby forest reminds me of the sea and you can hear the whistles of the steam trains coming over the moors from Goathland.
If you want to make a nice circular walk of your visit you can follow the path right around the margins of the forest and take in Louven Howe, Lilla Cross which is on Lilla Howe, Ann’s cross also on a mound (two examples of christianised barrows) Foster Howe, Robbed Howe, and the igneous Cleveland Dyke.
Alternatively, if you’ve got the kids with you and just fancy a short circular walk, continue along the path from the stones and then cross into the forest on the marked path, when you come to the ruins of John Bond’s sheep house take the right hand fork. This will take you along the Blea hill beck. Its a lovely path following the beck . It criss crosses the Beck and takes you through lovely glades of daffodils and primroses. The valley is absolutely gorgeous at this time of year. The path brings you back to the car park.
Lovely!

Wade’s Stone (South) is visible from the A174 at East Barnby. There is no public footpath. We parked opposite the entrance to the Training Centre (on Wade’s Lane) and accessed through the gate that leads to a path that runs beside the Training Centre.
Wades Stone is on a slight rise in the field in front of you. His vital statistics are similar to his brother 1km away 2m X 1m. He is not as weathered as his brother but does have one deep ?libation channel running from top to 1/4 way down.

Situated in a field on Goldsborough Lane.
Turn off the A174 at the East Barnby / Goldsborough cross road.
The stone is in a field on your left approximately one kilometer down Goldsborough lane.
The field is next to a small wood and at the entrance to Brockrigg Farm. Within a kilometer of the stone there are 3 round barrows, a Roman signal station and the other Wade’s Stone.
Wades stone stands about 2m tall and is roughly square with 1m wide faces. The top of the stone is weathered with deep ?libation channels running about 1/4 way down. The farmer had just been muckspreading when me and Timmo visited and the stoney chap was wearing a coat of crusty shit down one face.

Oddly enough there are five round barrows in close proximity on Three howes Rigg. The mounds are fairly unremarkable in themselves. They are orientated roughly North South in an elongated ‘S’ and are about 20-30m across.
What is nice about this site is the view of the Freebrough hill, the peak of which just pokes up above Moorsholm Moor on the NNE horizon. The mounds are not orienated to Freebrough but the nearby track that leads to Freebrough and beyond has mounds all along it’s course. This is rich country for the seeker of round barrows.

Saint Hildas well is situated in the church yard of Saint Hilda in the village of Hinderwell which is said to be a corruption of Hilda’s Well.
The village was recorded in the Domesday book as Hindrevvelle.
The well is supposedly where Hilda stopped to chill a while whilst travelling to become Abbess of Whitby.
It’s a pretty well and was restored in 1912. The water looks very clear.
It is “dressed” by the local children once a year.

This is a rarity, a North Yorkshire Long Barrow, there are a few of them, but not in this neighbourhood. This is round barrow country, and there are plenty of them.
I reached the barrow from the B1266. Just after the cattle grid is a clump of trees with two round barrows beyond them. On the other side of the road is a public footpath, take this path and head roughly North west. You should see another round barrow to your left.
The path is well made and fairly flat. Follow the wall to your right to the top of the moor. Check out this wall as you go, the first section is roughly made of large stones and is not your typical dry stone wall. It is either very old or very poorly constructed.
The path bends of toward the trig point but you need to head for the right hand corner of the field. You should see the barrow sitting there. As barrows go, it’s a bit broken down but it’s definitely a long barrow.
It is aligned East – West and measures approximately 60m by 25m.
Not a lot to see on the barrow but look around. The views are fantastic. The nearby trig point is at 224m, so your pretty high up.
You have seaviews from Rock Cliff (the highest cliff on the east coast) to Kettle Ness with views over Staithes and Hinderwell ( I would hazard a guess that this is the last resting place of seafaring folk).
The views to the south are over the moorland with various barrows visible on the horizon.
When walking back check out the litter from the mole hills, there only seems to be mole activity on the section of the path nearest the barrow but there is loads of flint and chert lying around, all alas, unworked. I did find a piece of unworked jet about an inch square and a third of an inch thick.
Be lucky!

Located in field on the footpath up to Nab End Moor and the Bridestones.
From the B1257 take the footpath opposite to the entrance to High Crookleith Farm. Walk up the side of the meadow, cross the stile turn right and walk between the wood and the wall. After about 150m you will come out into a rough field. Walk up the left hand side of the field for about 75-100m and thar she blows. Standing beside a gill is a lovely erect stone about 2m in height.
Give him a rub from his old uncle Fitz.

Yet another site known as the Bride stones. Bride was a popular lass back in the day.
To get to the Bride stones, you can either continue a mile or so in a southerly direction from Bills Dyke or you can hike up the side of the dale using one of the many footpaths.
The hike up is great and I discovered a standing stone in a field that has not been marked or recorded.
Before you reach top of Nab End Moor take some time to explore to the rocks strewn around the rise of the hill. I think I may have found at least two large boulders that have cupmarks (I’ll send my photos to the very knowledgable, Greame C. to see what he thinks).
The circle itself is just below the cairn summit and lays beside a well marked track (an extension of the Billys Dyke path).
The circle itself is a cairn circle with many good size stone still in situ It is 9 meters in diameter with the tallest stones standing at 1 1/2 meters.
Despite it being beside a well made track, it is obvious that no-one comes here, there is a distinct lack of new age debris and coins rammed into crevices.
With the brow of the hill to it’s back, the circle looks out due south over a spit of land known as Nab End. It is a triangular spit flanked on one side by Tripsdale and the other by Bilsdale. In the far distance another mound is visible on the horizon ?Coniser Howl.
One of the South Westerly stones has markings that appear to be man made, again I need to get this verified before I crow about it.
Burl would give it a three, I’ll give it a two and a half because it’s a lovely place to spend an hour or two.

Billys Dyke is an earthwork that extends from Clay bank to Chop Gate (pronounced Chop Yat) It skirts the edge of Urra Moor at the 325m contour.
No-one Knows it’s age or purpose. It sits on the North eastern rim of bilsdale.
To get there park at the top of Clay bank and follow the footpath up to the scars and jet working spoil heaps.
Once up on the dyke its a doddle, just follow your nose. When I was a young shaver, this was my prime hunting ground for exotic fungi.
From the dyke you can see the round barrows of the exotically named Round Hill.
If you follow the dyke to chop Gate you can cross the dale and hike up onto Cold Moor and then onward to the Wainstones taking in the dug-out barrows (and frog kingdom) of the three howes then across hasty bank, were the views of the vale of Cleveland are lovely, to the Clay bank car park.
Plenty to see and a nice afternoon’s walk.

Starting from the village of Hebden, Follow the footpath North along the westerly side of the Hebden Beck and cross the beck using the footbridge at Nanny Spout. Follow the footpath through the fields (avoiding the huge amount of dead rabbits) gradually heading uphill towards the very visible scar. The path snakes up the scar and brings you out onto the moor at Scar Top House.
You could drive to this point using the trackway but you would miss a beautiful walk. My daughter was most pissed off when I told her that we could have driven to this point.
Turn to your left and walk along the footpath onto the moor.
The circle is about 1/4 km along this path. It takes some seeing, even with the heather burned back, but if you take your time you will see a slight embankment which defines the circle.
A little further on there is the hint of a circle but the rocks here are country rock not loose stones and there is no embankment.
I was a little disappointed at first but then I took in the surrouding area. About a further 1/6 km from the circle is Mossy Moor reservoir. If one presumes that this small reservoir is sited upon an existing tarn, then this would make it a sacred lake, which gives the circle much more significance.
All in all a lovely site, a ruined circle, a possible sacred lake, a crackin’ walk.
Don’t forget to take a jumper!

We parked up beside the B6265 Pateley Bridge road and entered the moor through a gate beside the quarry.
A short traipse revealed a moor covered in stone debris. Following Ironman’s instructions we walked along the brow and there it was.
Appletreewick is a lovely little circle.
In comparison to the lakeland circles, which have the vibe of a neolithic minster, Appletreewick has the vibe of a chapel serving a small community.
Once you’ve taken in the circle check the view and you know why it is sited there. It is on a hillside at the convergence of three dales. Ahead of you is Wharfedale, to your right is the valley of the River Dibb and to your left the valley of the Barben Beck.
A mile or so to the south east there is a large area of cup marked rocks, I did not have time, (or should I say my kids would not come with me and I couldn’t leave them) to investigate them. I shall definitely return to this area.

I love this henge. It is completely wooded with a well defined, deep ditch and bank.
The wood has obviously saved it from the plough.
This feels like a far more intimate space than the gargantuan central henge. More fitting for a final ritual venue (if the henges were processed through).
The vibes are lovely and you could spend a day just mooching around this place, a good spot to spend a night in, too.
The floor is lovely and springy due to years of accumulation of leaf litter and that lovely loamy soil it forms.
I was loathed to leave this place but my bread snappers demanded that I pay the bribe I had offered for visiting. A visit to Stump Cross caverns.

This is a beast of a henge, it’s huge!
There is no obvious access so we had to bust-in over the gate and then Wow! How many folk would this place hold? and jesus! why did they need three of ‘em.
Although the bank is quite broken down in places you still get the feeling that this place is a monster.
If all three henges are contemporary with each other the amount of work put in is immense, there must have been some serious stuff going on here back in the day.
My theory, for what its worth.
If you are journeying up to the axe country from the South and East you will hit this place. The central henge could be the mart where animals are traded for the precious axes. It just looks too big for people. A neolithic N.E.C.
The site is also central to people from the Dales, the Vale of York and the Tabular hill peoples. Three sets of folk, three henges ????

I see the great whale- back of Upleathham every day from my home and i find it a totally mystical place.
The side that faces me houses a mesolithic site from which lots of flint tools and cores have been recovered. The other side of the hill houses a round barrow with a, supposed, cup marked kerb.
All the bits in between are covered on one side by Errington Woods and the remains of the Victorian Iron stone mines and farmland everywhere else.
Approach the site from New Marske and you’ll encounter a lovely sunken trackway leading around the hill. Upleatham village is a bourgoise spot but has a certain charm (but no pub!) a lovely romanesque church, now a private house, a well, a tiny unused chapel surrounded by a DMV.
The woods also yield the occasional cup marked rock from their bed of pine needles. I’m sure if the woods were stripped, much more would be revealed, but what would be the point of that.
The views over Teesside and the Tees bay are beautiful .
If you go to the woods at dawn or dusk you’ll see lovely shy deer chillin.

This is a Yorkshire stone!
It’s big and brash and where it shouldn’t be.
How the hell this fella survived the building of the church and graveyard beats me.
This is a world class standing stone both for its height and its Yorkshire balls for surviving to tell the tale.
Like all big fellas, he’s got a little mate tucked away in the corner of the boneyard, just sat there squat and watching.
Go check him out, he will not fail to impress you.

The Howe sits over the village, it is big and dominating and doesn’t care who knows it. I don’t get any nice vibes here. We hang around for just long enough to take the place in and then move on.
This is not Willy Howe, I hear no music here.