We went for a walk from Leighton Reservoir this week. It’s in many ways a bleak, bare, sometimes boggy landscape, and this suited our mood in a bleak, bare post-Brexit week. The view is softened at the edges by the rolling, green, stone wall-skirted Yorkshire Dales which lie beyond the heathery moors.
But look what we found as we consulted our Ordnance Survey map. These were the places we passed, or could see at a distance:
- Sourmire Moor
- Gollinglith
- Baldcar Head
- Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib (Two natural stone stacks towering out of this boggy moorland landscape. We didn’t get as near to them as we’d have liked this time)
- Grewelthorpe Moor
- Benjy Guide
- Sievey Hill
- Horse Helks
- Cat Hole
Jenny Twigg and her daughter Tib (Wikimedia Commons)
Really, where else could we be but Yorkshire?
Postscript: Just at the end we met this little chap, a just-fledged thrush. We hope he (she?)’s ok, because he just about managed to fly rather stumblingly off to a safer place than the track where we spotted him.
We have a stone on the moors here called Fat Betty! Wonderful names!
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Fat Betty? Wonderful!
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We nearly bought a house in Grewelthorpe – I always think it sounds very Dickensian. Mind you, Blubberhouses takes some beating!
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It does indeed!
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I always wondered about the history of Blubberhouses. I should look it up. The thrush is beautiful, what a privilege to be that close. We’ve often had large baby blackbirds being fed by their parents under our hedge, and a baby robin, but never a young thrush. Thank you, Margaret 😊
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Some people think Blubberhouses means ‘house by the bubbling spring’, but nobody’s sure. Yes, our baby thrush was special, but you seem to run a bird nursery too!
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I was always afraid to ask because I thought it might be something to do with the slaughter of animals!
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Let’s hope not!
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My brother lived there for a while!
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And moved away? What a shame.
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I love that little thrush! I love rather bleak landscapes and I could do with a walk like that to blow away the cobwebs.
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It only helps for a while. Then the cobwebs come back … at the moment.
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Yes.
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Oh, I do love those English place names! And the stone stacks–I think we saw some in Cornwall, maybe in Bodmin Moor? I hope your little thrush is okay–since we have no way of knowing, let’s just assume he’s happy and flying by now!
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They’re great, aren’t they? And yes, aspects of our local scenery aren’t so different from parts of the West Country. You’ll have to come and compare and contrast.
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I’ll bet that there’s a long story behind each of those names!
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I’m sure there is. A research project for a rainy day perhaps?
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Go girl!
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Oh, so long since I’ve been up there, I really need to get a week organised. Your photos are so beautiful.
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Thank you. Yes, a Yorkshire sortie is well overdue.
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What a lovely place to enjoy walk and what interesting names. I especially love the last photo, the lane along the stone wall, Stunning, Enjoy the week ahead.
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Thank you. And you enjoy your break from routine too.
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Wow! – Your photos managed to simultaneously convey the incredible beauty and the starkness of the place.
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Thank you: it’s quite hard to do, so I’m glad it worked for you.
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