There and Back

Not too far from Pickering is Dalby Forest and the Bride Stones. Today this was our destination, a walk in the forest. It is on the southern slopes of the North Yorkshire National Park. It was a glorious day - we have been so lucky at it is November! A memorial to the "lumberjills" - the women who worked in forestry during World War Two As we entered the forest we saw this sculpture, so we had to investigate! Later, a little investigation revealed its origins: The sculpture is a steel fabrication of a felled tree and two lumberjills. Some 9,000 British women were recruited to work in forestry during the war.  The lumberjills carried out heavy work, felling trees by hand, working in sawmills, loading trucks and driving tractors. The timber was made into telegraph poles, road blocks, packaging boxes and gun butts for the war effort, and even crosses for war graves. Sculptor Ray Lonsdale won the Forestry Commission competition to create a lasting memorial t...

The Yorkshire Moors have always been popular places to visit as they are beautiful and full of history. There are many novels also written about them which give them a dark and foreboding character - places of mystery! We found a beautiful place to stay in Pickhill, (which was far from `dark and foreboding`) near Thirsk, Yorkshire. The bungalow was on a farm, and was like home from home - Amazing! One of the first places that we visited was through Thirsk, and was called Sutton Bank.  Sutton Bank is a hill in the Hambleton District of the North York Moors National Park, North Yorkshire in England. It is a high point on the Hambleton Hills with extensive views over the Vale of York and the Vale of Mowbray.  At the foot of Sutton Bank lies the village of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe; at 27 letters long, it has the longest hyphenated place name in England - how about that!  The A170 road runs down the bank with a maximum gradient of 1 in 4 (25%), and incl...