Ash Nuiken

Had a trot up to the Bilsdale transmitter to see how the new mast was getting along. As it’s going to take 19 months, I shouldn’t have expected to see anything. There was just one bloke high up the temporary mast. What a view on a vernal morning. The view was maybe not quite as good from ground level but still impressive. Across the dale, the ‘secret’ valley of Tarn Hole dominates the far skyline. Secret because no Public Rights of Way pass through it and although the moorland above is Open Access, there are no well trod paths around the escarpment. George Villiers, the 2nd Duke of Buckingham, was out hunting in Tarn Hole in 1687, when he fell, striking his head on a rock. He was taken to the house of a tenant in Kirkbymoorside, where he caught a chill and died. The rock on which he struck his head is known as the ‘Buckingham Stone’ but it’s not on Open Access Land and the landowner is quite protective so I won’t disclose exactly where it is. Tarn Hole was the home of one of the moors many hobs, ‘T’Hob o’ Tarn Hole’, those mischievous mercurial elves that attach themselves to a farmstead. But I prefer to think he lived in the delightfully named Ash Nuiken, the woodland that bestrides the beck. I said earlier there are no well trod paths around the escarpment but a Public Footpath does go from Apple Tree Hurst Farm [SE5896]up to the moor and along to Tarn Hole Crag. I must explore this sometime. Until very recently all the Public Rights of way through Apple Tree Hurst Farm were closed due to an “ongoing police” investigation. Apparently human body parts had been found there. The story began in 2011 when police found a loaded Luger pistol under the owner’s pillow and a ‘museum’ in an outbuilding containing a military memorabilia a vast collection of machine guns, grenades, mortars and ammunition including the cockpit from a fighter jet. The police had been following up a case of exposure by the owner, a Ken Ward, to a neighbour. If you want photographs and all the titillating details you best read the Daily Mail article. Along with the guns, grenades, and pieces of aircraft wreckage, the Police found human remains. These have been identified as belonging to the pilot and navigator of a Mosquito plane, No. DZ543, which crashed on the moors above Bransdale on 11th October 1944. It was on a transit flight from Beccles to Turnberry airfield and hit the moor in low visibility. The crew P/O Alfred Robert William Milne RAFVR, aged 22, and WO Eric Alan Stubbs RAFVR (1323395), also aged 22, were subsequently buried in Surrey. But it seems that not all the body parts were recovered by the RAF at the time, and Ward, who had had an obsession with the crash since 1959, when aged 11, had carried out his own excavations to recover further pieces of aircraft for his collection and in doing also found human remains which the RAF had missed. In their article the Daily Mail reports that “Police say they have now concluded their investigation without any further charges being brought against Ward.” For links and references see Link

Carrying the B1257 road over Ledge Beck which drains nearby Tripsdale.

Looking east across the hidden Ledge Beck towards the distant moor side where Apple Tree Hurst farm can be seen.

The road crosses a corner of the square with an entrance to Cross Holme Farm visible in the distance. The scenic road through Bilsdale from Stokesley to Helmsley is popular with bikers on sunny weekends.

Hillside farmhouse with a view over the dale. Recent tree planting below and to the right of the house across an area marked as 'Tips [disused]' on the OS map. Old 6" maps show these as old jet workings.

Looking west from the B1257.

Looking NW.

Looking NE.

A good bit of tarmac after having to re-route into the fields higher up as the path was blocked as it was extremely overgrown with bracken.

Looking down Tripsdale from Slape Wath Moor.

The shooting track (not the public bridleway), descending into Tripsdale.

Looking into Bilsdale from the edge of the moor.