From the top of Roseberry Topping

What a Sunday morning. Out of the cottage by 8.40 on our way to Roseberry Topping, the striking hill shown in yesterday's blip. A brilliantly sunny morning and by and large excellent paths and tracks through fields woods to the summit.

The views from the top were of the highest order, extensive in all directions, north to the Tees Valley, east to the coast (as seen in this shot), south to the North Yorkshire Moors and west to the Pennines. The industrialised landscape around Middlesborough stood out too but looked unthreatening from this distance.

The route crossed the Eakdale Railway, the line between Middlesborough and Whitby the route of which reverses at Battersby Junction. With only 3 trains a day on Sundays we were fortunate to observe a train leaving Great Ayton station.

Roseberry Topping is adjacent to an old iron ore quarry which helped stoke the industrial development around these parts. There was evidence of an old tramway used to move the ore to the mainline railway near Great Ayton.

Back at the cottage a quick change then off for Sunday lunch at the Dog and Gun at Potto (home of haulage firm Preston's of Potto) Quite a good lunch but the pudding was disappointing. The afternoon concluded with an aimless visit to a garden centre nearby.

Then it was back to the cottage for a snooze before a brown tea (boiled eggs, bread and butter and jam)