Mr Moore refers to some bridge approaches at Black Dike Slack (grid ref. 762 107) which the OS marks as Quarries (dis). These works are most distinctive; they consist of a cutting on each side of the Slack (a Viking term for a stream in a valley) with the excavated spoil being used to form an approach to a bridge over the Slack which was not built. (Pictures 13 to 15) The line at this point was curving north and the cutting on the east side was the start of a cutting round the north side of Thorn Hill. There is a long gap in traceable remains between Easington High Moor and Black Dike Slack, so it is better to reach these bridge approaches from the south. The road can be followed to Green Houses, beyond which a track leads up the hill. Follow this with a wall or fence on your right and at the end of the fence continue until the track dips down into the valley. The bridge approaches can be seen on the left of where the OS marks a ford.
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| 13. Looking west over Black Dike Slack | 14. Looking east over Black Dike Slack |
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| 15. View of the cutting looking east | 16. Part finished embankment (in centre of the picture) near the bridge over Stonegate Beck |
| After crossing Black Dike Slack, the line was to
sweep round on a gradual curve to run south, crossing the Greenhouses Beck near
where the footpath from Green Houses Farm to Woodhall Farm crosses the beck.
However there is nothing of this section to be seen, even on the 6 inch OS of
1895. The line then crosses the Stonegate to Ugthorpe road where Mr Moore says
that a level crossing was to be provided subject to the condition stipulated by
the Whitby Highway Board that a station be built here. One wonders how much
custom it would have attracted! The approach road from the south that Mr Moore
refers to can be clearly seen directly in line with the road over Stonegate
Beck at Wood Dale Bridge (as named on the 6 inch OS of 1895); the embankment is
behind it. On the south side of the road an embankment can be seen (picture
16), but as this is well below the level of the road, it seems to be only the
first stage in building a higher embankment. The line now runs south-east on an
embankment (picture 17). Near the end of this embankment, the line crosses the beck again which is here channelled into a culvert with stone sides and a concave bottom (picture 18). Shortly afterwards, the embankment leads into a partially excavated cutting on the other side of the beck from the Stonegate to Stonegate Mill road. The cutting can be seen from the footpath which leaves the east side of the road a few yards north of Stonegate Mill. The Mill is a now a private house with a stone at the entrance carved “Stonegate Mill 1775 - 1949”. A bridge over the road was not built, but a short embankment can be seen south of the road leading to the hill through which the quarter mile long tunnel was to go; this also was not built. Mr Moore tells of the house which was once an inn called the Laughing Ass where the navvies spent their evenings. The private house is on the south side of the Stonegate to Stonegate Mill road half way up the hill; a nice sign (picture 19) now hangs outside. |
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| 19. The sign of the Laughing Ass | ||||||||||
| The object of viewing the line from public footpaths was not possible if the southern end of the tunnel was to be seen, so permission was requested to go over some fields to reach that point. It can be seen that the end of the cutting (picture 20) was much overgrown, but its depth can be judged where the rim of the cutting can be seen. A stretch of approach embankment and cutting is shown in picture 21. | ||||||||||
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| 20. Southern end of the proposed tunnel | ||||||||||
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| 21. Embankment and cutting approach to the tunnel | ||||||||||
| The next place where remains can be seen is from the path between Hall Park Farm and Thornhill Farm. The view south (picture 22) shows the width of the formation covered with well-established trees whilst the view north (picture 23) shows a more open aspect leading into a cutting. The formation here is on the 110 metre contour and the end of the embankment between the River Esk and Rake Farm (picture 24) 650 metres away is between the 90 and the 100 metre contours, say 95, which is 1 in 43 even if the gradient were the same all the way down! This picture looks across the Esk with Rake Farm at the top of the hill and the end of the embankment in front of it. | ||||||||||
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| 24. Rake Farm with the embankment in front of it. | ||||||||||
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| 25. Looking south - the final stretch approaching the N.E.R. Picton - Grosmont branch which can be seen crossing diagonally across the picture beyond the flooded cutting | 26. Looking north - the river Esk crosses the picture horizontally, identified by a line of trees on the left. In front of these is the embankment seen in picture 24. | |||||||||
| Pictures 25 and 26 show the approach of the line to the N.E.R. just north of Glaisdale station. The cutting is not always flooded, but these were taken after a particularly wet period! The handsome bridge (picture 27) is the only one left on the line and carries the road to Rake Farm. |  |
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| 27. Bridge at Rake Farm |
