Gisborough Moor

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Gisborough Moor
Yorkshire
Gisborough Moor.jpg
The 'broad flat moor'. The summit is the slight rise on the left.
Range: North York Moors
Summit: 1,076 feet NZ634123
54°30’7"N, 1°1’21"W

Gisborough Moor is a moor rising up on the North York Moors in the North Riding of Yorkshire, to the south of the town of Guisborough.

The summit is a broad flat ridge, with the highest point at the southern end, a mile south of a trig point. It is crossed by a number of footpaths leading between the Cleveland Way and Commondale and other settlements to the south.[1] Highcliff Nab, near the moor's north-western corner, overlooks Guisborough from the edge of the scarp.

A mile from the highest point of the moor, on nearby Commondale Moor (NZ64691175) is a First World War memorial to two friends who worked on the Gisborough Estate and who left for London in 1914 to join the Grenadier Guards. One died on the Somme in 1916 (his body was never found) and the other died of his wounds in 1920. The memorial is now grade II listed.[2]

Two miles away, on nearby Great Ayton Moor (NZ60201241), was the location of a Starfish site during the Second World War. A series of tanks were erected on the moor and filled with inflammable liquid. When Luftwaffe bombing attacks were imminent, the liquid was set on fire and quenched so that the steam looked like a burning town or city. This fooled the Germans into harmlessly bombing the moor instead of the nearby industrial town of Middlesbrough, which was just to the north west.[3][4]

References

  1. Dillon, Paddy (2005). The North York Moors (2 ed.). Milnthorpe: Cicerone. pp. 108–109. ISBN 978-1-85284-448-6. 
  2. National Heritage List 1436162: Commondale Shepherds' Memorial (Grade II listing)
  3. Winpenny, David (16 November 2016). "Walk: Gisborough Moor, North Yorkshire - Starfish to the Rescue". http://www.countryfile.com/walk/walk-gisborough-moor-north-yorkshire-starfish-rescue. 
  4. Starfish Bombing Decoy SF10C: Heritage Gateway