I’m off on a weeks holiday tomorrow to the beautiful North Yorkshire Moors. With all that mesmerising scenery the wi-fi just does not want to work, so I’ll be awol from here for the time.
I came to Yorkshire as a young child and lived there for many years. I never tired of the beauty of the moors and many times a week we would all go for long walks across them. There is nothing quite like it!
To ensure you all get a feel for the moors I’ve included the lyrics below. They are from a famous folk song called ‘The Manchester Rambler’ and was written by Ewan MacColl.
Here are part of the lyrics.
‘He called me a louse and said “Think of the grouse”
Well I thought, but I still couldn’t see
Why all Kinder Scout and the moors roundabout
Couldn’t take both the poor grouse and me
He said “All this land is my master’s”
At that I stood shaking my head
No man has the right to own mountains
Any more than the deep ocean bed
I once loved a maid, a spot welder by trade
She was fair as the Rowan in bloom
And the bloom of her eye watched the blue Moreland sky
I wooed her from April to June
On the day that we should have been married
I went for a ramble instead
For sooner than part from the mountains
I think I would rather be dead
So I’ll walk where I will over mountain and hill
And I’ll lie where the bracken is deep
I belong to the mountains, the clear running fountains
Where the grey rocks lie ragged and steep
I’ve seen the white hare in the gulleys
And the curlew fly high overhead
And sooner than part from the mountains
I think I would rather be dead.’
Ewan MacColl wrote this song as he was part a group of trespassers across the moors fighting for more free access on the moorland and mountains across the UK. The protest succeeded and led to, amongst other things, the development of the national parks and long-distance footpaths – the first being the Pennine Way opened in 1965.
You can listen to the song and delight in views of the moors on the following link.
Annika Perry 
Bon voyage! Have a great time and a real rest from technology! : )
Thank you so much, I did have a wonderful break. In the summer we take a five week holiday in Sweden, again without any wifi etc so a complete rest from technology. I read and write lots but fear this year I’ll miss reading the blog posts…
Are you so sure Annika. grin. There are of course little Sim
cards for the Ipads…..connects you all over Europe.
Then again, I am also a great believer in total free time to jus be.
Thanks for visiting my blog and for liking one of my posts. Blessings, Natalie 🙂
Likewise Natalie! Lovely you could visit my blog and hope you enjoyed seeing the beauty of the Yorkshire moors. Warmest wishes, Annika
I did enjoy the beauty of the moors. I’ve always wanted to see them myself. 🙂
I hope you enjoyed it. How could you not? Off to the next post to check 🙂 I enjoyed the lyrics.
Oh, I enjoyed it very much as you will see, thank you. Glad you liked the lyrics; I always loved the song but only now paid close attention to all the lyrics. Very moving. Thank you for stopping by.
AWE-some! 😀
Thank you! They most definitely are and more to follow soon; just organising a few hundred photos…
Outstanding! 😀
Oh, how absolutely beautiful! All new to me living here in the mid-west of the USA: Agreed, no computer or cell phone in this breathtaking spot. Thank you for sharing. 😊
You’re welcome and I’m so glad you like it. Definitely breathtaking and must be so very different from your part of the world. I would love to see that though! I think that has its own spectacular scenery. Thank you for visiting.
So very welcome, and we do have some amazing scenery here too. The world is a beautiful place all around! Hope to visit your ‘home’ one day….always dreaming. 😊
Annika, I agree with Elaine. The song says it all. I can always feel a wonderful lift of
spirits when I hear that song.
“No man has the right to own mountains
Any more than the deep ocean bed”.
Have a wonderful week in Yorkshire and let it be a feast for body and soul.
Mirja, you can just feel the vast freedom in those words, imagining the whole landscape in front of you. How could anyone think to own all that?! I feel the holiday will be a most welcome tonic, beautiful countryside, meeting friends, days out walking. My notebook and pens are packed all ready for when inspiration hits me.
God’s Own Country. I love the song, but Manchester is on the “red” side of the Pennines. You’re not a closet Tudor are you? We wuz robbed at Bosworth.
Bosworth? What’s that? Oohps, maybe I should study some history? But, but, it is also knows as ‘The Rambler’s Song’ AND the moors in Lancashire are just as magnificent so I stand by the song:-))
Lovely. Just listened to the song on You Tube – great photos too. Made me want to put my walking boots on again and get out there. You can’t beat the wide open spaces.
Have a great holiday – and be sure to give us an update on your next Blog – “What I did on my holidays”
Mike
Oh no, Mike, now I feel as if I have homework from school. As a child on the last day of term I’d be all excited about the holiday when the teacher then uttered those dreaded words – to write about my holidays – upon our return. As I loved writing, this I didn’t mind, it was that I felt I never did my holiday justice with the one sheet of paper we were given. Any wonder my handwriting was small! For open spaces you sure can’t beat the moors.
Beautiful, Annika. And the song so says it all. Those majestic mountains and moors should be universally accessible.
Thank you Elaine. The moors are such a special place; t’s hard for me to understand that there was a time when large parts of it were blocked off from the public. Wonderful to roam at will, setting out on adventures – one must be careful of the bogs though!