Badger Stone, Bransdale Moor
More Articles in the Clay Bank to Lion Inn subsection
The Badger Stone, a little west of the Ford over the Hodge Beck
Badger Stone, Bransdale Moor, Coast to Coast
The Badger Stone is a sandstone outcropping that has all the appearance of a glacial erratic, there being no other such outcroppings in the immediate vicinity. We know, however, that Todd Intake Moor and Urra Moor did not enjoy the presence of an ice sheet or any glaciers during the last Ice Age, as did some of the surrounding valleys, e.g. Mowbray. The Stone is located on Todd Intake Moor, just above Hodge Beck and below Cockayne Ridge. This is an area of moorland which has extensive drainage to channel the rain water into Hodge Beck. The Badger Stone is about 1/2 mile south east of Round Hill on Urra Moor and can in fact be sighted from the Coast to Coast path where it intersects an ancient pathway at Cockayne Head, a little east of Round Hill.
The Badger Stone is located at the junction of two ancient tracks that cross the moors. The first of these links Cockayne Head with Bransdale Moor, just above the hamlet of Cockayne in the Bransdale Valley. The other links Bloworth Crossing with Todd Intake Moor, where there are many other intersecting ancient pathways.
Espec's Charter of 1145 made reference to the Badger Stone. Its name in the charter was Bacheler Stone, and Badger appears to be a corruption of the word Bacheler. A visit to the Badger Stone will reveal that there are a number of stones, but two dominate. They are made of sandstone.
Badger Stone North Aspect
The Badger Stone is most easily accessed by taking the south bound track from Cockayne Head. The broad gritty track parallels the Hodge Beck, or Badger Gill, which lies deeper into the valley. After about a mile an intersecting path coming from the east can be followed west, providing direct access to a concrete ramp that crosses the Hodge Beck, that has been culverted below the ramp. On the other side of the bridge is the Badger Stone.
Badger Stone South Aspect
There are no other rocky features near to the Badger Stone, which stands as a solitary monument overlooking the valley carved out by Hodge Beck. A little south of its location is Beck Plantation, the north tip of which contains waterfalls where the Hodge Beck passes through.
Viewed from the Top
The Badger Stone, when viewed from standing upon its south-most top, allows a view to the rest of the Stone with Cockayne Head and the Hodge Beck Valley in the background.
Badger Stone Another View
Observing the Badger Stone from the south east shows the incline of the horizon from the Hodge Beck Valley, which climbs to the 410m Cockayne Ridge.
Coast to Coast Trail Guide
Hiking the Coast to Coast
"Hiking the Coast to Coast" is a digitally enhanced eBook available from Apple Books for all people who have either a Mac, an iPhone or an iPad, and is designed to accompany you on your walk of the Coast to Coast path. The trail guide contains Ordnance Survey maps and other advanced mapping features, step by step directions, hundreds of colour photographs, details of the route, its conditions in different weather and research snippets relating to places of interest along the way.
