Arncliffe Wood from Egton Banks

You can see a 'notch' the distant wooded slope where the River Esk cuts through a deep gorge on its way the North Sea at Whitby.

This barrier across the valley is actually a glacial moraine bulldozed up from the east.

There are two if not three of these in the Esk Valley from different ice sheet pushes.

At that time the North Sea would have been 'dry' but full of ice mostly originating from what is now Norway's mountains.

The Middlesbrough to Whitby railway utilises the river gorge to negotiate the barrier, and it is a short but spectacular wooded stretch - with tall bridges over the rock strewn river bed below.