WHILE we’ve been inundated with reports of dovecotes, binks etc, there have been no takings for an explanation for the name of Zebra Hill – a prominent rise above Bellerby, on the road to Carperby.
Cycling writer Rob Ainsley has completed his A to Z ride of North Yorkshire, with the Z being Zebra Hill. You can read about it at www.e2e.bike.
The only explanation is that in the days of travelling menageries, exotic striped creatures grazed on the hill.
The only other known mention of Zebra Hill in the D&S Times is from 1927 when the paper’s Wensleydale correspondent stationed themselves on its top to watch the June 29 total eclipse of the sun – the one still commemorated in Richmond by the yellow AA sign.
“Like a swift sweeping black plague, the darkness became intensified and Penhill disappeared,” wrote the correspondent as moon passed in front of the sun. “Deeper and deeper yet the darkness grew, and a moment later it was completely dark. It became very cold. The transition had taken 20 or so seconds.”
The correspondent was unable to say anymore because, even from the summit of Zebra Hill, there was little to see as clouds completely obscured the view.
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