A Bilsdale Circular from Clay Bank

5 miles                 Very cold and sunny

We parked at Clay Bank car park which Tom Scott Burns tells us was once a Bronze Age burial site.  It was excavated in the 1960s and found to have eight burials from around 1500BC.

Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills

Looking back towards the Bilsdale Road

We walked North back down the Bilsdale road and turned off after a couple of hundred yards into a forestry track which meanders downhill and eventually turns sharp left, almost immediately reaching Spring House.  The track here is invisible and one appears to be entering a private drive which ends at Spring House. We walked warily up to the house, passing signs saying, 'Dogs running loose', Thieves Beware and several other welcoming messages.  The owners of Spring House obviously want to discourage people but my GPS told me that our track was definitely there so we soldiered on by the house and a little later came to a friendly yellow way-mark proving that we did have right of way.

Tracks today were little used

Spring House, difficult to negotiate

Open land after Spring House

We now walked along the base of the Cleveland Escarpment on little used paths that were often impeded by bramble and holly, until we met Bank Lane running up from our right after which our path became a more substantial farm track.

Our path along the base of the Cleveland Escarpment

A better track at last

Attractive house on our path

We passed an old house called Huntons Folly and then came to a farm with the unusual name of Solomon's Porch where we turned left off the farm track and crossed a stile.

Huntons Folly

Solomon's Porch to the right

Leaving the track st Solomon's Porch to begin our climb

 
We now faced a long, steady uphill path to Cold Moor, where, hot from the effort of climbing, we sat on a wall in the sun and enjoyed our coffee and scones.

Climbing to Cold Moor

Lunch in the sun

Climbing to Cold Moor

We set off again and followed the track over the top of Cold Moor towards the Wainstones.  A steep descent off the top of the moor was followed by a right turn just before the climb to the Wainstones.  We walked around the plantation edge to Garfitt Gap.  Apparently this was known as Garthwat in 1335, meaning 'a clearing with a garth (enclosed yard) on it'.

Looking back from Cold Moor

Carole walks towards The Wainstones

First glimpse of Garfitt

There is still a nice 'garth' there today and on reaching it we turned sharp right, leaving the forest track and crossing a stile to go past the front of the the house.  Our track took us gently down from Garfitt to the Bilsdale Road.

Garfitt

Walking down to the Bilsdale Road

We turned left here and walked alongside the busy road keeping Pirate on a short lead before crossing the road to join a track at a metal footpath sign.  This footpath was also the entrance to Holme Farm and TSB has a photograph from 1896 in his book The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills; the farm still looks exactly the same today.

Holme Farm

Footpath was once the old road to Hasty Bank

The little used footpath from the farm was once part of the old road to Hasty Bank and our track followed it all the way back to the car park. 

An interesting short walk that was somewhat spoiled by awkward path-finding near several buildings which one suspects has been made deliberately difficult.