Walking in North Yorkshire

Kildale to Baysdale and its Lost Abbey

9 miles Sun and Cloud

Today we decided to revisit one of our favourite walks which we last did in February 2014. We parked in Kildale at the side of the road and left the village towards Little Kildale.

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

Tom Scott Burns informs us that Kildale is a village of great antiquity. There are several 'Kildals' in Norway and the village was probably named by the Vikings. It was called Childale in the Domesday Book. In 1156, where the church now stands, was a wooden castle built by the Percys, Earls of Northumberland. Walking through the village we turned off the road towards Little Kildale and passed through a couple of sheep fields before reaching Little Kildale Wood and then on to Warren Farm, where Clive had spent a happy summer holiday when a schoolboy.

Walking towards Little Kildale Wood

Punk sheep sporting a Mohican cut


Little Kildale Wood

Following our path past Warren Farm we came to a large square chimney as we descended to Leven Vale. This is the remains of an ironstone mine which was operational between 1866 and 1874. Crossing the River Leven, whose source was just to our right, we started a climb up through meadows towards Kildale Moor. All along our path were mole traps, each identified by a white wooden stick. We soon came to several that had been sprung and investigating by pulling one out we found the poor victim, not yet stiff but very dead.

Crossing fields towards Kildale Moor

Old ironstone mine

Mole trap

Trapped mole


Poor chap


Looking back to Warren Farm. Each white stick marks a mole trap

We climbed steadily to Kildale Moor and then having reached the top at 900 feet, we started to descend towards Baysdale Beck, soon reaching the remains of an old barn where our path turned sharp left.

Moor gate

Descending into Baysdale

Sharp left at this barn

"What happened to your tail?"

Our track, which runs parallel to Baysdale Beck, is an old lime road that carried limestone from Commondale into Cleveland which we followed for 1.5 miles until we reached a tarmac road. Turning right here we followed the road down to Hob Hole where a large stone provided a table and seat as we enjoyed our coffee and scones. A chaffinch joined us, taking scraps away presumably to feed its young.

Old lime road alongside Baysdale Beck

We reach tarmac, turn right!

We share our scones

A water-less water splash

Upstream from Hob Hole

Hob Hole was supposed to be the haunt of a mischievous hobgoblin who taunted weary travellers and TSB reports a Canon Atkinson speaking of Padfoot, sometimes visible and sometimes not, padding quietly behind a traveller and then uttering a roar in his ear. Fortunately our coffee stop was untroubled by Padfoot and leaving Hob Hole we made a steep climb up the tarmac road until we turned right into John Beckon Road. After half a mile our path turned right off the road onto a heather track and returned us back along the opposite side of Baysdale Beck, passing a memorial to Alan Clegg 'Who loved these moors'. We arrived at Great Hograh Beck where there is a small stone footbridge and a wooden memorial seat. We feel the seat is a little out of place here. TSB says that the bridge was built in 1938, according to an inscription, and was the work of Rowland Close, of nearby Low House Farm.

Trap near John Breckon Road

Looking from John Breckon Road towards Westerdale

Turn right onto a heather track

We follow Baysdale Beck back on the other side of the dale

Memorial

Approaching Great Hograh Beck

Footbridge over Great Hograh Beck

Memorial Seat

Shortly after the stone bridge we turned right onto a wide track and followed the path across the moor. We walked downhill and passed by the above mentioned Low House Farm and then walked along the valley bottom to Baysdale Abbey.

Down to Low House

Low House

Low House resident

Walking towards Baysdale Abbey

Baysdale Beck

We passed through Thorntree House Farm before reaching the Abbey and were amused to see a vehicle identified as a 'sheep shower.' Perhaps the sheep are prettied up before going to market? As we walked through the farm we were spotted by a pen of sheepdogs who raised a cacophony of noise.

Rinse or perm?

Noisy reception

A short walk took us to the side of Baysdale Abbey. The original abbey was occupied by 9 or 10 nuns from 1190 to 1539. We were interested to see a bat box on one of the abbey buildings and then walked away from the buildings across a quaint stone bridge which is apparently the only substantial remnant of the original abbey. Crossing the bridge we followed the road to a footpath sign where we turned right to climb steeply through fields, all the way to the dale top, at a height of 1050 feet, where we paused to admire the view back to the abbey and collect our breath.

Baysdale Abbey

Old bridge at Abbey

Turn right and go straight up!

Nearly there, abbey in distance below.

We joined a tarmac road and turned right to follow it. After a few minutes walking on this road we saw a stone memorial to the crew of a second world war plane that crashed on Kildale Moor; sadly the crew died from exposure before they could be rescued.

Memorial on Kildale Moor

We now had an hour's walk on tarmac back to Kildale but the weather was fine as were the views, so it passed pleasantly enough. Looking down to our left we could see Battersby Junction and to our surprise saw the mole catcher at work, setting traps in another field. A little further along we surprised a lapwing as it took a drink and I was able to get a nice photo of this shy bird. Finally we reached Kildale and our car.
A very enjoyable day's walking.