Coomb Hill and Dale Town from Hawnby

 

6.5 miles  Wet, grey and misty

 

I approached Hawnby by turning off the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley road at the Laskill turnoff.  Tom Scott Burns suggests parking on the grass near the church but the weather was so wet I thought it would be safer to park in Hawnby where parking is permissible behind the Village Hall.  This added a mile in total to TSB's walk due to walking along the road to the church which is the official start of the walk.  

 

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

The Village Hall and Car Park

I walked down from the village towards the River Rye and All Saints Church, which I decided to look around.  The church was open and I went inside to find a very well kept church.  The most interesting feature for me was the beautiful stained glass window in memorial to the German aircrew that had been killed when their plane crashed at nearby Pepper Hill.  

A misty day for walking

Autumnal colours

All Saints Church

Altar Window

Window at front of church

Memorial window

Leaving the church I rejoined the road and just after crossing Church Bridge I turned sharp left into fields at an Inn Way signpost marked Arden Hall. Steadily uphill now all the way to Dale Town Common.  I passed some cows before leaving the fields and heading up to the woods at Coomb Hill.

 

Church Bridge

The River Rye from Church Bridge

Follow that sign

Climbing towards Coomb Hill

Through the gate and into the woods below Coomb Hill

After skirting Coomb Hill the path doubles back on itself before turning left at a metalled road and passing the entrance to Arden Hall.  From this point the road becomes a steep climb passing by an old quarry. 

 

A useful sign points me uphill off the main track

I climb through the woods....

.... before joining a metalled road

James Herriot would have done it in his old Standard 10 but now the road to Kepwick is 'unsuitable' for motors

Arden Hall in the mist

At this point I saw a large boulder at the side of the track which looked ideal for a refreshment break.  I sat and ate my scone while a brave pheasant gradually approached me over a period of ten minutes.  

 

Blue rhymes with Huw - I'd better stop for coffee!

Scone in the Mist

I realise I am being crept up on

He decides to give me a berth

Old quarry

I walked a little farther along this track before coming to a sharp left turn which took me straight uphill onto Dale Town Common.  By this time the mist was quite dense and as there is no path across Dale Town Common, everything soon looked the same and I was glad of my GPS to keep me on track.  A two mile walk across the common brought me to an old barn, barely discernable in the mist.  There was a large herd of cattle here and they had made the whole area a swamp.  There was nothing for it but to get very muddy, plough through and whistle bravely as I passed through cattle, who were also nervous because of the poor visibility.

On Dale Town Common

Which way is up?!

The old water tank is a familiar landmark

Too cold and wet for adders

The old barn... I think

I passed by a cultivated field and noticed a bird scarer, the first time I've been able to examine one of these things.  I had heard it bang a few minutes earlier.  Gas! I'd always thought they fired blank cartridges!  I turned to walk away and the thing went off, sending me and some pheasants squawking high into the air.  I should have expected it.

So that's how they work

My route brought me past the building and near to some tumuli, barely visible today.  Tom Scott Burns tells us these are a group of bronze age tumuli, one of which was excavated in the 1850s and found to contain the skeleton of an Anglo-Saxon lady of rank.  She wore a leather girdle round her waist with a gold clasp inlaid with a cross of garnets and her hair was secured with gold and silver.  As I walked down towards Sunny Bank Farm I saw a DEFRA notice about these tumuli.

 

Tumuli

The tumuli, and me at this point, are in the upper blue shape of the map

Just before reaching Sunny Bank Farm a wooden sign points across untrodden fields.  It used to say Clean Path for Dog Walkers, which always amuses me, but has now become almost illegible.  This is my path back to Hawnby, if I missed this, and Clive and I have fallen into this trap before, I would have another couple of miles to walk.  Following the sign takes me across fields and downhill, eventually joining an indistinct trail where I turned left and came out into a field with a couple of old tractors.  They haven't moved in the year since I last did this walk and the sight of them never fails to sadden me.  They are still worth renovating, it's such a shame!

 

Walk across the fields in the direction of the sign

Eventually I come to a yellow waymark

Straight across these fields

Cross this stile

Fordson Tractor

A bit of wire wool....

Ferguson Tractor

Move the nettles before sitting down

 

Opposite the tractors is a bridge across the River Rye and, almost hidden in the trees, the All Saints Church.  I crossed the bridge which brought me to the start of TSB's walk, turned right and followed the road to the Village Hall and my car.

The Bridge over the River Rye

Keeping an eye on me but still eating

Autumn colours from the road

Back to Hawnby and my car