Helmsley to Harome and Sproxton

 

10 miles             Wet 

We wanted to do a longer walk even though the weather forecast promised rain.  In the end it did rain on and off throughout the day but we continued to wear waterproofs as the grassy paths were very wet.

We drove to Helmsley on the B1257 and parked at the side of the road as we entered the town.

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

Helmsley Castle

We walked through Helmsley, turned left onto Ryegate and right into Sawmill Lane, where we saw signs for the Ebor Way.  We passed by several industrial units including a saw mill before entering a field which we crossed towards the river, still following the Ebor Way signs.

Walking through Helmsley

Follow the sign... for now

Walking towards the river

We soon reached the River Rye where the path follows the river downstream.  

We passed to the side of the sewerage works and followed the river on its north bank to reach and turn under an old railway bridge that was once part of the York to Pickering railway, closed by Beeching in 1964.  We crossed a sheep field to the road which we followed towards Harome.  As we approached the village we saw a footpath sign and stile on our right which leads to an old wooden bridge, famous in our family for cracking my wife's ribs when she slipped on its greasy timber while walking the Inn Way several years ago.  This footpath is now closed because of the bridge's dangerous condition (no connection with my wife's fall!) and has been for four years.  A notice proclaims that the path (and bridge) will remain closed for yet another year but I doubt anyone will ever provide funds for the bridge's repairs in the foreseeable future.

We returned to the road and continued to Harome.

Walking alongside the sewage works

The River Rye

Walking along the north bank

Aim for the railway bridge

Tragedy but no sign of any injury

The first of several sunflower fields we see today

The Helmsley to Harome road

Our path is closed

Set-aside

"What's the matter, haven't you ever seen an umbrella before?"

There were several of these unusual looking sheep, we wondered what breed?

We walked into Harome, passing The Star with its thatched roof and a big Buddha in the garden opposite, to reach The Pheasant Inn with its welcoming sign advertising morning coffee.  Here we spent a pleasant interlude with a pot of coffee and home made biscuits.

Trimming the ivy at The Star

Thatched cat on The Star's roof

Rather incongruously, a whale weather vane in Harome

Equally incongruously, The Buddha of Harome

The Pheasant

A quiet interlude

The weather vane at The Pheasant

Reluctantly we left The Pheasant and walked through picturesque Harome, past the duckpond and some interesting cottages including Harome Mill and Aby Green Farm  We soon reached Hall Lane passing by the old railway cottages, now private houses.

Hall Lane becomes a farm track and returns to the river once more.

Cottages in Harome

Peacock at Harome Mill

Harome Mill

The old railway track bed and railway building

Hall Lane

Hall Lane becomes a track

Leading back to....

The River Rye

We walked alongside the River Rye and then crossed it by a footbridge a short distance from Hall Lane end.  A little further and we joined Lack Lane which leads to East Newton Hall and Loschy Farm. 

Cross the bridge and continue on the far side of the river

East Newton Hall..

.. with its magnificent walls

Loschy Wood and Loschy Hill behind the farm

We were filled with admiration for the dry stone walling at East Newton Hall.   To the left of the building, on a hill, is Loschy Wood and Tom Scott Burns relates that long ago a dragon lived on Loschy Hill and terrorised the villagers.  A local man called Peter Loschy had a special suit of armour made covered with sharp blades and went with his dog to confront the dragon.  It wrapped itself around Peter and the blades sliced it so portions of the dragon fell to the ground. The pieces tried to reassemble so the trusty dog carried the segments of dragon and buried them on the hill. Peter stooped to praise his dog which licked him on the face, but as the dragon's blood was poisonous he and the dog both fell down dead.  They were buried at Nunnington Church, the dog at Peter's feet.  TSB says unbelievers can visit the church and see for themselves!  We did just that a few years ago, see photos below!

'Peter Loschy' at Nunnington Church

The dragon story from a church notice

Just past Losky Farm (different spelling for some reason) there is a footpath sign pointing across fields which points towards the B1257.  No-one appeared to have walked the freshly ploughed field yet so we carefully walked Indian File diagonally across to the stile which gave access to the road.

This next stretch is the worst part of today's walk.  It is necessary to follow the grass verge of the busy road for about a mile, passing by Leysthorpe Hall and Birch Hall Farm as cars whiz by. This is not a very pleasant experience.

Looks like we're first to cross it!

Clive lines up with the stile in the opposite hedge

Leysthorpe Hall

Eventually, opposite a sign pointing to Oswaldkirk village, we turned right into a farm lane and started to descend in the general direction of Sproxton; the footpath sign telling us we were now back on the Ebor Way.  

On the outskirts of Sproxton we reached a wooden bench situated under an enormous oak tree and decided this would be a good sheltered spot for our second coffee break, this time from our own flasks.

Leave the B1257 at the sign..

.. and walk gently downhill along Newton Grange Lane

Field tracks

More sunflowers

Clive exposes the black sunflower seeds

Clive admires an enormous oak while I admire a convenient bench

Only 9 years old but mildewed in such a damp spot

Sunflowers and bee hives

Pressing on we followed field paths to the outskirts of Sproxton whose long high street would lead us back to the B1257 and the small church of St Chads.  However the rain had now become heavy and we made the decision to bypass the village and instead head straight back to Helmsley.

Sproxton Village Hall on the outskirts of the village is a WWII Nissan hut

Low Parks Farm

Dropping down towards the river

We followed way-marks and a field path gently downhill, our path eventually reaching an arched bridge over the River Rye.  We didn't cross the bridge however, turning left instead to follow the river upstream on its south bank.

Don't cross the bridge, turn left

Looking downstream as we follow the bank

A couple of herons stand forlornly in the rain

A lone swan 

Our path enters the trees

The last half mile becomes decidedly tricky in wet weather with the slippery track winding just above the river.  Eventually we left the trees and the river, but here the bank, and our path, has fallen into the river.  This damage has happened since I last walked here on The Inn Way in July. The path having disappeared we had to fight our way through a patch of Himalayan Balsam to finally exit onto the last sheep field of the day.

Walking alongside the River Rye

The going gets tricky

The gate has fallen in! Our path comes to an end

Clive follows me through the balsam

Crossing the sheep field we joined the B1257 and crossed the bridge to enter Helmsley, where almost the first building one encounters is  Helmsley Brewery.

We were soon sitting snugly under cover in their beer garden as the rain continued, discussing today's interesting if wet walk over a well earned pint of bitter.

Rooftops of Helmsley appear in the distance

Across the old bridge

.. and into the brewery

Cheers!