Appleton-le-Moors and Lastingham from Hutton-le-Hole
7.5 miles Very hot and Sunny
Sadly Tom Scott Burns never published his walks for the eastern flank of the North York Moors but we are sure he will have walked this area many times.
We travelled over the moors road via Castleton and Blakey Ridge to Hutton-le-Hole, where we parked in The Crown Hotel's car park at a cost of £3 which is the cheapest parking in the village.
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| Today's walk marked by the yellow line |
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| We parked behind The Crown for £3 |
The OS map shows a series of green lanes (Oxclose Lane, Bottomfield Lane, Lingmoor Lane, Ings Back Lane and South Ings Lane) between Hutton-le-Hole and Appleton-le-Moors and we decided to make this our route.
We followed the road south out of the village and left the tarmac at a small hill called Austin Head, which we circumnavigated to cross a field and join Bottomfield Lane.
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| Hutton le Hole |
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| Walk south past the Folk Museum |
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| ... to leave the village |
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| Hutton le Hole |
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| Turn off the road towards Cropton |
The lanes are easy to find and follow and today's dry conditions made them a pleasure to walk.
This is very easy walking along level paths through fields of crops, some filled with poppies.
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| Bottomfields Lane |
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| Turning into South Ings Lane |
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| Plover |
South Ings Lane emerges by the road directly opposite the parish church of Christ Church in Appleton-le-Moors. We decided to visit the church on our way out of the village and turned right to walk up the High Street looking at the houses as we did so.
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| Christ Church |
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| Appleton-le-Moors |
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| Interesting houses in Appleton |
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| Weather vane in Appleton |
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| The Moors Inn |
Appleton-le-Moors is a pretty village with some lovely houses. One of these is known as Three Faces House and is described in Tom Scott Burns' book 'Round and About the North Yorkshire Moors'. On the front of the house are three stone faces which represent "the three blood suckers - the lawyer, the doctor and the clergyman."
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| Three Faces House |
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| Mnemonic - see below |
The letters below the faces spell out the first letters of a mnenomic, "The Art Of Treating Life: How To Get Bread." There used to be a further carving of 5 faces, the victims of the bloodsuckers, which has apparently been removed to the rear garden.
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| The village hall and public seating |
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| "Pass the biscuits Clive.." |
After admiring the village houses we sat in the public garden at the front of the village hall, where tables and benches are provided for those urgently requiring coffee and scones. We spent a pleasant half hour in the shade before resuming our walk, back along the high street to the church.
Christ Church is a very strange church for the area, apparently built in the French style and is open during the day to visitors. An attractive red sgraffito frieze is a major feature of the church. Sgraffito technique is where the stone is scraped to reveal a different colour underneath.
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| Christ Church |
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| A large church for the village |
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| ... with a sgraffito frieze |
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| Sgraffito technique |
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| A penitent in Christ Church |
Leaving the church we exited Appleton-le-Moors by Kirkgate Lane passing the remains of two medieval crosses, Low Cross and High Cross.
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| Low Cross |
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| Clive feels the heat |
At Low Cross we turned right into Hamley Lane whose name changes at a left turn to Howldale Lane. We followed it to reach Hagg Wood on our left and here took the second of two footpaths, that run along the bottom of the wood.
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| More weather vanes at Appleton |
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| George's fresh eggs |
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| Hamley Lane |
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| From Howldale Lane |
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| Turning off Howldale Lane into towards Hagg Wood |
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| Approaching Hagg Wood |
We walked alongside Hagg Wood to reach Lastingham.
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| "Tell yer fortune, sir.." |
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| Nearing Lastingham |
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| St Mary's Church, Lastingham |
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| Weather vanes in Lastingham |
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| One of the residents appears familiar... |
We would normally visit the 11th century church of St Mary's in Lastingham but time was pressing so we continued through the village until the tarmac road ends abruptly on reaching the moor and a modern cross.
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| Modern cross on the village outskirts |
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| Following Beau Geste through the afternoon heat |
Our route now took us along the edge of the moors along a way-marked path towards Hutton-le-Hole.
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| Walking down to the stream at Mary Magdeline Well |
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| More Jubilee Jinks, at High Cross House |
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| High Cross House |
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| A summer snooze at High Cross Plain |
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| Eventually even my trusty Tuareg guide started to wilt in the heat |
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| The rooftops of Hutton-le-Hole appear ahead |
The route back to Hutton-le-Hole is simple and clearly marked and we soon re-entered the High Street where we were delighted to find The Crown open for business.
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| Cheers! |
This is a pleasant walk covering fields, villages and moorland and ideal for a summer walk.
