Walking in North Yorkshire

Along the Old Drovers' Road from Osmotherley

7 miles Cold and windy

A few years ago we could drive in to Osmotherley and park outside the old Thompson's shop without problem but nowadays such is the village's popularity we need to drive around the village searching for a newly vacated spot. Eventually we found one, booted up and set off past the Market Cross into Quarry Lane.

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

Osmotherley

Thompson's Shop, est.1786 but now falling into ruin

The Queen Catherine - now closed during the week!

One of my favourite weather vanes is in Osmotherley

In the Domesday Book Osmotherley is known as Asmundrelac, which means 'Asmund's clearing'. We would walk past a cottage bearing this name on our return.

Tom Scott Burns explains in his notes for the walk that the village was ravaged by William the Conqueror in 1069 and was still described as waste land in its entry in the Domesday Book in 1085.

He also relates that the village was raided by the Scots on several occasions and a raid in 1315 was so severe that the village was excused all taxation because of the distress it had suffered. A few years later, in 1348, the Black Death carried off nearly half the population of Osmotherley.

We walked up Quarry Lane from the market cross and after passing a restored Pinfold we turned into Ruebury Lane and began to climb.

Walking up Quarry Lane

Pinfold - where stray animals were held until payment of a fine

Inside the old pinfold

Stately Ruebury House is on the corner of Ruebury Lane

Follow the Cleveland Way sign

A memorial on Ruebury Lane

Viewpoint from the memorial stone

We quickly gained height until we looked back down on Osmotherley. A little further, when the lane becomes a track, is the Lady Chapel founded by Queen Catherine of Aragon in 1515. It is still a religious retreat and we followed the twelve stations of the cross as we approached it.

The First Station of the Cross

Climbing towards..

Lady Chapel

Last time we passed this way we found Lady Chapel unlocked and looked inside.

Inside Lady Chapel

Clive admires the chapel

Explanation for the shields on the West window

Leaving the Lady Chapel we dropped down to a track where we turned right, still following the Cleveland Way. This track has a fine view over the Vale of York and we walked along picking out landmarks such as The Tontine on the A19 below.

Leaving Lady Chapel

New gates and signs for the Cleveland Way

"I can see your house from here"

We followed the Cleveland Way along the ridge of Summer Game Hill and Swinestye Hill throught he trees of South Wood.

This sign used to cause confusion to C2C walkers until the little plaque was added

South Wood

We walked uphill through the birch trees of South Wood to reach transmitter masts at Beacon Hill. The track continues straight past the masts and directly onwards until reaching the gate to Scarth Wood Moor. We followed the Cleveland Way path across Scarth Wood Moor, all the time enjoying a fine prospect towards the Cleveland Hills, and in the foreground, Whorl Hill.

View down to The Tontine and the A19

South Wood gives way to Arncliffe Wood

The Transmitter Station shown on OS map as 'WT and TV Station'

Trig Point at Beacon Hill used to be the start of the Lyke Wake Walk

We think this is the remains of a WW2 decoy station

New dry stone walling

The wall last year

Arncliffe Wood has been cleared and the unwanted wood left in piles

Entering Scarth Wood Moor

Crossing the moor, Whorl Hill to the left

Eventually we reached a wooden sign at the deep trough of Scarth Nick, pointing towards Cod Beck Reservoir, and left the Cleveland Way to soon join a tarmac road that runs from Swainby to Sheepwash.

We leave the Cleveland Way

Swainby below

We also leave the Lyke Wake Walk

Scarth Nick

We now walked into a bitter head wind through Scarth Nick to reach Sheepwash. TSB explains that during the Ice Age of approximately 20,000 years ago, a glacier from the north enveloped an area 20 - 30 miles wide and 1,000 or more feet thick. It failed to cover the moors but crept into Scugdale depositing materials from Scotland, Cumbria and Durham. Sand, gravel and stones left by meltwater formed the conspicuous mound of Round Hill, the present car park at Sheepwash.

Reaching the water splash at Sheepwash we crossed the bridge and sat on Crabdale Beck's stony bank, sheltered from the wind, to enjoy our coffee and scones.

Walking through Scarth Nick

We join the Swainby to Osmotherley road

... and reach Crabdale Beck

Scones al fresco

Crabdale Beck was a nice sheltered spot and after enjoying our coffee and scones we headed uphill towards Pamperdale Moor and a head wind.

We now walked along High Lane alongside the forestry plantation above Cod Beck Reservoir. This was once a Drovers' Road and TSB suggests that it was probably used by prehistoric man, the Romans and before the present day road was made, as a corridor through the Cleveland Hills.

Our view with coffee

Climbing from Crabdale Beck to Pamperdale Moor

High Lane, the old Drovers' road

At the end of the plantation look out for the Starfish on the left!

As we reached the end of the plantation we saw an unusual brick building which we have previously investigated and found to be a WWII Starfish, one of five such sites built during the last war to protect industry at Teesside by the following means:

A series of iron tanks, raised on gantries, would be set out. These tanks held inflammable liquid that could be ignited and quenched on demand. The fires were lit as soon as German bombers began an attack. When they were quenched, the resulting steam looked like the smoke of a burning city, and enemy pilots would drop their bombs harmlessly on the moors instead. Such decoys were officially known as ‘SF’ or ‘Special Fire’ locations, but were generally called ‘Starfish’ sites.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starfish_site

https://www.countryfile.com/go-outdoors/walks/walk-gisborough-moor-north-yorkshire/

The Starfish, seen from High Lane

Concrete base nearby - were the tanks set out here?

The bricks of the starfish are very similar to those in the pillars near the transmitter station.

We continued along High Lane and as we reached the tarmac road from Osmotherley we passed the ruins of Solomon's Temple, which was built by the eccentric Solomon Metcalf in 1812 and had images of the sun, moon and stars on its walls. Now only fallen stones mark the spot.

Now on tarmac

.. we pass the ruins of Solomon's Temple

Shortly afterwards we reached Chequers Farm. This interesting building was an old inn and held a licence for 300 years until 1945. When it was a hostelry it was famous for keeping an old peat fire alight for 150 years! The sign of the Inn was a chequers board and TSB says this was derived from the chequers that were handed to the drovers to be exchanged for refreshment at the inn. The sign bore the cryptic message "Be not in haste, Step in and taste, Ale tomorrow for nothing." Of course as we all know tomorrow never comes. The old sign has been mounted behind glass on the farm wall.

The building has been repainted and was featured in a recent Christmas edition of Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer's fishing show, when the duo used it as their base for the TV programme.

Chequers Farm

The old pub sign

Chequers

Turn right off the tarmac at the footpath sign

TSB notes that drovers used to bring vast herds of cattle from the Highlands of Scotland across the Hambleton Hills on their way to the markets of East Anglia, the Midlands and London. Their average pace was just 2 miles per hour.

We turned right at Chequers Farm where the path heads gently downhill towards the two small reservoirs at Oakdale. A little way down this track is a family memorial placed against the wall, which commemorates one of our region's war heroes, Ronald Tucker.

Unofficial memorial to Ronald Tucker

For more about Ron Tucker see here

Reaching Oakdale we crossed the beck by an old packhorse bridge and on leaving the reservoirs we joined the farm road across Slape Stone Beck where we stopped to admire an attractive conifer garden. We were joined by the owner of said garden and he and Clive found a shared interest in conifers and launched into a long conversation peppered with Latin plant names.

The trees of Big Wood are in their autumn colours

A field of bamboo looks somewhat inconguous in North Yorks

Orange foliage as larches change colour

Looking down to Slape Stone Beck

Big Wood

Bridge over Slape Stone Beck

More bamboo on the left - presumably winter game bird cover

Conifer garden

Conifer garden enthusiasts

Eventually the conifer conversation came to an end and at the side of the garden we rejoined the Cleveland Way in Green Lane. The path descends past White House Farm and then continues across a small bridge over Cote Ghyll, then steeply up Middlestye Bank to where it crosses a field and leads into Osmotherley.

Rejoin the Cleveland Way

Pass by Whitehouse Farm

Steep descent to Cote Ghyll

Across the bridge

Cote Ghyll

Climb Middlestye Bank

Path to Osmotherley

Entering Osmotherley

Passing the old Wesleyan Chapel

We entered the village passing an old chapel which is obviously still in use. Tom Scott Burns tells us that John Wesley preached in Osmotherley in 1745 and the chapel was built nine years later. Wesley returned to preach again at Osmotherley in June 1761, and probably used this chapel.

Asmundreslac - Asmund's Clearing

We crossed the road and went behind the Queen Catherine Hotel to look at the 12th Century St Peter's Church, which is almost hidden from view on the High Street.

It was unlocked and we went inside to look around. The tower is 15th century and the walls are built on Norman remains. There are fragments of Saxon crosses and part of a hogback (Saxon grave marker) in the porch.