Old Byland to Nettledale and Scawton

8 miles                 Overcast and drizzle

In The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills, Tom Scott Burns describes this walk as embodying all the charm of Ryedale as it passes through the villages of Old Byland, Scawton and Cold Kirby. 

We approached Old Byland from the B1257 Bilsdale road via Rievaulx village and parked at the roadside close to the green.

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

TSB relates that in 1143 the Norman Baron Roger de Mowbray granted land in Ryedale to some wandering monks from Furnace Abbey in Lancashire.  They moved about the dale for a few years before finally settling on a site they called Bellalanda, or Byland.   

We walked through the pretty village and saw the C12th Church of All Saints almost hidden from view behind houses in the north- west corner of the village. The church was unlocked so we went inside for a look around.

House in Old Byland

Through the small gate to access the church

All Saints Church

Clive checks out the wall hangings

Saxon Font

Lovely timbered roof

Norman dragons on the porch walls

We would be following St Aelred's Way for much of the walk

The church dates to the 12th century and is little changed. It looks very much as it would have been at that time.  On the porch walls are a pair of early Norman winged dragons.

Leaving the church we walked through the village green which is dominated by huge sycamore trees, and just as we exited Old Byland we turned left through a gate into the woods of Low Gill.  The track here used to be very overgrown and slippery with a dangerous drop of 100' or so to the right, but in the years since our last visit a new walk, St Aelred's Trail, has been devised linking the churches in several local parishes that he would have been familiar with. Expecting more people to be walking these paths has resulted in an upgrade to the path through Low Gill and it has been much improved.

We follow this to Cold Kirby

Walking through Old Byland

Huge sycamores dominate the village green

Old Byland Hall

Leave the road to enter Low Gill

Much improved path

What used to be a struggle..

... is now a relaxing stroll

We dropped down to Ashberry Pasture where the path disappeared and we walked through the pasture, which is a wild flower sanctuary maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust. This is a lovely valley to walk through, almost 2 miles without any road or buildings.

Walking through Ashberry Pasture

Many dead ash trees

Eventually we emerged from the pasture onto the Rievaulx to Old Byland road just below Ashberry Hill which we followed to a junction next to picturesque Ashberry Farm.

Returning to tarmac

Ashberry Pastures

Ashberry Farm

Scawton Lane

We turned right over the bridge at Ashberry Farm and followed  Scawton lane past Hagg Hall.  We left the lane at Bradley Bank to follow a woodland track that meanders through Nettle Dale.  Three large man-made lakes are to the right stretching along most of the track through Nettle Dale.  

Hagg Hall Farm

Turn right and follow the Cleveland Way

.. past the three lakes

... of Nettledale

Just past the third lake we reached a footbridge and another Cleveland Way sign to the right. We turned left here and, leaving the Cleveland Way, we walked uphill into Spring Wood where a steady half mile climb took us to tarmac and the road into Scawton.

Turn right through the gate

... and climb through Spring Wood

Reaching the road we saw an old Inn Way sign, reminding us that we are now following the five day 'Inn Way to North Yorks.' This is a fabulous trek, sadly now little walked, and brings back many happy memories.    I would heartily recommend the Inn Way to any keen walker who loves North Yorkshire and has six days to spare.

The Inn Way sign

We followed the tarmac road into Scawton where we sat on a bench by the village green and had our coffee and scones.

We passed the church..

.. and some pretty houses

.. and enjoyed our coffee in the drizzle

Coffee over we decided to look around St Mary's Church, which is almost opposite.  The church was unlocked and open to visitors.

St Mary's Church, Scawton

War memorial to a Free French aircrew

Norman carvings in the porch

Norman lavatorium, possibly brought from Rievaulx

Church weather vane on house opposite

The church was built by the Cistercians of Byland Abbey, 'owing to the divers perils and fatigue which the parishioners underwent in coming from Scawton to Byland.'

Leaving the church we returned to the village green and crossed the grass to an overgrown path behind the village telephone box.  The box isn't operational and is in poor repair. A couple of years ago, being curious to discover why the box has a wooden door we googled for further information and discovered it to be an early K6 model which always had a teak wood door.  It is a shame the village hasn't made arrangements for cleaning and painting the box as has happened elsewhere.

An early K6 looking a bit tatty

A buzzard passes overhead

It would appear that the next section of today's walk is not much used by other walkers and the fields show no sign of tracks.  There are yellow waymarks (now often coupled with a blue St Aelred's Trail sign) on field boundaries and we aimed for these as we crossed several sheep fields.

Eventually we descended back into Flassen Dale and on reaching the valley bottom we turned left onto a broad path then almost immediately right to climb steeply up the other side of the dale.

Over both stiles and across the unwalked field

We reach Flassen Dale

Down to the bottom, turn left and....

.. after a few yards turn right at the sign

and climb the other side

We now crossed more fields to reach the village of Cold Kirby where almost the first building one encounters is the Church of St Michael, which Tom Scott Burns explains was rebuilt in the 1800s.  It originally dates back to the 12th century when the parish was administered by the Order of Knights Templar. It was unlocked, so we entered the building and found an unusual purple colour scheme.

"Hmm."  Crossing a muddy bit

Approaching Cold Kirby

Cold Kirby

St Michael's Church, Cold Kirby

... and its purple interior

We looked into the village briefly and then followed the Cleveland Way sign to rejoin our path along Low Field Lane which took us to the steady descent to Nettle Dale. 

"What's in here?"

"We are!"    Pigs in Low Field Lane

At Nettle Dale we parted from the Cleveland Way as we reached the lakes, turning left into a field and crossing to a gated bridge over a stream.  We now had a steep climb out of Nettle Dale through Calister Wood, until we reached fields on the other side. 

Low Field Lane

Descending through fields to Nettledale

We wondered what this crop is to be so well protected

Hollow Lane

Dropping down..

.. to Nettledale

Turn right before the lakes

Climb for .25 mile up Calister Wood

Emerging from Calister Wood the path runs straight across field boundaries to Old Byland, first descending and walking through Low Gill's woods again, this time on the south side. This path has not been improved and care must be taken, there are long drops to the side.

Field paths back to Old Byland

Entering Low Gill Wood

.. but this time on the south side.  Care needed.

Back into Old Byland

... and its giant sycamores

This is a lovely and peaceful walk but the paths between Scawton and Cold Kirby are pretty well untrodden so keep a watch out for yellow way marks on the field boundaries.

There is no pub in Old Byland and a short drive was necessary before our traditional debrief.

To Nettledale!