Hawnby, Easterside Hill and Shaken Bridge

7.5 miles Sunny and cold

We approached Hawnby from the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley Road and drove to the lower houses of Hawnby Bridge, parking behind the village hall where parking is freely available for about a dozen cars.

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

Free Parking BUT.. Clive digs deep for a donation

Walking out of Lower Hawnby

Tom Scott Burns explains that the village of Hawnby is divided into an upper and lower part because in the 1750s a zealous landlord turned all the Methodists out from their houses. They had lived in what we now think of as the top village. They moved a short distance away where they built some small houses and a Wesleyan Chapel, completed in 1770, now the lower village hall where we parked.

We walked past the few houses to reach a gate in the field opposite. We went through the gate into a sheep field with a faint path to follow across this and the next meadow to cross Ladhill Beck at a bridge.

Through the gate, Easterside Hill ahead

Easterside Hill

Crossing Ladhill Beck

A steady climb alongside Ellers Wood brought us to the Hawnby road next to Easterside Farm, where we turned left on to the tarmac.

A steady climb

Upper Hawnby in the distance

At a sign we turned right off the road and followed the trail under the shadow of Easterside Hill until dropping down to join the farm track for High Banniscue Farm.

As we appproach Ellers Wood we pause to observe an amorous meeting

A shepherd told us rams were introduced on 5th November for lambs on 1st April

"Hello, do you come here often?.."

Pheasant season began on 1st October and we saw pheasants in every field today. Most of our walk was accompanied by the sound of distant guns seemingly from the direction of Arden Hall.

Male pheasant

Approaching High Banniscue Farm

Hawnby Hill with its distinctive nick in the summit

On High Banniscue's farm track

When we reached High Banniscue we turned left after the farm to walk downhill to the right along a faint track through a cattle field to reach an old ruined building shown as Crows Nest on the OS map. We turned right at these ruins to pass through the moor gate and followed a path through heather to skirt Pepper Hill and Easterside Hill.

Entering field behing High Banniscue Farm

We need to be through there..

Approaching Crows Nest ruin

A little past our route is Sportsmans Hall

... but we turn right through the moor gate

Smaller Pepper Hill sticks out from Easterside Hill and in the last war a German Dornier crashed here on 17th December 1942, killing all the crew. There is a memorial window in Hawnby Church.

Passing Pepper Hill we walked through heather then through bracken along the east side of Easterside Hill looking down at the valley of Bilsdale to our left before dropping down to join the Hawnby road.

A faint track through bracken

Easterside Hill

The heather gives way to bracken as we descend

Hawnby Road

In a hundred yards or so we turned right through a gate off the Hawnby road, to re-enter fields. Staying high we crossed the field to reach an old building, now a store, where we sat in the sun behind a wall to enjoy our coffee and scones with fine view down to the River Seph below.

Turn into fields at the gate

This looks like a good place

.. to enjoy our coffee

After finishing our coffee and scones we headed down towards the River Seph and the ruins of Grimes Holme.

Bilsdale to our left

Down towards the River Seph

... and Grimes Holme. New doors and a general tidy up make a huge difference

The new door has a hole for swallows to get in

We walked down towards the river and were approached by a herd of young heifers. There followed some shouting and waving of my stick which seemed to slow their progress but we were followed by the curious beasts to the gated bridge over the River Seph.

Dropping towards the River Seph

Curious but not aggressive...

... but we're pleased to gain the sanctuary of the gated bridge

We crossed more fields and joined a diverted track that dropped us down to join a farm track next to Fair Hill Farm. We followed this farm track past Broadway Gate Farm down to the road near Shaken Bridge.

Fair Hill Farm

Weather vane at Broadway Gate

Turn off the farm track at the gate

.. and drop down to the road near Shaken Bridge

The River Seph has become the River Rye just before this point

We crossed the bridge and after walking on the road for a hundred yards we turned sharp left to follow a farm road uphill until we reached East Ley Wood. Bearing right up the track an old barn comes into view, a building we recognised as one we have approached from other directions on various walks. The building has been re-roofed and was being used by horses for shelter.

Turn off the road here

.. and follow a steady climb towards East Ley Wood

Looking back Broadway Gate is still in the sun

Nearly at the top

Looking back towards Easterside Hill

Leather patch with hiker

The old barn has been re-roofed

Luxury!

This next part of the walk has unusual waymarks on gates and stiles. The waymark is a leather patch featuring a hiker and until now I have been unable to discover more about its history but it occurred to me that AI might help with the image. It told me that the plaques are most likely from one of the old Ryedale District Council local trails that pre-date the standardised modern acorn and yellow arrow markers. It went on to say the plaques were installed in the 1970s and 1980s and have been largely replaced over time, thus any surviving ones on sheltered woodland posts are now rare relics of early footpath waymarking.

A rare old hiking relic, according to AI - see above

Walking past the old barn we ignored the first gate but at the second gate we went through into East Ley Woods. We meandered along this path for about 1.75 miles, first alongside and then in East Ley Woods, before eventually exiting at Murton Bank top.

A nice green path through East Ley Woods

We reach the road at Murton bank top

We turned right here, onto the tarmac road to descend steeply with fine views over to our left, first of Dale Town and then the twin settlements of Hawnby.