We drove to Murton Grange taking the Laskill turn-off from the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley road and parked on the verge near to the white buildings of the Grange.
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| Today's walk from The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills |
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| Murton Grange |
Tom Scott Burns explains that a 'grange' was a farmhouse attached to a religious order and Murton Grange once belonged to the monks of nearby Byland Abbey.
We walked past the Grange and continued straight ahead until arriving at a fork, the main lane going on to Caydale Mill but we took the right fork down into the hidden valley of Caydale. Tom Scott Burns tells us that at this spot the last wild cat in England was shot in 1840, by a Charles Harrison.
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| Walking towards Caydale |
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| Leave the lane by the right fork |
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| .. and walk on towards the valley of Caydale |
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| The sheltered valley of Caydale |
We reached the bottom of the valley and crossed several streams of crystal clear water, known as 'rills'. These are shown on the map above as Old Byland's Water Race and Limperdale Gill. In the 1740s a Joseph Ford of Kirbymoorside perfected a system of tapping into springs and channeling water in open 'rills' some 12 inches wide. Water was diverted by this method through Caydale from King Spring to the village of Old Byland and the straight rills remain.
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| Caydale bottom |
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| One of the 'rills' |
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| We are distracted in Caydale by a buzzard being mobbed by crows |
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| Another buzzard appears and the crows move off.. |
We crossed the valley floor and started up the other side. Until a couple of years ago this climb was through trees but all vegetation has been removed and the area converted to rough grazing meadow.
A consequence of this clearing has been the removal of the old 'Captain's Seat' which is shown on the map above, and which we used to pass by, although in a dilapidated state. We would like to know who the Captain was and why he would sit at such a remote spot.
Leaving the climb and Caydale we crossed several fields to reach the tarmac of High Leir Lane where we turned right and walked through shimmering heat to pass Weathercote Farm with its novel 'cat and rat' weather vane.
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| Looking back across Caydale at Murton Grange on the horizon |
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| High Leir Lane |
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| A collared dove acts as referee on the weather vane... |
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| ... at Weathercote Farm |
After a mile we reached the junction with Cleveland Road which we crossed to follow field paths again, until reaching the high ridge of Boltby Scar. We were ready for refreshment by this time and we followed the ridge to the old quarry workings where we sat with a magnificent view over Boltby and enjoyed our coffee and scones in a slight and very welcome breeze.
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| Pheasants lead us towards Boltby Scar. Safe until October 1st! |
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| We reach the ridge and the Cleveland Way and bear left |
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| Boltby Village below |
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| High Barn appears in the distance |
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| Remains of old fort and quarry.... and coffee stop |
We set off and walked towards the Old Barn, walking straight past it following the Cleveland Way. We crossed Sneck Yate Bank Road, opening the gate for a couple of cyclists, and continued along a forest path to High Paradise Farm, which now has a tea room in the summer months. Although it was nearly 30 minutes since we had our coffee break we showed amazing will power and walked on past walkers enjoying their coffee at the farm cafe, soon reaching the gate with the old drovers' road, Hambleton Road.
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| Fresh partridge |
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| Beaters being collected |
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| The dogs must have missed these.. |
When we reached the barn we paused to enjoy a pleasant view into Gowerdale, before following the path down to reach the ruined farm of Gowerdale House. Looking across towards Murton Bank we could see my car and a line of shooters' vehicles approaching it from Gowerdale, probably on their way for refreshments after the shoot.
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| Approaching Noddle End |
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| The disused barn at Noddle End |
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| My zoom lens shows the shooters approaching my white car |
The path now leads steeply downhill to a single deserted farmstead, Gowerdale House.
In his 'Round and About the North Yorkshire Moors, Vol. 2' Tom Scott Burns tells us that Gowerdale House is all that remains of a medieval village, called Dal in the Domesday Book, and Daile a century later. By 1433 there were 23 tenants recorded as living in Daletown but by 1569 in Humberston's Survey the entry was 'vocatum Dale Town'. Was the village wiped out by the Black Death?
We passed the front of the house which has the bleak message, "Look around and get out!" painted on the front door, and then followed a rising path to reach Dale Town Farm.
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| Dale Town Farm |
We turned right into a cow field just after passing the farm buildings and followed the faint path steeply uphill to the top of Peak Scar Top where we turned left to reach Murton Bank Road and the car.
Reaching the car we looked down on the village of Hawnby and its pub, The Owl. We were soon seated in the pub garden enjoying a pint and discussing today's walk.
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| Climbing to Peak Scar Top |
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| Hawnby below |
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| Hawnby Hill and Easterside Hill from Murton Bank |
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| A pleasant end to our walk at The Owl at Hawnby |
