The Rosedale Railway and Botton Head from Ingleby Greenhow

8.5 miles                                Sunny but cool

We parked in Ingleby Greenhow in the overflow car park for the Dudley Arms and walked back to the main road, in the direction of Kildale.  Our route left the road alongside a newly built house and crossed meadows where sheep fussed with new lambs.

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

Walking behind houses as we leave the Kildale road

Looking back at Ingleby Greenhow

Across several meadows

.. and through fields with new lambs

I'm sorry but you're lying on our path

We soon reached Bank Foot Farm, situated under Turkey Nab which is probably derived from the old personal name Thorlkil.   Tom Scott Burns says in the Walker's Guide that in 1729 William Parkin was hung from gallows mounted on Turkey Nab for murdering his brother-in-law at Great Broughton, but our plan was to find Mary Ross's Seat, described by TSB as being at grid reference 594055.  The last time we did this walk, in February 2014, we walked along the old railway track from Bank Foot and cut upwards through the trees, eventually having to double back to the forest track to find the seat.  This time we approached the problem more sensibly and walked straight past the old railway track and up through Bank Foot Farm until we saw the forest track on our right.  We followed it until we came to the seat, carved from natural stone and with the words 'Lady Mary Ross 1837' engraved on it.   TSB explains that Lady Ross's daughter married Sir William Foulis of Ingleby Manor and the seat was built on one of her favourite walks which she used when visiting her daughter, long before the forestry commission planted conifers.

Cockerel and hens at Bank Foot Farm

Entering the forest track...

...which was muddy and difficult to negotiate

We spot Lady Ross's seat from the track

Lady Mary Ross 1837

Clive inspects Lady Ross's seat

Rather than fight our way back down to the old railway track we remained on the forest track until we reached the bottom of the incline railway, which we followed steadily uphill, pausing to admire old graffiti of a man in a stove pipe hat and a bird, probably carvings made by a bored miner.  It is a long, straight, steep climb and on reaching the top of the incline we rested, sitting in the sun with a spectacular view across to Clay Bank.  We enjoyed our coffee and scones here, looking down onto Shepherds Close Farm and what would be our descent from the moor top.

Joining the Incline from the forest track

Looking across at old mine workings from the Incline

Old graffiti of man in hat and bird

Spectacular coffee stop

Looking over at Clay Bank

Looking back down the Incline

We set off to follow the old railway line, which once ran from this point to Rosedale Bank Top 11 miles away, pausing to take a look at the huge stone blocks and bits of old iron work that once were part of the drum house which was dismantled in 1941.  We walked along the moor top and came to a memorial bench at the windiest spot. A marvellous view but there can't be many days when it's warm enough to sit there.  

The old railway track to Rosedale

Seat with a view

We continued across Greenhow Moor and came to a junction where the acorn on the signpost showed that we were joining the Cleveland Way.  We walked along the Cleveland Way, which follows a wide moor track for about 2 miles.  On the way we passed two interesting old boundary posts, the first being The Face Stone, which is mentioned in a 1642 document for the Helmsley Estate.  The second is The Hand Stone, displaying an engraved hand (now very eroded) dating from 1711.  Behind the Hand Stone is the trig point at Botton How, which is actually located on a Bronze Age burial mound and at 1490 feet is the highest point of the North Yorkshire Moors.

Ancient spooky smile ....  and The Face Stone!

Clive examines the Hand Stone

Trig Point on Botton Head

We walked back to the wide path and carried on across Urra Moor, which according to TSB derives from the Old English 'horh' meaning 'filth'!  Eventually we came to a signpost where we left the Cleveland Way and bore right on an indistinct path which dropped off the moor down Jackson's Bank and into Greenhow Plantation.

Spring plumage on grouse

We turn right towards Jackson's Bank

Starting down Jackson's Bank

Entering Greenhow Plantation

As we walked across Greenhow Botton following the farm service road we were surprised to see an old 4 engined plane flying slowly through the valley ahead of us.  How did he get permission to fly so low, we wondered?  We passed Midnight Farm to our left and then Woods Farm to our right before turning off the track at Low Farm, where we chuckled once more at the farm's 'stone circle.'

Greenhow Botton

Whoa, what's that?!

Shire horse weathervane at Low Farm

'Stone Circle' at Low Farm

Our path turned left just before the farm buildings, into fields which we crossed one after another, following an unseen right of way by aiming for the yellow right of way signs on each field boundary.  Our path eventually reached the bridge over Ingleby Beck and we crossed into the churchyard of St Andrew's beyond it.  The church was unlocked and we enjoyed a browse around the ancient building. TSB says that the original church was granted to the abbots of Whitby in 1143 by Adam de Ingelby and still retains traces of Norman work. We liked the pigs carved onto stone pillars near the altar and the fine stained glass window. 

Crossing Ingleby Beck

St Andrew's Church, Ingleby Greenhow

Sarcophagus in St Andrew's

A disapproving face notes Clive's donation

Pigs or boars on pillars

Altar window

Attractive church of St Andrew's

Leaving the church we found that we had parked very close to the Dudley Arms Hotel - what a surprise - so we popped inside to enjoy a pint and discuss today's fine walk.

The Dudley Arms, Ingleby Greenhow

The Rosedale Railway and Botton Head from Ingleby Greenhow

8.5 miles                                       Cool,  wet underfoot

We parked in Ingleby Greenhow in the overflow car park for the Dudley Arms and walked back to the main road, in the direction of Kildale.  Our route turned right off the road into a narrow path between houses which soon exited onto a very muddy path across fields.

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

Leaving the main road

Difficult paths

Field paths to Bank Foot

Our path took us across waterlogged fields via rights of way that seemed little used, until we reached Bank Foot where we turned right onto the old railway track.  Tom Scott Burns tells us that the old railway was completed in 1861 and leads to the foot of the incline bank where the trains were loaded with ironstone.  The incline reaches a maximum gradient of 1 in 5 and a brake drum house is situated at the top.  Three empty wagons were hauled by steel ropes as three loaded wagons descended, an operation which took 3 minutes at a speed of 20mph, regulated by the drum house.    Today we decided to leave the old railway track after a couple of hundred yards because we wanted to find a seat mentioned by TSB and marked on the above map as Lady Mary Ross Seat.  We climbed steeply up through the Battersby Plantation until we came to an old forestry track running parallel to the railway track.  Unfortunately water was draining from the woods onto the mud track and it was a quagmire.   We staggered along, slipping and sliding until we came upon Lady Ross's Seat, a crude stone chair engraved with the words 'Lady Mary Ross 1837'.  Little is known about her other than that she was married to the Earl of Kildale and had a daughter who married Sir William Foulis of Ingleby Manor.  The seat is believed to have been constructed here as it was the route of one of Lady Mary's favourite walks.  We were pleased to have found the seat and it made our muddy detour worthwhile.

We saw more of these crow totems - do they really work?

Clive examines Lady Mary's seat

Lady Mary Ross 1837

Forestry track adjacent to the seat

We had gained some height and were reluctant to make our way back to the old railway track so we continued along the forestry track, at one point my boot going deeply into a boggy bit, leaving me with a wet foot for the rest of the walk.  After approximately 2.5 miles the muddy track joined the old railway incline about a quarter of the way up and we turned onto a firmer surface for the steep climb uphill.  We were deeply in conversation as we climbed and unfortunately forgot to photograph the old carving of a man wearing a stove pipe hat with a bird in front of his face, believed to be graffiti dating back to the building of the railway.  It's situated where the incline cuts through a rock face about two thirds of the way up the incline. 

Picture taken last year

When we finally reached the top of the incline we were ready for coffee and scones and sat with our backs to the side of the incline, sheltered from the wind and looking back down the path we had climbed.

Climbing the incline

Looking back from our coffee stop

From bank top looking over at quarry workings

The line was officially closed on 13th June 1929 and now makes a nice 11 mile path to Farndale, Westerdale and Rosedale.    We continued to follow the railway track until we reached a turn to the right, where we saw the familiar acorn of the Coast to Coast Walk which we joined for a while.  This wide fire break track led us gently upwards to Round Hill where two ancient boundary standing stones are located, one with an engraving of a face and the other showing a hand.  We turned off the track at the Hand Stone to walk to the bronze age burial mound and its Ordnance Survey trig point, the highest spot on the North York Moors at 1490 feet.

Walking towards Botton Head

The Face Stone

Hand stone

Trig Point on Burial Mound

Ordnance Survey Trig Point at Botton Head

We walked back to the wide path and continued walking across Urra Moor, which according to TSB derives from the Old English 'horh' meaning 'filth'!  Eventually we came to a signpost and an indistinct path right which we followed to quickly drop off the moor down Jacksons Bank and into Greenhow Plantation.  

Urra Moor, Clay Bank and Wainstones in the distance

Dropping down from Urra Moor

Jacksons Bank

Once we left the moor track we were once again walking through mud and we were glad when we reached the lane down Greenhow Bottoms.   Over to the right we could see the incline railway and ahead of us Roseberry Topping appeared in the distance.  When we reached Low Farm we turned right, following a footpath sign, into Low Farm where we were amused by a small stone circle, an ancient monument - not!  Our path turned left before the farm buildings into fields which we crossed, one after another, on an unseen right of way, aiming for the yellow right of way signs at the field boundaries.  The fields were completely saturated and we squelched across them leaving deep footprints. 

Greenhow Bottoms

'Stone Circle' and incline path top left

Not a well used path

We were pleased when our path reached a bridge over Ingleby Beck and we saw the old church of St Andrews behind it.  We looked round the outside of the church but decided that our boots were too bad to enter the building, although it was unlocked.  The church was built in 1143 and rebuilt in 1741 at the parishioners' expense. 

Waterlogged fields

The bridge to St Andrews Church

We were interested to see a gravestone to the Chief Constable of Tynemouth, Tom Blackburn, who had held office between 1920 and 1946, obviously not promoted from the ranks.  What had brought him to Ingleby Greenhow, we wondered. 

St Andrews Church, Ingleby Greenhow

Tom Blackburn, Chief Constable of Tynemouth

A short walk back uphill returned us to the overflow car park and our car.