The Drove Road and Windygill Ridge from Boltby

7 miles                                Drizzle

Today's forecast was for dry weather, partly sunny, but what we got was drizzle and sometimes rain, in a way a pleasant change from the recent weeks of constant dry warm weather.   We drove through Boltby and parked at a hard shoulder on the right hand side of the road, shown by 'P' on the map below.  After booting up we walked uphill along the same road, away from the village, until turning left at a footpath sign into a farm track to Lunshaw House Farm.

 

 

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

 

Take the left fork

.. then over the stile into fields

Follow the farm track for about a quarter of a mile then cross into fields at a way-marked stile.  At first the track is very clear but at this time of year it soon disappears into bracken.  Eventually we reached another stile and crossed into trees.  Here we encountered hundreds of recently released pheasants which ran along ahead of us.

At first the path is clear and the bracken short

.. but both soon change

We find the stile

.. and more bracken

.. and pheasants

It was amusing to be led along the woodland paths by dozens of young pheasants, still tailless and reluctant to fly.  Eventually our path led us to cross an almost dry Lunshaw Beck on old stone slabs and Low Paradise Farm came into view.

 

We follow the gang

Low Paradise Farm appears to the left

Lunshaw Beck is almost dry

We start the climb

We then started a mile long ascent which TSB correctly describes as a 'muscular climb'.  This climb first passes Low Paradise farm, then Oak Beck cottage before continuing to climb all the way to High Paradise Farm.

 

Low Paradise Farm

Noisy hounds at Oak Beck Cottage

Oak Beck Cottage

High Paradise Farm

High Paradise Farm has a nice cafe which is open from Thursday to Sunday during the summer months and we decided to pop in. Rhubarb scones were on offer and we enjoyed a nice break but as we ate the light drizzle turned to rain.

 

Rhubarb scones and coffee at High Paradise

 

After finishing our coffee we left the farm cafe and walked out into the rain towards Sneck Gate and the moor.  Passing through the gate we were now on the Hambleton Drove Road, which we followed left for 1.5 miles, soon reaching forest. To our right was Daletown Common Moor.

 

Leaving High Paradise

Approaching the Drove Road

 

On the Drove Road, Daletown Common to the right

We walked on through the trees for some time and then, just before reaching the ruins of Steeple Cross (first mentioned in 1246 but no longer a cross, now just a 2 feet high piece of stone) we turned left to enter the plantation's trees.

Steeple Cross, turn left here..

... and go through the gate

.. into Boltby Woods

A lot of felling has taken place

 ..and a lot of the woods are no more.

We walked on through the trees and after about 1.5 miles we reached Windygill Ridge which we followed with fine views (in better weather) down to Cowesby.

 

On Windygill Ridge

Just after passing Seta Pike the path turns left to descend on a steep forestry path.  Even in this dry weather the track was wet and boggy in places and the steep descents were slippery making progress slow.  We reached a forest access path which bordered Gurtof Wood and followed it down, thus avoiding what is the worst part of the descent, tricky even in dry weather but nasty today with high bracken masking the steep path.

 

Starting the descent 

We decide to follow this track instead of descending through bracken

The track skirts Gurtof Wood which we should be struggling through

 

We're back on TSB's track and again ignore a way-mark as the path it indicates is no more

Clive gazes down into Gurtof Wood and across to Boltby Forest

We then walked through fields using way-marks on the field boundaries as guides until joining a wide track.  We followed this to a green lane, which led us down to Boltby.

An English Elm, now rarely seen in our area as a mature tree

Descending into Boltby from Gurtof House

Walking through Boltby

The pony trekking centre used to be the village pub The Johnstone Arms

The old village pub, being renovated following a fire

We came to the Holy Trinity Church where we paused to look around.

 

The Holy Trinity Church, Boltby

Looking towards the altar

Altar window

A penitent on his knees at Holy Trinity 

Ah no, it's Clive who has dropped his donation

Holy Trinity churchyard seems to contain only fairly recent graves and a further look at our guidebook 'The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills' explains why: apparently it was the custom until Victorian times to carry the dead from Boltby and Kirby Knowle for burial at Felixkirk, "swathed in linen and uncoffined."  It would be interesting to know the reason for this practice but unfortunately the book does not give one. It seems strange as they had perfectly good churches in both Boltby and Kirby Knowle. 

 

 

We continued through the village, crossing the old pack horse bridge and climbed steeply up the hill, heading towards the car and a well earned pint.  

 

"Cheers!"

 

 

 

Limekiln House and the Drove Road from Kepwick

5.5 miles                          Fine but cold

We approached Kepwick from the A19 via Leake Lane and parked in a small free car park next door to the old school, now converted to a house. 

 

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

The Old Schoolhouse

Tom Scott Burns suggests that Kepwick is derived from the Scandinavian Kaeppi and Vik, producing Kaeppivik which means 'a nook in the hills'.  It's mentioned in the Domesday Book as Capuic.  

In Victorian times it was noted for its lime and sandstone quarries and a railway ran from Kepwick to kilns on the Yarm to Thirsk turnpike road until 1893.  

We turned left out of the car park and walked east through the village, admiring some of the pretty cottages scattered along the main street, before coming to the main gates of Kepwick Hall.

Houses in Kepwick

The Old Joiner's Shop

Nether Silton from Kepwick

Miners' cottages

Kepwick Hall, glimpsed through the trees

Kepwick Hall gatehouse

Leaving the village we came to a tragic scene.  A lady had stopped her car and was moving the body of a black cat to the side of the road. It must have been knocked down hours earlier as it was stiff with cold.  The lady was ringing her friend, "Is Black Arthur there?  He is, thank goodness!"  The dead cat's identity was a mystery but at least we know that it wasn't Black Arthur.  We said cheerio to the lady and walked up to the gatehouse of Kepwick Hall to see what we could of the hall and then returned to the Kepwick to Silton road and followed it to its junction with Bridge Beck Lane.

Two bulls soak up the sunshine

The old mineral rail track

Crossing Bridge Beck

Bridge Beck

The Nab to the left and French Hill Wood to the right

Here we turned right into a footpath and farm track to Nab Farm, walking past a little hill called The Nab, with French Hill wood on our right.  Passing The Nab we approached isolated Nab Farm. The path runs alongside the farm buildings and we saw that we would have to walk through the overwintering cattle, who had access to our footpath.  They showed no interest in us however.

Approaching Nab Farm

Looks like the cows are out!

We bravely walk past very disinterested cattle

Leaving Nab Farm behind, we paused to look across the valley, over Bridge Beck towards Whitestone Scar and Kepwick Moor on the horizon.  We could see our path leading all the way to the high moor.

Whitestone Scar ahead

White Gill

After the beck we came to the ruins of an old lime kiln and our path climbed quickly away from it, following a nice green path alongside a dry stone wall.  We followed this green path all the way up to Kepwick Moor where it joins the old drovers' road.

Passing the moor gate

Lime Kiln

Very cold out of the sun

A nice green path to climb

Looking back to Nab Farm in the distance

The Drovers' Road is on the other side of the gate

Reaching the top we came to the remains of Limekiln House but today all that can be seen of the building are a few stony outcrops and a marker stone.  Nearby is a small cross dedicated to Bert 2005 RIP.  We haven't been able to find out who Bert was, man or dog?

Marker stone for Limekiln House

Bert RIP

Clive examines the marker stone

The Drovers' Road

We walked along the old Drovers' road for nearly two miles, stopping just before we reached the remains of Steeple Cross to shelter against the wall for our coffee and scones.

Mine workings above Kepwick

Another memorial

The Hambleton Drove Road

Refreshed, we set off again and soon reached the remains of Steeple Cross. TSB tells us that Steeple Cross was referred to as Stepingecross in documents dated 1290 and was probably derived from the old English 'steapinga' - 'dweller on the slope', so making 'crossroads of the hill-dwellers'.  All round this area are Bronze Age earthworks. 

Approaching Steeple Cross

Steeple Cross, not much left of it

Turn right just past the cross

We turned right through a forestry gate at Steeple Cross and followed the track right where it splits in two, towards Gallow Hill. Almost immediately we emerged onto a large area of devastation caused by forestry working.  On our last visit the forestry clearance began near the ancient Friars Cross but now the whole area has been cleared and we could see machines busy in the distance.

The woods soon give way ...

.. to a scene of devastation

A bit like the Battle of the Somme

Friars Cross

We were following an ancient track and Friars Cross is believed to mark an old road leading from the escarpment towards Rievaulx and Helsmley.

We reached and descended Atlay Bank which was once thick with rhododendrons but a couple of years ago they were cut back very hard and have not recovered. 

Following an ancient track

Take the gate to the left

.. and start the descent

The rhododendrons have been cut back hard

Atlay Bank

How it was a few years ago.  Clive walks through the rhododendron tunnel

After Atlay Bank we entered fields to descend to the road at Kepwick.  In one of the fields we saw an old stone shed with water pipes inside it.  TSB explains that in 1873 the Warner family erected Kepwick Hall and made extensive improvements to the estate including the construction of two reservoirs on the moors above, one to supply the house with water and the other for the gardens and terraces.  This building is obviously from that period. 

Kepwick from Atlay Bank

Stone shed

Something to do with Kepwick reservoir?

We joined the road at a gate and walked back to the car park, past the small privately owned chapel which unfortunately is locked to the public but as I mentioned in last week's walk, it has a very interesting history.

Originally it was a mission room but it was rebuilt as a chapel by the Warner family whose only son was shot down during WWI, whilst serving with the RFC against Baron Richthofen's flying circus.  His late sister was the model for one of James Herriot's characters, Mrs Pumphrey, who owned the spoilt pekingese dog Tricki Woo.  James Herriot lived in nearby Thirlby and no doubt attended Kepwick Hall to treat their animals.

Kepwick Chapel

Very tidily kept, shame we can't see inside

Kepwick provides a car park for walkers

This is only a short walk but it has a good ascent and descent to test the legs on a winter's day.

"To Black Arthur!"