Castleton to Danby Head and the Seated Man
Please note - The Seated Man was moved to Yorkshire Sculpture Park on 17th April 2019
Even so this walk through Eskdale has much to recommend it.
8 miles Fine and sunny
Today we went 'off piste' and didn't do a Tom Scott Burns walk. We decided instead to walk to see the new 'Seated Man' statue that overlooks Westerdale, following a route along the Esk Valley Walk suggested by a fellow walker. Thanks Colin!
We drove to Castleton and parked on the outskirts of the village at a free car park on the Westerdale road, see map below.
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| Today's route follows the Esk Valley Walk to Danby Head |
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| Castleton from our car park |
Leaving the car we walked back towards Castleton and as we reached the first houses turned right at a wooden sign with the Fish emblem of the Esk Valley Walk. Our path followed a farm track to reach and pass by Didderhowe Farm into fields.
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| The fish symbol of The Esk Valley Walk |
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| Approaching Didderhowe Farm |
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| No confusing the Esk Valley way-marks with others! |
We now followed a lightly worn track through green pastures until we met and crossed a lane into a tarmac farm track leading to West Cliff Farm. Our directions were clearly indicated at all times by the Esk Valley Walk way-marks.
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| Our track across the field with Danby Dale beyond |
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| We follow the Blakey sign |
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| West Green Farm |
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| Fine ram at West Green Farm |
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| Traps left to dry in the sun |
The tarmac lane continued to West Cliff Farm and then Blackmires Farm, both well ordered, tidy farms, pausing at the latter to watch a pea-hen and its chicks before continuing through the field paths of Danby Botton.
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| Useful boardwalk over boggy field |
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| West Cliff Farm |
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| Blackmires Farm |
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| Peacock weather-vane |
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| Pea hen and chicks |
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| Blackmires Farm |
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| More peacocks in the fields nearby |
We enjoyed our path through Danby Dale on the Esk Valley Walk with fine views in all directions. We passed Stormy Hall, where Clive fed an apple to a friendly pig, and another half mile brought us to the charmingly named Honey Bee Nest Farm. Here our path passed through the farmyard before turning sharp right to climb steeply uphill. We had arrived at Danby Head and as we reached a stone wall we decided its shelter would be an ideal spot to enjoy our coffee and scones.
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| Danby Dale |
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| Pigs run free.. |
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| Pigs in clover |
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| Clive makes a friend |
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| Honey Bee Nest Farm |
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| Through the gate and uphill.. |
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| .. before coffee and scones |
Another climb brought us to a sharp left turn into bracken and we followed this path gently uphill, first through bracken and then heather, before eventually reaching the Castleton road.
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| Looking back at Honey Bee Nest Farm as we climb Danby Head |
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| The path goes through bracken... |
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| ... and then heather |
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| ... before reaching the Castleton Road |
We turned right onto the road and walked along the grassy verge for about a mile until we reached a left fork that we took into a minor road to Westerdale, picking up an indistinct but easy path to the right after about 100 yards. This climbed slowly along Castleton Rigg, then at the top of Brown Hill we followed a more distinct path to the left, where we could already see the broad back of the Seated Man dominating the horizon.
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| Turn left into the Westerdale road |
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| Before following an indistinct path up Castleton Rigg |
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| We reach the Seated Man |
We soon reached the statue and although we had approached it with mixed feelings it was hard not to be impressed, both by its stature and attention to detail. A couple of ladies had walked up from the road to see it and we asked them what they thought. They said he definitely looked like Jeremy Corbyn but they liked it.
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| Jeremy? |
We walked round it and tapped it, it is bronze and beautifully painted. Google tells me that the statue is about 3 metres high and was made by the artist Sean Henry after being commissioned by the Davis Ross Foundation. We were told later while chatting in the Eskdale Arms that the statue actually looks down onto Mr Ross's land and will remain there for five years.
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| I will be in... |
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| Amazing detail, the hands are so realistic |
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| The view into Westerdale from the Seated Man |
The path from the Seated Man to the Castleton road was well worn and made easy walking. On rejoining the tarmac we followed the grass verge until joining a green lane which ran parallel to the road, only rejoining it as we reached our car park.
A short drive into Castleton took us to the Eskdale Hotel where we sat in the garden and enjoyed a pint. Here the landlady told us that the general view in the village was that the statue was a good thing and it had certainly increased her trade, especially over the summer holidays.
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| A green lane towards Castleton |
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| Two seated men say "To the Seated Man!" |
The Seated Man can't really be seen from the road, you have to walk up to the top of Castleton Rigg to see it and our view is that anything that gets people out of their cars and walking must be a good thing.
This walk is well worth doing as it combines the beauty of Danby Dale with the harsher moor of Castleton Rigg. I would be happy to send our GPS track on request, for the Seated Man or any other walk on this blog.
