Nether and Over Silton to Hanging Stone and Oakdale Reservoir

                             7.8 miles                                 Fine and dry



This is one of our favourite walks as it has a bit of everything; moors, villages, forests and even a reservoir.  We parked once again at Square Corner, the moors car park which is two miles from Osmotherley on the Hawnby road.  

Leaving the car we walked southwards along the forest path up the shoulder of Black Hambleton.

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

Climbing Black Hambleton

We turned right through a gate giving access to the remains of the conifer plantation and our path, known as Moor Lane, took us steadily downhill for about 2.5 miles.

The path re-entered trees and after pausing to examine some frogspawn we realised we were being watched by a deer. It remained motionless long enough for me to zoom my camera in on it and take a shot before she was off, high- tailing it through the trees.

Turn right off Black Hambleton

Walking down Moor Lane

Plenty of frogspawn in ponds and ditches

Who's that in the trees?

Watching us watching her

After that happy meeting we walked down through conifers until we came upon the ruins of a lime kiln. Passing imposing Moor House we saw a couple of Southdown sheep in a field.  Obviously pet sheep, they ran across to be fussed and Clive bit a Jakeman's Throat and Chest lozenge in half, giving a piece to each sheep which they appeared to relish.

Old lime kiln

Moor House

Trotting to see us

The strange looking Southdown Sheep

Pet lambs

It was hard to say goodbye!

A little further along Moor Lane we came to Rose Cottage and then on the right an ancient drinking trough, before joining the lane leading into Nether Silton.  

Our path from the village was almost hidden where it leaves the road alongside the old post office, through a white gate at a point opposite the chapel of All Saints. 

Ancient drinking trough

Entering Nether Silton

We need to be through the white gate, note the faint yellow arrow

After crossing several fields we came to the ancient and isolated church of St Mary, Over Silton, standing alone in the middle of fields without any path leading to it.  The graveyard was full of daffodils but unfortunately we appeared to be a week or so too early to see them at their best.

St Mary's appears in the distance

St Mary's Church

'Just in the darling of my youth, then death to me was sent, and you who have a longer stay, be certain to repent'

We sat in the peaceful graveyard on the Jubilee Bench and enjoyed our coffee and scones before spending some time exploring the church.

Looking towards the altar, no electricity of course!

Altar window

Clive checks out the organ

Looking back from the altar

We returned to the graveyard and spent a few minutes looking at the maudlin Victorian epitaphs which were obviously very fashionable hereabouts. 

'Happy soul thy days are ended, All thy mourning days below, Go by Angel guards attended, To the sight of Jesus go'

'In vain the tears that fall from you, And here supply the place of due, How vain to weep the happy's dead, And now to heavenly realms are fled, Repine no more your 'plaints forbear, And strive at last to meet me there' 

Mary, wife of Charles who died April 16th 1788 aged 44. 'Sweet children and husband dear, live still by faith and nothing fear, But sin which is the root of strife, The seed of death the bane of life, What am I now, dust and shade, Yourselves the same, your life doth fade, This I suggest from silent urn, that whilst I speak your heart may burn, and be in flame with heavenly love, Aspiring still to things above,'

On the back!  'Can love you hate, can life you kill, Can evil spring from God's good will.  This is his will that widowers chaste, Should trust in God and not make haste, Accept those words. Not else I crave.  Do not despise a spouses grave. And let me whisper one thing more, you and the children have in store, Treasure of sighs, tears, groans and prayers,  Of which you are the rightful heirs.  She that in silent dust doth sleep For you to God did often weep.  Struggling with God that he might give,  you grace in Christ to make you live. Hoping for this she did expire, God will you save, you shall Admire, Our pledges to thy care are given, the choicest gift of kindest heaven,  Their father, mother both in thee, United now they nearly see,  The soul that hindering wishes to be free,  Would yet a train of thoughts impart to thee,  But strives in vain the chilling hand of death.'

The epitaphs on the graves from the eighteenth century usually seem to leave a cautionary message for the living but we were baffled by the above. Exactly what was the long message about?  It must have been very expensive to have a gravestone engraved with such a long epitaph.

We walked across the fields away from the isolated church and towards the village of Over Silton where we passed by the old manor house.  TSB tells us that this was once owned by the gallant gentleman Sir George Orby Wombwell, baronet, who served with the 17th Lancers and took part in the charge of the Light Brigade at Balaclava on 25th October 1854.  His horse was shot from under him and he was taken prisoner but escaped on a Russian horse to rejoin his brigade and charge again, without sword or pistol!  He managed to continue to cheat death until 1913 when he died aged 81.   

Looking back at isolated St Mary's Church, which has no footpath or lane to service it

The Manor House, Over Silton

Clive approaches the sign where we turn left, steeply uphill to Crabtree Bank Plantation

We turned right and walked beyond the houses to a signpost where our path left the road and climbed steeply into Crabtree Bank Plantation. 

The next 2.5 miles were to be through conifers, sometimes on wide forestry tracks and sometimes on narrow footpaths but always very muddy and difficult to negotiate.  

We climbed steeply for the first mile then our path levelled out for a mile.  As we picked our way through the muddy tracks of Crabtree Plantation we saw the Hanging Stone above us.

Hanging Stone

Horse and bikes have made our paths very muddy

We came to a fork in the path where we turned right through a very muddy entrance and headed immediately upwards.  A steep climb took us through the Thimbleby Bank Plantation to emerge at a conifer wood below Thimbleby Moor.

At the fork, Clive figures the best way across. We need to be up to the right

We walk above the path for a while

Descending through Big Wood

We followed a distinct path into the dense trees of Big Wood and  crossed a clearing where felling had taken place, to re-enter dense conifers and follow a way-marked path until we came to a slippery descent into Oak Dale.

Reaching the bottom we exited the trees and crossed a bridge over Jenny Brewster's Gill and emerged from the wood.

Tom Scott Burns explains that Jenny Brewster's Gill was named after a famous witch and was once the haunt of smugglers who peddled liquor to the surrounding villages.  Several secret stills were dotted around the moors, one being at Solomon's Temple, another Wildgoose Nest, near what is now Cod Beck Reservoir and another at Swainsty Crag on Nether Silton Moor.

We now walked alongside Oakdale Reservoir which was built in the 19th century to provide water to the local area but which has now been decommissioned. The reservoir has been downgraded to a small lake that it is hoped will attract wildfowl.  Nothing to be seen today however!

Approaching Jenny Brewster's Gill

Approaching the run-off for Oakdale Upper Reservoir

Oakdale

  

Leaving Oak Dale we climbed steeply back to Hambleton Road where a brief walk took us to our car.  A short drive from Square Corner took us once again to Osmotherley and the Queen Catherine Hotel, where we discussed today's walk over a pint of Thwaites Wainwright.

Looking back at Oakdale from our climb...

.. to Square Corner

Burning heather at Black Hambleton, must be the last burning before nesting begins