A Tour of Raisdale from Chop Gate

7 miles                 Sunny but cold and windy

We parked in the public car park at Chop Gate Village Hall and started on our way immediately by climbing over a stile at the rear of the car park, then following Raisdale Beck across meadowland to Cock Flat Farm.  Toms Scott Burns tells us that Raisdale came from Reith's Valley (an old Nordic personal name) and Cock Flat from Kyrkflat meaning Church Field.  

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

Chop Gate Community Centre

We walked alongside the beck for the second time in recent weeks.

(see here)  The beck was in spate and today's walk would be wet underfoot with paths and fields sodden from snow melt and last night's rain, however, more of a nuisance was a very strong SW wind. 

Raisedale Beck in spate

Walking alongside Raisdale Beck

Paths made tricky by snowmelt and rain

Cock Flat Farm

We walked past Cock Flat Farm and climbed to  High West Cote Farm where the path followed a fence. Here we found a dead fieldfare below a tree which couldn't have been dead for more than a few minutes.  We wondered what might have caused its death as there was no sign of injury. 

Climbing towards High West Cote Farm

Walking below High West Cote Farm

Dead Fieldfare

High West Cote Farm

We dropped down from High West Cote Farm to join the road next to Stone Intake Farm.  Just past the farm a stile leads into a field that drops down to rejoin the road before the entrance to High Crossletts Farm and Raisdale Mill.  We turned off the road and walked down to the mill.

View to High Crossletts Farm from Stone Intake Farm

Stone Intake Farm

Leaving the road at the entrance to High Crossletts Farm

Raisdale Mill.  The sandstone block above the window is inscribed 'John Garbutt 1849'

Raisdale Mill was built in 1849 by John Garbutt and operated as a mill until the 1920s and pieces of mill machinery can still be seen around the mill, which is now a private house.  Just past the mill we turned right into a lane which Tom Scott Burns describes as "the most beautiful green lane, which threads its way upwards to Barkers Ridge."  Sadly this lane is a bridleway and motor cycle trials bikes have used it in recent years and it can no longer be described as a beautiful green lane.  Clive and I  negotiated the muddy ruts until we came to a fallen tree, which would completely block the path to bikes.  As yet no attempt had been made to move the tree and we hoped its presence would prevent the lane being used by horses or motor bikes allow the lane a chance to recover.

Entering the green lane next to the old mill

Initially the lane is walkable

Motor cycles have badly rutted it but a fallen tree completely blocks the path

Eventually this lane leads up to Barker's Ridge but before reaching that point we found a sheltered spot in the sun behind a wall to sit and savour our coffee and scones.

View down to High Crossletts Farm and Raisdale from our coffee stop

We now had a 2.5 mile walk across the moor via Noon Hill to Head House.   We walked into a terrific headwind and conversation was impossible.  We reached Noon Hill where there was a 'surprise view' back into Scugdale.  After admiring the view and pointing out places of interest we turned back into the wind where an amused Clive took a photo of me struggling forward.

Barker's Ridge in the distance

Moor path

Surprise view of Scugdale from Noon Hill

New shooting butts near the path

Into the wind!

After a long, cold and windy walk along the featureless moor path we finally saw the roof of Head House in the distance.  At last we could turn out of the wind and we now had it behind us for the rest of today's walk.   We past above Head House, which we had visited only a month or so ago on another walk (see here) and made our way across the moor and down to Arnsgill Beck.  We were now walking on a narrow track through heather.  Crossing the beck we joined the path up to Cock Howe next to an old weathered rowan tree, which was described in those words by TSB 25 years ago and still looks the same today.

Head House below

Passing by Head House

Walking towards Arngill Beck

The weathered rowan tree

We reached the standing stone at Cock Howe and immediately began the 1.5 mile descent of Trennet Bank to Chop Gate.  Numerous hollow-ways make their way down the bank and TSB describes how these were created over many centuries by villagers sledging turf for fuel down from the moor tops.  We picked our way between them and eventually returned to the car park at Chop Gate.

Stone at Cock Howe

Starting down Trennet Bank, Chop Gate below

The path gets steeper

Picking our path between hollow-ways

Hollow-way down to our car park

Captain Cook Country from Great Ayton

8 miles                                     Fine and dry

We parked in Great Ayton High Street and crossed the road near Suggitts Ices to the steel bridge over the River Leven.

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

Tom Scott Burns remarks that Great Ayton was known as Canny Yatton and in the early 1800s was the haunt of Au'd Nanny, a notorious witch described in Blakeborough's dialect verse T' Hunt o' Yatton Brigg.

"Her naals they war lang, an' humped war her back,

An baith lugs war pointed, her skin ommaist black... "

Au'd Nanny is long gone thank goodness and when over the bridge we walked by the river along field paths towards Little Ayton.

Waterfall at Great Ayton

Field paths, Captain Cook's Monument in the distance

Little wood before Woodhouse Farm

We often see shrews dead with no apparent cause, perhaps just because they are short lived?

We passed by Woodhouse Farm and after crossing a couple more fields came to a stile and a tarmac road.  We followed the road through Low Easby Village and across the Whitby to Middlesbrough Railway line.

Woodhouse Farm

Low Easby

Hunting weathervane at Low Easby

Following the road beyond Low Easby

We stayed on the tarmac road for half a mile before crossing a way-marked stile into fields just before Borough Green Farm, to begin a steady climb to Easby Moor.

Leaving the road

Following waymarks across the fields

We reach a green lane to the moor

Reaching the Moor Gate we turned right to follow our path below the moor to Mill Bank Wood.   Entering the wood we walked for over a mile.  Our path had been used by motor cycles and horses which had made it very muddy and awkward to walk. TSB says that the wood is named after an old Bleach Mill where woollen cloth was 'fulled' in order to soften and shrink it to a warmer, closer weave. The mill was destroyed on the night of 21st July 1840 when heavy rains caused enormous volumes of water to burst two fishponds at Kildale Hall. A wall of water 40 feet high carried away two stone bridges, a corn mill, sluice gates, an earth dam and the bleaching mill as it rushed towards Great Ayton.  We came out of the woods by Bankside Farm. The wind had dropped, the sun was shining and we sat on stones looking down at Kildale to enjoy our coffee and scones.

Entering Mill Bank Wood

Bankside Farm

Looking down on Kildale Church Spire from our coffee stop

Very short legged sheep at Bankside Farm

Refreshed we followed the farm road uphill from Bankside Farm until we came to a fork where we turned left to walk through the trees of Coate Moor.  A gentle climb along a distinct path led us to Captain Cook's Monument.

Forestry path on Coate Moor

Approaching the Monument

Inscription on Captain Cook's Monument

View of Roseberry Topping from Captain Cook's Monument

After admiring the monument and reading its inscription we continued across Easby Moor between two stone gate posts before reaching a clearly marked path downhill to our left.

Easby Moor

Great Ayton appears top left in the distance

Looking back at the Monument

We bear left downhill at the waymark

Our path was once more made difficult by horse and bike use and we slipped and slithered until we came to a steep descent which we negotiated with care.

Sliding downhill

We get a nice view of Roseberry Topping

Looking down at Great Ayton

The path levelled out and we walked through the mud alongside Nanny Howe to our right, which is where Au'd Nanny held midnight orgies at the legendary Devil's Court.  Sadly unmolested we continued to reach the Ayton to Gribdale road where we admired a couple of very tidily kept cottages.

Ayton from our path

Roseberry to the right of our path

Very muddy tracks

Cockerel at Ayton Road

Attractive cottages on Ayton Road

Strong feelings.  We passed several of these signs.

We crossed the tarmac road and followed the farm track to Airy Holme Farm where Captain Cook's father was bailiff in 1736 and where the family took up residence.  Continuing along the track brought us to tiny Airy Holme Cottage where we turned sharp left to cross fields to Cliff Rigg Quarry where whinstone was mined.  This whinstone is the only example of  volcanic rock on the North Yorshire Moors and TSB explains that it originated 58 million years ago in a volcanic eruption off the West Coast of Scotland.

Airy Holme Farm, Captain Cook's father was bailiff here

Remains of winching gear for Cliff Rigg Quarry

Looking down into Cliff Rigg Quarry

After reading the quarry's information sign we followed the path straight downhill, crossed the railway line once more and followed a muddy path alongside Cleveland Lodge, which led us back into Great Ayton.

Walking through the village we had a look at a bronze statue of Captain Cook on the village green and next to it, a modern basketwork memorial in memory of the fallen of the First World War.   Walking on through the village I was surprised to see my son and granddaughter by the water feeding the ducks, and when we went down to chat to them we were even more surprised when a rat swam from under the river bank and emerged to steal the duck's bread.

Muddy path alongside Cleveland Lodge

Captain Cook

Clive admires the basketwork  memorial

Appropriate weathervane near the river at Great Ayton

Spot the rat

Opportunist rat at Ayton