The Drove Road and Windy Gill Ridge from Boltby

7 miles                        Bright and breezy

We hadn't done this route since 2014 and as it is a high level walk and therefore likely to be good under foot, we headed back to Boltby and parked in the same spot as last week.  This time however we headed away from Boltby with High Barn, where we walked last week, visible on the horizon to our right.

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

Looking over to High Barn among the trees on the horizon

After 100 yards we turned left into a lane to follow the farm path to Lunshaw House Farm.  Before reaching the farm we crossed a stile on the right to follow a field path signposted Low Paradise.  Our path followed the camber of the hill for some time, meaning we were walking at a 45 degree angle, until it dropped down into woods before Lunshaw Beck.  

Turn left off the Boltby road

Leaving the farm track to enter fields

An awkward walk across sloping fields

Woods before Lunshaw Beck

Low Paradise Farm appears in the distance

Crossing the beck we started a mile ascent which TSB describes as a 'muscular climb'.  We passed by the always well ordered Low Paradise Farm to reach Oak Cottage where we have encountered hounds previously.  Today there were only a couple of young dogs in a cage, perhaps the hounds were out being exercised.

Low Paradise Farm

Young dogs at Oak Cottage

The track climbed relentlessly upwards until we reached High Paradise Farm where I curled my lip at the sign saying the tea room is closed until March.  We were now walking on the Cleveland Way and soon reached the moor and Sneck Gate where we joined the Hambleton Drove Road.  At Sneck Gate we saw a walker on the moor, several hundred yards away, and then noticed with alarm that the walker seemed unaware that his large dog had seen us and was running towards us at full tilt.  It skidded to a halt in front of Clive and dropped a ball at his feet.  Phew.  Clive threw the ball back towards the hiker and we resumed our walk.

Passing High Paradise Farm

Gerarrt of it!

We followed the Drove Road along the moor top, eventually entering forestry and getting out of the irritating wind. As we entered the trees we saw a flock of small birds which appeared to be a mixture of finches and, more excitingly, Yellow Hammers.  I got a shot of a Yellowhammer with some difficulty as they were very nervous and flew off as soon as we looked in their direction.  We walked on through the trees for some time and then, just before reaching the ruins of Steeple Cross (first mentioned in 1246 but now just a 2 feet high piece of stone) we found an inviting old tree trunk in the sun and sat down to enjoy our coffee and scones.  

Yellowhammer

Out of the wind, sun, scones and coffee.  What could be more welcome?

We turn left off the Hambleton Drove Road

We turned left just before Steeple Cross and walked through the forestry plantation which seemed to have been ravaged since our last visit, no doubt to feed the biomass boiler at the power station in Teesside, and emerged at Gallow Hill, where we had a nice view towards Cowesby village.

Following the forestry path towards Gallow Hill

Looking towards the A19 from our path

Huge areas of devastation

Cowesby from Gallow Hill

Is this sign on Windygill Ridge necessary or is it a blot on the landscape?

We turned left at Gallow Hill and followed the broad path to Windygill Ridge. To the left of our path was a forestry plantation and ahead a fine vista across the Vale of Mowbray and to the right Black Hambleton and the hummock of Seta Pike.  Just after passing Seta Pike our path turned left into a steep forestry path.  The track was rather faint and also very boggy; the steep descents proved very slippery and progress was slow.   The path levelled out and we picked our way through Gurtof Wood, looking down on Gurtof Beck which ran below us.  Quite a lot of trees had been blown down in the recent storms and a few had fallen awkwardly across our path making diversions necessary.  After a mile or so we reached a gate leading out of the trees into wet meadows.

After Seta Pike turn left onto a small track

Our path can be seen running ahead of us until it reaches a sharp descent

Mud makes for a tricky descent

Down into the dark woods....

  

We had to divert right for a while to pass fallen trees

 

Out of the woods at last

Our faint path crossed several meadows, all made very boggy by the rain, until we came to a wide track through fields of decaying maize.  The corn cobs were still on many of the plants and as there were plastic bird feeders in among the crop we guessed it had been left as cover for game birds.  

Clive unzips a corn cob

Our path exited at the west end of Boltby village and we turned left to walk along the road.  Set back from the road is Holy Trinity Church and finding it unlocked we entered for a look around.  The church is in very good repair and as TSB says that the church was first erected in 1409 and was continuously in use until it was rebuilt in 1859, we were surprised to see that the churchyard only seemed to contain fairly recent graves.  A further look at our guidebook 'The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills' explained why: apparently it was the custom until Victorian times to carry the dead from Boltby for burial at Felixkirk, "swathed in linen and uncoffined."  Unfortunately the book does not say why this happened when they had a perfectly good church in Boltby.

Kneeling ram at Boltby

The Pony Trek business used to be a pub, The Johnson Arms

Holy Trinity Church

Looking towards the altar

Organ at the rear of the church

Altar window

Interesting side window

Leaving the church we continued through the village to the steep climb back to our car, pausing briefly to celebrate spotting a 'new' weather vane.  The villagers of North Yorkshire appear to have a custom of mounting individually designed weather vanes on their houses and I am amassing a nice collection of photographs!

Weather vane in Boltby

Boltby to Gormire Lake and Whitestone Cliff

7 miles                          Windy with Showers

 

We approached Boltby from the Knayton turn-off on the A19 and drove through the village to park at a small car park next to a bend at the top of a hill on the same road.   We walked back towards the village and turned left into a lane.

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

Mossy wall near car park

We walked back down the road into Boltby where we took the first left into a lane.  Tom Scott Burns explains that Boltby is of great antiquity and is mentioned in the Domesday Book as the property of Hugh, son of Baldric. 

Passing a bungalow with an interesting metal fox standing on its garden wall, we stopped to chat to three ugly Texel rams who were eating straw that had been left on the wall for them.

Labrador weather vane at Boltby

Lane out of Boltby

"Who're you calling ugly?!"    Texel Rams at Boltby

Metal fox ornament

Our path climbed over the shoulder of Little Moor and rounded a conical hill before dropping down to Tang Hall.

Walking towards Cow Pasture Wood

Approaching Little Moor

Looking back towards Boltby from Little Moor

Dropping down to Tang Hall Farm

From Tang Hall we followed an old coach road across Huggon Howl towards Southwoods Hall, which we could just make out among the trees to our left. Our trail passed to the side of the hall and to our right was a charming pond.  We passed by the Hall's gates and went straight ahead into South Woods.  Our trail carried on through trees until we came to Gormire Lake.

Southwoods Hall

The Old Coach Road passing to the side of Southwoods Hall

Pond below Southwoods Hall

Straight on through South Woods...

... until we reach Gormire Lake

There are two terraces around Gormire and TSB explains that these were once shorelines when the lake was much deeper.  Its is often described as bottomless but is actually about 27 feet deep in the centre and covers about twenty six acres.  Tradition relates that a town stood here which was destroyed in an earthquake, but the lake is actually the result of a glacial overflow channel being blocked by a landslip, hence its position up a hillside.  No streams flow from it and its waters are mainly supplied by rain and diminish with evaporation.  A major landslip happened here on the 25th March 1755 which was described by Rev John Wesley as 'like many cannons or rolling thunder'. 

We followed the lake side until we reached a track that went straight uphill to our left, which we would have to follow.  For now, however, we were out of the wind with a lovely view so we settled down by the water's edge to partake of our coffee and scones.

The view from our coffee stop

"Any more coffee Clive..?"

Our path goes straight uphill

Our break had to end and the climb had to be made. As you can see from the map the ascent is a little over half a mile and very steep in places.  Puffing on to the top path near Sutton Bank Visitors' Centre we turned left and in a few yards had a magnificent view of Gormire and the surrounding countryside.

Our climb goes through Garbutt Wood

Garbutt Wood

The view to our right as we climb

We reach the ridge at Sutton Brow, Gormire to our left below

 

A fine view of the lake from Sutton Brow

Pausing to enjoy views of Gormire beneath us we approached Whitestone Cliff, where I was able to venture onto a viewpoint to take the below photo of the cliffs.

Whitestone Cliff

Gormire from the same viewpoint

Whitestone Cliff is also known locally as White Mare Crag after an unruly racehorse from the nearby gallops was supposed to have jumped from this point together with her rider.  TSB gives no further details and I would think this might be a folk tale.  We watched as our view became less distinct as a shower blew in towards us.  Suddenly we were wet but in a few minutes the rain had passed and the sharp wind soon dried our clothes.

Rain blows in

After following the ridge path for two miles we ignored a left fork sign posted to Boltby although this was our destination and continued along the ridge for another mile.  We shared this path with mountain bike riders and had to walk round some messy patches.

Straight on at the sign

Boltby below

Mountain bikes have chewed the path up

Boltby

High Barn came into view ahead of us and we could also see the outlines of an old hill fort.  TSB says that the fort originally had a D shaped rampart enclosing three acres.  Gold earrings from the early Bronze Age have been unearthed, along with pottery from an earlier culture, probably Neolithic.

The fort lay just beyond the fence, quarry workings further on

Turn left downhill at High Barn

When we reached High Barn we turned sharp left to follow our path downhill.  The path was indistinct and didn't appear to have been walked for some time. 

Indistinct path downhill

Another shower blows in

Clive enters a hollow lane

Our indistinct path led to a hollow lane or sunken path which led down to cross a beck at a gated bridge and then followed a direct route across a couple of fields before climbing back towards the road and our car.

Fields were saturated

There were three horses in this last field, placid in their winter coats and paying us no attention.  Suddenly there was a volley of gunfire from nearby Town Pasture Wood and the horses were spooked and ran straight towards us, passing us by as we froze, uncertain which way to jump.  They stopped at the far side of the field and we continued our climb.  We looked back into the field after climbing the stile and another volley of shots rang out, sending the horses charging back in the opposite direction.  Obviously they don't get used to the noise.

Spooked horses

Climbing tree

Near our car was a very interesting tree that appeared to have been adapted for climbing and probably had a tree house in it at one time.  We thought that climbing it would make a fitting end to a nice walk that had a bit of everything.  Perhaps next time!