Kirby Knowle to Felixkirk and Boltby

8.5 miles          Showers

We approached Kirby Knowle from the Knayton A19 turn-off and parked at the side of the road opposite St Wilfred's Church.

The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills

The church is usually unlocked and welcomes visitors.

St Wilfred's Church

Looking towards the altar

Modern window dedicated to Doctor Jane Rajan

We like the modern stained glass windows dedicated to Doctor Jane Rajan.
For more about the window and Dr Rajan see here

We left the church and walked out of the village towards Upsall (up-salir, Old Norse 'high dwellings') along the tarmac road.  Over to our right, high on the hill, we saw the imposing 'Newbuilding.' Although it is called Newbuilding, Tom Scott Burns explains that it actually dates from the 13th century.  It has been restored and modernised but still contains many of its original features.

A couple of pet sheep come running to see us as we pass their field

"A bit further back..."

Newbuilding

Just before Upsall we turned off the road into fields and followed a little walked and very overgrown path to Turton Beckstead.  Beckstead means 'a farm near a river' and as we reached the beck we saw a large stone engraved 'The Turton Beckstead.'  There are other stones lying about and we think these must be the remains of an old bridge.

Turn off the road at this sign

Our path appears little walked

Through a copse of trees...

.... to Turton Beckstead

Stone engraved "The Turton Beckstead"

TSB informs us of a strange story that happened at this spot.  In the 1860s some mourners were carrying a body to Kirby Knowle for burial.  The bearers set down the coffin to briefly rest at this spot, but on lifting it again it felt much lighter and they discovered that the corpse had disappeared. The empty coffin was buried and the site at Beckstead Wood became known as  Lost Corpse End.

Climbing out of the wood we entered fields and followed their margins, relying on fence way-marks. There was no sign of a path and the grass appeared untrodden, which is a shame as this is nice walking.

We climbed gently over Carr Hill and approached the village of Felixkirk.

We can see the Pennines from Carr Hill!

Bird feeders and pheasants all along the walk

Stile and bridge over beck

Lots of cover for game birds

We reached the tarmac road at Mount View and turned right to walk into Felixkirk and the church of St Felix.  It was unlocked so we entered for a look around.

St Felix at Felixkirk

Old carved head

Attractive domed ceiling

St Felix is a large church for the size of the village and in very good repair.  Attractive windows and I was impressed by a modern window, dedicated to a retired army officer.  Also interesting was the recumbent figure of a crusader with a lion crouching at his feet, another, of a lady (his wife?) nearby. 

Crusader

... with lion!

His lady?

Modern window

Here Lyeth Judith, the wife of Zachary Suger, Vicar, A woman of rare endowments of body and mind: dyed 23rd year of her age and the year of our Lord, 1703.

Looking around the graveyard we saw the sad epitaph to Hannah Cornforth.

'Twenty years I was a maid, 1 year I was a wife. 18 hours a mother, and then departed life'

Leaving the church and retracing our steps to the road junction we turned right and climbed the lane to pass the lodge to Mount St John, and turned right again down a lane.  Coming to a fork we turned right to head towards Cinque Cliff House passing through a herd of cattle to reach a diverted path around the rear of Cinque Cliff House.

Here, on a gently sloping meadow, we sat to enjoy our coffee and scones with a fine view towards Thirlby with Whitestone Cliff to the left.

Mount St John Lodge

Cinque Cliff House

A fine view towards Thirlby

Another fine view as we enjoy our break

Whitestone Cliff

We set off once more and our diversion rejoined the track below Cinque Cliff House and to follow a grassy lane to the road, where we turned left and walked into Thirlby.

Approaching Thirlby

Farm at Thirlby has an interesting....

... fox weather-vane

Thirlby is a very pretty village and the road is bordered with neat rural cottages.  One, Keeper's Cottage, had a road-side stall selling home made jam and I bought a jar of raspberry and tucked it into my rucksack.

Walking down the high street we came to Pear Tree House where Thirlby's own woodcarver lives: Bob Hunter, who worked with Mouseman Thompson at nearby Kilburn, and whose trademark is the wren.

Add caption

Raspberry please!

Weather-vane in Thirlby

Pear Tree House

Detail at Pear Tree House

The lane crossed the ford and we left it at Thirlby Farm, turning left to follow a track through a grassy meadow.

Crossing Thirlby Beck at Thirlby

Walking towards Thirlby Farm

'No shop or inn is there here about, so why not sit down and enjoy summat for nowt'  - donated by 'two good sorts'

We followed our path across fields towards Boltby and as we did so the sky darkened, eventually it started to pour and we donned waterproof jackets.

Unusual stile near Thirlby

Raining heavily as we approach Boltby

Packhorse bridge over Gurtof Beck

"It'll stop soon..."

We turned left at the packhorse bridge and walked through the pretty village of Boltby before turning right at a waymarked sign at the lane between Spring Garth and Gurtof House.  Here the rain eased, then soon stopped and we followed a series of field boundaries to reach the modern mansion of Ravensthorpe Manor.

We climbed above the manor house into Westow Plantation and followed a very muddy track behind Ravensthorpe Manor, which was invisible to us because of the plantation's trees.

Sharing an apple near Ravensthorpe 

Muddy track behind Ravensthorpe Manor

We circumnavigate a particularly bad patch

The track improves through Westow Plantation

A surprise view through the trees, we see a shower sweeping towards us

The path became easier and we walked gently downhill, eventually emerging in Kirby Knowle near the old school house, where we turned left and walked back to the car.

A reception committee as we approach the gate

Clive points towards St Wilfred's Church

Footpath or bridleway?  Bridleway please.

A calf watches us pass by

They're not interested in us, just ignore it...

Hello! We have no apples left I'm afraid...

Knowle Cottage

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.

Today's route follows the Esk Valley Walk to Danby Head

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.

The fish symbol of The Esk Valley Walk

Approaching Didderhowe Farm

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.

Our track across the field with Danby Dale beyond

We follow the Blakey sign

West Green Farm

Fine ram at West Green Farm

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.

Useful boardwalk over boggy field

West Cliff Farm

Blackmires Farm

Peacock weather-vane

Pea hen and chicks 

Blackmires Farm

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.

Danby Dale

Pigs run free..

Pigs in clover

Clive makes a friend

Honey Bee Nest Farm

Through the gate and uphill..

.. 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.

Looking back at Honey Bee Nest Farm as we climb Danby Head

The path goes through bracken...

... and then heather

... 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.

Turn left into the Westerdale road

Before following an indistinct path up Castleton Rigg

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.

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.

I will be in...

Amazing detail, the hands are so realistic

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.

A green lane towards Castleton

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.