This footpath passes along the back of houses and we quickly left Swainby, which Tom Scott Burns informs us means 'Swain's Farm', from the old Norse name Sveinn. Our footpath soon joined a lane which took us very quickly to Whorlton Castle.
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| Front of Whorlton Castle |
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| The castle is open and inside are graffiti and drink cans |
TSB tells us that there have been a number of castles on this site, even before the Domesday Book which records it as Wirueltun in 1086. William the Conqueror gave the manor to Robert Count de Mortain, and then it passed into the hands of the de Meynell family. The castle was surrounded by a deep moat over which was a drawbridge. In 1323 Edward II was known to have stayed at Whorlton Castle while hunting deer in North Yorkshire and during the Cromwellian period Royalists held the castle and were bombarded by Roundheads from Whorl Hill to the East and Toft Hill to the West.
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| Clive on the remains of the Norman Keep |
A few yards further along the tarmac lane brought us to the old Saxon church of Holy Cross. There is a tale that an underground passage links the castle to this nearby church and we decided to stop off to have a look round. The church was locked and we peered through the grill in the chancel door. We could just see the bog oak effigy of the second Lord Nicholas de Meynell who died in 1322, as described by TSB. There are some very interesting tombstones dating from the early 1700s.
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| The Church of Holy Cross |
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| The bog oak effigy of Lord de Meynell |
We wandered around the graveyard but many of the stones are so old that they are barely legible.
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| 'In perfect hilth he went from home, and little thought his glass was run, but dying in so short a space, I hope his soul in a good place' |
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| Interesting 'modern' stone with bronze coat of arms |
We returned to the lane and followed it to the junction with Whorlton Lane, where we climbed a stile into fields and headed straight towards Whorl Hill, which dominates the skyline.
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| Leave Whorlton Lane at this gate. Whorl Hill in the distance. |
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| Follow field paths to Whorl Hill |
A steady climb took us into the trees of Whorl Hill (old Norse 'hvirfill' - 'high hill with a rounded top') and we continued to climb until our track levelled out and we circumnavigated the hill, just inside the tree line.
TSB informs us that in 1810 one of Britain's largest hoards of Roman silver coins (weighing 2 stones) was dug up on Whorl Hill by a local farmer whilst ploughing his field.
We followed the path with a fine view down to Swainby through the trees, until we dropped away from the main path to exit the woods at Bank Lane via the garden of a bungalow.
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| Looking back at Whorlton Church and Castle |
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| Climbing Whorl Hill |
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| Looking back at Swainby from Whorl Hill |
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| Turn right off the main path when you see the bungalow below |
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| Descending out of Whorl Hill woods |
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| New vegetable garden at Bank Lane |
We now walked up Bank Lane towards Live Moor and Round Hill.
Reaching the trees of Faceby Plantation we turned right and a short sharp climb brought us to a path below Round Hill, and here, sheltered from the wind, we sat to enjoy our coffee and scones.
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| Bank Lane |
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| Another walker? No, he turns out to be a bird watcher and unfortunately we frighten the fieldfares he's watching! |
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| Looking back at Whorl Hill |
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| Climbing through Faceby plantation |
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| We reach the moor gate at last! |
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| A level walk above the plantation across old spoil heaps |
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| The wall provides shelter from the chilly breeze |
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| That looks a good spot! |
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| Coffee and scones al fresco |
We now climbed once more, to reach the moor top and the stone path of the Cleveland Way. We turned right and walked into a cold head wind, soon passing a large cairn standing on a Bronze Age burial mound.
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| Climbing to the moor top |
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| Whorl Hill and Faceby below |
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| Looking east towards Carlton Moor |
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| South is Scugdale Head and Holiday House at 9 o'clock |
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| Bronze Age Burial Mound |
We followed the Cleveland Way footpath westwards with good views down to Whorl Hill and Swainby to our right, eventually reaching the steep descent to Huthwaite Green.
This steep descent is always slippery and requires care. At the bottom where the path reaches Scugdale Lane is an old railway
goods truck, a remnant of the mineral railway that once ran up this valley into Scugdale. Someone has used the truck as a firewood store.
We crossed the lane and passed Hollin Hill Farm and then crossed two bridges over meandering Scugdale Beck to enter fields where a faint track took us to the trees of Clain Wood.
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| Whorl Hill from the Cleveland Way footpath |
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| Approaching the descent to Huthwaite Green |
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| Leaving the moor |
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| Slippery descent! |
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| Old railway truck |
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| Crossing Scugdale Beck |
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| Approaching Clain Wood |
We followed the Cleveland Way through the woods, at times walking parallel with the dismantled railway, until we reached the tarmac of the Sheepwash to Swainby road.
Here we turned right to follow the tarmac downhill to Swainby, following the road through the village.
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| Looking back to the houses of Huthwaite Green on the right and Whorl Hill to the left |
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| Walking through Clain Wood |
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| Shepherd weather vane in Swainby |
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| Footballer weather vane |
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| It doesn't have to be pedigree to be of value! |
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| Swainby |
Having seen the old Church of Holy Cross at Whorlton we decided to pop in and see the new Church of Holy Cross, in Swainby, which was built around 1875- 1877, to replace the old church at Whorlton.
We crossed the river and entered the church which was open to visitors. It was very gloomy inside as we couldn't find the light switches and we were surprised to see that there are no Christmas decorations, unlike last year when there were trees and lights. Perhaps there has been a change of policy?
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| Church of Holy Cross, Swainby |
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| No Christmas decorations this year |
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| Side window |
Leaving the church we continued up the high street to the Black Horse where we discussed today's walk over a pint of Theakston's bitter.
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| The end of the walk! |
