Old Byland to Nettledale and Scawton

7.5 miles                 Changeable

In The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills, Tom Scott Burns describes this walk as embodying all the charm of Ryedale as it passes through the villages of Old Byland, Scawton and Cold Kirby. 

We approached Old Byland from the B1257 Bilsdale road via Rievaulx village and parked in the village, at the roadside close to the green.

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

TSB goes on to relate that in 1143 the Norman Baron Roger de Mowbray granted land in Ryedale to some wandering monks from Furnace Abbey in Lancashire.  They moved about the dale for a few years before finally settling on a site they called Bellalanda, or Byland.   

Fox weather vane at Old Byland

All Saints, Old Byland

Resident grass cutters

Walking from the car to the village green we saw the C12th Church of All Saints almost hidden from view behind houses in the north west corner of the village.  We decided to start our walk with a visit to the church and found it was unlocked. There are some interesting pagan stone carvings decorating the outer stonework.

Early Norman Dragon

Horned man, possibly Saxon

Easter egg display

Saxon Font

Leaving the church we walked through the village green and just as we exited the village, turned left through a gate into the woods of Low Gill. 

House in Old Byland

Wildflowers in Low Gill

Forget-me-nots in Low Gill

Care must be taken when descending through Low Gill, with steep drops to the right

We reach the bottom of the valley

Blossom and wild flowers in bloom

Low Gill gradually descends to Ashberry Pasture, a wild-flower sanctuary maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, and we walked through a mass of bluebells and other blooms.

Ashberry Pasture

Masses of bluebells

We joined the Rievaulx to Old Byland road just below Ashberry Hill and followed it to a junction next to picturesque Ashberry Farm.

Outbuilding at Ashberry Farm

Farm buildings

Old North Riding sign near Ashberry Farm

We turned right over the bridge at Ashberry Farm and followed the Scawton road past Hagg Hall, leaving the road at Bradley Bank and following a woodland track as it meandered through Nettle Dale.  Three large man-made lakes were to our right and stretched along most of our track through Nettle Dale until we reached a footbridge and Cleveland Way sign on our right.  We tuned left here and walked uphill into Spring Wood.

Long horned cattle near Hagg Hall

Following the road up Bradley Bank

Hagg Hall

Lakes in Nettle Dale

Wood Anenomes in Nettle Dale

We leave the Cleveland Way...

... to climb alongside Spring Wood

Our path went through Spring Wood until we reached a tarmac road which we followed into Scawton, which is Norse for farm in the hollow.

We sat on a convenient bench in front of the church hall and enjoyed our coffee and scones in very pretty surroundings. 

Old Rectory as we enter Scawton

We pass by St Mary's Church

... and its image opposite

Fir trees weather vane

Houses opposite our coffee stop

After finishing our coffee we decided to look in on St Mary's Church, which was unlocked and welcomes visitors.  

The church was built by the Cistercians of Byland Abbey, 'owing to the divers perils and fatigue which the parishioners underwent in coming from Scawton to Byland.'

Altar and to the left the 'sink' mentioned in the text above

Looking back from the altar

In the porch is an interesting memorial to five Free French Airmen who were killed nearby in WW2.

To scan it should definitely read 'to yonder happy shore'

'Bright angels beckon me away, then mother dry that tear, I go from thou to endless day, Say would'st thou keep me hear (sic) I know thou would'st not mourning then, thy daughter's early doom, Thy loss is her infinite gain ,
She lives beyond the tomb'

Leaving the church we returned to the village green and crossed the grass to an overgrown path behind the village telephone box.  The box isn't operational and is in poor repair. Being curious to discover why it has a wooden door we googled for further information and discovered it to be an early K6 model which always had a teak wood door.  

The K6 with its wooden door

Our path runs by the side of the telephone box

It would appear that this next section of today's walk is not being used by other walkers and the fields show no sign of tracks.  There are waymarks on field boundaries and we aimed for these as we crossed several sheep fields.

We cross several sheep fields

We kept to our path by using the yellow way-marks posted on field boundaries until we descended back into Flassen Dale, which has been recently deforested.

On reaching the valley floor we turned left onto a broad path then almost immediately right to climb up the other side of the dale.

We now crossed more fields to reach the village of Cold Kirby.

Flassen Dale

Up the other side

Cold Kirby

In Cold Kirby, almost the first building we encountered was the Church of St Michael, which Tom Scott Burns explains was rebuilt in the 1800s.  It originally dated back to the 12th century when the parish was administered by the Order of Knights Templar. It has an unusual purple ceiling, which seems to continue the purple theme of the stained glass windows.  

St Michaels, Cold Kirby

Altar window

Side window

We looked into the village briefly and then followed the Cleveland Way sign to rejoin our path for the steady descent back to Nettle Dale.

The sky grew steadily darker and we heard rumbles of thunder.  As we entered Nettledale the storm broke and I quickly scrambled into waterproofs, a nuisance for just the last half hour of the walk. 

We hear thunder...

Descending into Nettledale

At Nettle Dale we parted from the Cleveland Way as we reached the lakes, turning left into a field and crossing to a gated bridge over a stream.  We now had a steep climb out of Nettle Dale through Calister Wood, until we reached fields on the other side.

The rain lashed down as we followed our path across these field boundaries back to Old Byland, first descending and crossing Low Gill's woods once again.

Walking field boundaries

Old Byland appears in the distance

Ample Bosom.com always makes us chuckle

The storm passes Old Byland

The Drove Road and Windy Gill Ridge from Boltby

 

7 miles                                 Hot and sunny

We drove through Boltby and parked at a hard shoulder on the right hand side of the road.  After booting up we continued walking uphill along the same road away from the village, until turning left at a footpath sign into a farm track to Lunshaw House Farm.

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

Looking up to the trees at High Barn on the sky-line

Turn left ahead

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, which meant walking at an awkward 45 degree angle, until it dropped down into woods before Lunshaw Beck.  

Follow the sign to Low Paradise

Aim for the gate

Head down to cross Lunshaw Beck

Crossing the beck we started a mile long ascent which TSB describes as a 'muscular climb'.  We passed by the always well ordered Low Paradise Farm and continued to climb to reach Oak Cottage.

'Muscular' climb to Low Paradise Farm

Lambs at Low Paradise Farm

Low Paradise Farm

Hounds at Oak Cottage

Oak Beck Cottage

The track continues to climb relentlessly upwards until reaching High Paradise Farm where we were delighted to find the tea room open, although we appeared to be their first customers.

We sat outside in the sun to enjoy scones and coffee, just in time, as within minutes a large walking group arrived and took the rest of the tables.

We are now on the Cleveland Way

Final climb to... 

...  High Paradise Farm

Wake up - customers!

Scones al fresco

We had a leisurely stop in the sun at High Paradise Tea Room but eventually it was time to move on.

Leaving the farm we walked towards Sneck Gate and the moor.  Passing through the gate we were now on the Hambleton Drove Road, which we followed left, soon reaching forest.

We walked on through the trees for some time and then, just before reaching the ruins of Steeple Cross (first mentioned in 1246 but no longer a cross, now just a 2 feet high piece of stone) we turned left to enter the plantation's trees.

Leaving High Paradise...

... towards Sneck Gate

The remains of Steeple Cross

We walked through the forestry plantation and emerged at Gallow Hill where we had a view towards Cowesby village far below.

Forestry plantation

Cowesby village below

We turned left at Gallow Hill and followed the broad path to Windygill Ridge. To the left of the path along the ridge is a forestry plantation, ahead the Vale of Mowbray and to the right, Black Hambleton and the hummock of Seta Pike, about a mile ahead.

Just after passing Seta Pike our path turned left on to a steep forestry path.  The track was rather faint and although dry today, normally can be boggy; the steep descents are slippery and progress was slow.   The path eventually levels out and we picked our way through Gurtof Wood, looking down on Gurtof Beck running below us.  Quite a lot of trees have been blown down and a few had fallen awkwardly across the path making frequent diversions necessary.  

Turn left off the path near Seta Pike

A steep downhill to Gurtof Wood

A couple of miles walking through trees

Gurtof Beck to our left

Sometimes the path becomes indistinct... look for the yellow dots

Go towards the light!  Out of the woods at last

We followed the indistinct path through the woods until we reached a gate leading into fields.

We then walked through fields using way-marks on the field boundaries as guides until we joined a wide track.  We followed this to a green lane, which, after passing by a smallholding with sheep and a horse, led us to Boltby.

Now on a wide path..

.. and then a green lane

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 were unable to resist having a look around.  The church is in very good repair considering that, as TSB points out, it was first erected in 1409 and rebuilt in 1859. We were very impressed by the timber cross sections in the roof which are striking to look at.

Sheep in smallholding at Boltby

We are warned off!

Holy Trinity Church

Looking towards the altar

Side window

Altar window

Clive soaks up the ambience.... or rests his feet

The churchyard seems to contain only fairly recent graves and 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."  It would be interesting to know the reason for this practice but unfortunately the book does not give one. Strange, when they had a perfectly good church in Boltby.

Cottage in Boltby

Weather vane in Boltby

Boltby

We continued through the village and then up the steep hill back to the car park.