8 miles Sunny
This is not a TSB walk but we would like to think it is in the spirit of Tom Scott Burns.
We travelled over the moors road via Castleton and Blakey Ridge to Hutton-le-Hole, where we parked in The Crown Hotel's car park at a cost of £3 which is the cheapest parking in the village.
Today's walk is marked by the yellow line
The OS map shows a series of green lanes (Oxclose Lane, Bottomfield Lane, Lingmoor Lane, Ings Back Lane and South Ings Lane) between Hutton-le-Hole and Appleton-le-Moors and we decided to make this our route.
The lanes are easy to find and follow but we still managed to go slightly off route at Lingmoor Lane where we left the track and crossed by Lingmoor Barn to reach a large disused limestone quarry.
It was interesting to see the size of the quarry but then we quickly returned to Lingmoor Lane and our track.
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| Hutton-le-Hole |
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| Walking out of the village |
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| Leave the tarmac at the sign |
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| Entering the Green Lanes |
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| Bottomfield Lane |
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| Bluebells at Peppery Plantation |
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| Lingfield Barn and we are taking a wrong turn... |
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| Enormous disused limestone quarry |
The last of the green lanes, South Ings Lane, emerges by the road directly opposite the parish church of Christ Church in Appleton-le-Moors. This is a very strange church for the area, apparently built in the French style and it remains closed to the general public under Coronavirus rules.
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| Christ Church, Appleton-le-Moors |
Appleton-le-Moors is a pretty village with some lovely houses and after admiring them we sat in the public garden at the front of the village hall, where tables and benches are provided for those requiring coffee and scones.
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| South Ings Lane |
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| Fields are full of limestone chips |
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| Appleton-le-Moors Hall |
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| Houses have interesting motifs |
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| The pub will re-open on Monday and there was a lovely smell of beer from the cellars |
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| Three Faces House |
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| This is a nine letter mnemonic for 'The Art Of Treating Life: How To Get Bread' The three faces represent the three bloodsuckers, the lawyer, the doctor and the clergyman. A further carving, representing five victims of the bloodsuckers has been moved to the rear garden |
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| An old gas lamp converted to electricity |
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| Weathervane in Appleton |
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| The Village Hall is on a grand scale |
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| Coffee and scones at the Village Hall |
Replete, we wandered back up Appleton-le-Moors high street until we reached a ruined medieval cross, Low Cross, and here we turned right into Hamley Lane.
We now had a walk along the quiet lane whose name changes at a left turn to Howldale Lane. We followed it to reach Hagg Wood on our left and here took the second of two footpaths, that runs along the bottom of the wood.
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| More weather vanes in Appleton -le-Moors |
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| Photo-bombed! |
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| Low Cross |
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| Hamley Lane |
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| Hamley Hagg |
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| Leaving the lane at Hagg Wood |
We walked alongside Hagg Wood to reach Lastingham.
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| Alongside Hagg Wood |
Leaving the church we passed an old well, dedicated to St Cedd, and headed out of the village on a tarmac road that ends abruptly at the edge of the moor. Here, at a modern cross, we turned left to follow the moor path to Hutton-le-Hole.
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| Turn left at the footpath sign... |
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| ... to follow the moors path |
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| Cross the stream at Mary Magdalene Well |
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| Way-marked posts keep us to the right track |
As we walked across the moor we listened to the sound of a cuckoo, and to our surprise one landed on a wooden signpost about 30' away. I quickly got my camera out but it flew off. Drat! but as I lowered my camera another cuckoo, its mate perhaps, flew and landed on the same post. It allowed me a quick photo before moving on but my focussing skills were tested and found wanting. We were pleased to get such a good view of the birds as you often hear cuckoos but rarely see them close up.
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| Cuckoo |
Walking on we were amused to see a black lamb chase a partridge that had invaded his personal space.
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| Gercha! |
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| A black Jacobs Sheep and a rare Legless White |
The route back to Hutton-le-Hole is clearly marked and we soon re-entered the High Street where we were delighted to find The Crown open for business.
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| The alley leads to the High Street |
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| Drinking is a serious business |
This is a pleasant walk covering fields, villages and moorland. Our only disappointment was that the churches in this area have not yet opened their doors to the public, unlike their counterparts further west into North Yorkshire.
