Walking in North Yorkshire

Ladhill Gill and Bumper Castle from Fangdale Beck

7.5 miles Sunny and cold

It's a couple of years since we did this enjoyable Bilsdale route from Tom Scott Burns and we hoped the recent spell of dry weather would improve the normally very muddy farm tracks encountered in the first half of the walk.

We turned off the B1257 Bilsdale Road at the Fangdale sign and drove past a green telephone kiosk just past the junction. This unusual green telephone box was installed in the 1930s and was green at the request of Lord Feversham, who wanted it to blend in with its surroundings. In 1992 a battle was fought over this when British Telecom, without any consultation, removed it and installed one of the new 'shower cubicle' type boxes, not realising they had removed a Grade II listed building. To the delight of the locals they were fined £3000 and ordered to restore the original.

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

The famous green telephone box appears to be freshly painted

We drove into the village and parked our cars at the side of the road opposite the old school house.

The old school house and village hall

Once a chapel, now a private house

Tom Scott Burns tells us that Fangdale comes from the personal Scandinavian name Fangi or Fangulf, meaning 'Fangi's Valley'.

Leaving the car we crossed the beck by the little bridge and walked past the old Wesleyan Chapel, now converted into a private house.

A walk along a farm track brought us to a farm called Malkin Bower, which apparently means Matilda's or Maud's Dwelling. We continued straight past the farm with the tarmac changing to a muddy grassy track.

Walking out of Fangdale Beck

Looking back, the converted chapel to the right

Malkin Bower with new sign

The original sign from our last visit

We followed the path along the valley of Bilsdale, parallel to the road below us. The track drops down to the River Seph before gently climbing up to Helm House, where mechanical repairs are carried out to farm vehicles as well as it being a working farm.

Walking along Bilsdale valley

The recent spell of dry weather hasn't been long enough to sort out the paths

Climbing from The River Seph towards Helm House

Helm House Farm and Garage

The sticks mark the mole trap locations

Clive checks out a derelict barn at Helm House

Leaving Helm House we continued on a muddy path across sheep fields before arriving at Benhill Bank Plantation where the track climbs steadily up to reach the moor gate.

Benhill Plantation

Sheep have made the paths very mucky at this point

Winter fodder

At the top of the bank we turned right onto a tarmac road which leads to Wethercote Farm, but which we turned left to leave after a couple of hundred yards. We now walked across meadow fields, the path completely undetectable apart from the occasional yellow waymark.

Another new sign...

... and a new memorial bench

View from Brian's Bench

Steady climb through waymarked fields

An interesting standing stone

The moor gate

The last gate took us to the moor edge where the path becomes more distinct, leading from the moor gate. Looking down to our right we saw the ruins of Bumper Castle behind a grove of trees. TSB tells us that the castle was once part of the estate of the Duke of Buckingham and also that the monks of Rievaulx at one time wrought iron on Bumper Moor. We crossed the heather to join an old cart track that leads to the ruin.

Bumper Castle ruins

There appears to be fire damage and the building is in an unsafe condition. We looked around and headed back to our track. After our last visit I was interested to find out more about the ruin's original purpose and made an internet search, which gave this:

For a farm house Bumper Castle was well built with a slate roof which would have to have been imported into the dale. There's a date on the gable of 1722. It is said that in the 18c the 3rd Duke of Rutland and the Marquis of Granby stayed here for the shooting. So the house may have been built as a shooting lodge.
From the Hawnby parish register in 1794 William Douglas, Bumper Castle, batchelor, 74, was buried "when there was the greatest depth of snow ever known in memory". In 1801 Samuel Tiplady was christened, son of Samuel (gamekeeper) and Dillery Tiplady, Bumper Castle. In 1811 William Mansell, gamekeeper to the Duke of Rutland, died at Bumper Castle aged 38.

From the mid 19c it seems to have been used as a farm. According to the 1851 census Richard Hilbert was farming 127 acres here. In 1881 and 91 Thomas Wrathall was resident. In 1920 Mrs. Clark, widow of Noah Clark was paying £25 rent.

TSB reports in The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills that Bumper Castle was owned by George Villiers, the notorious second Duke of Buckingham, who, when he died in 1687, had squandered £50,000 a year and had become an outcast from society. There is no record of him actually visiting the building however.

Clive and I have seen a brass memorial plaque to the gamekeeper, William Mansell, set into the floor of Hawnby Church and it would appear from the above report that he was staying at Bumper Castle at the time of his death. It would be interesting to know what befell him.

Satisfied that we had seen all there is to see at Bumper Castle we set off along a muddy track to eventually rejoin our original path, which we followed down to Ladhill Gill Beck. Here we sat in the sun on some convenient boulders near the bridge and enjoyed our coffee and scones.

Crossing Wetherhouse Moor

Dropping to Ladhill Gill Beck, Sportsmans Hall opposite

We enjoy a break above Ladhill Gill Beck

We crossed the bridge and climbed steeply up the opposite side of the valley, turning left to join a track that led us above Sportsmans Hall. TSB suggests that this name probably has something to do with Bumper Castle and the Duke's sporting pastimes.

Ladhill Gill Beck

New bridge with anti-slip pads

Climbing steeply from the beck to Sportsmans Hall

We are buzzed by a couple of F15s, only used by USA and Israel, maybe heading for Ukraine?

We are still coming across lots of damage from the recent storms

I think these are all Cheviots, the ones on the right being Classic Black Cheviots

Walking towards the Hawnby road

We walked towards the Hawnby road and turned right along a vehicle access track at the moor gate, after first looking with despair at the new 'information' board.

The new board - Share with Care

The now removed board at least gave real information - on our last visit

The shooter's access track, known as Sunley Slack, divides twice and on each occasion we took the right fork, all the time heading towards the three new temporary Bilsdale masts.

Following the shooter's track across the moor

Two right forks

Hazelshaw House appears vacated

Extra fodder

Winter plumage on this grouse

Smart gaiters

Two of the temporary masts

These have replaced the enormous original mast destroyed by fire last year. Here is a video of its final demise.

We gradually descended past some old workings to reach Weatherhouse Beck and here we left the sandy track and headed off on a faint track through the heather. We lost sight of the track occasionally but it didn't matter, we knew we had to head east to cross the upper reaches of Ladhill Gill where it joins with Wetherhouse Beck and we followed a line of very basic shooting shelters.

This is shown as 'Workings' on the OS map

Easterside Hill in the distance

Dropping down to Wetherhouse Beck

Wetherhouse Beck

Follow the shooting butts

We pass a stoat trap

Baited with a peice of rabbit

This part of the walk is a bit hit and miss, the moor track being either non-existent or overgrown and very boggy. We turned right at the wall and walked on, eventually reaching a line of poles marking shooting butts which we followed left, down towards the trees of Helm House Wood. The top of these poles have been painted white and we followed their line downhill towards Bilsdale, this is the dotted line going east off Shaw Side on the map above.

Turn left at the post to follow the shooting butts down to Helm House Wood

We reached and passed through the moor gate and then arrived at some old quarries. Passing these we descended via the usual hollow way to emerge at Malkin Bower where we turned left to return to Fangdale.