Balk and Bagby from Sutton Village

 

7 miles                           

We drove into Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe on the A170 from the A19 and parked in the Whitestonecliffe Inn Car Park.  Tom Scott Burns tells us that hikers are welcome to use the inn's car park but twenty five years later, sadly the pub is no longer open for business. The enormous car park is still there however and there seems to be no objection to parking behind the pub.

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

We walked from the pub and turned right onto the A170 which we followed through the village, spotting several interesting weather vanes. 

Weather vanes in Sutton-under-Whitestone Cliff

Derelict Bamber House on the High Street

Walking through the village

Lots of flags today - VE Day

The last stretch is on the busy road, more verge on this side

This is a busy road and traffic whizzed past us as we crossed the bridge over Sutton Beck and turned left off the road and into a track at a footpath sign.

Turn left off the road at the footpath sign

New bee hives, a bit cool for bees today

Our route led us straight across a field where a large herd of heifers waited in anticipation and rather than push through them we crossed the beck and walked up on the other side of it, recrossing when we were safely past them.

Keep right at the sewage works

Hmm, young heifers!

Evasion. We cross the shallow Sutton Beck

We then walked on through more fields next to Sutton Beck, until it emerges beyond a static caravan park at the tiny hamlet of Balk.  

We re-emerge behind them

... and re-joined the path to cross the bridge

Walking behind houses into Balk

Mill House, Balk

Alice in Wonderland - on a fence in Balk

Business in Balk

On the road to Bagby

TSB tells us that Balk originates in the Old English 'balca' or 'bank' and would have applied to the ridge of land between Balk Beck and Hood Beck.

We walked into Balk and admired its three storey mill, now renovated into housing, and opposite it, the old mill buildings which have been taken over by a furniture manufacturer.  We stayed on the road heading west until we reached the larger village of Bagby where we turned left onto a track near new housing just before entering the village.  There is no obvious footpath sign here and when it does appear, 20 yards along the track, it is found almost hidden in bushes.

Turn left here as you enter Bagby

You have to look for the sign!

Weather vane in Bagby

The gravel track leads to fields where we turned right to walk alongside the crops.  As you see from the map above we are now headed south along this track to the village of Thirkleby.  We passed by another caravan park at Pond Wood and the grounds of  Thirkleby Hall before emerging on to the road by the old school house.

Leaving Bagby

Residents of Bagley

Passing cow parsley on field tracks

Himalayan horse chestnut flowers

Pond Wood Caravan Park

Hawthorn in flower

Houses of Thirkleby on the horizon

Whitestone Cliff in the distance

 

 

We walked through Great Thirkleby and came to the isolated church of All Saints' where we sat and enjoyed our coffee and scones.

All Saints at Thirkleby

Very Gothic!

"Er, have you got a duster?"

After coffee we looked in at All Saints Church, which is open to visitors and is nicely kept and interesting to walk round.  It is bigger than one would expect for the size of the village, with fine stained glass windows picturing St George and St Martin. 

Looking towards the altar

Leaving the church we walked back to the road then crossed straight over to join a field path leading to a footbridge, then quickly on to the Little Thirkleby Road, where we turned left to walk parallel with the route we had followed into Thirkleby, this time to the right of Thirkleby Beck.  

Cleveland Bay (?) at Thirkleby

Lots of cows about today

Calves too!

Thirkleby backs

Cross stile in corner of field

Follow faint track along edge of field

Wild garlic and hawthorn blooms

The next bit of the walk became rather tricky.  We could find no way-mark signs (most unusual!) and field enlargement appears to have swallowed up the footpath described by TSB.  New barbed wire topped fences edge the field and whoever installed them has not left sufficient room for a footpath.  

We stayed on the field side of the fence keeping close to it.

New fence

Mind your inseam Clive, that barbed wire is sharp

The ground was hard as iron and very dry

In 2014 when walking this route we discovered a car amongst shrubbery in a ditch near the stream and wondered how it had got to this remote point and when?  Then Clive had climbed down to examine it and checking the engine plate found it to be a Standard 10 from the 1950s.  We saw it again today by chance when we stopped to look at a wildflower; it appears to have slipped further towards the stream and is out of reach.

2014

2025

We continued across fields until reaching the large farm of Low Osgoodby Grange. 

Dishevelled tups at Low Osgoodby Grange

"Come and see me"

Friendly sheepdog

Walking away from the farm

From Osgoodby Grange we followed the farm's track to the tarmac road where we turned left, heading back towards Balk.  In the distance we could now see Whitestone Cliff.

Passing Mount Pleasant Farm we re-entered fields for a couple of miles and again found waymark signs to be sparse.

Chewing the cud at Mount Pleasant Farm

"Hey, them ducks are pinching our hay!"

More field paths returned us to Balk via Balk Wood Farm where once again we found our walk disturbed by cattle, this time milling about near the farm, perhaps waiting to be milked.

The cracks are inches deep

The summer crops are suffering with drought conditions

Our path goes right through the middle of that lot

We're a friendly bunch

Just before our field path returned us to the tiny village of Balk we turned right and followed the track, now clearly way-marked, across fields until reaching the road at Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe.  Here we turned right and walked back to the Whitestonecliffe Inn and the car park.

Back to Sutton-under-Whitestone Cliff

Sutton Hall, now luxury apartments

An enjoyable walk although care must be taken with route finding after Thirkleby.

A short drive took us to Kilburn and our de-brief at the Forresters Arms.

To TSB!

 

Eston Hills Circular from Flatts Lane

5.5 miles     

Bank Holiday and we are dog sitting so this local TSB walk is ideal being fairly short and quiet, and especially as we haven't walked it for nearly five years.

We approached Flatts Lane via the A171 and parked in the public car park that is built on the site of the old Normanby Brick and Tile Company, which was established in 1883.

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

From the car park we walked along the field to a stile which took us on to Flatts Lane, emerging opposite Rose Cottage. A sign directed us over the road to go up new steps to a footpath running alongside the cottage which leads to a path into Ten Acre Bank, where we immediately left civilisation behind.  

Leaving the visitors' centre

Across a field..

.. to Flatts Lane. Carole points at the footpath opposite

Entering Ten Acre Bank

A short climb brought us to a T junction where we turned right and followed a pleasant path parallel to Flatts Lane until we turned left over a stile and into a meadow that leads to Mill Farm and then Claphams Wood. 

On Ten Acre Bank

This is a lovely path and we were surprised that it is so little walked and in fact we didn't see another soul until we reached the Nab monument.  It was difficult to believe that we were not far above the main Guisborough road. Gorse was in full flower and made a nice contrast with the white flowers of hawthorn and blackthorn trees.

Blackthorn and gorse flowers on Ten Acre Bank

Looking across at Roseberry from Ten Acre Bank

After walking through fields for a mile we reached Mill Farm which we skirted to reach Claphams Wood. A walk through dense trees and bushes led us to a sharp left turn and the beginning of our uphill climb.

Mill Farm

First stile at Mill Farm is obvious

The second is harder to spot.  

Into Claphams Wood

Timber bridge is very slippery

Beginning the climb alongside Claphams Wood

View looking back towards Roseberry

A steady climb alongside the wood on little walked paths, thick with  brambles, brought us to Moordale Bog and TSB tells us that here, hidden among the undergrowth, is the ruins of Upsall Pit, run by Bolckow, Vaughan and Co from 1866 and then Dorman Long and Co until 1945.  The shaft was 564 feet deep and in all 63 million tons of iron ore were extracted from these hills between 1850 and 1949. 

We turned right into trees again and after a short time came to a wooden memorial to a German WWll bomber which had crashed here.  The writing was indistinct but a Google search revealed:

German bombers often flew over the Eston Hills while heading for targets further inland, such as Manchester. On 30 March 1941 a Junkers Ju 88 was shot down by two Spitfires of No. 41 Squadron, piloted by Tony Lovell and Archie Winskill, over Middlesbrough. The aircraft dived into the ground at Barnaby Moor, Eston; the engines and most of the airframe were entirely buried upon impact.

In Claphams Wood

Memorial

We continued with our walk, climbing steadily uphill, passing the location of the now hidden deserted village of Barnaby, once the home to a small community of miners.  TSB says that the foundations of two rows of cottages can still be seen, as can the capped well.  Provisions for the village were brought via the underground mine railway. 

Another climb took us onto Wilton Moor where we came to a convenient bench with a view across to Roseberry Topping, an ideal place to sit and enjoy our coffee.

Climbing on to Wilton Moor

The first of several burnt out cars we saw today

"Pleasant but not a strong smell"

Coffee!

After coffee our path headed north west across Eston Moor where TSB says early man built barrows and left flint tools dating from 6000 to 2000 BC, until we reached a cluster of transmitter masts. 

Here we found a strong smell of smoke and discovered the remains of what must have been a large fire.  In fact the next mile would reveal several more sites where fires have been set, as well as burnt cars and a burnt quad bike, showing that although very quiet today, this area is not far from bandit country.

Bramble smells smoke!

Sad sight

The transmitter masts

We walked on towards the Eston Nab Monument where we paused to read the bronze inscription.  At this spot a beacon tower was constructed in 1808 during the Napoleonic Wars.  After 1815 it was used as a house and from 1884 was the home of a David Helm and his wife until 1933, when the body of 80 year old Mr Helm, who had outlived his wife by a year, was carried by horse drawn cart down for burial at Wilton churchyard.  In 1956 it was finally demolished and the present monument was built by ICI, using the stone from the original beacon.   We stood and enjoyed an amazing panoramic view of Teesside and beyond.

The area around the monument was once an Iron Age hill fort dating from 550 BC.  TSB says that it probably served as a refuge for surrounding settlements and calcined bones have been found at the site which prove that cannibalism took place, possibly when ancient warriors were besieged on the nab.

Trig point and beacon

The old ICI works and sea beyond

The Tees River and the Transporter Bridge are just visible in the distance

The only other walkers we saw today

Eston and Ormesby below

We followed the path along the escarpment and reached Carr Pond.

Following the ridge path

Quad bike

Carr Pond

How do they get them up here?!

Starting the descent

We now started the descent to return to Flatts Lane and our car.  We agreed that it had been an interesting walk with great views in the clear weather, and it was good to get an unfamiliar view of familiar places so close to our home.

Back at the Visitor Centre