Kepwick, Limekiln House and the Old Drove Road

5.5 miles, warm and sunny

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

We parked at the Church Hall car park in Kepwick and as we set off several calves ran over to see us.  They were lowing mournfully and had probably just been separated from their mothers; they seemed to be asking us to do something about it. 

 Where's my mummy?

 Gatehouse to Kepwick Hall

 Walking towards Nab Farm

We walked through Kepwick admiring some fine gardens and passed the grand entrance to Kepwick Hall before crossing the old railway line and leaving the road, heading along the farm track to Nab Farm.  Walking on past the farm we came to the remains of an old lime kiln, the furnace and chimney almost intact.  We strolled up Kepwick Moor  watching two peregrine falcons swooping overhead, their cross-bar markings showing clearly.  As we climbed we admired the cliffs of Whitestone Scar to the left and the old limestone quarries and their spoil tips to the right.  After a long and steady climb we reached Hambleton Street and the ruins of the old drovers inn, Limestone House, by which time I was ready for a little something so we sat among the ruins to enjoy our coffee and scones.  Nearby we saw a memorial cross with a slate inscribed 'Bert 1905', and speculated as to who Bert might have been and what his connection was with this place?

Cattle restraint pen at Nab Farm

 Our path runs diagonally across centre of photograph

Little Moor

 The top of a ruined limekiln

Limekiln

Refreshed we followed the old drove road which also forms part of the Coast to Coast Trail and is known as Hambleton Street.  As we walked we enjoyed the smell of heather and noticed how many peacock butterflies there were to be seen on this hike, a fact remarked on by Tom Scott Burns in The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills.  Eventually we arrived at a weathered standing stone which is the remains of Steeple Cross, apparently mentioned in a document of 1246.  To the right of the drove road at this point is a long barrow dating back 3000 years, but try as we might we couldn't make it out amongst the dense bracken and heather.

 Disused limestone quarry and spoil heaps

 Peacock butterfly

Looking back towards Nab Farm to the right and Kepwick in centre distance

We turned right at Steeple Cross and headed into a conifer forest for a while before descending gently to the mixed  woodland of Cowesby Wood.  According to TSB's notes we should skirt along this wood then descend over moorland alongside Pen Hill but wire fencing had been added to the wooden fence that crossed our path, giving the impression that there was no right of way.  We wondered if someone had replaced a stile incorrectly, deliberately or otherwise?   Looking ahead we could see the faint outline of our trail continuing and after consulting the map and my GPS and knowing ourselves to have right of way, we climbed over the fence and joined the track which soon became a much broader trail leading down towards Atlay Bank. 

 Bert's memorial

 The Old Drove Road

 Bull and cows alongside Drove Road

Approaching Steeple Cross

When we reached the escarpment above Atlay Bank we walked back and forth with a fine view down into Kepwick.  Unfortunately we could see no sign of our trail down.  We could see where the map and GPS said the track should be so we pushed our way into high bracken to find it and after a few yards we came to the channelled path that plunged down Atlay Bank, through rhododendron bushes and back to the road and our car waiting at the church hall.

 Looking down at Kepwick from Atlay Bank but where's the track?

 Clive enters the bracken

 Kepwick Church

   

Kepwick and Cowesby from Over Silton 

5.5 miles warm and sunny 

 

This week I bought a copy of Tom Scott Burns' book 'The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills from Abe Books on the internet, for just 1p plus postage.   A great buy!  The Hambleton Hills are just south of the Cleveland Hills and both form part of the North York Moors  Will my 'new' book's walks be as good as TSB's Cleveland Hills Guide?   We'll see but at least it will give us another 20 walks to try, although of course as they are further afield than the Cleveland Hills our driving time is increased.

We thought we might as well start at the beginning of the book with Walk 2.  (Walk 1 is 10.5 miles and we'll save that for when we feel like a long walk!)  Today's walk is about 6 miles and is circular, as all our walks tend to be.

Leaving over Silton

We left Over Silton and turning into a field and onto our first footpath we saw immediately that this was not going to be a trail that is much frequented.  Long grass and nettles were order of the day and wet grass too, as there had been heavy overnight rain. We quickly reached the very neat and tidy Greystone Farm where we saw some unusual hens and a sign offering 'free eggs', although there was a donation box for a local charity.  A sign said the farm specialised in Suffolk sheep and we soon came to field full of them.  We were taken with how big and friendly they were, coming to the fence as if they expected to be fed.

Animals of Greystone Farm

We walked on to Nether Silton, then through field after field where our trail had became almost non-existent in the long wet grass.  Only the occasional yellow footpath sign (and my GPS track of course) showed us that we were on the right trail.  We crossed the remains of a narrow gauge railway that had once been used to carry limestone from the Hambleton Hills to the Thirsk turnpike road, then joined a narrow road, Peasland Lane, that led us round to the village of Cowesby.  As we entered the village we walked into the old churchyard and after admiring the church, which appeared disused, we sat on its steps and had our coffee and scones. 

 Remains of old narrow gauge railway

 Cowesby Church

 Cowesby

Back into Cowesby, we walked through the pretty village before turning north across fields to the village of Kepwick.  We decided not to explore Kepwick as next week's walk will begin there, but pressed on back across the old railway and across fields where we lost the path for a time, zig-zagging up and down a couple of fields with wet legs and nettle stings before we eventually found the old footbridge across aptly named Sorrow Beck and rejoined the trail.

Clive spots the footbridge!

 

 Looking down towards Northallerton and the A19

Young pheasant

At this point we saw quite a few young pheasants which hurried nervously along the hedgerow and I took the above photo of a bird which Clive and I thought was reluctant to move because it was brilliantly camouflaged.  Now, on examining the photo on my computer, I see what appears to be blood on the bird and I wonder if it is an early casualty of this years shooting, the Glorious Twelfth being just three days ago.

 Buzzards above Pen Hill

More fields, one of which was circumnavigated very nervously as it contained a bull and cows that were busy mating and we didn't want to distract them.  We approached Nether Silton once more, although on a different footpath to our outward journey.  We have walked through Nether Silton on several occasions but but this was the first time we have entered the village via the Manor House field and consequently managed to find the old monolith mentioned in a couple of TSB's walk descriptions. The large old standing stone has letters carved into its face, each letter representing a word.  

 Monolith at Nether Silton

 The carved letters stand for:
"Here The Grand Old Manor House Stood, The Black Beams Were Oak The Great Walls Were Good
The Walls At The East Wing Are Hidden Here, A Thatched Cottage Like A Barn Was Erected Here
AD 1765
A Wide Porch Spans A Yard And Alcove

 Me and the monolith  (I'm wearing the hat)

We were both very pleased to have found the stone, which stands in a field near the present manor house.  We exited onto the road that runs through Nether Silton and crossed to a little track alongside the old post office.  Following it we now navigated another network of field paths to return to Over Silton, via the quaint old church of St Mary., which stands in a field and has no road or footpath to service it.  This church dates back to Norman times and in the last year or so Clive and I have often sat in its churchyard to drink our coffee, but having no coffee left today we pressed on back to the road where I had left my car.

 Clive walks through Nether Silton towards the Gold Cup Inn

 'Hidden' path alongside old Post Office

 Norman hurch of St Mary at Over Silton

A good day which started damp and muggy but gradually improved to 'sunny intervals'.

Tripsdale

We have walked through the hidden valley of Tripsdale several times following walks in TSB's books but not yet visited Low Cable Stones, where we had read that relatives of Tom Scott Burns had affixed a bronze memorial plaque to the author and countryman.   Today we decided to do a 6.5 mile walk that would take in the those large, remotely sited stones and see the plaque for ourselves. This meant that for the first time in ages we would not actually be following one of TSB's walks!

 We parked at Chop Gate car park and walked up by William Beck Farm, then steeply up through the bracken to the escarpment where we turned left and followed the ridge until just before a plantation of trees where we turned onto the open moor and headed towards Tripsdale.

 William Beck Farm

 From the escarpment

 Crossing rough moorland towards Tripsdale

Initially we followed a shooters' track but this petered out and we trekked over open moor,  then along an ancient earthworks until the enormous stones came into view.

There are two plaques fixed to the rocks, the first is to Alfred J. Brown, a countryman and favourite author of TSB who placed the plaque with the blessing of  Brown's family.  The second is a small bronze plate inscribed with TSB's date of birth and death, and a quote "There must be Dales in Paradise", part of Brown's epitaph, "There must be Dales in Paradise, which you and I will find".  The stones are not easy to reach and there are no paths nearby, which makes them a more interesting feature, we thought.

 Clive on Low Cable Stones

 AJB's plate had once adorned his home

At some time in the remote past smaller stones have been set in front of the Cable Stones and finding a couple of flat ones we sat and enjoyed our coffee and scones, wondering as to the source of the name 'Low Cable Stones'.  Deciding to make further enquiries later and much refreshed, we set off  NNE across the open moor.  Eventually we reached a footpath which led us back to the escarpment  from where we descended through the pretty village of Seave Green.  We soon arrived at the Buck Inn in Chop Gate, where we enjoyed a pint sitting outside in the warm sunshine. 

 My right hand is next to the TSB's plaque 

Leaving Low Cable Stones along the ancient embankment, the head of Upper Tripsdale to the right

 Walking back towards the escarpment, Chop Gate below

 Starting the descent to Seave Green

 Substantial storehouse or shelter on descent

A reward at the Buck Inn

I was sure the landlord of the Buck Inn had a  German accent but Clive said he was sure he was Australian.  Returning to the bar I asked and he said he was Australian but had been born in Germany, so we were both right.  He and his wife had walked in the area in the 1970's and had loved the hills so they had bought the Buck. 

Who is Tom Scott Burns ?

Tom Scott Burns

Tom's memorial plaque at Tripsdale

 

8th August 2013
Retirement is great and so is walking.  For the last year or so Clive and I have walked every week on the North Yorkshire Moors, whatever the weather; throughout last year's awful summer and dreadful winter and this year's sunshine and summer heat.  The one constant of our weekly hike is that we choose a walk from one of two books, 'The Walker's Guide to the Cleveland Hills' or 'The Walker's Guide to the Hambleton Hills', by Tom Scott Burns.  These are just two of several very informative books he wrote about the North Yorks area.   Sadly Tom died in 2011 and Clive and I believe his excellently researched walks should live on and continue to be enjoyed.  TSB lived near me and was born in the same year as myself, but even though I bought his book (signed by him on 18th November 1993) and even though I must have often followed in his footsteps, we never did meet.  

Clive also has a copy and around the beginning of 2012 we decided to work our way through all the walks. Now, having completed each trail two or three times, we feel we have properly come to appreciate Tom Scott Burns through his marvellous descriptions of the hills and their flora and fauna.   

Today, Thursday 8th August 2013, Clive and I walked through Tripsdale and saw for the first time the bronze memorial plaque to Tom Scott Burns, which is fixed to Low Cable Stones.  It was a lovely sunny day and as we sat drinking our coffee beneath the plaque it occurred to me that I might start a blog which could be a place to upload my walking photos each week, perhaps with a few notes about the day's walk.  Just a simple blog that Clive and I could refer to and which would be a convenient way of remembering our walks in the Cleveland Hills.  Of course if anyone else should come across it and perhaps enjoy the photos of our lovely hills then they (you?) are most welcome.      

What could be a more appropriate way to start the blog than with today's walk to find the memorial plaque to Tom Scott Burns?