Old Byland to Nettle Dale and Scawton

7.5 miles                             Fine and Sunny

Tom Scott Burns describes how 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 settling in a site they called Bellalanda, or Byeland.  We approached Old Byland from the B1257 Bilsdale Road via Rievaulx Abbey and parked at the roadside.

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

The All Saints Church is hidden behind houses on the village green and we decided to look around it before we started our walk.  We were impressed by the beautiful brass weather vane and as the church was unlocked we stepped inside.  There were bat droppings around the altar but generally the church is in good shape.  We noticed the ancient carved pagan stones set into the wall of the church that TSB mentions, dragons with knots in their tails and horned-headed men.  He tells us these emblems are associated with the old fertility religion of Europe.  As we left the church we noticed another interesting weather vane on a house opposite, of a running fox.

All Saints Church, Old Byland

Pagan carved stones

We walked away from the church and as we left the village we bore left through a gate and into the woods of High Gill.  The track was badly overgrown and thick with nettles and gradually descended to Ashberry Pasture, a wild-flower sanctuary maintained by the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust.  The path through the woods and pastures was little used and wet, even though we have been enjoying dry weather, and after a couple of miles emerged onto the road where we walked past Ashberry Farm.

"Where's the path?!"

Faint path through the nettles

Ashberry Pastures

Ashberry Farm and duck pond

We stayed on the tarmac road as it flanked Ashberry Farm and crossed a bridge before passing Hagg Hall where we saw a handsome bull in the field.

Bull near Hagg Hall

Our route turned left off the road into a woodland track which wandered through Nettle Dale, past several large lakes which seemed to run into one another.  We have never seen so many ducks, the lake and ground nearby was covered in them.

The track through Nettle Dale forms part of the Cleveland Way

Beautiful stretches of water through Nettle Dale

We leave Nettle Dale

Our path headed uphill through Spring Wood and emerged on the road leading to Scawton.  We past the Church of St Mary without calling in, as time was passing and we were ready for our break.  In the centre of the village we found a wooden bench and settled down to enjoy our coffee and scones, but this was soon interrupted by a couple of handsome pigs who left the comfort of an old barn to come and stand behind and make their presence felt.  It was apparent what they were after and Clive fed them a couple of Rich Tea Biscuits, which they loved. I stood next to him to take a photograph and the big ginger pig sneezed over us both, leaving spots on our trousers that dried to an unpleasant greenish colour. 

Church of St Mary, Scawton

Biscuits?

Me too!

While we enjoyed our coffee a local stopped to chat and pointed out to us that our path out of the village was to our rear, hidden behind the telephone box.  We went back through the gate he had shown us and into fields which led down through another wooded valley to skirt the village of Cold Kirby.

Our gate is behind the phone box

Little used track

Through Flasson Dale

      
Eventually our path once again approached Nettle Dale and its lakes.  A large shooting party passed us in several Jeeps, waving to us as they went by.  We left the path here to double back and climb through Callister Wood.  As we emerged at the top we saw the field to our right had beaters with red flags.  We stood and watched as they moved slowly forward driving pheasants and partridges in front of them.  We moved on again as the guns in Nettle Dale began to sound.

Pheasants and feeding stations near Flasson Dale

Bridge into Callister Wood

Beaters above Callister Wood

Our faint path led us across several fields and after crossing through the nettles of Low Gill entered Old Byland at the other end to our starting point.  We were amused by an accommodation sign on a holiday let, did it apply to the property or the landlady? 

Old Byland appears in the distance

Low Gill

Spacious accommodation?

We walked back through the village to our car.  Today's walk was very enjoyable but we agreed it should only be a dry weather walk.

Two days in the Lakes

Day 1 Helvellyn via Striding Edge
 

Carole on Striding Edge

Day 2  Ambleside to Troutbeck via Wansfell 

Jenkins Crag overlooking Windermere

.......... and Badgers!

Badgers at Rydal

Click HERE for photos

Caydale and Noddle End from Murton

7.5 miles                           warm and sunny

Tom Scott Burns tells us that a 'grange' was a farmhouse attached to a religious order and Murton Grange belonged to the monks of nearby Byland Abbey.  We drove to Murton Grange from the Laskill turn-off from the B1257 Stokesley to Helmsley road and parked on the verge near to the white buildings of the grange.

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

Murton Grange

We did this walk last year in thick mist but today we have sun, warmth and clear views.  Our path led us along the tarmac road past the Grange and as we walked we noticed a very strong and pleasant smell of aniseed. We came to a gate off the road, arriving at the same time as a farmer in his 4x4 who stopped to pass the time of day.  Clive asked him about the aniseed smell and he explained it was from the plants that grew at the roadside.  He said that if he drove over them the smell became intense.  (On looking these plants up at home I see that they are Sweet Cicely although now passed flowering)

We leave the tarmac at this gate

The farmer identified the source of the aniseed smell

Tom Scott Burns mentions that the last wild cat in Yorkshire was shot at this point in 1840 by a certain Charles Harrison.  We now walked down from the road into the very pretty and peaceful valley of Caysdale, crossing the stream at the base of the valley by a wooden bridge.

Looking back at Murton Grange from our path

Walking down into Caysdale Valley

The stream at Caysdale

As we climbed the other side we passed by a very old and unusable bench which is shown on the map as Captain's Seat. We wondered who the Captain was and what brought him to this lonely spot to sit.  A little further on our path turned right onto the tarmac of Wethercote Lane, which we walked for the next mile.  On the left we passed Wethercote Farm and were amused at the Cat and Mouse weather vane.

Clive eats blackberries as we climb out of Caysdale

A rest half way up

Weather vane at Wethercote Farm

We crossed the drovers road and the path followed field boundaries to the cliffs of Boltby Scar, where we saw a field of sunflowers, most unexpected on the moor top.  We reached the moor gate and turned right, walking for a short while along the cliffs we last walked from Boltby two weeks ago .  This time we went straight ahead at the Old Barn instead of turning down towards Boltby, and in a short time found a spot in the sun where we sat and enjoyed our coffee and scones.

Across Hambleton Mosses to Boltby Scar

Sunflowers on the moors

Moor Gate

Boltby lies below

Approaching High Barn

Sitting in the sun we watched a large flock of lapwings circling higher and higher on thermals until they eventually disappeared into the clouds. 

Lapwings (and dust spots on the lens!)

Much refreshed we walked on down to cross Sneck Yate Bank to follow a woodland track to High Paradise Farm.  The last time we visited High Paradise Farm there were fancy hens and piglets but now a new notice advertised a tea room and we saw tables and chairs in a neat garden.  It was too soon after our stop to be tempted, so we pressed on past the farm, soon reaching the Hambleton Drove Road.

New sign and tea room notice at High Paradise

Entering High Paradise Farm

Hambleton Drove Road

When we reached the Drove Road we immediately went through a gate on the opposite side of the byway and followed a track next to a dry stone wall which led us to Dale Town Common.  Leaving the common we gradually lost height on Gowerdale Bank and then reached a ramshackle barn at Noddle End, where we had a magnificent view into Dale Town down below.

Heather on Dale Town Common

Gowerdale Bank

Old barn at Noddle End

Our path led steeply downhill to a single deserted farmstead, Gowerdale House.  This area was the site of what was once a medieval village, long abandoned.  TSB speculates whether the Black Death visited this secluded valley. 

Walking down from Noddle End

Gowerdale House

We walked in front of the house which had the bleak message, "Look around and get out!" painted on the front door, and followed a rising path through the yard of Dale Town Farm.  We admired an old Range Rover with huge wheels which would be handy for driving in this steep valley, then climbed straight uphill from the farm, right and then left along Peak Scar Top, soon reaching Murton Bank Road and our car.

Chopped Range Rover

Dale Town Farm

Looking back at Dale Town Farm from Peak Top Scar