Levisham buzzed with the sound of Bank Holiday grass cutting, the pretty little place is more greens than houses, and walkers sat outside the Horseshoe Inn.

Soon we were ambling along Little Field Lane with a party from St Albans on a nature trail and identified a flock of starlings, a bumblebee and the meadow buttercup. A field was lit by dandelions and a farmer sprayed.

This lane, a dead-end, made of Tarmac, stone then grass, runs along the edge of the valley, it’s Newton Dale below and our descent, through Levisham Wood was long and gentle.

Today’s walk is on the Levisham Estate that is owned by the North York Moors National Park. The whole estate is open access, and in the woods here there are a lot of paths and tracks, enough for many walks, and it’s lovely. Newton Dale does seem the richest in wildlife of the long valleys of the National Park.

The bluebells were out, the air was fresh, with honeysuckle scents to come. The sun was bright above the canopy of branches and we startled a pair of deer. A waterfall splashed with the last night’s rain, there was a distant rumble and rattle, but no hoot.

At the bottom, at Farwath, there’s a crossing of the railway line and a bridge over Pickering Beck. Then, for two miles, the path, the stream and the railway run close together. So, you have the choice to pick a spot, sun or dappled shade, and wait for the trains.

We kept moving, a buzzard circled, a crow gave two sombre calls and frogs croaked. Marsh marigolds occupied a spring and soon the wild iris will flowering.

And the trains came to us. First along, travelling backwards, was the streamlined Sir Nigel Gresley. Then a more ordinary steam train emerged from the trees, then a mile further on, not far from Levisham Station, at no particular place, one stopped and, after a minute or so, fired up.

Levisham Station is very sweet and rather unusual. Trains arrived, hissing, and were stoked with coal and then departed with urgent chuffing, first The Green Knight that is all shafts, pistons and chunkiness, then the fast blue curvy Sir Nigel.

A volunteer painted a shed pink, another restored a sack barrow. Walkers and passengers refuelled, for the former a good idea, not just because they boast five stars for food hygiene here, but because Levisham village is a mile and a half from, and 450 feet higher than Levisham Station. It was a nice climb.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed. Note: (wm)=waymark.

1 From the main street through Levisham, towards the pub. Left after church (dead-end sign), left-hand bend. Road turns to track by wood, along top of valley.

2 Track swings sharp right (wm on gateposts).

3 Track enters wood and almost immediately right at junction (Levisham Estate sign), 50 yards, path (wm post) on left, 400 yards.

4 First track on right downhill, 50 yards, fieldgate on left (wm) and right to path through scrub for 200 yards. Left to path gently downhill over grass, half a mile. Gate into field, (fingerpost in field), gated bridge, cross field, fieldgate, footbridge.

5 Right to track (fingerpost), through farm, gated railway crossing – CHECK FOR TRAINS, footbridge/ford, track, ignore right fork after 50 yards, 50 yards.

6 Fork right to track (fingerpost), track/path contours near and above railway line and stream for a mile, some fieldgates and waymarks. Fieldgate (angled wm), 11 o’clock uphill, fieldgate (wm), gateway, fieldgate into wood (wm), path, fieldgate, 11 o’clock across field.

7 Fieldgate, path uphill but after 100 yards, or 50 yards after power lines cross, turn right downhill at unsigned grass paths crossroads, clear path down through scrub from lower end of field, gated footbridge and right to track to Levisham Station, gated railway crossing – CHECK FOR TRAINS.

8 Road uphill from the station, gate/cattlegrid, 100 yards, path on right (fingerpost), footbridge and gate into woods, gate (wm), uphill through field by fence (wm) and right at corner.

9 Stile/fieldgate (wm), right to grass track, 25 yards, fork left (fingerpost Village) to grass incline up hillside then path around head of gully.

10 Stile (wm) at top of hill, field-edge path by boundary to your left, fieldgate (wm) and straight on, stile/fieldgate to rejoin outward route.

Fact File

Distance: Six miles.

General Location: North York Moors.

Start: Levisham.

Right of Way: Public.

Dogs: Legal.

Date walked: May 2013.

Car Parking: Roadside in Levisham.

Lavatories: Levisham Station.

Refreshments: The Horseshoe Inn at Levisham and Levisham Station kiosk.

Tourist information: Pickering TIC 01751 473791, North York Moors Railway 01751 472508. Map: OS Explorer OL27 North York Moors eastern.

Terrain: Valley.

Difficulty: Moderate.

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.