SLAPEWATH, near Guisborough, is hardly even a hamlet. Driving by it's gone in a flash, but we had noticed that the Cleveland Way goes through it en route to the coast, and that if you do a couple of miles on that you can return on the historic Cleveland Street.

So we found ourselves supping coffee in the Fox and Hounds, to the tune of bebop jazz. We were informed by a framed newspaper cutting by the loos from the Cleveland Standard of 1939, reporting the anniversary of a break-in at the pub in 1859 and the "vigour and almost masculine coolness" of a daughter who took on the robbers, who then spent their remaining years in York prison - all for a bottle of whisky, gin and rum.

Now this isn't one of the most picture-postcard zones; it's wired to the big smoke, kinda tough in some ways, so just be cool.

A bit of vigour was required at first for a climb past an amphitheatre of shale glowing on a gloomy day with gorse flowers. At the top, there is a view bench for a pan over the Cleveland Hills, but what caught the eye here was the goings on around the opposite hillside, where motorcycles were roaring up the steepest of shale slopes, impressive and legal.

A heron wafted by, we rustled deep leaves past pleasant woods, lost the road noise, passed a trig point at 700 feet and were cheered up by a flock of yellowhammers at Airy Hill Farm.

We strode past Cripple Hill to the sound of skylarks, and stopped to ask dog walkers about the views on a good day. Apparently they are to Saltburn, the sea and along the coast to Hartlepool.

Then there's the village of Skelton Green. Green it ain't, hedges flower with crisp wrappers. There is a Green Inn, a Miners Arms and the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah's Witness, a forbidding building where they do something called "watchtower study".

Trout Lane sounded nice, so still on the Cleveland Way we had a look. It's a track, and Trout Hall is in stone with nearby parked up ice cream vans. But here perhaps you get the essence of this area of coastal hinterland, the villages of terraced houses each with a growth of jumbled allotments.

Now the return journey on the Cleveland Street, once a monks' route from Guisborough Priory to Whitby Abbey.

We trod across the pastures, peered at Cold Keld Spring. Partridge whirred, pigeons and horses watched, magpies decorated, it rained. It was good to see a hundred starlings on a wire; the blue light of a police car flashed through Lingdale, the electronic tinkle of an ice cream van ruined a Scott Joplin tune; the songbirds were more constant.

Down below there were old railway sheds and lakes, a swan took off with creaking flight. In Spring Bank, there was another spring dressed with stone; once there were spas. A mega mound of mine waste glowed with gorse; iron was the gold here in the 19th century.

It hadn't been the most beautiful walk, and would have been better with sea views. But it was interesting - but muddy, which prevented another dive into the Fox and Hounds.

We noticed when back home some posted info on a route that, barring objections, will link with today's walk and open up the wetlands and lakes here via the old railway line.

That would be worth a look.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point.

Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1. From Fox and Hounds, pass houses, path to left of drive of last house (fingerpost Cleveland Way), 25 yards, stile, 50 yards, stile and right, 50 yards, steps and path (waymarked post) and up around old quarry.

2. Stile and viewbench at top. Path swings right along top of woods.

3. Stile and right (fingerpost & waymark) to field-edge track, stile/fieldgate and through farmyard and join farm track. Straight on to road at Skelton Green.

4. Right to road at T-junction, first left to Trout Hall Lane, turns to track after houses.

5. Right to road (verge), 150 yards, squeezer on right (post Cleveland Street) into field, 1 o'clock to join hedge to left after 150 yards, stile, stile and left (waymark), 50 yards, stile and right.

6. As beck swings away left, straight on into fenced area, 25 yards, stile/fieldgate to grass track, squeezer to drive, 100 yards.

7. Left to road, 25 yards, track on right (signed), stile, path angles down to far corner of field, stile/fieldgate to track, stile/fieldgate, stile by wood, stile, 150 yards, waymarked post between woods and lower edge path, stile in scrub, stile and join track then field-edge path after waymarked post with fence to left, through trees, 100 yards then path swings left downhill through wood (waymarked post).

Fact file

Distance: Five-and-a-half miles.

Time: Three hours.

General location: Near Guisborough.

Start: The Fox and Hounds, Slapewath.

Right of way: Public.

Map: Drawn from OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors western area.

Dogs: Legal.

Date walked: February, 2007.

Road route: A171 two miles east of Guisborough.

Car parking: Roadside near pub or parking area other side of A171.

Lavatories: None.

Refreshments: Fox and Hounds.

Tourist and public transport information: Guisborough TIC 01287 622422.

Terrain: Farmland.

Points of interest: The Heritage Centre marked nearby on OS map has closed.

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.

Map of the walk>>