HOVINGHAM'S bakery and tearoom made a good start for this walk. We sat outside with bikers, walkers and pushchair pushers and took tea and pecan nut tasties. The normally clear beck was muddy.

The first couple of miles were so easy, tracks smooth through the flatlands with hedges rich each side with hazel, elder, thorn, ivy and field maple that had a red tint.

Occasionally, an ash or oak cast a pool of midday shadow. Through gaps we saw south to the Howardian Hills and then north to the rise of Caulkleys Bank. This bank has the steep hairpin bend of road between Hovingham and Nunnington, but later on, by the time we got to its eastern end it was much diminished.

The land is all arable, mostly wheat, pale golden yellow, perhaps the loveliest of the main crops, and begging for a weather break and the harvester.

All was going well, although it was a bit of shock to see a big-barrelled bird scarer positioned next to the footpath. Luckily, it was not banging off. Further irritation was raised by a field path that was overgrown and had not been reinstated by the farmer, but it wasn't tricky.

Holbeck looks like a drainage ditch on the OS map, but it was brimming, speeding the rainwater to Malton. After the bridge over the beck, the ground rises for a gentle climb up Caulkleys Bank.

We celebrated our first sight of the North York Moors with a sandwich under an ash tree that had cramp balls of black fungi.

The walk is a comfortable one. Once you've found Caulkleys Lane, you are set for the next few miles along the ridge, a gradual ascent to a trig point and bench at 300 feet. If it weren't for a few trees, the views would be 360 degrees. They used to race horses here.

Hovingham catches the eye, but the next stop for us was the village of Stonegrave after another mile along the ridge.

From here we tried a path, but were repulsed by nettles, so took a back lane that had no traffic and brought up an oddity.

Keep your eyes peeled and shortly after leaving Stonegrave, about 50 yards after a bridge and on the right hand side, enclosed in a box of fencing and with a plaque there is a resurgent black poplar, a rare thing. Its wood will not burn and so was used for brake blocks. The verges sprouted horseradish, which looks like dock.

We reached the disused railway track and it took us back, a finishing mile as pleasant as you could wish.

Distance: Eight miles.

General location: Howardian Hills.

Start: Car park in Hovingham.

Right of way: Public and permissive.

Map: Drawn from OS Explorer 300 Howardian Hills and Malton.

Dogs: Legal.

Date walked: July 2007.

Road route: From York via Sheriff Hutton.

Car parking: Car park and roadside in Hovingham.

Lavatories: At car park.

Refreshments: Tea room, The Worsley Arms and The Malt Shovel.

Tourist and public transport information: Malton TIC 01653 600048.

Terrain: Ridge and plain.

Points of interest: I'm a week late with the timing for this walk. Should have done it to coincide with a brief period that Hovingham Hall opens to the public.

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.

Directions

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1 Right from car park to Helmsley Road (pavement/verge). Brick bridge on right to metalled drive, becomes gravel.

2 Stone track on right a field away from house (waymarked post), 300 yards, field-edge path on left with hedge to left (fingerpost), gateway in trees offset at first corner and by hedge to your right (waymarked post). Fieldgate and right (fingerpost), into farmyard (waymark), left then right to skirt buildings.

3 From farmyard across field via waymarked telegraph poles but path not reinstated, left at hedge for 10 yards, hedge gap (waymarked post), right 100 yards, left by conifer hedge, right at corner.

4 Left to drive (waymark), 100 yards, track from corner, ignore a left, 50 yards, bridge over Holbeck, steps up by wood, path 50 yards.

5 Left across field/stony ground 150 yards (waymark post), right by hedge to your right, barns.

6 Left to track (fingerpost), ignore side turns, cross road, keep by wood to your left, track dips to fieldgate into field to sunken path down (waymark), fieldgate.

7 Cross road and left to pavement, second right to Cawton/Gilling Road.

8 Footbridge on left (permissive access sign), 25 yards, left to grassed old railway line, turns to cinder track.

9 Leave railway line at kink and bridge to track on right, left at junction outside village (fingerpost), fieldgate, right to road.

Map of the walk>>