George Wilkinson's 150th Evening press Walk takes in part of the Cleveland Way
In celebration of my 150th walk for the Evening Press, I decided on an easy ride and a length of the Cleveland Way.
One of the best sections, along the escarpment of the Hambleton Hills, with the wonderful views west that were James Herriot's favourite.
It is a a linear route made possible by the Park's admirable Moorsbus service.
In Helmsley the coaches congregated. A Texan boarded one for Danby.
Two Swiss women, who had been learning English in York, joined me and a dozen others and we set off to Osmotherley.
It was a lovely ride, so nice to see over the hedges and walls.
Bilsdale basked in the sunshine. At Chop Gate we turned onto narrow twisting lanes and threaded through the Cleveland Hills, and on the descent glimpsed Teesside's faraway forest of chimneys.
A hairpin climb later we reached a car-congested Osmotherley, where most disembarked, leaving me and the Swiss to continue to our isolated Square Corner start.
The Swiss powered off on Alpine legs, up and round the smooth Black Hambleton Hill. Hi-tech mountain bikes swished down on the hard packed gravel track. The heat was on.
Thirty minutes climb warranted a brief collapso in the heather by a cairn near the trig point.
Mile after mile of good easy track and path follows the edge.
In some places the land juts out, part or wholly wooded shapes that blend down to the mosaic of the flatlands.
I could see to the Dales. Bikes outnumbered boots.
A dog carried its own water. Half way along there is a dip into Paradise. T
he Swiss had stopped, one sketched. I had a snooze, serenaded by a skylark.
You get glimpses east to the moors. Wild thyme and cotton grass was out, the heather not quite, except the bell sort.
The vegetation becomes more cultivated but the terrain even more spectacular, with vertical path-side limestone cliffs. Then Lake Gormire signals the last leg.
I caught the Swiss again, one was furtively harvesting bilberries ('illegal' in Switzerland), the other was whacked, but delighting in the long, long vista, which she said you don't get in their 'narrow valleys ... but the mountains are higher'.
The stylish Sutton Bank Centre was heaving, tea in the shade of an ash, info inside.
'Travel the green way' it said on the poster, and the righteous boarded the Moorsbuses.
DIRECTIONS
When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.
1.Track from car park (signed Sutton and Easingwold) uphill, gate/fieldgate, fieldgate and stay by wall.
2. Fieldgate to path by edge of conifer wood.
3. Right at tracks junction (signed Cycle Trails, Cleveland Way sign broken), farmyard, downhill on tarmac drive.
4. At sharp right-hand bend, fieldgate to grassy path (signs), wooded hillside, fieldgate, uphill, gap by fieldgate out of wood.
5. Cross road, track, 50 yards, fieldgate/stile and grassy track uphill back to escarpment and cliffs (signed gate to path on left of wall to avoid cliffs for few hundred yards).
Moorsbus
Sunday, July 11 and 18; daily from Sunday, July 26 to Tuesday, August 31; Sundays only in September and October. Fares: £2.50 all day (Family Ticket, two adults and up to four children, £5) within Moors area (Easingwold, Guisborough, Malton, Scarborough, Thirsk). Outside Moors area, £5 or Family Ticket £10. Information from Sutton Bank National Park Centre 01845 597426, or on Internet at
HYPERLINK http://www.countrygoer.org/nymoors
Parties of seven or more are asked to telephone before planning to travel to avoid disappointment.
1. Park at Sutton Bank Centre. Buses to Helmsley take 15 minutes, depart 1000 and then at least every thirty minutes till last bus at 1730.
2. Depart Helmsley for Square Corner (Osmotherley) at 1020 (arrive 1130) or 12.30 (arrive 1340)
3. Moorsbus from York. Depart York Rail Station 0905 (Easingwold 0940), arrive Helmsley 1015. Change for 1020 to Square Corner. Return on bus from Sutton Bank to Helmsley (NB last one at 1730). Buses from Helmsley to York depart 1715 (arrive 1840) and 1815 (arrive 1925)
FACT FILE
Distance: Nine and a half miles.
Time: Four to five hours.
Start: Bus from Sutton Bank. Walk from Square Corner (near Osmotherley), Grid Ref. 479959.
Right of way: The complete route is along public rights of way.
Date walked: Sunday, July 4.
Road route: Sutton Bank is on the A170 between Thirsk and Helmsley.
Parking: £1.20 all day at Sutton Bank (voucher gets you £1 off Moorsbus Ticket).
Lavatories: Sutton Bank.
Refreshments: Sutton Bank caf and kiosk.
Tourist & public pransport info: Sutton Bank National Park Centre 01845 597426
Map: Based on Outdoor Leisure 26, North York Moors western area.
Terrain: Good surfaces. One climb then mostly undulating. Footwear: Walking boots.
Points of interest: Views, heather, Moorsbus. Difficulty: Moderate.
Dogs: Suitable for dogs, but dry, and keep on leads or under close control.
Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418
Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.
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