day one - Helmsley to Sutton Bank 10.5 miles

Time to go


Helmsley Square Cross— the starting point

The walk starts at the old stone cross in the market square of Helmsley, Helmsley is a bit of a tourist haven of the Ryesdale District

A traditional outdoor market is held in the square every Friday, and there is this said cross, but also an ornate Victorian monument to the second Baron Feversham. Overlooking the town are the ancient ruins of Helmsley's Norman castle.

At Helmsley castle

And so we start, its 3 miles to the Rievaulx Bridge, and Rievaulx Abbey, one of the first, and most successful Cistercian abbeys to be built in England in 1132 ad. The name comes from the Rye Valley (where we are) and the medieval French word for valley "Vaulx".

Rievaulx Abbey


From here, we headed to Cold Kirby, passing migrating ducks that were congregating before the departure. It was about here that we did the traditional thing for day one, if your walking with me, got lost.

Somehow missed a trail sign and did a detour along a farmers field. There are so many Red Grouse and pheasants running around, I felt like I was at the zoo. 




Eventually, we came out into a field at the bottom of a ravine, climbed out from a hedge, and saw some guys standing around in a field, lucky us, we could ask for directions, turns out they were Partridge hunting and we came walking out in the middle of it. We had a bit of a laugh about them not shooting our butts as we came out of the brush, and moved on, then I though, why would they hike around the countryside hunting Partridge, when you could just wait under a pear tree. 

The White Horse of Kilburn, the horse is cut into the Limestone of Roulston Scar, on the edge of the Tabular Hills. Cut in 1857, it measures almost 300ft by 210ft

White Horse Cliffs

I purchased the trail guide before we left, it breaks down the hike into daily sections, so when it said we end today at Sotton Bank, a normal person would assume ( silly idea) that Sutton Bank was a village. Oh no! That’s too simple. We arrived at the end of day one, to find it’s just a place with a cliff. It was a 25 pound taxi ride to the nearest accommodation. Now I’m no math professor, but I do believe that means ANOTHER 25 pounds tomorrow morning to get back on trail.  I can now tell that by going through the trail guide that the night after tomorrow could be the same thing. So now I’ll change my approach. It has been a great hike today, and our feet are doing fine, oh well, it’s off to our bed for the night at the , not too close, White Horse


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

day two-Suitton Bank to Osmotherley 12 miles

Image
 Today we traversed along the west side of the Hambleton Hills, but a good climb right out of the gate. Last night we stayed in a hotel and there was no restaurant anywhere close, so we ordered Indian take out and had it delivered, then we dined on the room floor. Garlic Naan bread had more garlic than a nun has habits.  Fine dining We met this Indian chap in the hotel bar called Raj, he was from London and doing some window replacement work at the Sutton Bank tourist center, REALLY I said. We start from there in the morning, so the kind chapped who was drinking scotch like there was about to be a shortage, offered us a ride on his way to work.  Great start to the day. The Drovers Road Hiking along the crest of the Hambleton Hills The view over Gormire Lake The location of the old travelers rest Another damned gate I heard her mutter Looking out over the Rye Valley A great day to hike, little chill in the air, slight overcast, and a slow breeze a big part of today was on ...
Read more

Day eight walking— Whitby to Robin Hood’s Bay

Image
If you believe that walking is a spiritual journey, then you have to believe, someone is looking out over you We left Whitby this morning in the rain, always a challenge, so on the way out of town, I popped into a hiking store and purchased a rain cover for my back pack, my own one was toast. Then it was up the 199 steps to Whitby Abbey. Whitby Abbey is an Anglo-Saxon monastery for both men and women, dating from AD657, the building was damaged and rebuilt in 1220 as a Gothic church. Looking back as we leave Whitby  You realize how quaint this village is. We loved our stay, but we have somewhere to walk to, which we are looking forward to.  Today was not long, but the terrain slowed us up and challenged our legs, The wet trail got super slippery in places, and I could tell that MB was not having her best day. Her hip was challenging her a bit. We got the a cattle gate where I got the rainbow photo, and we decided to take off our rain gear, it’s really hot in rain gear, so off ...
Read more

arrival on september 20th, 2022

Image
Its been a long day from South Carolina to Helmsley in the Ryedale District of North Yorkshire. Planes to Manchester, four separate trains to Leeds, then a cab to Helmsley. The reason for being here, is to do another long distance hike.  Im walking with my girlfriend Mary Beth, who was a tough cookie on the last walk, I think she is really fired up to tackle this one , either that, or the English beer. Arriving a cloudy Manchester morning just at sunrise We are spending tonight in a cute but old village inn downtown, so we can get started walking from the market place in downtown in the morning. It’s great to be back in my country of origin, and I forgot how friendly and welcoming the English are, you know your back in an English village when you see the cottages and flowers The Cleveland way is 110 miles long (180 km ), and should take about 8 days. Its one of Englands oldest trails ,and was founded by the National Trails organization in 1969. We head north, then east, before head...
Read more