Burton Agnes, Harpham, Kilham walk. (30 August 2010)

I parked up at Burton Agnes at just gone nine o’clock for a short local, morning walk, not wanting to brave the Bank Holiday Monday traffic for too long a drive. The day was windy and overcast, but dry.

I first walked this route in August 1996. It’s got to be said that the paths are in a much better condition now than they were then, with the signage generally good and the way usually clear on the ground. I believe this is a general trend and certainly so in the East Riding.

After visiting Harpham and Lowthorpe Beck the route debunks onto the lay-by cum picnic area at Bracey Bridge. I’m told that this spot is a notorious dogging venue, but today, not a canine in sight. Seems a strange place for a terrier show… Any thoughts of a cup of tea and a bacon butty were quickly dispelled when: I’d left my cash at home.

The walk up to Kilham, following the shallow valley of Lowthorpe Beck and back over the low Wold to Burton Agnes was pleasant, if unspectacular, throughout. The long views were somewhat limited by the general gloom, although the wind farm at Lissett was a prominent and impressive feature.

Today’s walk was of about seven miles. I passed one large group of walkers near Kilham.

Burton Agnes map

Carnaby, Boynton, High Caythorpe, Rudston 29/08/2010

Not wanting to fight the Bank Holiday traffic I settled for a return to a local circuit, a version of which was last walked two years ago, just before the C2C trip. I parked up in Carnaby village at around 09:45 hrs, just in time for the first shower. It was one of those days: bright then glowering skies, blustery then calm.

Temple Farm was as smelly and messy as ever. The nearby Temple seems to be holding up to the ravages of time: shame I can’t say the same about me…

The path down to Boynton was non-existent on the ground; the field has been recently cropped, but the direction is obvious. There is a glimpse of the front of Bessingby Hall, which seems to sit with its back to the village and its access.  

There’s a choice of three routes from Boynton to High Caythorpe. The best is probably from the Grindale road; I took the way via Low Caythorpe. This is a fine route in itself, but spoilt by a half mile walk along the B1253. The subsequent trek along the bridleway to High Caythorpe, followed by a lane and paths to Rudston is fine, with wide ranging views over the grandly named Great Wolds Valley.

After paying respects to the monolith I sat in the churchyard at Rudston to feast on apple, Mars bar and Lucozade, whilst airing my feet; a sight guaranteed to scare young children and horses. The walk up to Woldgate is along another good track giving the merest peep of Thorpe Hall: it’s surprising that such a large building is almost entirely shielded from the view of us plebs.

Woldgate, the Roman road last walked near Wetwang last week, was met. Here it’s a quiet single track lane with views to the coast and across Holderness towards the Humber. The Humber Bridge towers were clearly in sight. After a couple of hundred yards a rough track through the newly harvested fields heads back to Carnaby and the car.

Today’s walk was of about eleven miles. There was little evidence of the paths and tracks being used much. No other walkers and only a couple of mountain bikers were met. Despite this the walk is of high quality (the B1253 excepted) throughout.

My foot problems seem to now be firmly in the past and my stamina is improving.   

2010-08-29

Wetwang Circular 22 August 2010

It was a fine warm day today. I was buying cold Lucozade at the Wetwang stores by 09:45 and off across the fields by ten. I was following a route suggested on the East Riding of Yorkshire Council’s walks website. For the first half mile it coincided with the Chalkland Way, a route I followed about five years ago, before leaving it to join a fine green lane heading east.

The green lane forms part of the Woldgate Roman road between Bridlington and York. It was probably old before the arrival of the legions and looks like it last saw heavy use as a drove road before the arrival of the railways. It makes for pleasant walking with wide ranging views across the Wolds and Holderness.

Sledmere Monument is a prominent feature of the view ahead. I left the lane a half mile before reaching it, however, to head south. The track of the long abandoned Driffield to Malton railway was the next feature of interest, followed by a view into the quarry at Garton Slack, the site of Iron Age chariot burials.

I’ve frequently driven along the A166 road. Always the road appears scenic, rural and pleasant. To approach and cross it from the fields, it was noisy, smelly and intrusive. Funny how walking in familiar areas gives things a new perspective…

The route met a surfaced lane to head east for a short distance, before joining another green lane. The walk here was through well wooded, shaded, field boundaries. The way was then left to head north, through Thorn Dale, back to Wetwang.

The route was about nine miles in length and in very pleasant, if unspectacular country, throughout. I passed half a dozen other walkers, mainly accompanied by dogs, and a couple of mountain bikers on one of the green lanes. My feet survived unscathed.        

N Frodingham, Foston, Brigham, Hempholme Walk

It’s a couple of weeks since my Warter outing: the blisters have just healed. Must remember to carry plasters and dressings next time I experiment with boot inserts… We live an learn.

I didn’t want to tempt fate and try anything too energetic today. A walk in the flatlands of Holderness was the order of the day. Although I’ve lived in the area for many years and, where I hit tarmac I knew the roads well, I’ve never actually walked any of today’s paths. Today was an odd mix of the new and the familiar.

I parked up in North Frodingham and walked north along a green lane towards Foston on the Wolds. I would guess the lane would be muddy after rain; it got progressively rougher before petering to a narrow footpath and crossing a couple of water courses into the southern tip of the village near an attractive old mill.

A hare practically ran into me on the otherwise quiet lane to Brigham, near a recently squashed grass snake: when did I last see a live one?

A family of swans graced the canal at Brigham, at the start of a three mile walk down the navigation. The canal merges with Frodingham Beck, a branch of the canal, and, a short distance further, with the River Hull at West Beck. The water and drainage channels are somewhat complicated in these parts, the area hovers around sea level and the map is littered with Ings and Carrs: it must have had a very soggy history.  

Bethell’s Bridge sports lots of boats in varying degrees of upkeep. I doubt some have moved in years. Instead, the moorings are decorated with sheds and small gardens. More caravaners than corsairs…

Just south of the bridge, whilst passing the large wooded area at Struncheon Hill Farm, I almost stood on a vole.

The river was crossed at the lock north of Top Hill Low and left for a footpath to the hamlet of Hempholme. There the route followed a line of old gravel workings; long abandoned and now a series of bonny, well wooded ponds and small lakes; much of the way back to North Frodingham. 

Today’s walk was eight miles in hot and humid weather. The route was much more rewarding than I’d anticipated and the paths, although largely unfrequented, were clear and well marked throughout. Birds and water fowl were plentiful and the water was everywhere teeming with fish. Did I mention the hare and vole? 

Wharrem Percy, Thixendale Circular (Monday 8 June 2009)

Near Thixendale

Towards the dale of Thixen Dale

Descent to Thixendale

Honey Dale

Medieval gravestone set into Wharrem Percy church wall

Fish pond, Wharrem Percy

St Martin's Church Wharrem Percy

I’d bought boots over the weekend, a pair of Brasher Lithium XCRs. Today was a leave day, bright, but not too warm; time to test-drive the new footwear.

In view of the sensitive nature of my feet I decided against anything too challenging and opted for a revisit to the Wolds for a favourite walk last done in July. So, off to Wharrem Percy it was for an eleven o’clock start from the medieval village visitor car park.

The walk is a popular outing and uses a figure of eight route alternating between parts of the Yorkshire Wolds Way and Centenary Way. I varied the walk over past visits by visiting Vessey Pasture Dale on the outward leg and entering Thixendale from the west. This, incidentally, seems the slightly easier option, using the steep Wolds Way path at Thixendale in descent.

The boots seemed comfortable at first, light, with plenty of support. As the day progressed, however, I developed hot spots on the soles of both feet which, by the end of the walk, had developed into full blown and rather painful blisters. I don’t think this is a fault of the boot; it’s just the usual war of attrition I always have to endure before my feet accept new footwear.

It was pretty quiet on the route: I passed just one other set of four walkers and a morose youth sat in a farm vehicle using all of his limited ingenuity to ignore my presence. There was plenty of bird and insect life on display, including lots of tortoiseshell butterflies, but no larger animals.

The pub at Thixendale was closed but I found a reasonably restful perch at the village cricket pavilion to chew my banana and apple and air my toes. It got pleasantly warm during the middle of the day with surprisingly strong sunlight: enough to lightly toast exposed skin.

The highlight of the return leg is the descent into Deepdale and Wharrem Percy. Wharrem Percy has a very agreeable setting which always attracts a smattering of visitors. In truth there’s not a lot of the medieval village to see, just humps and bumps on the ground, a pond and a ruined church. There are plenty of interpretation boards, however, and even the least imaginative can get some appreciation of the site’s past.

I finished the ten mile walk blistered, sweaty and sunburnt: I must get back into a regular weekly walk routine to regain some of the fitness I had at the end of last year’s Coast to Coast walk.