An Evening Walk on the North York Moors

In a couple of weeks, it will be September, the girls will be back at school during the day and dance classes in the evening. It will bring to an end the opportunity that the summer holidays bring to get out as a family for a walk in an evening after our tea. We recently tried a new circular route I had identified on my OS map and so took a walk on Glaisdale Moor in the North York Moors.

Getting there and parking

Turning off the main Blakey road, not far past the Lion Inn, onto the road eastward towards Rosedale you come to a small gravel parking area at the side of the road. There are some North York Moors National Park information boards there so you know you’re in the right place.

Sadly, someone has taken it upon themselves to graffiti the sign with inaccurate assertions.

We set off walking back up this road but immediately took a right onto a single track road.

We were lucky enough to see plenty of birds whilst walking this section with red groud being the main sighting. But there are also curlew, skylark, snipe and lapwing. You can also see merlin on the moors, the UK smallest bird of prey.

Singletrack road

The single-track road provides an easy start to this 3 mile (5km) circular route.

Heading up this road on a clear evening it was possible to see the distinctive shape of Rosebury Topping on the horizon as well as the North Sea. It is quite exposed up there, so even on a summer evening, we were wrapped up.

After half a mile we took a right turn onto a gravel track. The coast-to-coast sign states it is a bridleway towards Glaisdale, some 6 miles down the track.

Trough House shooting lodge

Not far down the bridleway, you come across Trough House. This is a small hunting lodge that would be used by the Danby Estate grouse hunting parties for breaks and lunches. Much to the delight of the girls there happened to be a VERY clean porta-loo around the back that they made use of (and left as clean as it was found).

Fryup Dale views

The bridleway winds its way through the heather moorland with sheep everpresent and so too the red grouse.

As you walk along the path, views to the north-east open up fantastically. The best view being at the point we were to turn southwards onto George Gap Causeway.

The view over Fryup Dale is simply breathtaking. In the foreground, there is an unusual hill formation, aptly named on the OS maps simply as “The Hills”. It’s all a bit Lord of the Rings.

Beyond The Hills, the view extends all the way to the Staithes and the North Sea.

George Gap Causeway

George Gap Causeway is labelled on the OS maps as a path. If it hadn’t been for my use of the OS maps app on my phone and the sighting of a wooden bridge over a bog, we might have missed it altogether.

It soon became more of a path with large rocks and stones providing mostly firm footing, although a few were wobbly. There were sporadic sections where the rocks gave way to the rather moist ground which I am sure in the winter makes for quite a tricky passage. My Meindl walking boots sure proved their waterproof capabilities. Helen was none too pleased about a couple of times where a slight jump was required.

Nearing the end

The sun was setting and we were a little under-prepared for this walk as George Gap Causeway had taken longer to navigate than my estimations.

The causeway crosses the road upon which our car was parked. It was another half-mile walk back to the car from this point and we had the moorland sheep keeping a watchful eye on us as we made our way.

I really enjoyed this walk, although I must ensure we go better prepared in future. Some water and snacks would have made things far more enjoyable.

Just getting out into the fresh air is so important. Stretching your legs and getting some exercise;  It’s not hard to make the time to do 30 minutes each day. This walk actually took us 90 minutes, although there were toilet and photos stops included in that.

Where have you been walking recently? Do let me know in the comments.

Thanks for reading

Dave

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