Birthday
Walk on the Cleveland Way to Kepwick
03.11.2013
Distance: 9.4 miles
Easy going on good track and obvious footpaths on moor and pasture.
Starting point is the Forestry Commission carpark at the top of Sneck
Yate Bank, Boltby.
Head out on the stony track, Hambleton Road, running north-west
across Murton Common. Hambleton Road is an old drove road and as such
is enclosed on both sides.
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Hambleton Road - Enclosed drove road. |
About a mile along the track, there is a cross roads with the
Cleveland Way (South) going left into High Paradise Farm and a
bridlepath heads through a wooden gate and out onto Dale Town Common.
We continue ahead on the Cleveland Way (North), the hard packed
surface gives way to rutted grass before entering Boltby Forest half
a mile down the track.
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About to enter Boltby Forest. |
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Rejuvenated tracks. |
In the forest the path, which has recently been improved by Cleveland
Way volunteers, runs between the moor boundary and the edge of the
trees. The forest is home to a variety of fir and pine trees,
mushrooms, wild fruits, birds and butterflies. Deeper in the trees,
you may find small groups of roe deer, although they don't often
venture out to the moor.
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Looking out across the moor. |
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Steeple Cross. |
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Easy going on Little Moor. |
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Carved stone. |
The track leaves the forest after about half a mile by means of a
large metal gate at Steeple Cross. The track is obvious on the ground
ahead, with a good dry stone wall on the left. The track crosses
Little Moor, which is part of the Hawnby and Arden Estate. In a
slight depression is another cross road.
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At the cross roads above Kepwick Quarry |
To the left, through a gate the metalled road heads downhill through
the (disused) Kepwick Quarry to Kepwick village. To the right, a
rough road leads to Arden Hall. Again, we continue forward on the
Cleveland Way for another 425m to where a portion of the drystone
wall juts out almost across the track. Almost immediately after the
wall, is a wooden gate go through this and follow the obvious
footpath which runs downhill along a good wall.
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About to drop down towards Nab Farm. |
The path gets muddy as it passes small copse and after the trees it
sweeps left and runs almost over the top of a stone structure which
may have been a kiln at one point. Go through a wooden gate, the path
has been drained a little better here follow it over Old Gill on a
concrete bridge then the path swings around to the left as it travels
uphill and turns from grass to concrete, going into a hard standing
area for cattle before passing through a metal gate. This is Nab
Farm.
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Dropping down... |
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...and a bit more... |
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Mucky old moo-cows at Nab Farm! |
Continue straight on down the metalled driveway, passing the Nab on
the right, and onto Bridge Beck Lane. Turn left onto the road towards
Kepwick village, first crossing Bridge Beck then head uphill and at
the top turn right into the village.
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Kepwick village. |
Continue right through the village and after passing the small church
on the right, look out for a bridlepath on the left. Go through the
gate and pass between two rows of trees, slightly uphill to another
gate at the foot of Atlay Bank.
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Exiting Kepwick on the bridlepath. |
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Heading for the gate at the base of Atlay Bank. |
Through this gate, take the bridlepath on the left which runs around
the bank on a narrow path before entering a gorge lined with
rhododendrons which climbs sharply onto Pen Hill. Pen Hill is a
promontory jutting from the moor into the valley below. On the top,
the path is obvious on the grass ahead, it passes over an indistinct
boundary then between Cowesby Forest and a small stand of silver
birch before going through a gate at Black Hill. The path zig-zags to
miss the worst boggy areas, but essentially follows a stone wall on
the left. There are plenty of trees here, but it not demarcated as
woodland on the OS map.
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Rhododendron gorge. |
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Atop Pen Hill, Cowesby Woods on the right. |
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The gate at Black Hill. |
The path and wall turn left to pass around Gallow Hill before meeting
a wooden gate at another crossing of paths. Go straight on through
the gate, then turn left once in Boltby Forest and head uphill
following the forest edge to meet the Cleveland Way once more at the
forest/moor boundary at Steeple Cross. Turn right and follow the good
track of Hambleton Road back through the trees and to the carpark at
Sneck Yate.
Later on, as it was my birthday we went for a lovely meal at the Old Oak Tree at South Kilvington, followed by a couple of pints at the Carpenters Arms, a bit nearer home.
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