Settrington - Sunday 12th April 2009

As a family, we avoid the coastal roads on Easter weekend, specially Easter Sunday but for the sake of the ‘Oddsocks’ we sat in the traffic all the way from the gym to Malton bypass arriving at the start point 30 mins late.

What joy to find other Oddsocks had arrived already. We were 9 altogether and two dogs. We set off at about 11.30.

The route took us from the community centre car park past the gates of Settrington House and into the valleys and hill sides that twist and fold around here in a most unusual way.

The views from the high points over the vale of York were splendid and the heads of the valleys formed natural amphitheatres.

We climbed one such valley head called Fizgig Hill. We stopped for lunch on Bassett Brow where a bench had been kindly placed for us to enjoy the view across the relatively flat farmland to the North EastBoth dogs seemed well behaved to me but then near the end of the walk our dog Kelby disgraced himself by chasing some chickens, only stopping when I rugby tackled him to the ground – feathers everywhere.!!

We walked through the village with its green each side of a clear tinkling brook and ford, daffodils in abundance.

Thixendale - 8th March 2009

The walk started in beautiful sunshine as 9 + 2 dogs were soon warmed up by the climb out of the village. Conditions underfoot were quite firm so good progress was made along the Wolds Way. We stopped for a group photo after 2.43 miles (or at least 10 miles if you happened to be one of the dogs) and asked some following walkers to take a photo of the whole group – only to find it was 3 more Oddsocks who had missed the start! So 12 +2 now headed off towards Warram Percy and a well earned lunch break. After a quick inspection of the church, lunch was had in its lea before we set off on the return leg.

At this point the sun started to disappear behind some thickening clouds and by the time we got out of Deep dale valley the first spots of rain were starting to fall. It did stop for a short time but soon returned as we retraced out path along Raisthorpe Wold. This time it did not stop and soon turned to snow being driven by a strong westerly wind. At this point we were walking south so everyone was white on one side only!

The weather finally eased as we got the bottom of Court Dale and the sun was even starting to break through as we arrived back in Thixendale.

According to the GPS we had walked 7.91 miles in 2hrs & 50 minutes. One advantage of this faster than planned walk, was that the pub in Thixendale was still open. We therefore adjourned to it for a drink and a huddle around the fire before heading back home.

To summarise, this walk started and ended in sunshine with a good variety of wintery conditions in between. Definitely no cobwebs left after this one!

Levisham - Sunday 8th February 2009

Fifteen brave souls plus one adventurous labrador arrived in Levisham, having successfully navigated the snow and ice on the one-in-five hill approaching the village. I for one was sure the car wouldn't make it.

We set off on the path heading towards Newton on Rawcliffe and above the railway for the North York Moors Railway, before turning right and heading north towards the Hole of Horcum. Having had half an inch of fresh snow over night made the surface crisp and crunchy underfoot. No trains running today - not sure whether this was due to the conditions or simply being out of season. Anyhow, it would have been a treat to see a steam train making its way trhough the snow-covered moors.

We made our way along Levisham Bottoms and stopped for a break at Skelton Tower, bathed in sunshine and with magnificant views along the valley.

We then set off again towards the Hole of Horcum, however the going got tougher and it was agreed we should shorten the walk. This resulted in a climb up the West Side Brow hillside through snow, at times over a foot deep. Once we reached the top, lunch was had overlooking the valley.

After lunch, we continued along the hilltop, and despite losing the path in the snow (and thus going approriately 'off-piste') we found our way back the main path near Dundale Rigg, before heading back towards Levisham. Upon arrival back in the village, the temperatures had dropped considerably and so the decision was taken to driven over to Lockton before stopping for a drink, so as to avoid the possibility of getting stuck on the steep road out fo the villages.

Despite the consitions, we had a wonderful walk. It is not often you get the chance to see the moors under snow - have a look at the pics to see what you missed!

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Possible weekend walks in the summer

During our last walk in Terrington at the weekend a number of you showed interest in organising a weekend away for wlaks in say the Lakes.

Is there genuine interest in doing this sort of thing?

The walks would be set at a moderate level to allow everyone to participate, although if there is sufficient interest in doing one of the higher peaks we could split the group into two and have two walk leaders. The idea is to make the walks inclusive, so wish to listen to all opinions and make it work for everyone within reason.

An itinerary might look like the following:

Friday: arrive at location and check into B&B/hotel/hostel (individuals responisble for organising their own accomodation). Meet for dinner/drink.

Alternatively, people may prefer to travel over Saturday morning to meet at the allotted walk start time on Saturday morning - normally 10am.

Saturday: walk of 6-10 miles in length. Dinner/drinks/free time in evening.

Sunday: shorter walk of 5-6 miles in the morning, leaving time for lunch and travel back to York.

Suggested locations include: Lakes - north near Keswick or south near Conistan, Teeside, Northumberland, Derbyshire dales - any others? Suggested months: June, July, August or September.

Let me know your thoughts and if there is enough interest, we can look into organising something.

Perhaps we can discuss further on the Levisham walk in February as well.

Terrington - Sunday 11th January 2009

What looked like it could be a wet day turned out to be mild and dry as the group of sixteen headed south out of Terrington and towards Mowthorpe. As we reached the end of a long lane we were greeted by a wonderful view across the Mowthorpe Dale, before turing right and heading towards High Stittenham.

Navigation was a little tricky around this area due to the poor upkeep of path signs, meaning that the reccy the previous weekend often came to the rescue in ensuring a six mile walk didn't turn into twelve. Anyhow, despite the mud and lack of signposts, we found our way into the village.

High Stittenham has grown recently due to the conversion of a number of barns into accomodation, leading to the moving of the footpath thus adding more confusion.

Onto a brighter note, the group stopped as we headed north-east out of the village for some lunch whilst overlooking Mowthorpe Dale. After lunch we continued on our journey back towards Mowthrope and then on towards Ganthorpe. Just before Ganthorpe we turned left and headed back to Terrington.

The rain had held off and our dry but muddy group finished the walk with a rewarding drink at the Bay Horse Inn, which has its own brewery.

Christmas walk - The hills above Ampleforth - Sunday 28th December

All those that attended the 2-part Christmas walk will know that some confusion arose resulting in the walk being completed in 2 parts - one being the group meeting up at walk start in Ampleforth and the other being the group meeting up at the gym, who then failed to arrive at the walk start in time to join up with the first group.

Oh well, there will always be some confusion but the lessons learnt are twofold:

- leave 45-50 minutes between gym meet time and walk start time

- ensure someone responsible for gym meeting group and walk start group, ensuring that the two join before commencement of the walk

It seems we had over 20 people for the walk, even if they were split into two groups.

Anyway we knew the route from the blogsite details and we had a map so we did the planned walk, which was fairly easy once the initial climb up from the village was done. Some clear panoramic views over the top of Ampleforth of the Howardian Hills with the steam rising from the cooling towers at Drax power station on the horizon.

Once the height was gained it was just a gentle contouring down through the plantations of College Moor and Swine Gills back to Ampleforth. It was a gentle walk but a chance to have a rest from Wallace & Gromit and the Christmas chocolates.

(Walk comments and pics courtesy of Mick Collins)

Hovingham - Sunday 14th December

We were a party of 10 including ‘Kelby’ the dog.

The weather was grey and unpromising when we struck off East for Slingsby along the old Malton-Gilling branch line. There is a heritage mosaic plaque on the site of a level crossing and we paused here for a few moments then on to Slingsby with water logged fields either side of our dry and level track.

We stopped for a drink on the charming village green in front of the old fashioned looking school and a huge May Pole. Refreshed but in need of a old fashioned WC we took the footpath that cuts through a farm yard and into some paddocks where the horses all had their best Sunday coats on. The incline towards Fryton Woods allowed a good view back over the village with its Castle ruins, interesting Church, and shop without a post office. (the post office has just shut). The solid grey clouds began to thin as we climbed into the woods and as we emerged on the other side of the bank the sun actually came out for us.

We walked through rolling pastures around Fryton moor. The map showed that some of the mounds were Tumuli and Julie told us that the Iron Age fort on the hill top would have buried it’s dead there. Nobody had a better story so we bought that one.

Lunch time found us all sitting on a convenient log washed in weak but welcome sunshine.

Turning north to head back to Hovingham we crossed over Wath beck which was rushing madly along with pale limestone coloured water frothing away beneath our footbridge.

Happy, muddy and sniffing all the way ‘Kelby’ and friends arrived back at the car park at 2.15 pm. Total time 3.5 hrs.

Cheers John.