Report by Paul Coates pictures Keith.

Thursday 5th November 2009

Helwath Bridge, Helwath Wood, Juggar Howe Beck, Park Hill, Lownorth Beck, Mill Inn, Crosses Farm, Moor Cottage Farm, Cowgate Rigg, Falcon Inn, Pye Rigg, Moorland Road, Beacon Windmill, Scarborough Road, Telecoms Tower, Stony Marl Moor, Helwath Bridge (9.5 miles).

Sunny morning, cloudy & cooler afternoon.

Paul, Chris, Keith, Paul 'Sherlock' Holmes, Col, Paul Craggs, Jack, Bob.

Paul, Bob.

In the past when we've visited the north east corner of the North Yorkshire Moors we would normally do battle with the rush hour traffic in Scarborough. But today we decided to try a different route avoiding bustling busy Scarborough. With Paul as red leader one and with the aid of Keith's SatNav we took a more winding and tortuous, but ultimately quicker, route via East Ayton, Hackness and Harwood Dale. And what a pleasure it was too with hardly anything else on the road and the lovely autumn colours lit up by the early morning sun. A great start to our day on the hills.

There was only eight of us out today with John, Stu and Ray otherwise engaged along with Dudley who cried off at the last minute with a stomach bug. Either that or he thought it might be another 15 miler. He didn't send any apple pies in his absence though which was quite remiss of him. I'm sure he will be reminded of this oversight next time he's out.

Early sunshine and autumn colours

We got parked up at Helwath Bridge and as we were getting ready for the off Jack got into his stride early doors by alerting us to the importance of good car security. Turns out that it's equally important to understand the workings of your key fob as on a recent fishing expedition he mobilised his central locking system but managed to open all the windows in his car, a fact he didn't discover until he returned later in the day. Clearly his mastery of his new fangled key fob is only surpassed by his ability with the TV remote.

As well as Paul with the trusty Ordnance Survey map both Keith and Sherlock were using their respective SatNav's. So there was no reason to go off route on today's walk then!. Even Jack had brought a map with him and surprisingly it wasn't the Market Weighton area map. However the map he was using appeared to be a rather dated edition contemporary with the Dead Sea Scrolls. We even speculated as to whether it had the final resting place of Noah's Ark marked upon it.

When we last did this walk in spring 2008 we went seriously astray in the Jugger Howe Beck area while searching for the path up to Park Hill. We were determined to not let this happen again and with the aid of our SatNav operators we finally located the path up to Park Hill. No wonder we missed it the last time we were here as it was barely visible among the undergrowth and it certainly wasn't signposted. Thank goodness for modern technology.

Thank goodness for a sturdy bridge

Once we'd climbed up to the old cottage named Park Hill we decided it was a suitable place to stop for our morning break. As we bemoaned the lack of Dudley's apple pies Jack delighted us all by handing out mince pies baked by Pam's fair hand, and delicious they were too. However Bob suggested that next time a dash of cream wouldn't go amiss along with an extra spoonful of mince plus the pastry could have been a bit thinner adding "apart from that they were very nice!". We suspect he was only joking but if a further batch of Pam's lovely mince pies comes our way then could the one intended for Bob please be clearly marked as such as the rest of us are allergic to Strychnine.

After our break we dropped back down through the woods to the track alongside Lownorth Beck. It was certainly wet and boggy after all the rain of the last few days. A little later we passed an old pub called the Mill Inn. Bob was the only one among us who could remember visiting the pub and he re-calls it being on decimal day, the 15th of February 1971. To be honest it didn't look as though it had opened since then.

Coatesy waiting in vain for the pub to open

We noted that Jack had a camera with him today and no one could remember him bringing one before. We wondered if he was going to try and muscle in on Keith and Sherlock's patch? But it turned out he only wanted to take pictures of the various variety of fungi of which there was plenty about today.

Once past Moor Cottage Farm we headed towards Harwood Dale Forest. At the edge of the forest we discovered that the route we had intended to take had been diverted. We weren't particularly displeased at this news as the last time we'd used it we had reckoned it was one of the muddiest and gorse infested paths we'd ever had the misfortune to walk along, and looking at its present state it certainly hadn't improved much. So we took the diversionary route which turned out to be a much more enjoyable experience.

We eventually arrived at The Falcon Inn which was as welcoming as the first time we visited last year. One of the bar staff was curious about our blue footwear worn to protect the carpet from our mud encrusted boots.

We told her we were scenes of crime police officers on a day out. She seemed satisfied with this explanation but made sure no short measures of beer were pulled lest a prosecution should follow.

Men of power laundering our money!!

After departing The Falcon Inn, and despite two Ordnance Survey maps and a brace of SatNav's, we still managed to miss the path we intended to take. Another case of too much talking and not enough looking. In the event the path through the forestry and over Pye Rigg was much nicer than the planned route alongside the forest.

As we made our way towards Beacon Windmill we could see Scarborough Castle and Oliver's Mount in the distance and even further away, and almost lost in the haze, we could make out Filey Brigg. We had our afternoon break sat alongside the wall which surrounds the telecoms mast which (almost) marks the eastern end of the Lyke Wake Walk. Eight months from now some of us will be trudging our weary way past this point after the 40 mile trek from Osmotherley to Ravenscar.

The final section of our walk was across Stony Marl Moor and back down to Helwath Bridge. Apart from the well worn Lyke Wake route, which we followed for about a mile, it's mostly trackless across the moor.

We followed a line of grouse butts and had hoped there might be a land rover track alongside them but what sketchy track there was soon fizzled out. So we bashed on through the heather in the fading light to reach our destination.

Keith and Chris in deep conversation (photo by Sherlock).

Over the last few weeks Sherlock has been trying to sell his SatNav to anyone who might be interested but with no takers as yet.

As the days grow shorter and the end of our walks are finishing under darkening skies he's now taken the opportunity to offer a head torch to anyone frightened of the dark.

As we stumbled through the heather in the deepening gloom he even took to modelling the said item in the hope of a sale.

Again no takers but were sure that on the Christmas do he'll have a stall set up outside the pub offering his unwanted goods. Good luck SatNav Sherlock!

On the journey home, again avoiding Scarborough, Paul's car was enlivened by Sherlock going off on one about a learner driver that had dared to be in front of us in the Everley Arms area. He was getting well stressed out and he wasn't even driving. Just as well there was a professional at the wheel.............!