We went for the first long walk in a long time, nearly 10 miles, starting and finishing in the local village of East Ayton. We walked up Forge Valley, which was carved out by the melt waters from the last ice age and is the valley through which the River Derwent flows today. As we walked through the woods the smell of the wild garlic was amazing. In some place it was in full bloom and in others it was a couple of weeks away.
The walk took us along some old holloways, tracks which have carved their own path out of the landscape. The views were amazing, especially as we gained some height as we pulled up to the plateau of Suffield Heights before we dropped back down in to Hackness and followed the opposite bank of the Derwent back along Forge Valley to East Ayton.
All in all a great round walk that took in parts of locality that we hadn’t visited before. Strange to think that such a quiet and rural place is less than four miles from the harbour in the centre of Scarborough.
On the way back we passed Ayton Castle, a former fortified 15c manor house and a number of dressed up scarecrows from the local village. One of them looked a lot like Rory Stewart the former MP!
The walk we followed features in the Cicerone walking guide “The North York Moors :50 walks through the National Park“. If you are following the route do be careful as the broadwalk through Forge Valley described in the route is in a fairly dilapidated state and we managed to miss the signs pointing us to the detour route.
#walkshire #walking #rambling #thingstodo #daysout #livelocalsupportlocal #walkshire #walkerfriendly #walkingfriendly
Come stay at Cliff House Holiday Cottages
Our five holiday cottages in North Yorkshire are just on the edge of the North York Moors National Park and 20 minutes from the Yorkshire Coast. Half way between the market town of Pickering and the seaside town of Scarborough. We offer a perfect year round base for exploring what the area has to offer, from Flamingo Land, the North York Moors Railway to the modern history museum of Eden Camp and a lot more besides! At Cliff House Holiday Cottage we are “Walking Friendly”, which means that we provide maps and walking guides for our guests and as we live on site are usually always on hand to offer local advice as to where to go and to what to visit.
Our range of five cottages include a 6 person cottage with one en suite and a further 2 bathrooms. We also have smaller cottages suitable for couples and people travelling on their own. All of our cottages are set within 2 acres of grounds, are dog friendly and have access to our indoor heated swimming pool and games room. As “Walking Friendly” accommodation, we supply maps and local guide books with details of lots of local walks – also as we live on site we are also on hand to recommend a walk or two!
