9.77 miles
Explorer Map OL26, - North York Moors Western Area
A delightful walk for any time of the year in Ryedale, in the
North York Moors.
Navigation is reasonably straightforward, and there are no excessive
gradients to be concerned about.
As the walk goes close to the River Rye in a couple of places,
it is liable to be damp underfoot.
We found the biggest problem to be the slippery nature of the
wooden walkway in this damp area. Although non-slip strips were
attached, they only covered a small part of each board.
The highlight of the walk is almost certainly Rievaulx itself,
with views of the Abbey and the attractive cottages in the village.
Entry to the Abbey grounds requires a fee or membership of English
Heritage.
For a Memory Map overlay of the walk described, please select the
above link.
(Overlay made with Version 5 of Memory
Map)
Some new mapping software is now available which you may want to try, - QUO mapping. You can download the software for free from the link below, complete with demonstration maps. Having installed QUO, you can import and export Memory Map overlays. Thus YOU DON'T NEED Memory Map to use any of the overlays provided on the Grey Panthers website, - just use QUO!!
Start Point : The parking area in the Forestry Plantation
at the top of Newgate Bank (SE56449 89031).
Head for the B1257 road (CARE, - this road can carry fast traffic
at times), and follow the road South for a couple of hundred yards.
Take the track on your right (footpath signposted) and head downhill
through Newgate Plantation, aiming for Broadway Foot Farm.
At the farm entrance, turn sharp left and head downhill to Shaken
Bridge. Cross the bridge, then shortly after take the farm track on
your left that heads initially towards Shaken Bridge Farm. Follow
the waymarks on this track in a Southerly and then South-easterly
direction. Watch out for the footpath waymarks that direct you to
Barnclose Farm.
Turn sharp right in Barnclose Farm's farmyard and take the track to
Tylas Farm.
Just past Tylas Farm, continue along this track, ignoring the track
that is on your right.
Watch out for the field footpath indicated on your left at the Eastern
end of Oxen Dale.
Follow this field footpath until you come to a gate that takes you
on t a track. Here, turn sharp right, and then almost immediately
take the track through Ashberry Wood to Ashberry Farm.
At Ashberry Farm, turn left along the road (CARE : traffic) towards
Rievaulx Bridge.
Cross the bridge and take the road through Rievaulx. Just past St.
Mary's Church, take the track on your left through woodland and up
hill to eventually emerge on the B1257. Follow the road North until
you come to the entrance to Oscar Park Farm.
Head up the track to the farm, and pass through the farmyard.
Continue over farmland using a clear track towards the Forestry plantation.
Head due East through the plantation on a Forestry track.
When you come to another track that heads North, turn left onto this
track and head to the exit of the plantation on Rievaulx Moor.
Follow the clear track Northwards, then North Westwards, across the
moor back to the plantation on Newgate Bank and your starting point.