The Grey Panthers

Explorer Map 302, - Northallerton and Thirsk

This SHOULD have been an 8 mile circular walk. It was published in the Stockton and Darlington Times in November 2013, but whoever described the walk in this publication had clearly not travelled the route in anything other than ideal conditions. In dry, summer weather it would probably be a very straightforward and enjoyable walk.
However, when we did the walk it was in November when the ground was quite wet.
The biggest problem caused by this wetness was a ditch at Old Thompson's Plantation which proved impossible to cross. To get round the problem of this ditch we tried taking a path through the plantation, only to find that further ditches made that impossible.
In the end we walked along a field boundary to reach a lane by Ashton House Farm, and thus cut our losses.
There was considerable mud and boggy conditions along the way, which rather took the edge off things.

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 availabe 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 from the village hall in East Harlsey (SE42341 99781).
Walk Eastwards along the main street until you come to the lane leading to St. Oswald's Church.
Continue Southwards past the church, heading down the lane to the farm road of Stony Lane.
Head Westwards along Stony Lane to reach Featherbed Lane. Here turn left and head South for about one mile to the A684. (CARE : traffic on Featherbed Lane).
Cross the A684 and take the lane immediately opposite. Continue Southwards along this lane, and then footpath, until you come to the finger post indicating the bridleway to Foxton Grange Farm.
Just past the farm buildings, take the footpath Southwards towards Old Thompson's Plantation.
In dry conditions, the footpath continues, - after crossing a deep ditch, along the edge of the plantation to Sigston Bridge.
We found that the ditch was too full of water to cross, so turned left to follow the field edge to the lane, and then took the road to Sigston Bridge.
From Sigston Bridge, take the footpath to St. Lawrence's Church.
From the church, take the footpath then road past the Manor House to reach a minor road. Here turn right and when you reach the bridleway to Sigston Castle Farm head up this farm track.
Just before the farm, turn right through a field gate and then head Eastwards and Northwards along the bridleway.
The fields at this point can be extremely muddy.
Follow the bridleway almost to the top of the planttaion on your right, when you will find a waymarker indicating the footpath to Mill Farm. However, after descending through the woods, you need to turn right in order to find the footbridge that takes you out of the woods.
Once out of the woods, turn left and head North Eastwards to the lane.
Follow the lane to the A684 at Pintail House, and cross the A684. At this point the crossing is particularly hazardous as the road is somewhat blind on either side of the crossing.
Now take the waymarked footpath to Harlsey Castle.
Pass through the farmyard and take the road Northwards for a short distance.
THis leads to a footpath which takes you back to East Harlsey, with the last section being along Goosecroft Lane. This is an ancient sunken lane and can be quite boggy in parts.