9.4 miles

Outdoor Leisure Maps No OL299 & 30

A very pleasant ramble through the agricultural countryside of North Yorkshire, taking in two churches on the way.
The route is mostly very easy to follow, and includes a fair bit of road walking. The roads used, however, are very quiet and providing you pay attention are perfectly alright for use.
The only gradients involved are reasonably gentle, but almost all of the route is practically level.
In winter-time, or after heavy rain, some of the paths can be very muddy.
The only difficulty we found was on the footpath between Bumper and Brandsby. To start with there was one stile, but this was then followed by having to climb over a wooden fence.

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 web site, - just use QUO!!

Start from the church in Crayke (SE56047 70603).
Walk downhill (on the street) to the Durham Ox hotel. Here turn left and follow the road Northwestwards out of Crayke until you come to the farm road leading to Launds Farm.
Pass to the right of Launds Farm and follow the footpath markers to Bumper Castle.
Take the footpath from Bumper Castle to Bumper, and turn left when you reach the road.
A few yards along the road you will find a footpath, reached by crossing a stile, to Brandsby.
At the end of the first field you will have to cross the wooden fence by climbing over the fence. There is no gate or stile at this point.
Now take the footpath (through two metal swing gates) to Brandsby.
The footpath emerges at the road East of Brandsby.
Continue Eastwards on the road, past All Saints' Church, to the cross-roads at Stearsby.
Turn right at the cross-roads and continue along the road for the next 2 1/2 miles or so until you reach the cross-road at Marton Priory Farm.
Here turn right and follow the road past St. Mary's Church until you come to a sharp left-hand bend where a farm track leaves the road heading in the direction of Crayke.
Follow the farm track (the Fosse Walk) to Marton Abbey Farm and Marton Park Farm then onwards to return to Crayke.