Although the spread of COVID-19 in the UK seemed to have peaked, 'hotspots' where appearing around the country and the Government was enforcing local restrictions, particularly across the north of England and South Wales. Fortunately as yet these restrictions do not affect rural East and North Yorkshire. We can continue to meet in groups of up to six, whilst still maintaining the 2 metre 'social distancing'. Pubs, cafés, and restaurants reopened although hours have been restricted, particularly where outdoor seating was available to allow groups (bubbles) to meet but still social distance from others. Ann whilst slowly recovering from her earlier 'set-back' has been diagnosed with Parkinson's Disease, something she had suspected for some time, so I've continued to limit my walks to Sundays. The unsettled weather has continued, which has affected my plans for walks, but with no scheduled walks that's not a big problem.

Sunday 6th Sept
Although the weather was overcast we decided not to put off our moorland adventure again, so I met up with Caroline on the track leading to Fen Bog, just off the A169 near Eller Beck Bridge. Just after setting off we were surprised to hear a whistle from the NYMR down below. Dashing to a suitable view point we got a glimpse of Southern S15 class No 825 trundling towards Pickering, no doubt to return later on the 1200 'Optimist' service to Whitby. A short distance from the railway footpath crossing is the large Goathland Summit sign which signifies the change in gradient on the line. Following the Lyke Wake Path we headed up onto the moor and there turned left onto a track which brought us to the edge Northdale Scar with great views up and down the Dale, unfortunately with no trains scheduled. Entering the forest we turned right to follow a path then the forest road to the clearing called Wardle Green. Instead of turning here towards Simon Howe, we opted to continue ahead along the forest road. Some distance further on a waymark pointed the way out of the forest onto the open moor. Initially the faint path could be followed linking a couple of footbridges over moorland streams but eventually we had to keep referring to my OS Maps App to keep on course across the bleak moorland, passing a corrugated shed in the middle of nowhere. We reached the edge of the moor overlooking Wheeldale and found a convenient rock on which to perch for our lunch. After lunch we joined the Lyke Wake Path to head east towards Simon Howe. The westerly wind was now at our backs, but it was bringing some ominous dark clouds. Simon Howe, a crossroads of paths, was busy with walkers arriving from all directions - a family with two small children, a fell-runner, and an elderly couple walking briskly 'on a mission' to beat the rain. After a 'selfie' by the cairn, the rain arrived so we donned our waterproof jackets and continued on our way. Fortunately the worst of the rain passed to the south. As the path began to descend towards Fen Bog we decided to add a loop, bearing left across the moor to follow a stream down towards the railway. Here we turned to follow the fence overlooking 'Goathland Summit' along to the gate where dropped down to cross the railway at Fen Bog. It was twenty to three, and I guesstimated that the afternoon NYMR 'Optimist' would pass by in about 10mins, and so it did with 9F 92134 in charge of a socially-distanced well-filled 7-coach train. Back at the cars we had clocked up a walking distance of just over 8 miles.

Sunday 13th Sept
Something a little different for me and Caroline for this Sunday. We had to arranged to meet up with Daphne, a former Hornsea Walking Club member now residing in Hampshire, on her annual visit 'up North'. Daphne was staying in Whitby along with three other friends. I had arranged for the six of us to meet at Sledgate car park overlooking Robin Hood's Bay. Unfortunately several went to the wrong car park and it took two or three phone calls to get everyone together for a delayed start to our walk. Our walk would be about 7½miles and was basically all downhill in the morning and all uphill in the afternoon! There was a very strong westerly wind but as we dropped down past Fyling Hall School into Ramsdale we were more sheltered from the wind. After passing the restored water-mill we climbed onto high pastures with the wind behind us and views towards Ravenscar and Stoupe Brow. Heading down hill we joined the 'cinder track' (the former railway) for a level mile then turned off to join the clifftop Cleveland Way overlooking the bay. We found a spot for lunch overlooking Robin Hood's Bay, but the path was very busy and our lunch spot seemed to be at a popular viewpoint where everyone stopped to take photos! After lunch it was down the steep steps into Robin Hood's Bay which was very busy on this sunny Sunday afternoon. So we pressed onwards and upwards to the higher parts of the town and left the crowds behind as we headed out past the unusual-designed St Stephen's Parish Church. From near the old railway station we took to a field-edge path steadily upwards to the hamlet of Raw then along the 'brow' of the moorland overlooking Robin Hood's Bay. By now the wind had dropped and it was warm work in the afternoon sun to climb steadily up to the car park to finish our walk at about 3.15pm.

Sunday 20th Sept
On a grey drizzly Sunday morning I met Caroline in Newton-on-Rawcliffe for a walk in forest and moorland round into Newtondale. Any hopes of the weather brightening didn't materialise, other than 5mins of sunshine during our lunch stop near Stape. Our route took us off the beaten track using access land to enter Cawthorne Roman Camp by an unofficial 'back way'. A clue to the approach of autumn was the number of different fungi in the woods near Elleron Lodge. After lunch we had a choice of routes - we opted for the old road down Raindale. This provided a good route, descending gradually into Newtondale near the Platelayers Cottages. My plan was to arrive at Levisham NYMR station in time to see the afternoon train from Whitby at about 3 o'clock. Due to Covid-19 the station is closed to the public, but refreshments were available from the 'Weighbridge snack bar'. We bought cups of tea and waited - the train was running about half-an-hour late due to having stalled on damp rails earlier in the day. So after standing around (there were no seats available for the public) the train arrived at about 3.30pm stopping on the crossing to exchange tablets before continuing non-stop to Pickering. We were now faced with about half a mile walk back to Newton-on-Rawcliffe - unfortunately this is almost vertical, straight up Newton Banks! With a few stops to look back to 'admire the view' we made it and arrived back at our cars about four o'clock. The weather back home had been fine all day!

Sunday 27th Sept
Caroline's Birthday Walk - Although the weather forecast wasn't great, we went ahead with our planned walk. So at about 10.30am I met up with Caroline on Cow Wath Bank just above Goathland station. As we took the path down to the station we just missed loco 92134 passing through on its way up to Pickering. We cut through the village, which was quite busy with visitors, and headed towards Darnholm. On our way down to the bridge under the bridge over Eller Beck, to our surprise we heard a train whistle. Dashing to the top of the bank overlooking the bridges just in time to see J27 65984 on a 3-coach shuttle to Goathland. Below the bridges Eller Beck cuts through the rock creating a mini-Strid (the Strid is on the River Wharfe near Bolton Abbey). We dropped down into Beck Hole and joined the Rail Trail, which follows the original 1836 line by the Murk Esk for an easy stroll towards Grosmont. The Rail Trail has been enhanced by new information boards explaining about the mines, which were the reason for building the railway. A new path has been made up to the site of Esk Valley Mine which we decided to explore - a fascinating spot with the foundations of the old mine buildings and stunning tree sculptures depicting the old mines. It also provided a sheltered spot for our lunch break. Continuing towards Grosmont we were passed by 92134 with the 12 o'clock 'Optimist' from Pickering. Above Goathland tunnel another new board shows what Grosmont was like at the height of the mining industry with smoking chimneys and iron-ore blast furnaces. Instead of continuing to Grosmont station we cut through the churchyard of St Matthew's Church and followed the track down to the Murk Esk. The sight here was quite amazing - the river makes a tight turn, cutting into the steep hillside creating a 75ft vertical cliff. A narrow road to Dale Head Farm fords the river twice, but how could we get across? A check of the map showed we should have taken a narrow path by the graveyard - this led us to a narrow footbridge over the torrent below. It was now a steady plod uphill on the road to Dale Head Farm - at least we now had the wind behind us. At Dale Head things levelled out a bit with views back towards Grosmont and the Esk Valley. Passing a couple more farms we eventually reached the Beck Hole road on Goathland Moor. Turning up this road we reached the top on Goathland Moor, about 800ft above sea level. Here we ventured off-piste into the man-made ravine created by quarrying the Whinstone Ridge. From up there the only way is down, down the route of the old wagonway with views over Darnholm. An easy stroll as the weather brightened, back down to Goathland to complete an enjoyable 8mile walk despite the mixed weather.

Links to Photos of these walks can be found at the top of this page or on the Photo Albums page. Click on this link: Photo Albums