This morning,at about 10.00, I met two friends at the Hole of Horcum car park on the A169 Pickering to Whitby road. We crossed the main road and set off around the rim of the Hole of Horcum to the hairpin bend in the main road (map ref. SE 849941). Here we took the path down a steep icy slope and across the moor to map ref. SE 846948. From this point we descended a steep path on ledge down the side of narrow side valley to the railway in the bottom of Newton Dale. From the railway we climbed the bank to a stone forest track that follows the railway along the valley. We headed north for about 300m and just beyond a left hand bend in the track we turned left off the track onto a narrow path that climbs steeply up a series of steps up the valley side through the forest. At the top of the climb there is a seat beside a grassy woodland track where we stopped for a drink and a sandwich. We contiued generally northwards around the valley rim through woods on a very wet grassy track (it's just marked as a firebreak on the map, but it is well walked). After about 500m frm the seat the track turned left and we followed it for another kilometre to the remnants of a ruined farm called Wardle Green. Here we turned right onto a bridleway over the open moor to Simon Howe almost 2km away. As we approached Simon Howe the dark clouds we had been watching running along the coast moved inland to give us a short snow flurry. At Simon Howe we turned right onto the Lyke Wake Walk route and followed it for 2.5km to Eller Beck on the Pickering to Whitby road. We crossed the road and continued on the Lyke Wake Walk route along the boundary of the Ministry of Defence Fylingdales land, for just over 3km to Lilla Howe. This is a stone cross on a mound and the plaque says that the cross was first erected in 626AD to comemorate Lilla who had died saving the life of King Edwin of Northumbria. This is not the original site of the cross. From Lilla Howe we left the Lyke Wake Walk and turned south to follow a bridleway that skirts the boundary of the MoD land at Fylingdales. When we reached map ref. SE 871968 there was a notice advising walkers that the route is to be diverted into the woods about 150m further away from the MoD boundary. There were two MoD police cars on the perimeter track inside the fence and they followed us at walking pace until the path left the boundary fence where another car arrived and the driver proceded to make an obvious show of taking photos of us through his open window. We continued on our way to Malo Cross at map ref. SE 866949. Here we took the path up the end of the hill and followed the path round the edge of the hill to the woods next to the car park where we had started. When we turned onto the farm road out of the woods there was another MoD police car waiting with its engine running. The whole route was about 20 km and took us six and a half hours including our stops.

Ancient stone cross on Lilla Howe

Drifting snow amonst the tussock grass on Saltergate Brow

Malo Cross looking towards Blakey Topping

Malo Cross