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27 February
2003
Sutton Bank, Kilburn White Horse, Gormire Lake
North York Moors
Map:
OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors Western area at 1:25000
This morning
the weather was still cloudy with bright patches but quite misty
in the distance. Three of us drove up to the visitor centre at
Sutton Bank and we were ready to start walking by half past nine.
We took the path from the car park through the woods to Hambleton
House and then followed the Cleveland Way passed the Hambleton
Hotel to walk around the edge of the glider field to the White
Horse overlooking Kilburn. We
descended the step at the side of the white horse to the car park
at the bottom We made our way along the forest tracks to map ref.
SE 506819 where a bridleway leaves the track to head out across
the field to Hood Grange. The bridleway skirts the back of the
farm and then turns down the side of the farm to the farm access
road from the A170. Where the bridleway joins the farm road there
is a footpath opposite which crosses the field directly to the
A170 and about 100m along the main road there is a footpath on
the opposite side of the road leading across the fields to Gormire
Farm. Here we followed the track to Gormire Lake and took the
permissive path clockwise around the lake.
It's one of my favourite spots - so calm and pretty with all kinds
of wildfowl on the water, surrounded by woodland, patches of reeds
at the waters edge and the high yellow sandstone cliffs overlooking
the whole scene. Once around the lake we joined the bridleway
to Southwoods Lodge, and then continued another kilometre to Southwoods
Hall. The bridleway through the hall yard seems to be in the process
of being diverted around the boundary of the buildings which I
think would be a sensible move. I'm all for minor diversions of
this kind that help to remove conflicts between residents and
walkers.We followed the bridleway up the hill across the fields
and up through the woods to the Cleveland Way path around the
edge of the escarpment. At the top we followed the Cleveland Way
for about 3km back to the visitor centre at Sutton Bank. The whole
route was about12km and took us four hours to walk including a
couple of stops along the way.

View
South West from Map ref. SE 507849
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Deformed
tree beside Gormire Lake
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Gormire
Lake
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Dead
trees above Southwoods Hall
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