24 April 2003
Easterside Hill, Hawnby, Hambleton Drove Road, Thorodale.
Map: OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors Western area 1:25000

I drove with two friends to Moor gate about 2km north of Hawnby this morning and we parked at map ref. SE 539918 at about 10.00am. We were a bit dismayed to find two dozen people already there, milling around waiting to start a walk. It was another fine hot day and we quickly put our boots on, picked up our bags and set off along a footpath to Crow Nest - a ruined farm about almost 1km away at map ref. SE 547915. As we climbed the first stile the club walkers were just starting to get going along the track towards the TV mast. From Crow Nest we followed the path above High Banniscue and below Banniscue Wood for 1.7km around the side of Easterside Hill to Easterside Lane. We turned left up the lane to Easterside Farm and took the path across the fields to Hawnby bridge. We crossed the bridge over the river Rye and turned right onto the footpath at map ref. SE 543893. We followed the path to join a bridleway going towards Sunnybank Farm. Just before the farm we tuned up the hill to walk along a bridleway across the hill top fields to map ref. SE 513895. Here we turned north for about 1km to join a track at map ref. SE 511905. At the track we turned left and followed it for 2.5km to the Hambleton Drove Road with great views out to the Yorkshire Dales. We followed the drove road north for about half a kilometre to map ref. SE 491919 and turned right onto a bridleway to the edge of Thorodale. We sat on the bank overlooking the steep sided valley foe a drink and a sandwich. It was very pleasant sitting so comfortably looking a such a lovely scene. Eventually we had to get up and follow the bridleway for about 3.5km down Thorodale to Mount Pleasant Farm at map ref. SE 526911. We went though the farm where they were just bringing the sheep in for some kind of treatment, and we waited by the gate until the flock had careered through the yard and into a large pen as the shepherd tried to control a very enthusiastic collie. About 250m through the farm we turned right to head south to the footbridge at map ref. SE 531907. From the first footbridge we turned left into a field and crossed a second footbridge to follow a path through the woods and up the hill to Hill End House (the path was diverted some time ago and skirts the southern end of the ponds to go north of the house to join the track at map ref. SE 536910. We followed the track north for about 800m back to the car at our starting point. The whole route had been about 15km and took us 5 hours including our stops.