21 May 2003
Farndale Head, Rudland Rigg, Ironstone Railway.
Map: OS Explorer OL26 North York Moors Western area 1:25000

This morning we drove up the east side of Farndale on the Daleside Road from Church Houses to the end of the road at map ref. NZ 642004. Here there is a small gravel area to park on. The view down the valley was lovely with all the trees in full fresh leaf and the whole countryside looking lush and green after all the recent rain. The sky was overcast with few breaks in the cloud but the next batch of rain was not due until later in the afternoon. We set off at about 10am along the track past Elm House - a continuation of the Daleside Road. After about 1km the track becomes a bridleway and makes its way towards the head of the valley before crossing the infant River Dove. We stopped here for a drink and sat on the hillside to admire the view down the valley before climbing up the west side of the valley to join the track along Rudland Rigg near Bloworth Crossing on the old ironstone railway. The last kilometre from the river Dove to the track is not well defined on the ground and needs careful navigation. We turned away from Bloworth Crossing to walk towards Rudland Rigg for about 3km to map ref. SE 634986. Here a bridleway comes up from Bransdale on a grassy track to join the stoney track on Rudland Rigg and a footpath heads down into Farndale to join the western Daleside Road. We took this path down to the road and just after we started along it we saw a pair of golden plover in the heather over to our right. At the road we turned right down the dale for about 700m to a house called Duffin Stone with a flying pig weather vane. We took the path across the valley to the eastern Daleside Road near a farm called Long causeway. Here we turned left to walk up the road for about 700m to map ref. SE 649997 where we turned onto the bridleway heading up to the old ironstone railway. Partway up the hill we stopped for another break and to look at the view. After about 1km the bridleway crosses the railway and continues down into Esklets in Westerdale. This is the path that the original route of the Lyke Wake Walk used to take (nowadays it continues round the railway to the Lion Inn). We turned left onto the railway for about a kilometre to map ref. NZ 645013 and turned onto the path down the hill through a very marshy area. The best route is from the wooden gate posts on the railway along the east bank of a small stream to the confluence of several streams where the woods begin. From Here there is a well defined path. The woods mark the start of a deep gulley where there is a waterfall about 5 or 6m high. From the railway it was about a kilometre back to the car where we arrived at about 2.30pm. The whole route had been around 10km and took us four and a half hours including our stops