Yorkshire Walks

Setting off along the road towards Flixton

After about 300m the Wolds Way route went off to the right of the road but we continued for another 200m to map ref. TA047776. Here we turned off the road to the left to join the Wolds Way for about 150m to drop down into Lang Dale.

This morning I drove to the eastern edge of the Yorkshire Wolds a few miles inland from Filey. I met two friends at map ref. TA050770 about 3km south of Flixton on the road to the hamlet of Fordon. It was a fine sunny day with a pleasant breeze. We started walking just after 10.00am back along the road towards Flixton.

The Wolds Way leaves the road heading for Filey

Path along Lang Dale

The rough pasture up the steep valley sides was covered with all manner of wild flowers.

An owl nesting box in a Scots pine

They support the bird population and their predators and we passed two trees with substantial owl nesting boxes attached to them.

We followed the path in the bottom of Lang Dale and into North Dale.

Path along North Dale

These meadows are the basis of the rich variety of wild life in these valleys with many insects and small mammals living in them.

An owl nesting box in an ash tree

Cluster of large bracket fungi on an old ash tree

Emerging from North Dale into Fordon

She made several gestures as we passed which I stupidly did not recognise as sign language. Her mother tried to explain but I'm quite deaf and did not understand straight away. It was a very embarrassing failure in communication - sorry!

The path along North Dale brought us to a farm track which led into the hamlet of Fordon, a quiet well kept little place. We passed a couple with a young woman I took to be their daughter.

Start of a farm track into Fordon

Western scarecrows in Fordon

The crossroads in Fordon

St. James church at Fordon

We passed the little church of St James, a satellite church of Hunmanby parish.

At the cross roads in Fordon we turned right to walk up the hill.

St. James church at Fordon

A limosin bull and one of his harem near Fordon

Trig point near North Cotes Road

Then, at the crossroads, we turned left on to North Cotes Road, a lane between the fields.

We passed the trig point (map ref. TA045744) near the crossroads at the top of the hill.

Looking back to the crossroads along North Cotes Road

A huge field of oil seed rape, ripening in the sunshine

Tall concrete posts, apparently of war time origin?

After about 2.5km we reached the road at map ref. TA072742 in Cans Dale.

We followed North Cotes Road between vast fields of healthy crops.

North Cotes Road, track between the fields

North Cotes Road, track across the fields

Small Tortoiseshell butterfly on the path

After about 350m, the track began to climb up the hillside between hedgerows to a semi-derelict farm called Danebury Manor.

At the road we turned left to walk along it for about 1.3km. Here we turned right off the road on to a track along Cans Dale.

Track climbing out of Cans Dale

Approaching Danebury Manor from Cans Dale

From the road the sea and the cliffs at Bempton were just visible. The whole walk had been about 12km and had taken us four and a quarter hours including a couple of refreshment stops in the sunshine.

As we passed Danebury Manor we could see that a good deal of building work was in progress. I wondered if its name had anything to do with the tumulus marked on the map only about 250m away. We continued past the farm and along the road back to our starting point.

The last 100m to our cars at the end of our walk