Yorkshire Walks

Blubberhouses Church

We set off up the hill past the church and turned off on a little track at map ref. SE 167551. Some rather well to do houses have been created out of old farm buildings and just beyond the houses we came out on to the moor.

This morning I had arranged to meet a friend in the car park at Blubberhouses at the head of Fewston reservoir at about 10.00am. We were both a bit early and we were ready to start walking by 10.

A tupp with a fine pair if horns -
I think its a Dalesbred, not the usual Swaledale that we see here

Foundation of the Roman Road became strew all over the moor after the top paving was robbed for building ceturies ago.

A Small Copper - a pretty little butterfly

Milestone on the Ripon to Ikley route

From this high point on the moor we could look back and see the modern A59 on the hill top next to Menwith Hill base where a long straight section of the A59 lines up exactly with the track along the Roman Road.

The modern A59 follows the line of the Roman Road

Looking from the Roman Road to Gawk Hall Gate

At this point we left the route of the Roman Road and followed a well worn path across the moor for about 1km to Gawk Hall Gate. There are some interesting old marker posts in this area and just though the gate is an old mile post showing the distances to Ripon and Ilkley. It was a fine sunny day and we stopped with our backs to a wall for a drink and to admire the view.

Start of the path along Lippersley Ridge

Looking over Ilkley from Lippersley Ridge

 

After our break we set off along a path to Lippersley Ridge. We had only been walking a few minutes when we noticed two red kites wheeling through the air above us looking for things to scavenge. We watched them for a few minutes until their search took them too far away for us to see. There is a red kite breeding and release programme based at Harewood House less than 20km away as the kite flies.

Knaresborough Forest boundary stone

 

Cairn on Lippersley Ridge

Path into Timble Ings woods

On Lippersley Ridge we saw an old boundary marker for the edge of Karesborough Forest, and old royal hunting forest used by King John when staying (as he often did) at Knaresborough Castle, so the peasants needed to know where the boundaries were to keep out.

At the end of Lippersley Ridge we took the path through woods from map ref. SE 149526. A new gravel path had been laid for several hundred metres. We followed the path through the woods for about 2km to the cross road at map ref. SE 170530.

Blackberries - there was a bumper crop of them all along our route

Footpath through Beecroft Moor Plantation

We went straight across the crossroads and continued into the village of Timble. At map ref. SE 179529 we turned left off the road to follow a path across the fields to a road at map ref. SE 177534. We crossed the road and took the path through the woods opposite to come out into the fields by a footbridge at map ref. SE 174540.

We then followed the path across the fields for about 1km back to the car park. The whole route had been about 12km and had taken us three and three quarter hours to walk including our stops.

Dead tree above Blubberhouses car park
(I just liked the shape against the sky)