Walking The Line

With all the recent rain, I'd wanted a walk that was moderately dry and I thought the disused railway line would be ideal. It was too, and I had dry feet all day. It was a bit frosty though with the track tinged white. The railway line contoured along the hillside near to the top of the moors. There should have been good views down into the valley, but for the first hour or so, all I could see was mist. Gradually, gaps started appearing in this blanket of cloud and I was able to see views down into the valley bottom. Incredibly, the sun seemed to illuminate the fields down there. I had thought of doing this circular walk in a clockwise direction. This would have involved doing the significant down and up part of the walk, right at the start, rather than at the end. This part of the walk involves quite a bit of road walking and I didn't fancy it given the mist and the initial darkness. Looking at the sunshine down in the valley bottom, I wondered whether I'd made a bad choice. 

Apart from the occasional gaps in the mist there wasn't that much to hold my interest walking along the railway line. It was easy walking though and I made good progress. 

Bloworth Crossing

I'd heard occasional blasts of shotguns and when I reached Bloworth Crossing I could see somebody stood on the skyline to my right. An Isuzu had been parked nearby and so I presumed the Tweed Trouser Brigade were up to their usual tricks. The railway line stretched out ahead of me across the moors, until it would eventually reach a point called the Incline. In its industrial days,  carriages of ironstone would be lowered down the hillside to the valley bottom, and from then the cargo could be transported using the normal rail network to the furnaces at Teeside and County Durham. I'd walked near to the Incline last year (see Cleveland Grim Sheeper) and seen the remnants of the workers buildings and machinery there. 

My route today though, turned south along a broad ridge that followed the western side of the Farndale valley. The track had evidently been used for vehicles, but it provide a dry and good walking surface. After a while I saw a light on the horizon that was coming towards me. It turned out to be a motorcycle. There were a few puddles on the track and so I stood quite a distance away so that I didn't get splashed. 20 minutes later a couple of motorcyclists came past going the other way. This remote and desolate moor was suddenly getting quite busy. 

Stones

I thought somebody had been walking towards me on the horizon, but when I approached along the Landrover track, I found the figure to be an upright stone instead. Looking at the OS map, this was known as the Cammon Stone and had another large stone laying down beside it. I decided to take advantage of the lateral one and used it as a seat to eat my lunch. The Cammon Stone was a fine looking stone ('cam' is Celtic for bank stone). It had HALLELUJAH chiselled on its leaning side and the culprit for this graffiti is said to have been the Reverend W Strickland of Ingleby. 

Further along the track, and actually about 50 metres to the west of it, I came across the remains of Cockan Cross. This was smaller than the Cammon Stone and is probably of late Anglo Saxon origin. It is inscribed with the following on each of its faces: Stoxla Rode (Stokesley Road), Farndale, Bransdale & Kirby Rode (Kirbymoorside Road). 

I then came across another stone, further along the road, known as the Rudland Rigg Guide. This has Kirby Rode and Stoxle Rode inscribed on it. These high moorland tracks were obviously the motorways of their day and the stones their road signs.

Church Houses

It was now time to drop off the moor, into the Farndale valley, and then climb back up the other side to the carpark. Now that it wasn't misty, the valley looked rather deep and I had some misgivings about not doing this particular slog at the start of the walk. There was no alternative though and I headed off down into the valley on another good track. The Farndale valley was indeed deep, but it was very pretty too. I soon reached tarmac and the country lanes that would lead me back to the carpark on the ridge at the other side of the valley. I first had to make my way through the quaint village of Church Houses. The village was so small I was surprised it had a pub and a village hall.

I started the long haul up the other side of the valley. A road sign said that it had a 20% gradient; it felt like 10%. Another sign said that the road should not be attempted in winter conditions. I can vouch that it is certainly steep. I took my time though and turned around frequently to admire the great view of the valley, and also to catch my breath. Near to the top of the hill I came across another 4 marker stones that were situated next to the road. This area certainly has its fair share of ancient stones. 

Return

The morning mist had long since disappeared when I returned to the carpark, although I could see patches of it still lingering over distant hills and valleys. It had been an easy walk except for that sting in the tail of crossing the Farndale valley. I'd definitely get that out of the way first, if I did the walk again. There's definitely some bleak moorland up here, which may not be to the taste of everyone. I rather like that feeling of remoteness though...well except for the shotguns and the motorcycles. I noted that my feet were completely dry. Mission accomplished in that respect.