Entering The Horcum

I followed a path leading down from the rim into the centre of the crater. The path was a mixture of small stones on the top of hard rock. It was a bit like walking on marbles and I nearly set off on an impromtu ski run a couple of times. The local legend is that the hole was formed by Wade The Giant who scooped up the earth to throw at his wife during an argument. That must have been one hell of a domestic. The name is thought to come from horth (Old English for 'filth') and cumb (Brittonic-Celtic for 'bowl-shaped' valley). The punchbowl was just as awe-inspiring at its focal point. I had the whole cauldron to myself...well, there were plenty of sheep too...and also a cuckoo somewhere in the trees. Thankfully I'd lost the noise from the A169 that runs along its eastern rim. I followed a track to the rim's breach at its southern end. There is an old farmhouse near to the exit valley but it has long since been deserted. 

Wooded Valley Walking

I left the punchbowl behind and started walking down the valley. Soon, all of the valley was covered by trees. This would be the feature of my walk for the next 3 to 4 hours. It wasn't like the conifer claustrophobic Tree Troubler plantations though. This was how forests should be with a wide variety of trees which were alive with birdsong and other wildlife. Even with the large number of trees there were sections where the canopy disappeared and I was left with an expansive view over a forested valley. The leaves from the trees also provided welcome shade from the sun. It was such a glorious path that I was surprised that I only met two other people walking it. At one point the track had drifted to the top of the hillside and I spotted two Buzzards circling in the valley below. I watched them as they effortlessly spiralled upwards  without any flap of their wings. They then disappeared down the valley with their woeful squawks. Even though the path had brought me to a road that led into Levisham, I never actually went into the village. Instead, I followed another footpath that went steeply down to the valley bottom. 

Levisham Church

The church in the valley bottom didn't seem to have a roof on it. I couldn't leave without having a peruse and so I wandered over to it on a bridleway. An information board outside the churchyard said that it was the old Levisham Church. It's history went back to the 12th century but it hadn't seen any services since the 1950s. It was abandoned completely in 1976. I noticed that in the overgrown graveyard there was a headstone for somebody who had died in 2005. It was a lot smaller inside than I thought it would be. It seemed odd to have Levisham church down in the bottom of the valley whilst the village was right on the top of the hillside. The information board explained that the village would have been originally down here, near to the beck and the trading routes of the time. The village had then moved upwards to the better arable land on the top of the hillside. Investigation over, I continued my journey down the valley. 

North Yorkshire Moors Railway

The path stuck to the valley bottom on this section of the journey southwards. I was still rewarded with amazing views when the folialage allowed it. I was surprised at the depth of the valley. When you drive along the A169 on the plateau above, the landscape seems so flat; you are completely unaware of this deep wooded valley cutting into the earth. Eventually the path led me towards a farmhouse. This was my turning point on the walk and I'd now head northwards back up Newon Dale, another wooded valley. I'd noticed on the OS map that the North Yorkshire Moors Railway line was only a 100 metres or so away from the path and I'd figured I'd probably be able to get a good photo of a steam engine rolling along it. I'd only been walking along the path for about 5 minutes when I heard a train whistle, or rather more of a honk than a whistle. I thought that the wooded valley had maybe altered the acoustics of the whistle somewhat. I got my camera settings prepared and positioned myself in an ideal spot to get my photo. In my mind's eye I'd got visions of a Turneresque photo with the steam train emerging out of a colourful cloud of smoke and steam. I was therefore a tad disappointed when a diesel train appeared towing the carriages. I could stand on a Doncaster Station platform and see one of those, every five minutes or so. The driver saw me and waved out of his window. I gave him a limp wave back. Further along the valley I saw a different type of diesel train heading back to Pickering. They obviously have a selection of vintage trains, not just steam. Later in the day, I did hear the whistle of a steam train, but I'd moved away from the valley and so couldn't see it. 

Return To Horcum

Newton Dale was as equally pretty as the one I'd walked down this morning. Eventually it climbed up the hillside and came to a road. Looking at the OS map I could see that the road led down to Levisham station. It would be a long walk from the village to the station. My route continued up the hillside until I reached the plateau of Levisham Moor. It had a stunning view back down into the valley. I followed the west edge of the plateau. I could see occasional sections of the railway line in the valley, heading off up into the moors. There was a secondary plateau running below me and I could see a ruined building on its edge. Later research would reveal this to be Skelton Tower, a shooting lodge constructed in 1830 by the Reverend Robert Skelton. He was actually rector to the derelict church that I'd visited in the morning. If I did this walk again, I'd definitely walk along this lower plateau to include Skelton Tower before heading back over to Horcum. There were a few more people out walking now as I approached the Hole Of Horcum. It seemed just as impressive in the afternoon as it had at the start of the day. The Roe Deer I'd seen this morning was keeping a low profile, although I could still hear the cuckoo down in the crater. In fact, I've been hearing a lot of cuckoos this year...maybe they are having a good year. 

It had been a terrific walk with an interesting combination of moorland and wooded valley walking. A shame I didn't get that photo of a steam engine, but that will only encourage me to do more walks around this line again.