Monday, 21st February
12.6 km (7.8 miles) - 2hrs 59mins
Having been away over the weekend I took the Monday off work and, after meeting the wedding photographers, we decided to walk in the Howardian Hills close to the delightful Kirkham Priory.
This walk is described in the Dalesman magazine way back in February 2010. However, we did not follow the route printed in the magazine but added out own variation to take us high above the river paths which would have been quite wet after the recent rain and snow.
We parked next to the remains of the Augustinian Priory (GR SE734658) at Kirkham. Sadly, this is not open until April but our route took us up the hill which gave us good views across the remains. We turned left onto Centenary Way next to the pub (can't remember it's name but GR 738658) and, instead of turning off carried along the road until we met Dark Lane (GR 746660) which runs up the hill and drops into the village of Westow.
A short stretch up the road before we cut off and climbed to the top of Spy Hill (GR 750646). The drop down the other side of the hill took is into Howsham Wood and a good, clear path through the wood is obviously well used as evidenced by the number of boot marks in the mud!
The path eventually drops into the village of Howsham and, again, a short stretch along the road brought us to Howsham Bridge (GR 731625). Here, we joined the path next to the River Derwent before making a sharp turn and climbing up to Crambe Grange (GR 728631)- the home to a herd (is that the correct collective noun ?) of Alpacca!
From here the path runs straight and true across agricultural land, and the railway line, past Clay Hall and up Cramble Bank. At the top of the bank a sharp left turn cuts along Cliff Lane to Cliffe House Farm (GR 724654). Thankfully, the route turns right along a bridleway, rather than having to make an acquaintance with the incredibly busy A64.
The end of the lane joins the tarmac road known as Onhams Lane which drops steeply down the valley, across the railway crossing (with an authentic "old fashioned" signal box!) and across Kirkham Bridge to the car park.
A good work out with some stiff climbs - although the Howardian Hills are, in reality, pretty easy. Unfortunately, the weather was dull and overcast, in fact just as we got back to the car it began to rain quite heavily. I suspect that this walk will offer outstanding views on a clear days, particularly as it is close to Castle Howard.
Usual selection of photos here
On another note we have just "cracked" the 50 mile mark for 2011 - not bad going for February. It's also a year since we started walking each weekend (or at least as often as we can). In that time we've walked just over 350 miles - long may it continue !!
