Breezy does it

This is a very square walk on the Wolds, but by no means dull. Its shape on the new 'Explorer' map had caught my eye, especially as each side lies north/south or east/west. Previously on the old 'Pathfinder' map not all four sides were marked as public. I thought I'd save it for a rough day, when it's hard to think, make notes and navigate, and try to get away with just a direction instruction for each corner. Three of the four sides are track, the other is mapped as footpath, so it seemed sensible to try the footpath first so that if conditions were boggy the route could be abandoned and left for the dry season.

West then. An odd start in a sunken path adjacent to a graveyard, spooky, with the bones at boot level. I surfaced from the ditch to an endless empty dead-straight path. The grass was OK and five yards wide. The wind hammered in from south of west, heavy with rain. I tucked in, and with a sideways glance through the bare low hedge, pushed on and on and tried to be optimistic about a ten-degree ribbon of pink sky.

North next, and a respite, a relief to be blown along a concrete farm drive. Little undulations let the wind whistle overhead. There is a gradual climb, nothing much, only a couple of hundred feet in it all day. Long views though to the Humber Bridge and Humberside. A sign read 'The Wold Watch...are watching you'. Hereabouts are big bales stashed in a barn, and more big bales sodden in the stubble fields. Today what pleased me most was how the spare and sparse lines of hedge and shelterbelt are cared for. Hedges are precisely shaved and tapered to throw off snow, ash trees are heroes pacing a line through prairie fields; half a mile of young spinney was rich in rose hips and had a nest every 50 yards in newly-planted ash.

East now. Haywold Farm has an impressive array of sombre buildings. A pair of hares sprinted to the middle of a field then stopped. Next comes a dip into the shallow top end of Deep Dale, past a mossy thicket of elder, for a turn up through a wood to the last side of the square.

South of course, and downhill on a super chalk road. The rain had stopped but the wind had swung south so I put my head down for the finish till magically the sinking sun burst through the sky and for a moment licked the higher ground. North Dalton lay a mile away, flickering lights in the dusk. There are a couple of 'dew'-ponds (the only standing water all day), and a wind generator powered an electric fence. A cricket ground has the most amusing loos. At North Dalton a farm carried the slogan 'Right to Roam...an Act of Theft'. Half correct, an Act of Parliament now.

DIRECTIONS

When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.

1. From village hall, 100 yards out of village (west) along dead-end lane, path on left by wire fence (below graveyard), left when sunken path ends at field, 50 yards, right to field-edge track.

2. Right to concrete track. Cross road to hedged grassy track.

3. Right at T-junction to grassy track (hedge on right). Opposite Haywold Farm, dog-leg to tarmac for 100 yards then at bend carry straight on to field-edge path (on right of field boundary), switching to grassy track on left side of boundary after about 200 yards (up bank, signs).

4. Opposite wood on left, gate and immediately gate on right into wood, path along wood-edge then uphill. Exit wood to track heading south uphill then down to village.

FACT FILE

Distance: Six miles.

Time: Three hours.

General location: Eastern central Wolds.

Start: North Dalton.

Right of way: The complete route is along public rights of way.

Date walked: Friday, December 8, 2000.

Road route: Nine miles east of Pocklington on B1246.

Car parking: Side roads in village.

Lavatories: None.

Refreshments: The Star Inn.

Tourist and public transport information: Beverley TIC 01482 867430.

Map: Based on OS Explorer 294 Market Weighton and Yorkshire Wolds Central.

Terrain: Gentle slopes.

Points of interest: Tracks, views.

Difficulty: Easy walking, exposed.

Dogs: Suitable.

Click here to view a map of the walk

Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418

Please observe the Country Code and park sensibly. While every effort is made to provide accurate information, walkers set out at their own risk.