Roam alone

TODAY we have a bog, a long squelching sodden mire. Not everyone will fancy this, maybe only bog lovers. The start is innocuous, half a mile of redundant Tarmac that runs parallel to its replacement length of the A171. It was not a nice day, Jugger Howe Moor loomed dark and gloomy in the grey, the Scarborough to Whitby traffic was noisy.

We make a sharp left into a valley that separates the moor from pastureland. Ten minutes later the car roar had gone and ahead appears a sombre valley junction.

A drop through birch and oak and thorn brings us to a meandering little beck. There followed a ten-minute bridge search. Bridges are the last artefact you see for miles, there is hardly a reminder of man here, not a wall, not a sheep, a primeval feel, spooky. Apart from the rush and rattle of Jugger Howe Beck the deep valley was deathly quiet. Paths fade to traces and vanish, waymarks stop abruptly. We are in the bog.

The bog is a mile long, and 50 to 100 yards wide. On one side is the beck, on the other rough heather rises abruptly, so you are trapped. Keeping tight up to, and just into the heather, avoids the worst, but you are bound to get wet feet unless you have gaiters. This is a permanently wet place, summer would be no different. Water, augmented by tributaries from the moor, cannot escape, underneath is a layer of sandstone. Mosses grow, acidic peat accumulates. I suppose summer would bring more colours though, and the plants here are extremely interesting, which is just as well as you will see a lot of them, having to watch every foot placement.

Bog Myrtle is the dominant species, a knee-high shrub that covers much of the area. Its other name is Sweet Gale. In 'Flora Britannica' by Richard Mabey, MJ Yates of the Whitby Naturalists' Club reports the plant's use in gale beer. You will like the 'balsamic' aroma as you walk, and it repels insects. Not all the creepy-crawlies can be deterred because Sundews grow here and they are plants that eat insects.

Some broad-leaved trees fuzz part of the far flank of the valley, stunted alders cloak the beck, and the small (ten foot) trees that look like large Bog Myrtles are Eared Willows, otherwise we get a slow unremitting slosh in the moss, till Helwath Wood is reached.

Helwath Beck deflects us north. A ten-minute battle with head-high bracken takes us to tree top height, open moor, dry grassland, and civilisation again, or rather sight and sound of the A171. Rally cars were steaming by with 20 pounds of headlights blazing on their chests, but my Mintex blues were banished as out of the mist materialised Tracey's Burger Bar, where I got a nice cuppa.

Directions

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

1. From crest of hill by Memorial Pillar, old road to head of valley, stile/metal fieldgate on left into field (waymark) and keep near fence on your right.

2. Stile, one o'clock towards woods.

3. At trees (wire fence 25 yards to your right), path descends around side of hill to stream.

4. At stream, grass covered footbridge 25 yards to left of where main path meets stream, 25 yards up bank of scrub (no path) then path on right in heather contours around side of hill then descends to Jugger Howe Beck and footbridge (do not cross), 50 yards then contour path at edge of heather/bog (sometimes no path).

5. At wooden footbridge do not cross Helwath Beck but turn left uphill.

6. Fork left up hillside (where crags on left and river boulders below) through bracken to moorland path, stile into field, one o'clock, stile/fieldgate, follow line of trees to track and across Helwath Beck, stile/fieldgate.

7. Stile/fieldgate and left to main road (verges). Look out for gap through young conifers and join old road.

Fact file

Distance: Four miles.

Time: Two to three hours.

General location: Eastern North York Moors.

Start: Lay-by, GR. 945003.

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

Date walked: Saturday, September 30, 2000.

Road route: Ten miles north of Scarborough on the A171. Lay-by one mile north of Harewood Dale Forest.

Car parking: Lay-by (old road).

Lavatories: None.

Refreshments: Tracey's Burger Bar.

Tourist and public transport information: Pickering TIC 01751 473791.

Map: Based on OS Outdoor Leisure 27, North York Moors eastern area.

Terrain: Steep valleys and bog.

Points of interest: Bog. Plants (try not to trample).

Difficulty: Awkward and very wet.

Dogs: Suitable for dogs but keep on leads or under close control.

Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast, telephone 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.

Click here to view a map of the walk