GEORGE WILKINSON rambles around Burton Leonard
Today's route, being five miles south of Ripon and the same west of Boroughbridge, isn't in the flatlands nor the Dales but in quiet, undramatic, pleasant countryside where a jumble of small hillocks make for a varied route with hardly a dull stretch
Burton Leonard is a pretty start. Stone built, with little brick halls, a church on a rise behind some trees, a triangle of green, and a bench under the parish pump shelter.
Daffodils poked up through the grass, a cherry was in premature blossom. Snow was forecast and the day was cold and bright, so I got a move on and soon reached a Yorkshire Wildlife Trust Nature Reserve where limestone quarries have been colonised by pale ashes and a scrub of rose. Paths lead here and there, above and below 50ft vertical rock faces.
Then we ease into a wide, shallow valley. Robert Beck meanders while we undulate along good bridleway for about a mile. Most of the walk is through pasture but occasionally there was a tractor, and a mixed swirl of seagulls and crows gorged themselves on a freshly harrowed strip. I had my lunch under a conker tree after brushing away last autumn's spiky shells, then rounded a wood into some very posh territory.
A string of serious horses were silhouetted on the horizon. Copgrove Hall was visible through the trees and over a carpet of snowdrops. This is big house country, and this is a fine one, plain and regular, with a frontage lake teeming with ducks, geese, swans and coots. Nearby you pass an extraordinary driveway gate in the form of fluid and stylised black horses cut from eighth-inch steel plate.
Next we reach Copgrove village. The little church of St Michael is close and elevated.
I was drawn towards a huge yellow No Entry sign on a bridleway - it's worth walking down this track for a hundred yards for the day's clearest views of the North York Moors escarpment. The moors were purple, the White Horse at Kilburn in full view. You exit Copgrove through an under-construction development of upmarket properties, set to double the size of the village. Soon you intersect Robert Beck again. Nearby is St Mungo's Well. If you visited this in the seventeenth century, and many did, the 'officious women of the well' would have 'rubbed your back or your maimed parts'.
Unfortunately I was distracted by the paths hereabouts, there being a diversion not marked on the Pathfinder map, so forgot to ask the friendly farmer exactly where the famous well is.
In the 1980s the well was described as neglected, in retrospect perhaps it is now manifest as the pond near the beck. An easy climb brings long views. Ripon Cathedral was glowing in a shaft of sunlight.
At first you only see the top third of the great building, but on the last mile, past bluebell woods and grassland, more and more of the cathedral becomes visible.
DIRECTIONS
When in doubt look at the map. Check your position at each point. Keep straight on unless otherwise directed.
From Post Office/shop, Copgrove road (signed, pass Royal Oak pub), first right at bend, uphill. Tarmac changes to track.
Stile, footbridge, uphill on track, gate/cattlegrid and left to track, gate/cattlegrid.
Right at tracks T-junction at wood, uphill, left at gate/fieldgate at corner of wood.
Fieldgate and right to road (verge), first left into Copgrove, round right-hand bend, first left (after The Coach House), 15 yards, old fieldgate 50 yards away on right, between Kennel Cottage and Newhome. Fenced path by development, stile to field, stile, pass wood to left.
Stile/fieldgate and left to track, stile/fieldgate to ford before farmyard, footbridge and uphill by wood on left then across field on track. Stile/fieldgate, cattlegrid/stile (don't turn right as waymarked onto unreinstated fieldside path).
Left to road (dead-end), crossroads, road uphill into Burton Leonard.
FACT FILE
Distance: Four and a half miles.
Time: Two hours.
Start: Burton Leonard.
Right of way: The complete route is along public rights of way and permissive paths.
Date walked: February 6, 1999.
Road route: Burton Leonard is midway between Knaresborough and Ripon, one mile east of the A61.
Car parking: Roadside.
Lavatories: None.
Refreshments: Two pubs and village shop.
Tourist & Public Transport Information: Harrogate TIC 01423 537300
Map:The OS map is Pathfinder 654, Fountains Abbey & Boroughbridge.
Terrain: Small hills and valleys. Good tracks. Quiet back roads.
Footwear: Walking boots, stout shoes, or if dry, trainers.
Points of interest: Villages, nature reserve, viewpoint, church at Copgrove. Well.
Difficulty: Moderate/easy.
Dogs: Suitable for dogs but keep on leads or under close control.
Weather forecast: Evening Press and recorded forecast 0891 500 418
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