Coxwold

A long-time lovely village this, the unicorns of feudal lord on the houses. Though the pub was shut there is Shandy Hall where on the walls it reads: "Here dwelt Laurence Sterne many years... here he wrote Tristram Shandy and the Sentimental Journey".

Our journey opened out with a white gate to pastures, shaded ridge and furrow and sight of Kilburn's White Horse from an aspect that flatters its awkward shape. So far rather nice, sunshine on and sunshine off, a spinney or a line of trees, the leaves still left intense. Stubble fields, escarpment high behind, and fallen ash erupting cramp balls of black fungi.

Easy walking on smooth lovely land, the camber of low hills, various daisies in flower, a sequence of neat bridges over becks or drainage ditches, the vegetation still green before the hammer of the frost.

Pond Bay, site of 60 hectares of 12th-century bream ponds. An ash wood by a stream. Good signposts, and then from half a mile away the sight of the high remnants of the Cistercian abbey. Then Pond Bay number two.

The Abbey Inn was open, the abbey, arches and all, was closed.

Rougher pastures now, tufted grass, a studding of some scrub, an owl box that reminds - the best news of the week - eagle owls in Yorkshire, 6ft wingspans, fantastic, unless you are a Pekinese tight in talons, torn by beak.

From a low high point, only 250ft, we stopped to look around, down to a flatness of sheep pastures and winter water, the White Horse again, and a bonus, framed in a dip in the hills the high ground 20 miles across the Vale of York, the Dales.

No eagle owl, but a big raptor that flew in exhilarating low, dead-level, horizontal glides. And, nearer, a pair of little kestrels lifted, hovered at 30ft and dived. Hares ran near the Grange.

We moved out of the National Park, hedges interesting and with field maple. Mostly there is not a building in sight, though a barn with pond, and a farm, not the prettiest, with a slurry slurping yard.

A sign proclaims "Howardian Hills AONB", and true, beautiful, and the acceleration of a very quiet back-to-nowhere road brought Acorn Hill with oaks, one with straw bales disrespectfully close, and views to Byland Abbey and again the White Horse. A flagpole flew the Yorkshire Rose near Foxfoot Farm.

We felt lucky, pleased, and there was more, Newburgh Priory and, around the corner, a lake with swans, coots and ducks and, up the road, a further sight of the house.

The last half-mile of pavement was good, yew hedge, weekend tearooms and the Coxwold Pottery, especially if you fancy slipwork fish.

Fact file

Distance: Eight miles.

Time: Four hours.

General Location: Edge of Howardian Hills.

Start: Coxwold.

Right of Way: Public.

Date walked: Saturday, November 12, 2005.

Road Route: From York, A19 then via Easingwold.

Car Parking: At village hall, free.

Lavatories: At village hall.

Refreshments: At Coxwold, tearoom seasonally weekends, and inn temporarily closed. At Byland Abbey, the Abbey Inn.

Tourist & Public Transport Information: North York Moors Centre at Sutton Bank 01845 522755.

Map: Based on OS Explorer 299 Ripon & Boroughbridge, Easingwold.

Terrain: Farmland, low hills

Points of Interest: Newburgh Priory open April, May and June, Wednesdays and Sundays 2pm to 6pm.

Difficulty: Good going.

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

Directions

Left from village hall to road, right at junction, up main street, pass Shandy Hall at far end, 100 yards.

Snickelgate on right (signed), by fence to right for 50 yards then straight on across field, stile/fieldgate, hedge to left, gap in corner (waymarked post), downhill.

Left at hedge (fingerpost), 100 yards, track on right after hut (fingerpost) then straight with hedge to left, stile/footbridge in corner.

Footbridge/stile and right with beck to right, fieldgate by trees, footbridge, gate to woodland path, 25 yards, fork left uphill (waymarked post), field-edge path uphill.

Stile on right in field corner (fingerpost), gateway in corner on left and immediately right (fingerpost), 25 yards, stile, stile, stile and 11 o'clock up to stile by tree, 11 o'clock to fence then right by fence.

Stile and left to road, pass abbey, stile on right (signed), stile/gateway near abbey, 10 yards, fork left (fingerpost), 100 yards, hedge gap to waymarked path angling 1 o'clock down hillside, fingerpost by wood and 1 o'clock, stile (fingerpost) and watch for electric fence, 11 o'clock, 100 yards, up by fence to left.

Left at ruin walls, (waymark), stile, 11 o'clock, 150 yards then by hedge, 50 yards, stile on left and immediately right (waymark), 50 yards, stile and 11 o'clock up.

About 100 yards before farm, at fieldgate on left, turn right across field, 100 yards, stile/fieldgate to track (waymark), stile/fieldgate, fence to right, to low corner of wood, fieldgate (waymark), wood edge round and up for 200 yards.

About 25 yards to right of field/wood corner, over stile/ditch/stile, 1 o'clock across field (was stubble but if not reinstated bottom margin looked okay), right at hedge (waymark) and down to wood.

Fieldgate by wood and right to track. Through farmyard, fieldgate out, track. Right to Tarmac road with grass strip (fingerpost)

Left to road past lake to see more of Newburgh Priory, retrace, and pavement into Coxwold.

Click here to view a map of the walk

Updated: 08:44 Monday, November 21, 2005