Country walk at Great Ayton

He was attracted to the sea and, as we all know, became a great navigator and explorer.

Before he went to sea, he lived around Great Ayton and would have spent much time exploring the byways and hills around him. There was lots to interest a young lad seeking adventure.

He would have climbed Roseberry Topping many times and no doubt climbed Highcliffe Nab and gazed out to sea watching the sailing ships pass by, and with the Cleveland Hills nearby, he had a choice of playgrounds from which to choose.

James was well-educated, unlike his father who could neither read nor write until he was 75! His father was a stonemason at Marton where he learned the skills to enable him to read his son’s accounts of his world famous voyages.

Captain James Cook was killed in Hawaii in a fight with Hawaiians during his third exploratory voyage in the Pacific in 1779. There are many monuments around the world in celebration of this great man and we will visit one on this month’s walk on Easby Moor.

The monument is more than 50 feet high and was erected in 1827 as a tribute to Captain James Cook RN by Mr Robert Campion, a Whitby banker. Curiously, it was not fitted with a lightning conductor and was struck in 1960. A conductor was fitted retrospectively.

Perhaps the young James climbed onto Easby Moor as a young lad and stood where his monument now proudly stands. From there he would have had grand views of the Cleveland Hills and the sea, he would have watched ocean going sailing ships heading of into distant ports but he could never have guessed that such a tragic end to his colourful life would finally launch him into immortality.

Your route

Enter the forest at the rear of the car park through the large gate with the forestry board at the entrance. Walk uphill along the forest road. You eventually leave the forest to walk along a paved path to take you onto Easby Moor where Captain Cook’s Monument soon comes into view.

When you reach the monument linger awhile to enjoy the grand panorama in front of you. With the Cleveland Hills shimmering in the south, the Cleveland Plain extending east to the sea and Roseberry Topping sitting cheekily in the north.

Leave the monument turning left onto a path which leads to a gap in the wall to join a path which descends through a wooded area.

Where the path forks, bear right at the Cleveland Way sign through a gap stile to continue your walk through the forest. The path exits onto a forest road. Go right here, then, at the end of the forest, go left onto a descending Tarmac road.

Soon this wooded area opens into fields with grand views across to Guisborough Moor. Walk downhill past a farm on the right then a little further along past farm buildings. Leave the road here to keep straight ahead onto a forest road through a gate.

This rough forest road climbs steeply for some time until it meets a gate. Exit through the gate, then pass through another gate onto a road. Go left here, then enter the moor through another gate.

A few paces, then left onto a bridleway.

Keep on this bridleway and enjoy the expanding vista as you climb a little onto the moor. The path dips and climbs and where the path splits keep left. Eventually you reach a T-junction of paths.

Go left to continue your descent back to the Gribdale Gate car park.

The facts

Distance: 5½ miles (9km).

Time: 2½ hours.

Grading: Some steep ascents.

Start/Grid Ref: Gribdale Gate Car park near Great Ayton, grid ref. 595110.

Best map: OS Outdoor Leisure 26.

Parking: Gribdale Gate.

Refreshments: None.

Public Toilets: None.

Guide Book: Walking in Captain Cook’s Footsteps by J Brian Beadle published by Trailblazer at £2.50 available from Trailblazer Outdoors in Pickering, book shops, NYMR railway stations, visitor centres and tourist information centres.