My Walking Journeys

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Today, Angela and I did another leg of The Cleveland Way – Sutton Bank to Osmotherley. It was a 12.5-mile walk mostly in the rain and mist so views were limited. This was a shame because this section does have fabulous views.

The car park at Sutton Bank was empty when we arrived early in the morning. Shortly after setting off we passed a viewing point and information board entitled ‘The finest view in England’ – apparently the poet Wordsworth stood here and was inspired to write one of his poems. Today however, the view was obscured by mist.

Occasionally, we got a tantalising glimpse through the mist.

The initial part of the walk was along the top of the escarpment with the rain blowing in horizontally. It was so frustrating to know we were missing the views. A brief stop for a scotch egg boosted my morale.

Our next port of call was through Boltby Forest – we were pleased to reach here because we were partially sheltered from the wind and rain.

The bracken was changing to autumnal colours and looked strikingly vivid.

After leaving the forest we entered moorland and at the start there was a sign about fire risk. The North York Moors suffered from serious fires this summer.

I enjoyed the moorland section today, the path was good and I felt a sense of openness and space.

After a good few miles across the moorland we headed down a path towards Osmotherley – it had stone flagstones and was extremely slippery! We took our time descending.

The final couple of miles to Osmotherley was a series of ascents and descents – not what you need after at the end of the walk.

We arrived at Osmotherley soaked to the skin and picked up Angela’s car to take me back to Sutton Bank to pick up my car. As per yesterday my phone had no signal and proved the final frustration of the day.

Tomorrow, we will be doing the next leg of The Cleveland Way – Osmotherley to Clay Bank. We are looking forward to it.

Happy Walking!😊🚶

Hello and welcome back to my blog 😊.

Angela and I have returned to North Yorkshire to walk the inland section of The Cleveland Way, Helmsley to Saltburn-by-Sea. We had completed the last leg of the Cleveland Way coastal section a couple of weeks ago and the whole walk had been just a wonderful experience.

https://oldblokewalking.blog/2026/10/03/the-cleveland-way-port-mulgrave-to-saltburn/

The weather forecast is not auspicious for the week but today we began our journey, and completed leg 1 from Helmsley to Sutton Bank in good weather.

It was a quiet Sunday morning when we arrived into Helmsley and parked in the long stay car park. The church bells were ringing but unfortunately it was not a pleasant experience, as the ringing seemed out of sync!

Glad to be leaving Helmsley we soon passed the sculpted marker stone for the start of the Cleveland Way. There is a similar marker at Filey Brigg.

We started a steady climb upwards towards through woodland, valleys and the gently rising limestone slopes of the Hambleton Hills. We would meet very few walkers along the way. We were headed towards Rievaulx Abbey, a majestic ruin, but didn’t manage to glimpse the Abbey. Signage was good and we were following the acorn.

We were happy to see a cute cow with its calf.

We found ourselves walking along good stone tracks adjacent to lakes. The trees were turning autumnal colours.

A few stepping stones led us into woodland section where we had to clamber over fallen tree branches and avoid the dead bodies of Pheasants – had there been a shoot?

We passed through the quiet village of Cold Kirby and soon we arrived at Sutton Bank where we took a lunch stop on the Hambleton Escarpment enjoying the views.

There is a Glider Club based here and we watched as the gliders flew around in front of us. We could have walked along the escarpment to where the White Horse of Kilburn is situated but, as we had done that walk on another occasion, we decided not to mainly because it was very busy with people.

The escarpment was the scene of the Battle of Byland in 1322 and there was an information board there and a stone.

We decamped to the busy National Park Centre where we visited the souvenir shop and then retrieved Angela’s car to drive me back to Helmsley to pick up my car.

At Helmsley I found that my mobile phone had no signal so had a frustrating time navigating back to our cottage.

Tomorrow, we are planning to walk from Sutton Bank to Osmotherly, so fingers crossed for some decent weather.

Happy Walking! 😊🚶