North-east to Malo Cross via Saltergate Brow, then north to RAF Fylingdales. East along Worm Sike Rigg and through Langdale Forest to High Langdale End. Using the path known as Bickley Trod, it’s south then west to School Farm and through the Crosscliff farmland. Finally north-west past Blakey Topping and back to the starting point by way of Old Wife’s Way. A 16-mile walk in the North York Moors.
Recommended Ordnance Survey Map
The best map to use on this walk is the Ordnance Survey map of the North York Moors Eastern Area, reference OS Explorer OL27, scale 1:25,000. It clearly displays footpaths, rights of way, open access land and vegetation on the ground, making it ideal for walking, running and hiking. The map can be purchased from Amazon in either a standard, paper version or a weatherproof, laminated version, as shown below.
A misty morning on Saltergate Brow.
The Grade 2 listed Malo Cross, east of Saltergate Brow. The cross is marked with the letters KRE, which are the initials of Sir Richard Egerton who erected it in 1619 as a marker on the boundary of his manor in the parish of Allerston.
The approach to RAF Fylingdales.
RAF Fylingdales, which provides a continuous ballistic missile early warning service to the UK and US Governments. Built in the 1960s, the site originally contained three huge iconic golf balls which I clearly remember seeing as a child. The system was upgraded thirty years later and the pyramid-shaped Solid State Phased Array Radar was declared operational in October 1992.
I have no idea what this is!
Heading south-east through Langdale Forest. Langdale Rigg End comes into view.
Muddy paths through Langdale Forest.
The Legend of Blakey Topping
Wade was a giant who lived on the North York Moors many years ago in a castle near Lythe with his giantess wife Bell. One of them built Old Mulgrave Castle and the other built Pickering Castle. They only had one hammer between them, so they had to fling it to each other, giving a warning shout as they did so.
One day, during a blazing row with Bell, Wade scooped up a huge handful of earth to throw at her, thus gouging out the Hole of Horcum, one of the most spectacular features in the North York Moors, a huge amphitheatre 400 feet deep and half a mile across. He missed, and the enormous clod of earth fell to the ground to form the nearby Blakey Topping.
