South-west out of Kirkbymoorside to Kirkdale, followed by a north-west route alongside Hodge Beck through Kirk Dale. North-east through Fadmoor to Gillamoor, then east by way of the Tabular Hills Walk to Hutton-le-Hole. South along paths, tracks and minor roads to meet Gray Lane, then west back to the starting point. A 12-mile walk in Northern England.
Recommended Ordnance Survey Map
The best map to use on this walk is the Ordnance Survey map of the North York Moors Western Area, reference OS Explorer OL26, 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.
St Gregory’s Minster, Kirkdale. An Anglo-Saxon church built between 1055 and 1065, although there has been a church on this site since 750AD.
Hold Cauldron Mill, a Grade 2 listed building by the side of Hodge Beck in Skiplam. The corn mill would have been powered by a breastshot waterwheel.
The path through Kirk Dale.
Fadmoor village green.
Gillamoor village centre sundial, built in 1800 by John Russell.
The Church of St Aidan, Gillamoor.
Gillamoor’s ‘Surprise View’. A plaque nearby recites four lines of a poem by John Keble (1792–1866):
Thou, who hast given me eyes to see
And love this sight so fair,
Give me a heart to find out Thee,
And read Thee everywhere.
Heading east on the Tabular Hills Walk between Gillamoor and Hutton-le-Hole.
Ryedale Folk Museum.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the blacksmith. For centuries, the blacksmith was the most important craftsman in the community. In addition to his work shoeing horses, he made and repaired farm implements and many of the tools used by other craftsmen.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the shoemaker. The introduction of a sewing machine suitable for leather in the late 19th century mechanised the shoemaking industry.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the tinsmith. Sometimes called the whitesmith, as tin is a silvery-white metal, the tinsmith travelled around market towns selling and repairing household, dairy and other containers.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the cooper. Up until the 20th century many foodstuffs and commodities were transported in casks.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the village shop and Post Office. An important focus for community life. The shop sold fresh food, bread, vegetables, tinned and packet goods. These nestled next to household cleaners, pots and pans, and haberdashery.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the chemist. The set of small drawers, the drug run, housed the dry drugs. Chemists packed their own remedies in addition to selling the many patient medicines.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the foundry. There is a long history of small iron foundries in the Ryedale area. Some were started by blacksmiths in the early 19th century. They tended to concentrate on agricultural implements, but others diversified into kitchen ranges, doorstops and other decorative work.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the saddler. Many of the tools are the same or similar to those of the shoemaker, since they both worked in leather. Repair work, an important section of the craft, would range from blacksmith’s bellows and drive belts on farm machinery to small household goods, suitcases and hat boxes.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the wheelwright. In addition to carts and wagons and their wheels, the wheelwright made and repaired many farm tools.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the undertaker. In rural areas the occupation of undertaker was often combined with other trades such as builder or joiner. The Farndale hearse was purchased by the inhabitants of Farndale in 1839. They bought it second-hand from the local joiner for £17. It had been made a few years earlier in Birmingham by Marsdens. The rich carvings, etched glass and silver plated flower holders reflect the Victorian concern for a proper funeral.
Ryedale Folk Museum: Stang End cruck house. The house reflects the way of life of a farming family in the 1700s. It stood for nearly 500 years at Stang End, Danby before being moved to the museum. Originally it was a one-roomed building which was shared with the livestock, and was extended and altered in subsequent generations.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the 16th-century Manor House. Manor houses not only housed the Squire or Lord of the Manor, but also his servants. In its earliest form everyone lived, ate and slept in one open hall. Later, the master gained some privacy for himself and his family, creating a chamber block by shutting off one end of the hall. Work places, kitchen, brewery and store rooms were usually added or partitioned off at the opposite end.
Ryedale Folk Museum: Crofter’s Cottage. Built in the museum, this building represents a typical village dwelling between the 13th and 16th centuries. The simple structure with no internal partitions housed the family and their livestock. The open fire burned in the centre of the room and the smoke found its way out through any available holes in the roof and walls, or trickled through the thatch. Meat was hung in the roofspace to dry and get smoked, both of which preserved the food for later use.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the model village.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the photographic studio. As set up in 1902 at Monkgate, York, by William Hayes, this Edwardian photographic studio incorporated a darkroom and a finishing room at one end, with a large area lit by daylight suitable for photography.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the high barn. The building contains a variety of vehicles which could be seen on the roads between 1850 and 1950. The Merryweather fire engine, circa 1850, needed at least 12 strong people to work it: five each side to pump, one to direct the water onto the flames and one to manage the incoming water.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the schoolroom. Many children in early Victorian England never went to school and more than half of them grew up unable to read or write. Rooms were warmed by a single stove or open fire. Curtains were used to divide the schoolhouse into classrooms, and windows were built high in the walls to stop pupils looking out.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the Iron Age roundhouse. In Britain, the Iron Age lasted from about the 7th century BC until the Roman conquest in 43AD, and until the 5th century AD in non-Romanised parts. Archaeologists think the people lived in circular houses with conical thatched roofs known as roundhouses. The central open-hearth fire was the heart of the house providing heat and light, and used to cook food.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the wash house. This building is a reconstruction based on many small outhouses that were built behind local cottages in the late 19th century. They were used for a variety of jobs including pig killing, salting bacon and separating honey, as well as washing and dairying.
Ryedale Folk Museum: the White Cottage. Restored as a Victorian period cottage, this three-bayed cruck building used to be at Harome, just outside Helmsley. The interior and its contents are based on a typical late 19th-century cottage.
Hutton-le-Hole. Hutton Beck flows north to south through the centre of the village.
The approach to Lingmoor Farm.
