Osmotherley is one of my favourite villages in the North Yorkshire Moors, and it’s a great place to start and finish many routes which include The Cleveland Way (CW). It’s not unlike other Yorkshire villages with a market place, a monument with well-worn paving stones where many feet have trodden over the years, plus, there is a hand full of pubs and a chippy which looks like it opens when it wants but apparently sells lovely food when you catch it open.
Parking is ample but in the summer and weekends it still seems to fill up making using the back roads an option to park if the market square is busy. There doesn’t appear to be parking fees but I’d still carry a handful of pound coins in your car as there is a donation box which is fair enough considering other villages absolutely batter you with parking charges using parking ‘apps’.
Anyway, an overcast day greeted us as we drove down the A19 and headed into the Moors and found a place in Osmotherley to park up. We had to park on the road facing north to south near the end of the market place as there were quite a few cars already there. We were in the campervan so the dogs were in their respective crates in the back, so we put them on leads and walked up the road towards the little village shop that was decorated with Christmas bits and bobs, looked great and put us in a good festive spirit. Mrs H left a RAOCK which you can find out more about here. The various cottages and houses that run parallel with the road are also very picturesque, I was trying to work out if these lovely little dwellings were holiday lets or people actually live there still. I would love to live in a little village like Osmotherley, I know I live in a village now and it’s a decent place to live but it would be nice to live somewhere a little more pleasing on the eye and with a few less police sirens!
The route carries on up the road and turns left at the Cleveland Way turning onto a track which takes you through a small what looks like a ‘self-build’ estate, which on first glance you notice each house has huge windows, then you look south and realise that the windows take in one of the best views in the area across farmland. The track bends north and goes through Chapel Wood farm where the track splits. The right track goes up a slight hill and takes you towards ‘Lady’s Chapel’ or stay left and through the cow field to the start of South Wood where the route deviates from the CW and drops down to the lower track which hugs the woods to Scarth Wood Farm. The path goes straight through the farm yard which appears to be derelict but under construction (if that makes sense?!) Canny little farm house with turrets along the roof and front windows looking out onto the view. Definitely would make a great place to retire and end my days…if I start crapping money that is!!! The route drops down towards the beck then follows a track through an open cow field. Like before in my blogs, the missus doesn’t like cows or horses loose in fields and seeing as though these Bovinae Adolescences were looking a bit unsettled, it didn’t take long for the missus to get to the next gate, breaking her record I do believe. It’s a common occurrence, especially in the summer months, to hear the words “F@@k this!” when spotting horses and cows in fields, closely followed by the sound of feet running and the sight of Mrs H diving over the nearest stile.
Finally through the field and into the yard of Scarth Lees, which looks like a working farm with a small field with 6 or 7 rams (or Tups) that looked like they’d fight you for a quid. A friendly, but loud terrier makes sure you don’t via off the track into the farmyard. The track out of the farm drops down slightly and across a small Ford and join the metal road heading north east along Back Lane for about half km then a right turn through a kissing gate into a field and head towards Swainby, another idyllic village.
We had decided to have bait stop at Swainby so we sat at the side of the beck just over the bridge near the church. Today was a bit overcast and as the darker clouds began to gather we packed our daysacks and walked back up the road we came down. The road rises gradually through the cheap looking houses (not) and follows the track towards the base of Round Hill to re-join the Cleveland Way. Having been in this area before on different routes I realised we were in for a short but steepish climb through the woods up to a level path and our first sight of the Lykewake Walk. This walk is what of our first Spaniel, Alfie, is named after by the breeder as his Kennel Club name. The route through the forest joins the metal road where it turns left off the CW and follows a road through the moorland towards a carpark at Cod Beck Reservoir and definitely back into civilisation. It’s obviously a very popular area for families as the sound of the Squawking Buzzards and the tweeting Wheatears was replaced by the smell of fruity vapes, screaming kids and the shout of white trainer wearing millennial parents telling their feral spawn not to get dirty!
We quickly made our way down the east side of the reservoir, letting the dogs have a swim and trying to wash the smell of sheep shit off Alfie, he loves to have a roll in dung, and often a lot worse. It’s a short but pleasant walk along the edge of the water with a small selection of birdlife to take in before heading back into the woods to find the path. Taking the path south we turned right at a T junction in the woods and walked down a muddy track to Cote Ghyll Campsite.
Here there is what looks like sleeping accommodation with bunks and a restaurant with decent priced food. Also there’s a cheeky little boot/dog wash on the roadside which was welcome to get the last of the crap all the dogs had ran/laid/rolled in on route. I wonder if the guys at the reservoir carpark know it’s here for their trainers?! The road goes over a decent waterfall which is lit for effect, plus on the left is a quite big campsite with what looked like static and tourer access. The road continued up onto the main road back to Osmotherley and back to the campervan.
It is a great walk with brilliant views, and a decent pub or two at the end. I can think of worse days than walking in this area and we will return I’m sure. We’ve spoken about trying the Lykewake Walk later in 2024, it seems to take in a few routes that can be made into circulars so looks good!
Northern Hiker 