Sancton to Millington

We slept well at Orchard Lodge, and assumed when we heard people talking around 7am that Jeannie was cooking our breakfast. So it was a bit of a surprise, when we went along at 8.15 as arranged to find Jeannie's mother and partner, but no Jeannie and no breakfast! It turned out that Jeannie has been taken ill in the night, and was in hospital with suspected appendicitis. I hope she's OK...

We returned to our room and had a cup of tea and a cereal bar from our supplies, then we retraced our steps back up the valley, past the wind turbines, to the Yorkshire Wolds Way. It was a sunny morning, and it remained dry all day, if anything sometimes being slightly too warm for walking. We left Sanction around 8.45am and we were back on the official route at 9.30.

There are two routes of the Yorkshire Wolds Way from this point, the main (older?) route goes straight ahead via Goodmanham whilst the alternative route turns left along the disused railway track to Market Weighton, sharing the route of the Hudson Way. Market Weighton is a town and towns have shops, so even given the risk of there being no food shops open on a bank holiday Monday, the fact that we'd had no breakfast and that our lunch supplies were diminishing left us with a no-brainer of a decision.

Walking along the disused railway track took us past St Helen's Well, whose water has variously been considered a source of healing (leading to a modern 'tradition' of tying ribbons on a nearby tree) and used to supply steam trains on the railway!

We reached Market Weighton, which grew up as a major transport hub, at the junction of several railways and several roads, and also with a canal. It was surprisingly attractive, especially with all the bunting etc., because the 'Tour de Yorkshire' also passed through here. Most importantly, it had at least two supermarkets, both open, and Asda provided us with breakfast, lunch, provisions for the next few days, and a wedding anniversary card for our son and daughter in law! We sat and ate our late breakfast (sausage baps, with three sausages in each for the princely sum of £1) on conveniently placed benches near the Church, then headed out of the town along the York Road, passing a statue of William Bradley, the 'Yorkshire Giant'.

We were walking along the road behind another couple of walkers, and with a family group with two dogs behind us, and we all turned right to cross the fields. Fortunately the couple were walking faster than us and the family group were walking much slower than us, so this was not a problem. We eventually managed to get across the very busy A614 and after passing through Towthorpe Grange Farm, we followed Towthorpe Beck to a minor road and so to the lodge at the entrance to the Londesborough Estate. In a situation which threatened to mimic what happened when we were walking from Barnetby le Wold to the Humber Bridge in October, we found ourselves adopted by a dog. Fortunately we met a couple with their dog about half a mile further on, and as a result of the 'it's not our dog' discussion we discovered that the man had just realised he had forgotten to lock his car, so he was heading back the way we had come. The dog quickly adopted him instead of us and we later discovered that the man had safely returned the dog to its owners at the lodge (as well as locking his car before someone stole it!).

Londesborough Hall was demolished in 1819, but the parkland was attractive, and our route soon rejoined the route that had come via Goodmanham. We climbed up through woodland and reached the estate village. We ate our lunch on a conveniently placed bench near the Church, then went for a cup of tea in the Reading Room. The prices were extremely reasonable and Richard also managed a slice of home made coffee cake, thus putting away breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea within a period of a couple of hours! We also enjoyed hearing that one of the staff, now a model of respectability, selling refreshments in aid of the Church, was brought up in Liverpool and frequented 'The Cavern' when The Beatles were launching their careers there.

From Londesborough, there was a mile or so of road walking, with good if hazy views over the Vale of York to our west, with three power stations (Drax, Eggborough and Ferrybridge) all visible in the distance. Then we passed through the farmyard of Partridge Farm and swept round above and then down to Nunburnholme. Nunburnholme has a very attractive Church, with a conveniently placed bench on which I sat to change my socks.

From Numburnholme Church we turned right and then right again (it looks as if the path detours to visit the Church) and then climbed up through Bratt Wood. The climb felt like hard work, perhaps because it was quite warm, but we were rewarded by a fine display of bluebells in the wood.

There were views to Pocklington and, closer to us, Kilnwick Percy Hall, now a Buddhist retreat centre (and, we discovered later, they do B&B). We reached Low Warrendale Farm and dipped down slightly through woodland at the end of Warren Dale.

We reached the road that we could take straight ahead down to Millington, but following that route would be far too simple! We turned right and climbed across onto a chalk ridge, crossing fields and aiming for a woodland. Then we turned left to reach the edge of the hill which we followed to the right, with lovely views to Millington at the foot of the escarpment beneath us.