Thixendale to East Heslerton

We woke to sunshine, but Steve Anstey (the landlord of the Cross Keys at Thixendale) said that he thought we might have had the best of the weather by the time we went for breakfast at 7.30am, and he wasn't wrong! It started raining during the morning, tipped it down around lunchtime, then drizzled on and off during the afternoon. We still had a lovely walk, heading first east, then north, then east again.

Steve and Mary Anstey have been at the Cross Keys for approaching 30 years and whilst Mary does the cooking in the evening, Steve is in charge of breakfasts and he cooked us a magnificent feast (though apparently this was only a mini breakfast!). We left around 8.30, slightly after the other walker Claire, and walked through the village, then up a track which climbed high above Thixen Dale and Water Dale. We crossed higher ground, then descended into Vessey Pasture Dale and climbed gradually out of it.

We turned right onto a green road, which apparently is the highest section of the Yorkshire Wolds Way. Deep Dale began to open up to our left, and at around the same time it began to rain. Deep Dale does a 90 degree turn to the north and we changed direction with it, and descended to the deserted medieval village of Wharram Percy. The guidebook waxes lyrical about this village and assumes you will stay for some time, but it was raining so we just had a quick look at the Church (which remained in use after the rest of the village was abandoned) then continued our walk, up through the modern day village of Wharram le Street.

The path descends slightly and wiggles somewhat through attractive countryside around Whitestone Beck. Then we climbed up to a track and followed this past Wood Farm House and Settrington Wood. The walking was fine, but we were beginning to want a break, and of suitable sitting places there was a distinct shortage. The path went around the eastern edge of Settrington Wood then returned to the western edge of a plantation. If the weather had been better there would have been good views from here, but there was still nowhere to sit!

We continued on, past an interesting wooden building that is apparently a service reservoir collecting water from a borehole in the chalk, and into Beacon Wood. By now we had worked out that our best chance of somewhere to sit would be overlooking the view down to Wintringham at the far side of the wood, so our thoughts were on this rather than the verdant green of the wood. However, we were exactly right about the positioning of a bench overlooking the view; we stopped for lunch (from the provisions we were carrying with us).

After lunch we set off across the fields towards Wintringham - and the heavens opened! It eased slightly as we reached Wintringham and made our way to a path that runs the far side of the houses, then it rained heavily again. We were still able to appreciate the attractive Church and the woods higher up the hillside, and it had eased off again when we turned left and headed up to the wood.

We turned left onto a track and followed this around the edge of the wood (Deep Dale Plantation) then eventually we climbed up a very steep incline through the trees. This brought us to the rather weird art installation 'Enclosure rites', with views down over the Vale of Pickering. The installation comprises some wooden figures - which I liked - and some wooden poles painted red, drawing attention to a dew pond - which didn't inspire me. The installation was completed in 2011 as part of the 'Wander - Art on the Yorkshire Wolds Way' project.

We continued along an earthwork and across a field to the delightful Knapton Plantation, and then walked along the edge of the wood for about a mile. Then we emerged into the open, on the top of a scarp slope, with views to the north that got better as the weather improved. We continued along, with first West Heslerton then East Heslerton at the bottom of the slope to our left.