Saturday 16th March Malton to Danby, over Westerdale Moor
4233 to 4305, 72 miles, 09.30 – 17.30 pm, 8 hours, 9 m.p.h.
After a night at York youth hostel I set off at 08.00 straight after breakfast to York station and bundled the bike on the 08.40 Scarborough train as far as Malton. It was only a one carriage train but mine was the only bike so there was plenty of space. Arriving at 09.03, immediately lost in the small town at the market area. Asked an old gentleman the way out of the town to Slingsby. He explained a direct route through the town and I spun away from the place like a local. Gentle ups and downs to Slingsby then I struck north for Kirkbymoorside. I originally planned to ride to Helmsley and Rievaulx Abbey but the diversion would have taken too long to include my real objective over the North Yorkshire Moors and back. I took the quiet lane up through Ryedale to reach the A170 at Welburn then east to Kirkbymoorside. Had a look around the town and its windy cobbled main street that climbs steeply up to the remains of a castle. Bought some milk, orange juice, sandwiches and bananas then set off back along the main road and next left for Hutton-le-Hole. A rise up to Hutton Common then steeply down to the picturesque village. I followed the narrower parallel road to the left, following the white fencing to reach a point where there was a glorious view of the village green, the NYM museum and the village are laid out below. Had my sandwiches here then prepared myself for the first of my climbs, the Rosedale Chimney. I was doing it from the south side, which is nowhere near as steep as the short sharp shocker snaking up out of Rosedale village, a 1 in 3 or 30 %.
From Hutton-le-Hole it’s the Lastingham road then immediately left off that for a sharp rise up to Spaunton Moor, with the warning at the foot of the hill of the steepness of Rosedale Chimney 3 miles ahead. From Rosedale, frighteningly steep down to Rosedale for a few hundred yards then up again onto Rosedale Moor to reach the turning for Fryup ( I wouldn’t have minded one at this stage), along Danby High Moor then back again to reach the highest road point over the North Yorkshire Moors at Rosedale Head on Westerdale Moor, marked by a huge stone cross called New Ralph Cross by the side of the road. Old Ralph Cross is further west in the heather on Westerdale Moor. From there it was a drop of nearly a 1000 feet in 2 miles to Westerdale village. This is a pleasant sunny village sheltered from the south and north by the moors. From here, following the river Esk, uphill a bit after Dibble Bridge to reach Castleton village perched on a hill above the river and railway to the north. On from here to Danby where I planned to carry on to Whitby then back home from Scarborough but realised time would be against me so toyed with the idea of catching a train to Whitby to have a look at the place then home from there by train via Middlesbrough. Again, there would be no time to get home today. Another brainwave that never even became a ripple was to ride to Nunthorpe where I could catch the Whitby train into Middlesbrough, then Darlington and back home. I kicked this one in the head too and headed back over the Moors from Castleton, up Castleton Rigg which is a gradual rise up to New Ralph Cross again which can be seen from the Rigg from way off. Over Rosedale Head for a long, gradual descent over Blakey Ridge through superb and typical moorland scenery, eventually reaching Hutton-le Hole again, straight through and retraced my way back over Hutton Common to reach Keldholme on the A170 then the more sedate ride back along the lanes to Malton. All this areasouth of Pickering was once one of the biggest lakes in the country, but has now been drained and reclaimed. It’s in total contrast to the Moors to the north but it was good to finish the day in easier cycling country. I went back through some pleasant rural villages; Marton, Normanby and Great Barugh to reach Malton at 17.30. The train arrived in Leeds at 19.15 and I had ¾ of an hour before the train to Manchester Piccadilly so I celebrated St Patrick’s Day tomorrow with a pint of Guinness then boarded my next train, arriving in Manchester at 20.50, 15 minutes later I had a train home, thoroughly satisfied with my latest conquests.