Scugdale & Live Moor ~ Medium Walk

Distance: 4 miles   Time to complete walk: 2 hours

Safety Tips:  The walk involves open moor walking. Take your walking stick and test the ground ahead of you as there is marshland on the moors. As you are exposed to the elements either wrap up well or use sunscreen depending on the weather when you complete the walk. You have a very good GPS signal here- look for the Cleveland Way and head towards it if you lose your bearings.

A walk that takes you onto the moors for open moor walking, enjoy the silence of the moors as you join the Cleveland Way. Starting at Husthwaite Green which is just outside Swainby, an ideal walk if you wish to experience some peace and solitude. Apply suncream or take a waterproof for your journey across the exposed moors though!

 

 

The Scugdale Live Moor Walk

 

 

Getting There

 

 

From Middlesbrough, go up Ormesby Bank and follow the road to Stokesley. Follow the A172 at a roundabout  before Stokesley and look for a left hand turning for Swainby. Drive through Swainby and look for a left turning which is Scugdale Road. Look for a handful of houses on the left just before the road spilts two ways. Park next to the post box which is just near a sign for the Cleveland Way.

 

 

 

 

Map of the Scugdale Live Moor walk

 

 

The Walk

 

From the post box near where you have parked, follow the road ahead which is still the Scugdale Road. Follow the road and enjoy the pleasant views around you. Look for where the road bends to the right just after you pass Sparrow Hall and take a left turning.

 

 

 

Sign for Sparrow Hall

 



Turn left onto the gently rising farm track away from the road. Walk towards the farm, Fog Close Farm but before you come to the farm itself look for a gate on the right half way up the track. Go through the gate and another gate. Look for a sign and follow this very steeply uphill alongside a stream.

 

 

 

Gate on farm track

 

 

If you follow the stream up the steep climb you will come to the boundary of the farm to the moors.

 

Stile to stream and uphill climb

 

Look for two gate posts and go onto the moor which climbs gently and avoid the marsh just after the  gate. Your walking stick will come in handy here to test the ground is firm. Remember if you get lost here, there is an excellent GPS signal to check your position in Google Maps and you will soon find your bearings. You need to aim uphill through bracken until you come to a stile and join a sandy track.

 

 

 

Cleveland Way



 

Turn right on the sandy track which is quite wide. Follow this track and before it climbs and turns to the right keep your eye open for a path to the left. Follow this path and checking your GPS you will realise you are heading for the Cleveland Way.

 

 

 

Roseberry Topping

 

Follow the Cleveland Way and if you look to the right in the distance you will see Roseberry Topping. Also you will pass two groups of stones or cairns where the Cleveland Way climbs. Don't forget to place another stone on the top of the cairns!

 

 

Cairns along the Cleveland Way

 



 

Follow the Cleveland Way until you come to the edge of a wood and go through the gate.

 

 

Woods from Cleveland Way

 

 

Follow the steep steps downward taking extra care. Follow the path back which will then exit onto the road where you left your car near the post box. I would recommend stopping for refreshments at the lovely village of Swainby which has plenty of pubs and good food.

 

 

Swainby

 

Swainby is a village in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England. It is situated on the A172 road, 8 miles (13 km) north-east from Northallerton and 5 miles (8.0 km) south-east from the small market town of Stokesley.

Swainby is located at the north-western corner of the North York Moors National Park. The characteristics of the village and the surrounding area consist of traditional Yorkshire dry stone walls, hills, sheep, heather and moorland.
The village is close to the ruins of Whorlton Castle; Swainby appears to have been built after its abandonment.
In the 19th century the housing of miners who worked the nearby hills for ironstone and jet led to an expansion of the village.
Swainby contains two public houses, "The Blacksmiths Arms" and "The Black Horse", and a caravan park with farm house