Chop Gate ~ Medium Walk

 

Distance Covered: 7 miles Time to Complete Walk: 3 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

A suitable challenge for an Autumn day. Starting from the village of Chop Gate make your way towards a remote church with amazing views of the surrounding countryside. Then make your way to The Wainstones a formation of rocks that offer incredible views all around. This is a point to point walk, however, on the return you can walk back to Chop Gate on the B road you came in on the grass verge on the B1257. The Buck Inn pub in Chop Gate was closed at the time of the walk, but hopefully will be open moving forward. 

Virus Awareness: The walk was completed in the lockdown and contact with other people was sparse. However social distancing was easy to maintain with a few walkers I encountered on the walk. Please check the tier system before you choose where to walk. 

General Safety Tips:  This is a medium walk and there are some steady climbs. Always ensure you start the walk with plenty of daylight remaining due to the length of the walk. Be careful on crossing the B1257 in the middle of the walk. The paths can get muddy so wear boots and take a walking stick.

The Chop Gate Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head towards Stokesley on the A172. Then head through Great Broughton on the B1257. Stay on this road until you come to Chop Gate. Parking is towards the end of the village to your right and is outside the Village Hall. The parking is free, however there is an honesty box and I put £2.00 in for all day parking.

     Map of the Chop Gate Walk

The Walk

Leave the car park and turn left and walk through Chop Gate passing The Buck Inn.

Pass the Buck Inn

Keep to the pavement and walk through Chop Gate and leave the village. Look for a sign to a road on the right signposted to St Hildas Church. Cross over the road carefully. 

Signpost to St Hildas Church

Cross over a small bridge over a beck and follow the road ahead 

Follow the road ahead

Follow the road which climbs and then swings to the left.

Follow the road as it bends to the left

Keep on the road which offers great views until you come to St Hildas Church

St Hildas Church

Keep on the road as it passes buildings and has brilliant view all around 

Views from the road

Soon the road comes to a T junction which is the road you came in on. Turn left and then cross the road carefully. Look for a hidden sign which points to the right

Turn left at the T Junction

Look for the hidden signpost

Head up the small wooded area which shortly leads up onto a path

Climb up the small wooded area

Emerge onto the path

Turn left and head along the path

Keep on the path to your left

Follow the path through a wall and keep on it as it swings to the right

Keep on the path

As the path forks, keep to the right and continue uphill

Keep to the right at the fork in the path

As you come into Garfitts Farm, walk through the farm and reach a stile to the back of the farm.

Walk through the farm

Head to the stile

Head over the stile and turn left to follow the grassy track

Turn left and follow the grassy track

Keep on the track through a stone wall and then as you come to a gate follow it as it bends right

Follow the path through the gate as it bends to the right

Follow the path until you come to a concrete tank

Keep on the path ahead

Reach the concrete tank

Turn left and follow the lower path which can be muddy. Keep above the path if it is too muddy The Wainstones can be seen to the right.

Follow the track

Views of the Wainstones

Pass through a gate keeping on the path

Pass through the gate

Keep on the path with brilliant views from all angles until you come to another gate

Go through the gate

Turn right and make your way to the Wainstones for great views all around

The Wainstones

After spending time at these fascinating stones, head back and if you choose you can head back to Chop Gate on the B1257.

Chop Gate

Chop Gate (/tʃɒp jæt/ CHOP YAT) is a small village in the Hambleton district of North Yorkshire, England.[1][2] The village lies within the North York Moors National Park. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, the village is situated 7.5 miles (12 km) south east of Stokesley and 12.5 miles (20 km) north of Helmsley.

The Wainstones

The Wainstones on Hasty Bank A large rocky outcrop known as the Wainstones lies at the western end of Hasty Bank, just below the summit. Exhibiting carvings including cup and ring markings , dating back to the Bronze Age , these rocks may once have held significant importance to prehistoric locals.

Saltburn Valley Gardens ~ Easy Walk

Distance Covered: 2.5 miles Time to Complete Walk: 1.5 hours

Suitable for dog walking: Yes

A gentle walk around one of Yorkshires favourite seaside towns. Starting at the edge of the Valley Gardens, make your way through the woods and then down to the pier and back through the gardens following a minature railway. A nice leisurely walk rewarded with a nice dose of fresh sea air. 

Parking is on the kerbside near The Ridge and is free of charge.

Virus Awareness: The walk was completed in the middle of a lockdown and social awareness was heightened. Coffee shops and fish and chip shops were still serving and there were no social distancing issues along the route of the walk.

General Safety Tips:  Wear walking boots as the route can get muddy. Wrap up well  for the detour down Saltburn Pier.

The Saltburn Valley Gardens Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough follow the A174 to Saltburn. On entering the town square, look for a right turn onto Albion Terrace. Follow it ahead at a junction. Keep on Albion Terrace and look for a left turn onto Victoria Road. Follow this round until you come to The Ridge. Park on Victoria Road on the kerbside. 

    Map of the Saltburn Valley            Gardens Walk

The Walk

Head towards The Ridge and look for a left turn down a track which is Marske Mill Lane.

Turn left down Marske Mill Lane

Look for a sign to your left for the entrance to the Valley Gardens.

Entrance to the Valley Gardens

Joining the Cleveland Way, the path dips and turns along a pleasant woodland track.

Join the Cleveland Way

Follow the path through the woods

Keep ahead at a fork in the path, keeping to the right branch of the path.

Keep to the right branch of the path

At another branch in the path, this time head up the left path.

Take the left fork n the path

Look for some steps to your left which will take you up to Albion Terrace.

Climb the steps up to the road

Turn right and follow the pavement passing a war memorial on your right.

War Memorial

Keep on the path ahead passing some nice art and a bandstand on you right.

Bandstand

Near a bus stop look for some steps down on your right.

Look for steps down on your right

At the bottom of the steps turn left and head on the path to the back of the Spa Hotel.

Head to the left

The Spa Hotel

Head to some steps in the corner on your right.

Head to the corner of the hotel

Follow the steps down

Emerging onto Saltburn bank turn right and head down to the bottom.

Turn right and head down to the bottom 

For a detour to Saltburn Pier, cross the road carefully and walk through the car park to the pier for a nice bit of fresh sea air. Fish and Chips is also a temptation before the pier.

Cross the road into the car park

Saltburn Pier

Head back to the footpath and before the bridge turn right passing a cafe.

Turn right and pass the cafe

Follow the path keeping to the left at a fork in the path.

Keep to the left at the fork

Follow the path passing a playground and over a footbridge.

Cross over the footbridge

The path runs adjacent to a miniature railway and ends at the train station.

Follow the path beside the railway

At the station cross over another footbridge.

Go over the footbridge

Turn left and then right up some steps.

Climb the steps

Turn left and enter the gardens. There is also some tea rooms before the gardens which was closed due to the virus.

The formal gardens and tea rooms

Further on from the gardens is a nursery which can be accessed through a gate on the right.

Turn right through the gate into the nursery

From the nursery turn left and up some steps and the left again onto the woodland path you came from. Follow this path back to The Ridge and your car.

Head left from the nursery and up some steps

Head back on the woodland path

Saltburn Valley Gardens

The Valley Gardens cover about 10 hectares, and include a formal Italian Garden, a miniature railway, and woodland walks.

The Valley Gardens form part of the late Victorian seaside resort of Saltburn-by-the-Sea which was developed between 1861 and 1873 by the Quaker Henry Pease. The layout of the town, with the allocation of the site for the pleasure grounds, was designed by George Dickenson from 1861 to 1863. Following the first phase, several design proposals were considered for the remaining area. Joseph Newton's proposals were accepted and implemented between 1865 and 1867.

The c 10ha Valley Gardens lie on the eastern edge of Saltburn, on the west bank of a steep wooded glen (formerly called Camp Bank) along Skelton Beck, and they follow the long narrow landform of the glen. The eastern boundary of the site runs along White House Wood and Rigg Wood which cover the east bank of the glen. To the north, the site meets the Lower Promenade (formerly The Esplanade) which runs along the seafront, while the western boundary abuts two roads: Albion Terrace and Glenside. To the south, woodland merges into Rifts Wood, which is linked to the Valley Gardens by a series of footpaths.There are extensive views from various points within the site, the principal one being north towards the Lower Promenade and the sea. Formerly this included Saltburn Bridge (Ha¿Penny Bridge) which is shown on contemporary photographs. There are also important views east towards White House Wood and Saltburn Bank, and south to Thompson's Wood and Rushpool Hall. The latter, a C19 villa now converted to a hotel, is situated on top of a hill and forms an important eyecatcher.