Pockley ~ Hard Walk

Distance Covered: 9 miles Time to Complete Walk 4 hours

Suitable for dog walking: No

A walk to the pretty thatched houses village of Pockley, with its beautiful church with its bell tower and then into the Riccall Valley next to the River Riccall. Look out for bluebells in the spring and its grouse population which follow you on the walk. A 9 mile there and back walk, this is great if you love a long walk.

General Safety Tips: Take care on the road although it is a quiet country road it is quite narrow and tractors come and go along it. Take car at the start of the walk and cross the road carefully from the layby where you park your car.

The Pockley Walk

Getting There

From Middlesbrough head towards Helmsley on the A170. At Helmsley, head towards Scarborough and just before you enter the village of Beadlam, look for a large layby on your right to park your car which is free of charge.

Maps of the Pockley Walk

The Walk

From the layby, cross the road carefully and head to the bus stop just before the village of Beadlam.

Head up the path at the back of the houses onto The Croft.

Turn left and follow the road to another road, High Lane and turn left onto this road.

Follow this lane out of Beadlam.

Follow this lane for about two miles until you come to a junction - follow the lane to the left.

Follow the lane to a junction and turn left towards Pockley.

Follow the lane. 

At a junction turn left and into Pockley.

Look out for the beautiful church on your right - St Johns Baptist church, worth a visit.

Head through this gem of a village with its old style phone box and thatched roofed houses.

The village is surprisingly sprawling and heading through it look for a lane to your right opposite the last thatched house in the village.

At a fork in the path head to the left down to the river.

Head down the track and through a gate. Just before the river head right over a bridge.

Cross over the bridge and emerge into a clearing.

Turn right and head onto the main track which you soon join ahead.

Head along this track with the river to your right. Look out for the grouse who join you at this stage!

Join a track coming from the right. 

Keep on this track until you come to a group of buildings on your right.

At this point turn back and retrace your steps back for the return journey of the walk. Dont forget to turn right at the fork in the path. 

When you come to the clearing on your left, look for the bridge again and retrace your steps back to Pockley.

Take two right turns from Pockley and head back to the layby before Beadlam where you parked your car.

Pockley

Pockley is a small village and civil parish in North Yorkshire, England. It is about 1 mile north-east of Helmsley turning north from the A170 road. Its short, winding lane passes six thatched cottages in a quarter mile before turning back toward the A170 and its junction at Beadlam and Nawton.

The Grade II-listed church of St John the Baptist was built in 1870 and designed by Sir Gilbert Scott or his son. The chancel screen and other furnishings were provided by Temple Moore in 1898-99 and rood beam figures by Lang of Oberammergau. The church's very unusual heating system was based on the Roman Hypocaust. Warm air came through underfloor ducts from a coke-fired stove beneath the church. Originally the fuel for the stove was carried through a 25-foot brick-lined tunnel on a miniature railway which is still in existence but rarely used. The hot air heating system was restored in 2012 and for the first time in over 60 years the Church is now warm for services.