Free Yorkshire Pub Walk: Hutton-le-Hole (4¾ miles)
Below is a free chapter from North Yorkshire Pub Walks. This walk (a 4¾-mile route around Hutton-le-Hole) is one of 20 in the book.
Hutton-le-Hole is a beautiful postcard-worthy village, with a stream trickling through the centre and a backdrop of sheep grazing peacefully on the green. This is the last outpost before the rugged landscape of the North York Moors just north of the village. This walk takes you across fields and moorland paths to the neighbouring village of Lastingham, a smaller and quieter village away from the droves of tourists in Hutton-le-Hole, where a modern gastro pub awaits.
- Distance: 4¾ miles (7.5 km)
- Start: Hutton-le-Hole Car Park, Moor Lane, Y062 6UA. Parking: Hutton-le-Hole Car Park.
- OS Map: Explorer OL26 North York Moors, Western Area. Grid Ref: SE705902.
- Terrain: A mixture of grass, tarmac and stone paths with one short woodland hill. Can be wet and muddy in multiple places during the winter. Dog friendly.
- Walk Tips: The fields can get waterlogged in winter or wet weather, so it is advisable to wear waterproof boots or shoes.
The Blacksmiths Arms in Lastingham has managed to stay up-to-date while retaining a traditional Yorkshire countryside feel. Modem yet quirky decor, a spacious and welcoming beer garden for alfresco dining (if the weather permits) and a central spot in the village are all in its favour.
THE WALK
1. Turn left out of the car park and then left again to join Main Street heading towards the village centre and past the Ryedale Folk Museum. Opposite the village hall, tum left to follow a public footpath sign heading to the back of the church and across fields. Follow the path through a series of five gates to a metal bridge over the river and heading into woodland.
2. Head uphill along the woodland path and after 100m, a gate opens out onto a path through ferns before reaching a road ( Anserdale Lane). Turn right along the quiet road, ignoring the initial footpath sign to the left. In around ½ mile, take the signed footpath to the left, which is 50m before a stone bridge ahead.
3. Head through the gate and continue along the path which follows a fence line, then some wooden signposts, and then a stone wall, before descending downhill and across a stream in just under ½ mile.
4. Head uphill and at a signpost, bench, and Lastingham stone plaque, take a right to head downhill towards the road into Lastingham. After¼ mile downhill on the road (High Street), you reach a junction with Front Street.
5. If visiting the Blacksmiths Arms turn right and the pub is another 50m ahead on the right, opposite the church. To continue the walk tum left on Front Street signposted to Cropton. In 50m turn right over the stone bridge and then in another 50m tum right again at a footpath sign. This takes you uphill to a gate and into woodland. It's then a steep 200m through woodland before you reach a road where you can see a black and white signpost to your right.
6. Turn right towards the signpost and follow the road around the left-hand bend towards Spaunton. At the junction follow the road round to the right and then turn left immediately, following the footpath sign and then take the right-hand fork weaving through the farm. Follow the field path towards farm buildings ahead and then tum left when you reach them to carry on along the side of the field. Once past the barns turn right at the footpath sign.
7. Follow the path for ½ mile through the fields as it swings to the left and then right, and then head downhill through woodland. After 200m downhill there is a break in the tree line by a pheasant pen to the right and a gate which you head through. Continue heading downhill following the footpath signs to the river. Tum left through a gate to reach Main Street at Hutton-le-Hole. Tum right through the village to return to your car.
Places of Interest Nearby
Ryedale Folk Museum is an open-air museum with thousands of objects and where more than 20 heritage buildings have been reconstructed to tell the stories of local people and the area's history from the Iron Age to the present day. In between Huttonle-Hole and Rosedale Abbey (around a 10-minute drive away) is Chimney Bank, one of the steepest roads in the country and worth a visit itself, due to its spectacular views both from the road itself, and on the journey across the moors to get there.
>>This walk features in North Yorkshire Pub Walks
- Rory Batho
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