| Date ... | Sunday, 12 July 2009 |
| Distance ... | 7.5 miles |
| Ascent ... | 1405 feet |
| Time ... | 3 hours 25 mins |
| Weather ... | 18ºc, fresh SW winds, cloudy with some showers |
| Summits ... | Round Hill- 1490' |
| Start ... | Clay Bank - Forest Enterprise free car park (NZ572035) |
| Maps ... | Ordnance Survey - Outdoor Leisure Nº26 (1:25,000) or Landranger Nº93 (1:50,000) |
| Books ... | Walks on the North Yorkshire Moors by Paul Hannon (ISBN 1870141040) |
View the photo's from this walk as a slideshow ...
We were in the hands of the 'Weather Gods' again today. The forecast was really mixed with low cloud and showers forecasted for the Lakes we decided to head east over to the North Yorkshire moors again. We parked up at Clay Bank again, like we have a few weeks ago when we did our Bilsdale walk, and walked the first part of that walk, as far as Carr Ridge. Here we continued along the Cleveland Way, rather than following the earthworks, over to Round Hill, the highest point on the moors. We then walked over to Bloworth Corssing to join the old 'ironstone' railway, which we followed down the Botton Incline into the forest plantations. We then followed the forest tracks back to the car. The weather was warm, but we had lots of heavy showers, hope that all of the nice warm sunny weather from a few weeks ago wasn't our summer?????
The route map from our walk. Click here for the GPX file for this walk
The height profile of the walk
A view down into Bilsdale as we walked along the Cleveland Way, before the short but steep climb onto Carr Ridge
Looking out over the flat farm land to the north, not much of a view today because of the heavy showers
A close up shot of the distant Roseberry Topping, or The Cleveland Matterhorn!
One of the many 'Boundary Stones' to be found on Urra Moor
On the Cleveland Way heading towards Round Hill, the highest point on the moors
Looking across Botton Head, you might just be able to make out the 'Incline' heading down into the plantation on the far side of the valley. This is the descent route we would be using later on the morning.
Looking back along Carr Ridge, with Hasty Bank, Cold Moor and Cringle Moor in the background
Sheena and Tim at 1490', on the summit of Round Hill
The 'Hand Stone' another of the 'Boundary Stones' which is very close to the summit of Round Hill
We were puzzled by the round bales dotted over the moorland. That was until we found a sign saying that they were bales of heather been used to try and stop peat erosion on the moorland. Not too sure how they are meant to help, something I will have to check up on!
On Cockayne Head looking towards Bloworth Crossing and the route of the old 'ironstone' railway
Cyclists at Bloworth Crossing, we would be heading left towards the 'Incline'. Going right would take you over the moors to Rosedale
One of the old cuttings ....
This is same cutting, the last time we did this route on 12 March 2005, just about filled to the top with snow
This photo of me climbing up the front of the snow drift should give you some idea of how high they were!
As we walked towards the top of the 'Incline' we could see a heavy shower approaching
What remains of the old 'Drum House' where the trucks laden with iron ore were lowered down the slope of the 'Incline'
Looking down the 'Incline' its a mile and 750 feet lower down to the bottom, easier to go down than up!
Looking across Greenhow Botton towards Hasty Bank from the bottom of the 'Incline'
Sheena and Tim on the track that we would follow through Greenhow Plantation back to the car park
Since the felling of many of the tree's in the plantation you get great views across to Roseberry Topping walking along the track
Looking back, the line of the 'Incline' is clearly visible coming down the side of the moorland