Walks 39 what’son Walks Kepwick, Cowesby and Pen Hill Walk Information Black Hill towards Pen Hill, from where a narrow rhododendron- Distance: 4 km (2.5 miles) filled gully takes you back down to Time: 2 hours Kepwick. It is worth the short detour onto the top of the slight Maps: OS Explorer Sheet OL26 rise of Pen Hill, which is a Celtic North York Moors Western Area word that means hill hill. From this Parking: Small car park at the fine vantage point, the views are Village Hall (beside the church) incredible of the encircling Refreshments: None en route – Hambleton Hills with the rooftops take refreshments. of Kepwick below. Terrain: Field paths, country lanes and woodland tracks, with a fairly The walk side the fence on your left then, steep climb up onto Pen Hill. The From the small Kepwick Village where the fence bends left (towards woodland paths and tracks are 1 Hall car park beside the church the church), carry on for a couple rough and muddy. at Kepwick, turn right along the of paces then follow the narrow How to get there: Kepwick lies to road (passing the church on your overgrown path bearing to the left the east of the A19 between right) out of the village then con- through nettles and long grass to Osmotherley and Thirsk along a tinue along the road for 150 metres soon reach a stile that leads onto maze of narrow country lanes. to reach a couple of houses on the road at Cowesby (just beside the entrance to the church). Caution: I encountered cows and either side of the road. Take the calves along this walk. Never walk footpath to the left over a stile (signpost) just before the house on Turn left along the road through between a cow and its calf, and give the left, then walk straight on 2the village then, where the road them a wide berth. Avoid them across the middle of the field bear- bends sharp right towards Kirby completely if accompanied by a ing slightly right to join a track Knowle, Felixkirk, carry straight dog; let your dog off its lead if you across the field (marked by a line on (Dead End sign) along the lane feel threatened. This walk includes of telegraph poles), with a wooden to soon reach the end of the road a fairly long and quite steep climb barn just across to your left. Follow and start of a track beside a farm up through woodland. Some of the this track straight on to reach Glen on your right. Carry straight on up paths are muddy and overgrown. Side Farm (wind turbine). Follow along the stony track (signpost Public Bridleway). Follow this tree- the track straight on passing the Kepwick Hall, North Yorkshire Points of interest farm buildings on your left to shaded track rising up then reach a red metal gate across the bending up to the left to reach a EPWICK is a delightful track just after the stone-built fork in the track (waymarker) – of the woodland that leads out onto rhododendrons, follow the path to K small village hidden away farmhouse, beyond which you follow the right-hand track the broad grassy ridge of Black the left slanting down across the among a maze of narrow come to a junction of tracks. Carry climbing up through the woods for Hill. hillside to reach a gate in a wall country lanes at the foot of the straight on down alongside the 200 metres to reach another fork in (blue waymarker). Head through dramatic escarpment of the hedge on your left for 50 metres to the track. Follow the left-hand After the gate, turn immediately this gate and follow the broad Hambleton Hills. This linear village reach a gate to your left in the bot- track rising quite steeply up 3left along a broad grassy path grassy track straight on down the comprises attractive stone cottages tom corner of the field. Turn left through woodland. Follow this alongside the wall on your left, field to reach a gate that leads onto built in typical vernacular style of through this gate then walk track up then, at the next fork, passing a copse of birch trees on the road where you turn right back the North York Moors, with a small straight on along the top of the carry straight on up along the your right after 200 metres then into Kepwick. chapel at one end of the village and field alongside the hedge on your track to then reach another fork continue along the grassy path the gates to Kepwick Hall at the left to reach a stile beside a gate in where you continue straight on gently descending for a further 200 Mark Reid other. the field corner. Cross the stile, along the wide, rough path. Follow metres to reach a fork in the path Author of The Inn Way then walk across the top of the this sunken path rising up then, (with the slight rise of Pen Hill just guidebooks From Kepwick, field paths leads to next field and over another stile in after a short distance, follow it across to your right). Follow the Cowesby, another lovely village, the corner of the field, after which curving up to the right then, at an right-hand narrow path that leads from where an old track leads turn right down the field alongside old tumbledown wall, follow the down into a rhododendron-filled Unique corporate activity days, steeply up through woodland to the hedge on your right to reach sunken path curving up to the left gully. The path leads down this navigation skills and team building emerge on Black Hill. This next another stile beside a gate at the then sharply round to the right narrow gully, with rhododendrons experiences in the Great Outdoors. part of the walk is a delight as you bottom of the field. Cross this stile again, rising up through the trees almost creating a tunnel then, teamwalking.co.uk follow an old bridleway across then turn immediately left along- to reach a gate in a wall at the top where you emerge from the Countrydiary Birdwatch ETLAND habitats, with their The second NE bird has completely dominated through giving very little chance to catch wealth of wildlife, are some of the unusual plant is the scene this week – and it was a up with them. These included birds at W water soldier most threatened in the landscape, O real stunner. An adult bridled tern, Hartlepool Headland in August 1988, so creating ponds is a valuable way of which covers a a tropical mega-rarity, turned up at the Scarborough in October 1990 and East helping our flora and fauna. Visitors to large area of Farne Islands on Monday to delight all Chevington in June 2010, all of which Durham City can see a fine example of the pond lucky enough to see it and to provide a quickly vanished. what can be achieved in the grounds of the surface. This bonanza for the Seahouses boatmen. Birds like this surprise visitor tend to DLI Museum and Art Gallery. nationally rare Never ones to miss a trick, they laid on native aquatic overshadow other rarities when they The wild flowers around the museum’s extra trips for anxious birders flocking occur but at the other end of the region a plant, with rosettes of north for perhaps a once in a lifetime ponds are at their best now and when I surf scoter was at Filey and last week’s saw-edged leaves, has opportunity. visited last week there were scores of ring necked duck remained at Catterick. spotted and marsh orchids in flower. In the decreased in many of its former natural Only 29 bridled terns have so far been There were also reports of hobby shallows the yellow flag irises put on a fine haunts but fortunately it’s easy to recorded in Britain, not really surprising overhead at Houghton and Hart village display too, but what really caught my eye cultivate in garden ponds and self- propagates rapidly once established. It as their home areas are as far away as the and an osprey at Northallerton. were two uncommon native plants that Red Sea, Persian Gulf and Indian Ocean spends much of the year submerged but In July we can start looking forward to were thriving so close to the city centre. with another population around the The first was ragged robin, whose deep rises to float on the surface between June waders returning from Arctic breeding and September, when it produces its small Caribbean. With black upper wings and pink petals with ragged edges made it black and white head pattern, bridled grounds. Most of these very early arrivals instantly recognisable. On closer white flowers down in the leaf rosette. It are probably failed breeders. I noticed my might not be the prettiest wild flower but terns stand out when attracted to inspection each of the five petals can be colonies of our own basically white terns. first returning party of dunlin, all in seen to be deeply divided into four narrow its partially submerged leaves do provide a breeding plumage, at the weekend and a lobes, which gives them their ragged habitat for all manner of pond life at this Those who rushed to see it didn’t have to Temminck’s stint was a great find at appearance. This is a species that thrives time of year, including damselfly larvae search far as it quickly settled down in Scaling Dam reservoir on Tuesday.