The Circuit 25 MILE CIRCULAR WALK

The High Hunsley Circuit was devised in by the late Dennis Parker, former Chairman of the Group of the Ramblers’ Association. The route is easy to follow. From Walkington to Welton Wold Farm it incorporates a part of the route of the Beverley 20 walk (waymarked B20). The section from to Hessleskew follows part of the Wolds Way, waymarked with its distinctive acorn symbol. The entire route is shown on the and Beverley OS Explorer Map 293 at 1:25,000 scale. The route can be walked as a challenge route in a single day or can be divided into two or three linear sections. It can be started at any point and walked in either direction. Short detours can be made to a number of attractive nearby villages, most of which have a pub and/or tea-room. Several of them are served by hourly bus services.

To obtain an A3 leaflet with a sketch map, and further information about the badge, details of useful bus routes , car parking and places of interest close to the route, please send s.a.e. to David Court, 3 Fairview Close,Beverley,HU17 7DE, Beverley, East Yorkshire HU17 7DX, Tel: 01482 871703, email [email protected]

Route description Section 1 Clockwise from Bishop Burton Pond to York Grounds From the bus stop opposite the village pond, cross over and take the minor road to the right hand side of the pond which bears round to the right passing School Green. Up to the left is the little church with its squat tower. The road is delightfully named Puddingate. You will pass the Wesleyan chapel on your left. At the western end of the village pond note the millennium stone, marking the site of the old wash dyke. The engraving on it shows a scene of former village life. At the T junction, turn left. Continue in a southerly direction along a pleasant minor road with wide verges for about 1km. The road starts to go gradually uphill and reaches a T junction at the brow of the hill. Turn left along quite a busy road (signposted to Beverley) for about 300m then turn right at the public footpath sign on the right. Take the grassy path to the right of the hedge along the field edge. Ahead to the right the outskirts of Walkington come into view. The path emerges on a back road. Turn left and follow the road as it bears right towards a pretty white clock tower. At the next T junction, turn right onto Northgate and continue down towards the village centre. When you reach the main street of the village, cross the road and take Kirk Lane, opposite the Dog and Duck pub. At the top of Kirk Lane, turn left onto Road. At the end of this road, continue in an easterly direction on the footpath, passing the cemetery on your left. About 100m along the path, look out for a narrow footpath going off to the right. Passing farm buildings on the right, continue through a kissing gate and continue in the same direction to a stile. Now bear diagonally right across parkland. The route then bears left at the far end and passes through a gap between the wood on your left and the hedge on your right. Go gently uphill to the top right hand corner of the pasture. Go through a kissing gate and turn right onto a farm track. The track bears left then right alongside a hedge then emerges onto a metalled farm road. Turn left and follow the farm road up the hill. Continue towards the brow of the hill, passing Risby Park Farm. When the track bears right, continue straight ahead on the bridleway, disregarding a diagonal path signposted to your left. The track leads gently uphill and emerges onto a minor road near the brow of the hill where you turn left towards Risby. Look out for an information board on the left hand side of the road giving information about the medieval village and large house which once stood here and was visited by Henry VIII. Just opposite the information board, turn right onto the footpath. The path goes up the right hand side of the field. At the top, it bears left and continues round the field. Watch out for a gap in the hedge about a third of the way along the top of the field. Pass through and turn right, heading towards a line of pylons. On your left, Mill comes into view. The path goes along the left hand side of the field. As you approach Skidby, looking ahead and slightly left, the two towers of the Bridge come into sight. As you reach the line of pylons, the path bears left and then right to join the Little Weighton Road. Go straight ahead down the road, passing bungalows on your left. Cross with care at the road junction and turn right onto Riplingham Road (unless you wish to detour into the village for refreshments at the pub or a visit to Skidby Mill). Continue along the Riplingham road to the end of the village, passing a small cemetery on the left. Ignore the footpath sign to the left and carry straight on through an avenue of trees. At the next junction by Westfield Farm continue on in the same westerly direction towards a railway bridge ahead. About 50m beyond the railway bridge, ignore the bridleway to the left and carry straight on along the wide track towards the most distant pylon. The track becomes more grassy, continuing uphill in the same direction. Just before the pylons, do not follow the track which bears sharp right but continue straight on on the grassy path at the bottom of a field to the right of a hedge. The line of pylons is now on your left. Before the end of the field, below the brow of the hill, turn left at the footpath junction before the small wood and take the bridleway up to the left. From here there is a good view back towards Skidby and the Mill on the horizon. Walk up the side of the field with the hedge on your left. On the skyline to your left, the outskirts of Hull come into view. Follow the field edge bearing right then left again. The path bends left and right again as you approach the road with farm buildings on the left. Emerge on to the often busy Riplingham Road and turn left. High Hunsley Circuit Stage 2 Clockwise from York Grounds to High Hunsley

Turn left onto the busy road and at the brow of the hill, after about 50m, look for the fingerpost on the opposite side and take the track leading to York Grounds Farm. When you reach the farm buildings, bear slightly right and pass through the buildings. The track continues uphill. Continue on (about 600m) to a footpath junction at the bottom of a dip (Turtle Hill). Continue straight ahead with woods to the left. Keep following the main track as it winds left and right, ignoring any tracks going off until you reach a T junction opposite a pond. Leave the muddy track and turn left for about 50m then turn right, still on the Way. Across the pond on your right you can discern Waudby Manor Farm with its little chapel. Continue in a more or less southerly direction with a conifer plantation on your right. At the end of the plantation you will reach a kissing gate and footpath junction where you turn right onto a field edge bridleway (the road parallel to it is not a right of way). Our route continues straight ahead on the bridleway. (The goes off to the left.) At the top of the hill, turn left onto the road and follow it downhill. After about 400m, when you reach the woods on the right hand side, take the public footpath to the right next to a white gate. Continue on a woodland trail. Turn right just before you reach the edge of the wood and take the path that goes quite steeply down to the right. When the path emerges at the bottom, cross over the road and just to the left on the other side of the road, pick up the public footpath. Pass through a kissing gate and continue more or less in the same direction through the woods ahead. This woodland trail bears to the left and goes sharply uphill. Towards the top of the hill, there is a fine view of the Humber estuary to your left through the trees. Turn right ignoring the bridleway down to the left. The footpath is marked to Brantingham, I mile. When you reach a metal gate, turn left continuing uphill on a narrow path. The path bears slightly up to the right through a kissing gate. Pass through on to a minor road and turn left, rejoining the YWW. Further downhill, a metal gate on the left affords a lovely view across the Humber estuary. The village of Brantingham comes into view ahead and to the left. You may wish to divert from the route by continuing down the road for refreshments at the Triton Inn. Our route turns off the road to the right between two wire fences and descends towards the church. Turn right on the minor road along the valley bottom following the Wolds Way. Just before a right hand bend in the road, about 400m up from the church, take the footpath to the left, a wide track through woods. A short distance from the road, the path bears slightly right between two metal gates. After a short, stiff pull, the path emerges through a kissing gate near the brow of the hill where you will be rewarded with another view. The path continues downhill between two fences towards farm buildings. The track bears right through a kissing gate next to a metal gate. Follow this path down into the dip then bear left up the hillside to a footpath sign. When you reach the fence, turn right towards the top of the hill. At the top of the hill, a kissing gate leads along the top side of the wood. Continue on up to another kissing gate still going uphill. Farm buildings come into sight ahead and to the left as the path finally begins to level out. Continue following the Yorkshire Wolds Way to the farm buildings. At the T junction, the route turns left. After passing through the farm buildings go sharp right through a belt of trees. When you emerge, you will have a good view of down to the left. Continue on the track as it goes gradually downhill (but disregard the path on your left down to the village). Bear left on a metalled farm track down to a road. Turn left on to the road for about 100m , then cross over and take the footpath signposted to Newbald on the right by the first house. Pass over a little bridge before heading up the hillside. As you reach the top of the hill, turn right at the T junction, still on the YWW. On the right you will pass some interesting looking benches. Continue gradually uphill through a plantation, then bear right at the next junction. The route leads over the brow of the hill and gradually down. In a little dip look for a signpost off to the left and pass through a gate leading down into Cumber Dale. The High Hunsley mast comes into view. Follow the fence down the left hand side of the field. At the bottom of the field, follow the YWW signposted to the right. Bear right along the bottom edge of the hillside on the grassy track. Do not descend into the valley bottom yet. You are just above the route of an old railway line (Hull to Barnsley. A sharp little bend brings you round to the last metal gate. Cross over a wide track in the bottom of the valley and take the bridleway up through the wood. The bridleway proceeds more or less parallel to the bottom of the valley and eventually veers off to the left. Follow it gradually uphill through the wood. At a fork in the path, bear left up East Dale. When you emerge at the top of the wood, bear left , then right around the field until you eventually emerge onto the busy B1230 road. Cross with care, turn right for about 200m, then take the footpath to the left. At the next junction, turn right, then cross over a road and continue for about 200m. (There is a possibility of parking here on verges on the minor road)

High Hunsley Circuit Stage 3 Clockwise from minor road to north of High Hunsley returning to Bishop Burton After about 200m turn left at the fingerpost signposted to . At far end of field turn right following the hedge down the slope . Pass through a metal kissing gate and go quite steeply downhill through rough grass on the side of the dale, down to the bottom. Pass through a gap on the left and enter the lovely winding valley of Swindale. Go along the valley bottom and after about 500m, bear left along the valley bottom. After about 1km, at the end of the dale, the path goes slightly uphill then bears to the right. Continue along a chalky track till you reach the minor road. Turn right and follow it for about 300m, then turn left after the farm buildings, still on Yorkshire Wolds Way. Head uphill on a wide track for about 500m until you reach another minor road. Turn right along the road for about 150m, then turn left onto the bridleway (YWW) up towards Goodmanham. Just before the brow of the hill, make sure you turn round to admire the view back towards the Humber estuary. Keep on along the wide track over the brow of the hill and passing under some overhead wires. About 500m beyond the brow of the hill, ignore the path on the left leading to Newbald. When the path emerges onto a minor road, take the public bridleway going off to the right just on the bend in the road. Carry on along a grassy track heading east towards farm buildings. The track bears left round the outside of a wood passing the buildings on your right. The track then bears right leading down towards a minor road When you emerge at the bend in the road, cross over and look for the public bridleway sign at the far end of a little wood. Take the wide, grassy track alongside the wood heading in an easterly direction. At the end of this wood, continue in the same direction towards the next wood ahead and then turn right alongside it, still following a wide grassy track now in a southerly direction. When you reach the south-western corner of the wood, continue in the same direction on the track towards the brow of the hill and distant pylons. Before you reach them, at the top of the first field, turn left before the brow of the hill, and continue following the wide, grassy bridleway now in an easterly direction towards a row of telegraph poles. The track goes alongside a very long field – you can discern traces of a former hedgerow about half way along which used to divide it in two. The bridleway passes beneath the telegraph wires. Good views open up to your left. You will pass farm buildings (Ling Farm) over the field to your left and you may be able to discern the wind turbines at Lissett on the distant horizon to the north east. When you reach a T-junction, turn right still following the wide grassy track. At the far end of this field, the track bears left and continues parallel to a surfaced farm track. When you reach the corner of the wood ahead of you, continue in the same easterly direction on the minor road all the way to Bishop Burton. There are one or two welcoming benches for the weary!

When you reach a T-junction on the outskirts of the village, turn left. You can either continue down this road to the village shop which has some outdoor seating on the left and provides welcome refreshments or to the Altisidora public house on the far side of the main road. Otherwise, you can turn almost immediately right to return to the pond.