To celebrate mid-summer I visited the North York Moors. The North York Moors are a national park in the north east corner of Yorkshire; primarily a heathery, upland plateau, the park extends to the North Sea coast around Whitby. Much of the park is
open access land, where one has the freedom to wander away from paths and rights of way.
I arrived in the village of Goathland early in the morning, having driven over the mist-covered moors from Leeds, with the intention of following
a route over moorland to the East and South of Goathland.
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| Goathland Station |
I started my walk from the station in Goathland. It is part of the
North Yorkshire Moors Railway, which is a heritage steam railway that runs north-south through the moors. The station recreates railway stations from decades ago, but it was still early so there were no trains to complete the picture.
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| Moor above Goathland |
My route took me North Eastwards across Goathland Moor. This was my first experience of the heather-covered plateau. The lack of trees and deep greens and browns of the heather gave the moor a bleak, gloomy feel. The morning mist was clearing, however, and there was even a patch of blue sky - things were looking up!
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| Cross-leaved heather in flower |
I found some early-flowering heather in a sheltered spot. The bright purple clusters contrasted with the dark foliage. It will be worth coming back later in the summer, when the majority of the heather is in flower, to see the moor blanketed purple. The heather was a mix of Calluna and Erica species, which occur in such abundance because the moor is managed to provide good habitat for red grouse that need young heather shoots to feed on and older heather to hide in.
Red grouse are regarded as the prince of gamebirds and people pay a lot of money to shoot them, making an important contribution to the local economy. It is an awkward bird to manage though - it suffers from predators, and especially parasites, which can severely affect grouse numbers. Also, birds cannot be reared in captivity then released to augment wild populations. End result: huge expanses of heather moorland that are carefully managed for grouse production across Northern England, Scotland and Wales.
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| Old-fashioned pylon |
I crossed a road and continued east across the moor. The major vertical features on the moor were a line of pylons heading north to Whitby. The pylons were an old, elegant design, with patches of rust emphasising their age.
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| North York Moors dry stone wall |
Moorland was separated from lower level farmland by a dry stone wall. I followed it southwards to a bridleway that led across the farmland.
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| Young cattle |
The farmland was used for grazing. In one field nervous young cows followed me as I passed.
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| Dog rose |
As I crossed the farmland there were dog roses flowering in the hedgerows, along with plenty of honeysuckle. I could smell both species from some distance away!
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| Falling Foss |
The bridleway entered a wooded valley, which led to
Falling Foss. Although the stream feeding the falls was small, it went over a long drop, and with the sunlight making the water sparkle it was a dramatic sight. I stopped at the tea room by the falls and the meagre change I had left over from paying the parking fee in Goathland was just enough for tea and cake.
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| Lone pine tree on the moorland |
Much refreshed, I walked Southwards upstream until the woods became thinner, and after a short climb I was back on moorland. A lone tree stood sentry - it is probably an escapee from a nearby Forestry Commission plantation, which I intended to skirt around next.
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| Felled plantation |
It was a mature plantation and some areas had been felled. Dark, featureless plantation does not look good, but the felled land looked worse. The Forestry Commission is more enlightened these days, so hopefully they will replant with some attractive and ecologically interesting native species.
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| Cotton grass, growing in a hollow |
After a couple of miles of walking Southwards across moorland I came across a patch of cotton grass in a dip. The tufts at the top of each stem were windblown.
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| Louven Howe |
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| Looking across the North York Moors |
Continuing South, I reached the high point of the moor -
Louven Howe. Great views all around, especially as the weather had continued to improve. The view in one direction was dominated by
RAF Fylingdales, whose land I would pass through next...
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| Fylingdales warning sign |
RAF Fylingdales is a ballistic missile warning station - it has a big radar array that rises pyramid-like from the moor, which is visible for miles around. During the Cold War the base was responsible for spotting missiles that would have initiated a '4 minute warning' had the Soviets launched a nuclear attack. Now it is part of the U.S.A missile defence shield. As such they are a bit touchy about security - there are signs up outlining what you can and can't do, which included taking photos of the base from controlled land that I was on. The sign above, however, is apparently a fraud, and after a moments pause I dismissed it and carried on my way.
It was interesting to see that close to the base, where I guess there hasn't been grazing and heather management for grouse, scrub and small trees were starting to cover the moorland. Left long enough without human intervention, presumably the whole moor would go the same way.
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| Rail bridge, North York Moors Railway |
After a couple of miles stomping through heather, I reached the main road over the moor. This was the same road I had used to drive to Goathland in the morning, when it had been shrouded in mist . I had to follow the road for a mile, and it was busy, so I was frequently jumping onto the verge as traffic passed in both directions. Eventually the road brought me to the North York Moors Railway line, which I passed under, and then I followed a bridleway back into Goathland.
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| Sheep grazing the lawn, Goathland |
The biggest disappointment about Goathland? Plenty of sheep, but no goats. Mis-selling was a theme of the village - a few of the shops had signs such as 'Grocer' and 'General Store', which I went into to try and buy a drink, only to find shelves of souvenirs but no groceries.
