Cleveland Way - Kildale to Swainby (★★★★★)

After moving up to the north for work, I found myself living roughly halfway between Darlington and Middlesborough. 

Before moving up, I had head much about national parks such as the Lake District, the Peak District and the Yorkshire Dales - but the North Yorkshire Moors was a relative unknown.

But one day - while looking over a map, to see what I could explore of the area - I noted some train stations heading out through the Moors, and figured that it was time for me to go for an explore.

I have been a regular visitor to the Moors ever since - and the walk for today is one of my favored routes through the Moors.

For this walk, I'm heading out by train to Kildale station. There is also a writeup for a walk from Kildale to Saltburn heading in the opposite direction.

From here, I turn left out of the station, and then continue along this road (ignoring the markers for the Cleveland Way to the left - that goes the wrong way), to a slightly bigger road, where I turn right through the village.

Having past the last house in the village, there is a short stint of road walking to clear (although the road is very quiet, and there is a grassy verge to walk along if the conditions are right). Before long, however, a farm track appears to the left, which is where the path turns off.

This road, although recently relaid, is not a particularly busy route, and the only traffic will be walkers, cyclists, farmers or those looking to get to the houses at the far end of the track.

The path is - however - a bit of a climb, and although the path goes up gently at first, after a right turn and then a bend left, the path starts to pull up more sharply.

From here the real climbing begins, but at the same time views open up of the countryside around - and this view is particularly good, because we are essentially looking out at the route we will walk for the rest of the day (we will be following the ridge, round to finish near the right end of the hills - just behind the smaller peak, on the right of the far ridge).

The view from up the road (Swainby is to the right of those hills in the distance)

After the steepest bit of climb flattens out, you reach the site of an aircraft crash during WWII - a Hudson bomber that crashed here in bad weather, having been out on a mission over the North Sea.

Leaving this site behind, we turn left with the road and start to bend round towards the south.

There is a decent stint of walking to be done on this road, but with it being so minor, the route feels little more than an exceptionally well built footpath - and you can relax and not worry about any traffic too much.

After a while though, the road transitions into a stoney track, and you continue to head along this route to join up with a track heading in from the right-hand-side, near Battersby Plantation.

Just before reaching the path from the right looking back towards Roseberry Topping

From here the views look out across the the section of the path we will work round to (with our path heading south and the next section of path heading north on the other side).

As we head on along Greenhow Bank, below the old path of the railway is heading up from Battersby up the Ingleby Incline. This is worth a visit on another day and is another route up to the Moors from a train station - albeit with quite a steep ascent (I'm sure it will come up on other writeups).

Not on our route, but this is a photo from the incline below (taken on a different day)

Train tracks used to go up from Battersby, and our path ahead continues on to Bloworth Crossing - which was part of the old rail network, used to move iron ore through and off the Moors.

An old photo of a train at Bloworth Crossing

At Bloworth Crossing, our route heads back on itself to the right (the third exit if this were a roundabout). The first exit to the left heads off to Blakey Inn along the old train route (and connects with the Esk Valley Walk), while the second exit heads down Rudland Rigg to Gillamoor, through the middle of the Moors).

For a writeup of a walk doing from Glaisdale, to the old mines (and railway) at Rosedale, before heading across this junction and down Ingleby Incline to Battersby, click here.

Turning back on ourselves, we now head westwards before the path turns up towards the north-west, shortly after having passed a series of small ponds. 

The path is now heading through a sandy landscape past Round Hill, which is the highest point on the Moors at 454m (you might as well go climb it, because it is only a few meters up from the main path).

Heading on across Urra Moor, the path starts to drop away, climbs back up again, and then drops away once again, looking out across the fields below.

The view out towards Rosberry Topping

Here the path dips down to a cut through the hills, where a road connects up Great Broughton to the north, and Helmsley to the south.

Having crossed this road, the height lost must be regained on the other side, with this climb offering fresh views back to the route just walked.

Looking back at the old path

From the top of the climb

This here is a good spot to stop and have a bit of a rest - looking out across the view - and then the path heads on to the top of Hasty Bank.

Heading along this bank, the path soon dips back down again as we reach the Wain Stones, which must be scrambled through to reach the other side.

The Wain Stones

Having past this section, the path dips again into a valley, before climbing back up once again, to head towards Cringle Moor. This is one of my favored sections of the path, and the pictures describe the views better than I can.

A look back over the route from the Wain Stones (the grey cluster on the far hill)

Here you are looking back across the full extent of the already walked route - while looking out from the hills, you look over fields and then out towards Teesside in the distance.

There is a decent climb to be done getting back up the other side, but the height does not last for too long before it is time to drop down once again, into another dip in the path.

Time to go back down again (the path can be seen heading up the other side)

There are a lot of rises and falls along this path, but whilst walking in the Lake District can cause vertigo on certain routes, these hills are all a bit smaller and rounder, without the same sharp and dramatic drops. This is perhaps bad in terms of dramatic photos, but it can also make more more relaxed walking.

Having got down into the dip, there are a few fields to pass through (with fairly uninterested cows and sheep), before a stretch along the flat - and another climb back up on the other side (if you have had enough of climbs, there is a lower path to the right that still has good views, out across the plain below).

This takes you up onto Cringle Moor, which is only marginally lower than the high point of the Moors already reached today.

Here the path gets busier, so there is a bit of stepping to one side and waiting for walkers the other way to come through, but before too long it is time to drop down once again to pass Lordstones cafe.

From here the route passes over a very minor road (mostly used to access this cafe or for cycle rides), and then once again the path starts to climb up on the other side. Once again it is a fairly long climb, before you finally pop out at the trig point at the top of the climb.

From the trig point on Carlton Bank

From this point onward there is a break in the climbs, with a flat path heading out, before the path drops down to Holey Moor as it turns to head in a more westerly direction. This is a spot that is sandy with a large heather moor.

The heather is not so dramatic at this time of year, but if you come in late July or early August the whole view turns purple at once - with bright purple in late July, and then a fading colour heading through August.

Once again there are no climbs on this section to worry about, and passing some ancient stone mounds, the path starts a descent down from Live Moor, to the road far below at Huthwaite Green. The one challenge of this section are some fairly steep steps down through the trees, which must be taken slowly.

Having reached the road, the path heads almost straight on, down a connecting road, before turning off to cross over Potto Beck and then up into a field of Highland cows.

Feeling a bit lazy today

But more friendly at the exit of the path

Crossing this field does involve a bit of a climb - but nothing compared to before - and at the top of the field the path turns to the right and heads off through the trees. If this part is waterlogged then simply use the other path, which heads up slightly more to the left from the base of the hill.

Following this route round along the base of Limekiln Bank for a short while, the path heads round to eventually meet up with the road coming up from Swainby. Turning off the Cleveland Way, I head down this road and into Swainby. 

On this day, my route will head onwards, as I head home across the plains, but from here you can catch a bus that connects up with Northallerton, and from there you can connect up with trains. Note that this bus is not particularly frequent and you may have to alternatively head round to Osmotherley to catch a bus home (depending on the times on the date you travel).

Enjoyment Rating : ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ / 5

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 93 and 94 (along the edge of) OS Landranger maps - while there is also a Cleveland Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked.