Cleveland Way - Helmsley to Thirsk (★★★★☆)

Today I am off to complete a walk that I have done before, but never got enough photos to do a writeup with - and this walk is the first stretch of the Cleveland Way from Helmsley round to Thirsk.

Last time I did this as a very long walk, starting in Thirsk, walking out to Helmsley, and then walking back - but today I am being a bit smarter, and making use of the 31X bus - which will take me from York to Helmsley.

And although this is a fairly infrequent bus, and initially a little bit of a dull journey - from Easingwold the bus heads through delightful countryside on it's windy route round to Helmsley.

The most notable sight seen along the way is Byland Abbey - which still retains a fairly substantial section of wall - and which dates back to the 12th century.

And next up we pass Ampleforth College - which is Hogwarts for non-magical kids with lots of money - with fees for boarding totaling just shy of £60k a year.

But eventually we make it round to the main event - Helmsley - which has managed to retain the character of an old Yorkshire town, without modernity staining it too far.

It is a very posh sort of place, with it's own castle, manor (Duncombe Park - a rather grand affair), and an almost unlimited supply of tearooms - but it is also the start of the Cleveland Way, and that is after all why we are here.

Cleveland Way - Helmsley to Sutton Bank

With this in mind, we make the short walk round from the market square to the start of that trail - passing the trail start/end marker along the way - before heading up a track, that takes us across the greenery that lies to the east of the town.

Looking back towards Helmsley Castle

Here we are walking to the north of Duncombe Park, and with Helmsley being very popular among well-to-do day trippers, this is a fairly popular walking route (usually walked out and back between Helmsley and Rievaulx Abbey).

This makes this a fairly busy trip out from Helmsley (at least for a Friday) - but whilst we start off in green fields, we quickly end up walking through trees - with a general absence of scenery that is uncommon for the Cleveland Way.

Through the trees

After a while we reach a road - and if we were to turn right here, the road climbs up to Rievaulx Terrace - which is now owned by the National Trust, and forms part of the garden of Duncombe Park (with this section having been built out in the 18th century).

Originally this stretch of land belonged to the Abbey - but later it passed on to the Earl of Rutland after the dissolution of the monasteries, then to the Duke of Buckingham, before it was finally bought by Sir Charles Duncombe in 1687 (around the time of his purchase of Duncombe Park).

And that terrace features views out overlooking the Abbey below, and we will see glimpses of Rievaulx Terrace from the plains below on our way past.

But here we stay low, and after initially following a path alongside the road, start walking along the road itself towards Rievaulx Abbey.

The path alongside the road

Before long, the Cleveland Way sprints on past the Abbey - but wanting to at least see it on our way past, here we divert off - and cut up on another quiet road that leads on up to the Abbey.

Rievaulx Abbey (and part of Rievaulx Terrace on the hill above)

Rievaulx Abbey was one of the great abbeys of England, until it's seizure in 1538 (at the dissolution of the monasteries), and it was the first Cistercian monastery founded in the north of England (a French order who closely followed the strict rules of Saint Benedict).

More specifically, it was founded by twelve monks from Clairvaux Abbey in France - and the remote location suited that Cistercian style of monastic life (with prayer and self-sufficiency being key).

Over time, this became a very rich monastery, aided by lead and iron ore mining, and through the production of wool - making it one of the richest abbeys in England.

Later on though, the monastery suffered economic problems due to disease among both the sheep and general population - and between these events, the abbey was also plundered by the Scots in a number of raids (most notably after the Battle of Old Byland).

Eventually the Abbey would be taken over in the dissolution of the monasteries - and over time it became a mere ornament in the gardens of Duncombe Park - before becoming the visitor attraction it is today.

But we do not linger too long - and soon return back down the road to rejoin the route of the Cleveland Way, where we head over a bridge (passing a lovely garden), and say goodbye to the Abbey.

The temple at Rievaulx Terrace is visible on the hill as we pass over the bridge (top left)

From here the path quietens down, as we leave behind all the people walking between Helmsley and Rievaulx, but we still have a decent stretch of road to clear, before we can return to footpaths.

Whilst we are following the road, the traffic is mostly just cyclists - and in any case, it isn't the worst stretch of road to walk along, with nice views on either side when the hedge disappears.

Following the road

Before long, we soon get off this road, and follow a path that heads past some fishing ponds (originally built by the Cistercian monks at Rievaulx - but off limits to us today), before we cross over a small stream, and through a narrow stretch of woods that line this stream.

One of the fish ponds

Having crossed the stream

Passing through the woods

This stretch between the woods only last so long before we turn to the right and climb up through that narrow band of trees, before we emerge and start to head out towards Cold Kirby.

Out across the fields

The church at Cold Kirby

Here we have a town that is of Norse origin (with the -by suffix meaning village in Old Norse), and with Kirby effectively meaning Kaeri's village (having been through a few iterations of the village's name over the years).

Here we find a village with some very pretty gardens, but we are soon through the village, and heading out on the far side - and on towards Sutton Bank.

Fields on the far side of Cold Kirby

And back into trees ahead of reaching Sutton Bank

This run towards Sutton Bank has no particularly notable features until we pass by some of the horse racing stables that cluster together in this area.

From here we cut up to the main road, which we briefly follow, before we cross over to the far side - ready to make our way on to Sutton Bank.

The route to Sutton Bank along the Cleveland Way from here is a very short one. And from here it follows a track out through the some woods, before turning left, and along to just above the White Horse, before doing a 180 degree turn, and heading back the opposite way.

But here I prefer to follow the road out past the gliding club to the White Horse, to then bend round along the same route as the Cleveland Way - but without having to turn back on myself - and this is what I choose to do today.

This adds a bit of extra road walking, but there is a bit of a path by the side, that has been formed by others with the same idea - and there is plenty to see on the way past the gliding club.

The gliding club

As we pass the gliding club, we also pass the site of an iron age fort - directly opposite the club - and this one was a particularly large fort that made use of the geography of this area.

It is thought that this fort was built here to control one of the main routes used to get up onto these from the Vale of York - with this potentially having also marked a boundary between the Parisi and Brigantes iron age tribes.

To the north of this fort (where we crossed the road) we passed over Casten Dyke - and this may have been an additional boundary marker - with that dyke dating back to either the late Bronze Age or early Iron Age.

But leaving this fort and the gliding club behind, we continue on, and reach a more modern site of the Kilburn White Horse.

The Kilburn White Horse is carved into the hillside, and for obvious reasons is best seen from below - but here we get our first properly good views of the day, as we now start to pass along the front of Roulston Scar.

The view from above the White Horse

As many of these hill figures tend to be, this carving does not date back very far, and only as far back as 1857 - but is notable for being Britain's largest white horse, and was visible from the bus that took us to Helmsley.

If you do want to see, you can turn left here, and head down to the car park below - but even then, the horse is best seen once you are further away from the hillside in Kilburn (you will miss the top of the horse from the car park below).

But today we opt to stay up on the ridge, and as we reach the point where the Cleveland Way does a 180 degree spin (to turn back on itself), we continue around the ridge - back following the official trail.

View from further round the ridge

As we continue on round Roulston Scar, a glider takes off over our heads (towed by a normal airplane) - but having focused on enjoying that particular moment, I only get the camera out to capture that same airplane landing back down on the runway.

Coming back down

As we continue on, the path gets steadily busier as we start to close in on Sutton Bank Visitor Centre - and on this final stretch towards the centre, we pass the site of the Battle of Old Byland.

Here we are passing the location of a battle fought in 1322 - and this followed a fairly (but not completely) successful raid by King Edward II into Scotland. In response, Robert the Bruce (the King of Scotland - who was having great success versus the English at the time) crossed the Solway, and then turned South-East to raid down through Yorkshire.

At this point King Edward II was in residence at Rievaulx Abbey, and seeking to reinforce his army - on his return from those Scottish raids. But the Scots made rapid progress down through England, without seemingly having been detected by Edward.

Having been caught off-guard, Edward ordered the Earl of Richmond to post an advance guard along the escarpment of the Hambleton Hills - to block the Scots from taking the high ground, and to buy him time.

But soon the Scots arrived at the foot of Sutton Bank - and hoping to be able to rely on their experience of fighting in the highlands, sought to fight their way up the pass.

Despite holding the high ground, the English forces were eventually broken (with the Scots having found a way round the back of the English forces), with the majority of the fighting occurring close to the route of the current road - but over terrain that has been altered in the construction of that road.

After this defeat of his forces, Edward opted against a further battle - and fled to his ships at Bridlington - losing significant riches in his hasty retreat, and with the defeat bringing a fresh low to a fairly unsuccessful reign.

But today, the only obstacle blocking our path along the ridge is the busy road, and having crossed over that road successfully we can continue on along the ridge - ahead of our turning off the Cleveland Way. 

But before doing this, there is still time for one more view.

The view from a bench along the path

Dropping Into Thirsk (off the Cleveland Way)

From here we are now set to drop off the Cleveland Way, and make our way on to Thirsk - and we start by dropping down to reach Lake Gormire below.

Lake Gormire

Here we find a quiet lake that sits on the plain below - with this particularly deep lake having formed at the end of the last Ice Age.

The lake has no stream, and instead is thought to have formed due to rock falls - and it can take on a murky character in winter, but today it's a pleasant lake to walk around, and it is always kept quiet by the steep climb back up to Sutton Bank.

Having made our way round this lake, we head on across the fields - before we meet up with the drive for Low Cleaves, on the outskirts of Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe.

Across the fields

On the farm drive

Next we follow the farm drive down into Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe - which we head through - before taking a path to the left, on the far side of the village - that takes us on to the small village of Balk.

From here it is time to follow the quiet road round towards Bagby, before curving round with the road to Scenecliffe - where we can once again return to a footpath.

From here we can head on down past Woodcock, to arrive back on the main road, on the edge of Thirsk.

The countryside at this point

Once over the A19, we still have to make our way into Thirsk - the former home and working base of Alf Wight (the real James Herriot) - after which we have to battle through the crowd leaving Thirsk races, to reach the train station in time for our train home.

Total Distance: 19.3 miles (10.0 miles on the Cleveland Way)

Total Ascent: 1,583 feet (1,341 feet on the Cleveland Way)

Note that the loop at Sutton Bank has been treated as if on the Cleveland Way as it is a similar distance and profile to the official out and back route.

Enjoyment Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ ★ / 5

Quite a bit of this walk is across so-so countryside - but the bits at Helmsley, Rievaulx and Sutton Bank are particularly good. This makes for a good walk overall, but it is worth bearing in mind that the good bits come at intervals, with it being less exciting in between.

Click for a writeup of the next section of the Cleveland Way from Sutton Bank to Swainby.

Disclaimer: This writeup provides a narrative of what to expect rather than a route guide to follow. The route is covered by the 100 OS Landranger map - while there is also a Cleveland Way guidebook which includes OS mapping (links redirect to Amazon). The route is in general well way-marked, and pretty easy to follow