North Yorkshire Moors
OVERVIEW
This is most clearly seen in the northern section of the moors - with the northern end of the moors featuring a ridge that looks out across the fertile farmland below.
And whilst this diagram includes a lot of fancy words - once you get boots on the ground, the impact of this geology can be seen by looking at a character assessment of the moors:
And here it is clear how the geology is linked to the character of this area of countryside (note that the first diagram stretches further south) - with the north generally being a mix of moorland and valleys (or dales), and the south a mix of limestone hills and fertile farmland.
The Cinder Trail is a walking / cycling (for mountain bikes) trail that follows the former route of the railway between Scarborough and Whitby. This passes through Robin Hood's Bay, and whilst not as pretty as the parallel coastal route, does pass through some nice countryside.
The Cleveland Way is a 109 mile National Trail that focuses predominantly on the upper moorland sections of the national park - but also has a particularly nice section that heads down the Yorkshire coast (through small fishing villages such as Staithes and Robin Hood's Bay, and larger resort towns such as Whitby and Scarborough).
From Osmotherley to Bloworth Crossing, the Cleveland Way and Coast to Coast follow the same route - but then the Coast to Coast path heads out along the old railway route, before cutting across the moors to the Esk Valley.
The Esk Valley Walk is a well maintained named trail that can be split into two sections. There is a loop that heads out and back from Castleton that explores the upper reach of the Esk Valley (walking the moorland that the Esk initially flows down from), and a lower section that follows the route of the River Esk down towards Whitby.
Whilst there is no official North York Moors Railway trail, there is a network of paths that stretch down from Grosmont to Goathland and beyond - and these allow walkers to explore both the railway itself (and it's steam trains), and some of the interesting countryside.
There is no Rosedale Mines named trail - but threre is a very popular walk that heads around the Rosedale Mines, along the old railway track.
The four named trail in the North Yorkshire Moors is the Tabular Hills Walk, but whilst the Cleveland Way, Coast to Coast and Esk Valley Walk explore the northern (and more moorland) section of the national park, the Tabular Hills Walk focuses on the southern area of the park.
The easiest access comes from the railways - of which the most notable parts are the Esk Valley Railway (which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby), and key stations at Saltburn, Thirsk and Scarborough.
HUMAN HISTORY
By the early-to-mid 20th century these mines had been outcompeted by cheaper open cast mines - but this industry left a heavy mark on the landscape that can be seen on some of the walks that can be done - for instance around Rosedale Mines.
The North Yorkshire Moors is a raised moorland plateau that is broken up by dales (which in turn draw the water off the uplands).
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| Map of the North Yorkshire Moors, Source: Historic England |
This is most clearly seen in the northern section of the moors - with the northern end of the moors featuring a ridge that looks out across the fertile farmland below.
The southern end also includes a similar ridge at Sutton Bank - but as you head east towards Scarborough, there is a more varied landscape, with farms and trees taking over from moorland.
And this all stems from the underlying geology of the area (which can be seen quite neatly in the following diagram):
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| Geology of the North Yorkshire Moors, Source: Research Gate |
And whilst this diagram includes a lot of fancy words - once you get boots on the ground, the impact of this geology can be seen by looking at a character assessment of the moors:
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| Character assessment of North Yorkshire Moors, Source: NYMNP |
And here it is clear how the geology is linked to the character of this area of countryside (note that the first diagram stretches further south) - with the north generally being a mix of moorland and valleys (or dales), and the south a mix of limestone hills and fertile farmland.
For walkers, the Cleveland Way and Esk Valley Walk are the best examples of walks that explore the moorland areas - whilst the Tabular Hills Walk takes on the (perhaps less exciting) section at the base of the moors.
One of the things that walkers will notice when walking the North Yorkshire Moors, is that the moorland is often a lot drier than (for instance) the moorland found in the North Pennines - and this has been a particular issue for this area of moorland.
Peatlands are an important natural habitat, and provide an important carbon store. And there are 5,500 hectares (or 7,700 football fields) of deep peat (ie peat greater than 40cm in depth) in the North Yorkshire Moors.
But peat is a habitat that relies on a certain amount of moisture - and as a result of peat extraction, drainage, and the planting of trees - a lot of this peat is drying out, and starting to decompose (releasing carbon dioxide and methane into the atmosphere in the process).
Effort is being made to restore these areas of peatland - and around 500 hectares have already been restored under the Moor to Restore programme.
And so whilst there are some that sneer at the moorlands of the North Yorkshire Moors - and call them barren or a wasteland - these remain important natural habitats - and in July and August when the heather is in flower, they can be beautiful too.
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| It can feel barren (particularly in winter), but moorlands are an important part of our countryside |
NOTABLE WALKING ROUTES
The dominant trail on the North Yorkshire Moors is the Cleveland Way - after which the Esk Valley Walk and Coast to Coast are the next most notable. These (and other notable walks) are detailed below:
In total it is a 21.6 mile walk between Scarborough and Whitby, with lovely views passing through Ravenscar, after Robin Hood's Bay and from the Larpool Viaduct as you head into Whitby.
Cleveland Way - National Trail
This results in a fairly varied walking trail, and this is a trail that is very easily done in sections over a period of time.
The trail is in effect a loop around the national park - and so it is nice to combine it with some walking that heads deeper into the moors.
Coast to Coast (stretch between Osmotherly and Robin Hood's Bay) - National Trail
Here it takes a similar route to the Esk Valley Walk - before turning off to the south to take a longer route to the coast, finishing up with a stretch along the coast to Robin Hood's Bay (once again running on the same stretch of path as the Cleveland Way.
Whilst I have walked these stretches of path I have never written them up - but will add them to this site at some point.
The walk in it's entirely gives a nice overview of both the more rugged upper moorlands of the North Yorkshire Moors, and of the more fertile valleys. This gives quite a lot of variety along a fairly short length of trail. In total this is a 37 mile trail that is very easily accessed from the Esk Valley Railway.
Although this route is following a railway, this is often a very rugged landscape following a fairly steep sided valley (compared to the broader Esk Valley). One of the highlights away from the route of the railway is Mallyan Spout (a waterfall near Goathland).
Goathland itself is well known due to it being a film location for a number of films and TV series.
When doing this walk I started in Glaisdale and followed the same route as the Coast to Coast trail - before diverting off to drop down onto the Rosedale Railway.
This was then followed round into Rosedale Abbey, before picking up the rest of the old railway network on the far side.
Oon the far side the route eventually joins back up with the Coast to Coast route, following the old railway line towards Battersby train station (leaving behind the Coast to Coast for the final run to that station).
Tabular Hills Walk - Named Trail
The Tabular Hills Walk starts where the Cleveland Way stops in Helmsley - and then joins back up with the Cleveland Way in Scarborough - so does provide the opportunity for a circular loop. But it is more notable for showing how different the area of the moors is to the south - and it's focus is on the more agricultural and forested side of the national park.
GETTING ABOUT
The ease of visiting the North Yorkshire Moors depends a lot on where you start from - but whilst the moors themselves have a fairly limited public transport network - there are specific areas that are easy to explore.
And here we have a map of the main transport routes (as provided by North Yorkshire Moors National Park):
The easiest access comes from the railways - of which the most notable parts are the Esk Valley Railway (which runs between Middlesbrough and Whitby), and key stations at Saltburn, Thirsk and Scarborough.
Heritage line trains also run from Grosmont and Whitby (where they connect to the main train network). And making use of this line does mean that you might be travelling on a steam train - and being a heritage line tickets are bought and sold separately.
The bus network is less extensive, but there are parts of this bus service that are very good. Most notably buses between Middlesbrough and Scarborough run frequently.
This Middlesbrough-Whitby service mostly makes use of the main roads, but I have for instance stopped at the Falcon Inn and cut up to Ravenscar on a walk - and the frequency of these buses makes it a very reliable option (with the bus from Whitby to Middlesbrough being cheaper, faster and more frequent than the train).
Buses also run between Northallerton and Stokesley past the villages on the top of the moors - and I have used this to get to/from Osmotherley.
At the southern end, Pickering seems to be the main bus hub along the frequently served routes between York and Scarborough / Whitby. An additional (but less frequent) bus service runs from York to Kirbymoorside (via Helmsley).
Alongside these you also have the Moors Bus network - this is a more infrequent service that predominantly runs on weekends, but it has been setup to align with the wider public transport network. This is the best service for getting properly into the moors.
HUMAN HISTORY
The North Yorkshire Moors is a place that has a long human history - with a number of Iron Age forts being found across the moors - and in particular at Roulston Scar, where the fort is thought to have sat on a boundary between the Parisi and Brigantes kingdoms.
Alongside this early tools and artifacts can be found spread across this area - which show evidence of early hunting gathering and fishing.
The Brigantes dominated the human history of this area until Roman times - and you don't come across too many examples of Roman history beyond the southern end of the moors and along the coast. Along the coast the most notable examples of Roman history can be found via the Roman signal stations at Huntcliff (east of Saltburn), Goldsborough (north of Whitby), Ravenscar, Scarborough and Filey.
Scandinavians subsequently left a much more lasting mark on this area of the country - with many of the towns and villages of the moors taking on Scandinavian derived names (indicated by -by and -thorpe place name endings).
But whilst linguistic evidence of the Vikings is strong, the physical evidence is more limited - and instead it was the churches, monasteries and abbeys that left the bigger physical mark on this landscape.
The biggest mark on this landscape was - however - left by the Industrial Revolution.
Alum production supported England's vital textile industry between 1604 and 1871, jet was mined from the mid to late 19th century - but the main industrial activity was iron ore mining.
By the mid 1850s there was large scale ironstone mining activity across the moors - and by 1883 Cleveland iron ore production peaked at almost seven million tons.
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| Map of ironstone mining activity, Source: NMRS |
By the early-to-mid 20th century these mines had been outcompeted by cheaper open cast mines - but this industry left a heavy mark on the landscape that can be seen on some of the walks that can be done - for instance around Rosedale Mines.
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| Mining on the moors |
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