Walks in the North York Moors Book 1

Guidebook of 30 circular family walks on the North York Moors in the National Park, covering remote stretches of the high moor, gentler sections along the moor’s flanks and the coastline from Redcar as far south as Scarborough.

On the 28th November 1952 North East Yorkshire’s marvellous purple acres of heather moorland became the sixth area of outstanding natural beauty in England and Wales to be designated as a National Park.

The North York Moors National Park covers an area of 553 sq. miles, and is bounded on three sides by vast lowland plains. To the north and west lie, respectively, the Cleveland Plain and the Vale of Mowbray, from which the moors rise in sudden, dramatic escarpments, whilst to the south-west and south are the fertile Vales of York and Pickering. Twenty-five miles of spectacular, rocky North Sea coastline forms the Park’s eastern boundary. The two main aims of the National Park Authorities are a) to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Park and b) to encourage the provision or improvement of facilities for the enjoyment of open-air recreation and the study of nature within the Park.

Moors, dales and coastline constitute the three basic elements of the National Park, but its boundaries embrace an incredibly diverse range of distinctive features:

• the country’s greatest expanse of heather moorland
• undulating agricultural land
• broad, pastoral dales and steep, wooded valleys
• precipitous sea-cliffs and delightful rocky bays with golden sands
• beautiful natural woodlands and extensive tracts of dark coniferous plantations
• lazy, meandering rivers and rushing moorland streams
• ten nature reserves
• fifty-three Sites of Special Scientific Interest
• palatial homes and stately mansions
• remote, sleepy hamlets, bustling market towns and quaint fishing villages
• relics of ancient civilizations
• fascinating remains of former industries
• glorious abbeys, venerable churches and hoary old castles
• imaginative museums and visitor centres
• one of the country’s finest preserved steam railways.

Riches a-plenty, to which an intricate network of country roads gives easy access. When one also considers that within the Park are over 1000 miles of public bridleways and footpaths – not to mention old drovers’ roads, paved packhorse trods, old railway trackbeds, forestry paths and waymarked trails – it is little wonder that the area is regarded as one of Britain’s finest walking locations, or that over 11,000 good souls come a-visiting each year.