Noryar one

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Looking forward to walking Northallerton to Yarm, my friend and I set off in good spirits on a fine day a couple of days ago. Unfortunately the walk did not live up to our expectations. It started well from Northallerton High Street, on footpaths, to the pretty village of Brompton. At the ford at Water End, the route takes you on Fullicar Lane, a quiet road and track. However, from Ings Beck the route became very tricky. There was no pathway across a hayfield, so we stayed close to the hedge, walking through near waist high grass. The route up to Northfields Farm was unclear, with diversions needed to avoid silage heaps and gates blocked by nettles etc at the farm. From looking a the OS map there is a pathway round Stobthorn Farm which leads to Long Lane (but we were so ready for our coffee at this point, we did not backtrack to verify this)! From Wray House there is a reasonable pathway, keeping fairly close to the railway but this starts to deteriorate quickly as there is not a clear route across the fields and no stiles or right of way between fields (we had a jolly good look)! The approach into Welbury is delightful and a footpath was very welcome indeed. The church grounds provided a welcome stop off for lunch (much needed)! From Welbury to West Rounton and then to Picton it was more of the same with thick vegetation hiding bridge crossings, broken or no stiles, locked gates, waist high grass in some places. My friend suggested a scythe would have come in handy! The roads through West Rounton and along the the outskirts of Picton are lovely. From Picton there was a public bridleway sign and gate sign to Kirklevington. From here the route was easy to follow across fields, woods and footpaths through Kirklevington, ending in Yarm High Street. Throughout the walk there were very few finger posts and only a handful of waymarkers. It is not a walk I would repeat; the blocked rights of way, poor maintenance of stiles/gates etc and poor signage making it a challenge indeed.

Walked this route with my walking pal just a couple of days ago on a cloudy but warm June day. Setting off from Northallerton and up through Brompton was easily identifiable - we are both local girls - so we made a great start. All Road walking up to Brompton but with good footpaths all the way.
Passing the village green in Brompton we then walked over Fullicar Bridge and onto Fullicar Lane -a good hard surfaced lane, and the sun came out.
Once we’d reached Stobthorns Farm we realised we had passed the suggested route , by just a few yards, and quickly returned to where we needed to be.
However, there was no signage to show the right of way, and the field we needed to cross ( and the route suggested straight through the middle of the field was the way to go) was just just thigh high long grass all the way. We stayed to the edges to try to limit any damage, but it was extremely hard going and extremely difficult to then navigate on to Northfields Farm and Northfield House.
We were left having to circumnavigate a huge slurry heap and pools of stinking ‘liquid’, which was sat right across the suggested public right of way, on quite uneven land and yet more extremely long grass, and then between the farm and the house there were 2 5-bar gates to walk through about 20 yds apart, both of which clearly hadn’t been opened for some time and the overgrowth between the two ( now waist-high), made it quite a tricky part of the walk.. We got the distinct feeling that the farmer(s) here simply did not want walkers/hikers crossing the public footpaths on their land! These footpaths are not being managed or maintained in any way. Once safely past Northfield House we then stayed on the Coast to Coast path along the farm access track down to meet Long Lane and continue on. The Slow Ways route actually takes you over a field to access Long Lane via a stile, but once again there was no stile to be found just heavy hedge planting so the farm access track was our preferred option here.
We both agreed on reflection that actually a better option would be to have stayed on Fullicar Lane, pass Stobthorns Farm and stay on that farm access road until you meet Long Lane, turn left at this junction and walk up to Wray House, where you are back on track, avoiding all obstacles, missing stiles, and locked and/or blocked gates.
Here at the access road for WrayHouse it is also part of the Coast to Coast route for a little while, you can’t go wrong, as the owl, the rat and the skull fixed to the fence show the way to go.
Once we’d left Wray House behind and crossed the fields as indicated we were then faced with a ditch to cross and no stile/gate in place where we felt there should be. There was quite a lot of hawthorn hedging but no way through to the next field which leads to Welbury Grange. We ended up dropping down into the ditch (which was thankfully dry but won’t always be!) and then clambering up the other side which was steep and slippery!
Once said ditch was conquered we then had a further 2 fields of very long grass to wade through as again there were no identifiable paths or unplanted edges to stick to.
Walking onwards from Welbury Grange until you reach the minor road was good tracks and access roads again. At the junction with the minor road the route then suggested the right of way was straight across from where we emerged. There is the remains of a finger post ( without the finger!) and after a short while hunting for the path we did eventually find a small wooden footbridge crossing the stream, but it was again completely overgrown and quite honestly for many it would have been impassable. The nettles were now above our waists and the hawthorn hedging very established and left to just grow over this bridge. We were determined to soldier on and after some pushing and pulling and stamping down of weeds and branches we did get across the bridge to cross 2 more fields of not quite so long grass to reach the lovely village of Welbury.
We felt like Stanley and Livingstone at this point, so a much needed lunch stop in the grounds was of Saint Leonards Church was a most welcome rest and chance to refuel and prepare for what else might be to come!
The route through Welbury is clearly marked and the path then leads on over a couple of stiles to the tunnel under the railway line ( we were met with about 1” of water throughout) and on to Irby Manor Farm and then the village of West Rounton. A small length of road walking here again before crossing Low Lane to climb up through a couple of fields ( both with disinterested cattle) and passed Carrbridge Farm.
We then continued on, pretty much drama free, reaching Picton Village, through a gate at the side of a small field of sheep and one very long legged and inquisitive white goat, onto Long Lane.
Taking the left hand fork at the junction we headed up along past Hill House Farm and made our way up towards Picton Manor Farm, passing a gate marked Bridleway to Kirklevington. Thankfully these fields, and grass, were not too bad to cross, and we were guided along through easily identifiable gates and tracks, and navigated the rest of the walk safely and without further obstacles or dramas to reach my hometown of Yarm finally. Lots of places here for a refreshing drink and/or snack, or something more substantial if required.
It was a lovely walk, we both thoroughly enjoyed our day, but we felt it had been a hard 15 miles, probably nearer 16 miles if truth be told. A full body workout indeed and we might have been better prepared had we had a scythe or machete with us to help with the extremely poorly maintained areas we came across.

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