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WALK 1

West Ayton, Hackness and the Forge Valley

Start/finish	Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn, West Ayton, SE 987 847
Distance	15km (9½ miles)
Total ascent/descent	240m (790ft)
Time	5hrs
Terrain	Easy walking along woodland paths and field paths, as well as farm tracks and minor roads
Maps	OS Landranger 101; OS Explorer OL27 South
Refreshments	Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn at West Ayton, East Ayton Lodge Hotel and Denison Arms at East Ayton, Everley Country House Café is off-route between Mowthorpe and Hackness, and Hackness Grange Hotel is off-route near Hackness
Transport	Regular Scarborough & District buses serve West and East Ayton from Scarborough, Pickering and Helmsley

The River Derwent once flowed straight from the moors to the sea, but at the end of the Ice Age its course was blocked and water overflowed, carving out the Forge Valley, which was later choked by wildwoods. These trees were harvested for charcoal to fuel small ironworks in the 14th century. The River Derwent repeatedly flooded the low-lying Vale of Pickering, so in the 18th century the Sea Cut was engineered to take the river along its original course to the sea. This walk explores the wooded Forge Valley, takes a look at the Sea Cut and offers the chance to visit the lovely estate village of Hackness.

Start at Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn at West Ayton. Follow the A170 road across the bridge to East Ayton and turn left along a road called Castlegate, signposted for the Forge Valley. Pass the East Ayton Lodge Hotel and walk down the road. Follow the road until a public footpath (not a public bridleway) is signposted on the right, flanked by fencing for a few paces. Walk up a broad woodland path parallel to a deep groove. Turn left near the top of the wooded slope and follow a path just inside Ruston Cliff Wood, with occasional views out across fields. Pass attractive pantiled stone buildings at Osborne Lodge and walk straight ahead. Fork left downhill, walking straight ahead to pass an information board.

FORGE VALLEY WOODS NATIONAL NATURE RESERVE

Towards the end of the Ice Age, around 10,000 years ago, a mass of stagnant ice dammed the broad valley, causing water to form the temporary Lake Hackness. This overflowed and carved the deep, steep-sided Forge Valley. The fields above the valley lie on soft Hambleton Oolite, while its sides are formed from hard Lower Calcareous Grit, and its floor is impervious Oxford Clay. The valley became choked with wildwoods, which in turn provided charcoal for small iron foundries in the 14th century. This is one of the best valley-side mixed deciduous woodlands in Yorkshire.

Continue along the path, eventually reaching a parking space at Green Gate. Turn left, then right down a road signposted for Hackness, where there is access to a viewpoint on the left at Hazel Head. Walk down the road to cross Mowthorpe Bridge over the Sea Cut.

THE SEA CUT

The River Derwent has its source on Fylingdales Moor, a mere spit and a throw from the North Sea. It begins by flowing towards the sea, but only 6km (4 miles) short of it, the river suddenly swings west and heads far inland. Its waters eventually spill into the North Sea via the Humber Estuary after a circuitous journey of 240km (150 miles). The Sea Cut, engineered by the distinguished inventor Sir George Cayley (a pioneer in the science of aerodynamics, amongst other things) in the early 18th century, diverts the headwaters of the River Derwent into Scalby Beck, passing floodwater straight into the sea instead of allowing it to inundate the Vale of Pickering.

The Sea Cut uses the original course of the River Derwent from Mowthorpe Bridge

Pass Mowthorpe Farm and walk a little way up the road, then turn right as indicated by a footpath sign. Go through a kissing gate and turn right to walk downhill a little, then turn left to walk up a grassy groove alongside an old hedgerow. Go through a gate, then turn left up to another gate that gives access to Hawthorn Wood. Follow a clear path across and up the wooded slope, then walk beside a field to reach Suffield Ings farm, at around 160m (525ft). Keep to the right of the buildings as marked and leave along the farm access road. Keep straight on at a junction, but later, when the track swings right, leave it by following a path down to the left. This goes down a wooded valley and passes a crumbling limekiln. When a road is reached, turn left; it is hardly necessary to walk on the road, since as one path joins it, another heads off to the left. Hackness village and Walk 2 are easily reached from here.)

The path climbs a wooded slope, followed by a grassy slope, apparently for no other reason than to provide a fine view of Hackness Hall. Having achieved this aim, the path turns right downhill, crosses a stile and enters a wood, then runs gradually downhill across a slope. Leave the wood at another stile and contour across a grassy slope overlooking Mill Farm and the Derwent Valley. Turn right downhill as marked to cross a road, followed by a nearby footbridge over the River Derwent. Walk straight ahead alongside a field and follow an access road past some cottages in the hamlet of Wrench Green. Turn left along a minor road, pass a junction at Cockrah Foot and keep straight ahead at a junction marked ‘no through road’ to pass more houses.

Walk a little way uphill and keep left to cross a cattle grid, as if to follow the track ahead. However, don’t walk along the track, but drift slightly left across a pathless grassy slope, as if heading directly through the valley. Stiles and markers appear only when fences and hedges need crossing, and the route runs roughly parallel to the River Derwent. Pass the point where the Sea Cut takes water from the river, leaving only a small stream.

Walk beside the River Derwent, avoiding muddy patches and gorse by drifting uphill a little. Enter Scarwell Wood, following a clear duckboard path that runs parallel to the river. You can gain access to a car park across a footbridge, where an information board illustrates local wildlife. If you do not require the car park, there is no need to cross the river, and the duckboard path can be followed further downstream through the Forge Valley Woods. The woodlands are dense and the undergrowth is lush, so the route is rather like a jungle trek!

The duckboard riverside path through the jungle-like woods in the Forge Valley

The duckboard ends suddenly at a gate. Walk through a narrow meadow between the river and a wooded slope. Towards the end of the meadow, watch out for a track heading up to the right. Go through a gate and follow the grassy track past the tottering 14th-century ruins of Ayton Castle, then continue along a road past cottages at Castle Rise. Turn left down Yedmandale Road to return to the main road and Ye Olde Forge Valley Inn at West Ayton.