Moor, while the Hole of Horcum is a remarkable dalehead that was carved by glacial melt-water at the end of the Ice Age. Most visitors come and go using the main road over Saltergate Bank, but the Hole of Horcum can be reached by using valley-side paths from Levisham. The return to Levisham overlooks part of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway.
Leave the Horseshoe Inn at the top end of Levisham and walk straight down through the village, admiring the stone houses that surround the broad central green. Walk to the bottom end of the village and follow a path straight downhill. Turn left along a footpath that swings across a wooded slope. Later, climb 60 steps, then fork left at a junction along a path signposted for Horcum. The path is quite narrow and flanked by flowers, brambles and bracken, with views across the valley to the nearby village of Lockton.
The path swings left as it works its way through the valley, and it is well wooded at times along Levisham Brow. Generally, the path runs gradually downhill and the woods begin to thin out. Go through a small gate and cut across a slope of bracken to reach the side-valley of Dundas Griff. A signpost points ahead to Saltergate and a small stream has to be forded before you cross Levisham Beck using a footbridge.
Follow the path gently uphill, across the wooded valley side, using a boardwalk before going through a gate. Continue along a path across the grassy valley side, and later keep to the left of a building at Low Horcum. Walk onwards and head down a grassy track to go through a gate. A clear path leads up through heather, then rises more steeply up a heathery groove as it climbs out of the Hole of Horcum. Enjoy the views around this splendid hollow before continuing through a gate at the top to see a bend in the busy A169 road on Saltergate Bank. There might be a new café below.
According to a locally favoured legend, a giant by the name of Wade was out of sorts with his wife, and so he scooped up a pile of earth to throw at her. He missed, and the resulting hole became the Hole of Horcum, while the lump of earth became Blakey Topping. The former Saltersgate Inn can be seen from the gap at the head of the Hole of Horcum. The strange pyramidal radar at RAF Fylingdales rises beyond, looking quite out of place in the bleak moorland setting.
A clear path climbs up through the heathery head of the Hole of Horcum
A gate gives access to a track rising from the gap. See Walk 3 for a quick return to Levisham. Go through the gate, but turn immediately right to cross a stile and slant left downhill. Walk across a grassy moor, but don’t stray too far from the steep slopes of Levisham Moor. Follow a vague path, which becomes much clearer later, but take the time to identify the path instead of forging straight through the heather. Further ahead there is more bracken, and there are views down on to the North Yorkshire Moors Railway in the deep gorge of Newtondale. A short detour can be made to the little ruin of Skelton Tower, which is a good viewpoint overlooking the gorge, but make sure to return to the main path afterwards to avoid wet ground beyond. The broad, grassy path eventually reaches a bend on a minor road above Levisham Railway Station. The station offers an alternative starting point.
Grazing on the moorland shelf near Skelton Tower
Walk up the road, but only to pass a small wood. Branch off to the right, but fork left almost immediately to follow a grassy path. Further along, turn left up another clear grassy path, climbing a slope covered in gorse bushes. Turn around the top of a small, steep-sided wooded valley, then walk alongside a couple of large fields. Follow a narrow road straight into Levisham to return to the Horseshoe Inn.
Skelton Tower overlooks Newtondale and the North Yorkshire Moors Railway
WALK 5
Levisham Station, Levisham and Newton-on-Rawcliffe
| Start/finish | Levisham Railway Station, SE 818 910 |
| Distance | 9.5km (6 miles) |
| Total ascent/descent | 260m (855ft) |
| Time | 3hrs |
| Terrain | Generally easy, using clear roads and tracks for most of the way, with a steep, vague and muddy path at the end |
| Maps | OS Landranger 94 or 100; OS Explorer OL27 South |
| Refreshments | Horseshoe Inn at Levisham, Mucky Duck at Newton-on-Rawcliffe. |
| Transport | The North Yorkshire Moors Railway serves Levisham Railway Station; Monday-only Ryecat buses serve Newton-on-Rawcliffe from Pickering. |
Levisham Railway Station is on the North Yorkshire Moors Railway – a line that operates nostalgic steam-hauled trains through the heathery heart of the North York Moors National Park. The station lies deep in the dale, well below the village of Levisham, and even less conveniently at the foot of a steep slope from the village of Newton-on-Rawcliffe. This short circular walk climbs from Levisham Station to Levisham, then runs down a wooded valley to Farwath. After climbing to Newton-on-Rawcliffe, the route drops steeply back to the station.
Houses in the village of Levisham face on to a sloping green
Leave Levisham Railway Station by following the road as if for Levisham village, but only to pass Grove Lodge. Just as the road begins to steepen, head off to the right through a small gate and follow a path up a wooded slope. Walk up a field to go through a gate at the top, then turn right. Almost immediately, fork left up a grassy path on a slope of gorse bushes. Turn around the top of a small, steep-sided wooded valley, then walk alongside a couple of big fields, at around 190m (625ft). Follow a narrow road into Levisham to reach the Horseshoe Inn at the top end of the village.
Walk down the road through a spacious green surrounded by stone farms and cottages. Walk to the bottom end of the village and follow a path straight downhill, cutting out a sweeping bend to land on the road at a lower level. Turn left down the road, then right along a track signposted as the Tabular Hills Walk, approaching a ruined church.
LEVISHAM CHURCH
St Mary’s Church stands on an 11th-century foundation and is tucked deep in a steep-sided valley. It seems rather remote from Levisham village. According to legend it was supposed to be built in the village, but each night the devil carried all the building materials down into the valley! The church was virtually abandoned before the tower was added, and a new church was built in 1884 at a more convenient location in the village.
The route varies from a muddy woodland track to a grassy path, passing through a succession of gates and eventually reaching a three-way signpost in a field. Turn left and pass through two gates to cross two footbridges: the first one crosses a drain; the second crosses Levisham Beck. The marshy grassland near the beck is the Hagg Wood Marsh Nature Reserve, where alkaline waters allow an interesting assemblage of plants to flourish. Turn right to walk through a farmyard at Farwath, crossing the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at a level crossing.
Cross
