It’s been a while since I investigated any walks from Williamson’s Castle Walks in Yorkshire so I thought I’d have a go at Chapter 8 – Pickering Castle and Cropton Motte. This incorporates a footpath north of New Bridge Quarry that crosses a rifle range and is, for that reason, Williamson informs us, closed on Sundays from April to October. But it’s January, so no need to worry. I thought. Things do change. The starting point for one thing. All Williamson’s walks start and end at a pub, in this case the Middleton Arms in Middleton. Sadly this pub closed in 2010 so I parked by the church round the corner from where it used to be. Daylight was a bit tight so I skipped the footpath round the back of the church PW suggests and started down the main road. Left at the petrol station down Middleton Road, into Pickering and left again at Swainsea Lane, then right after a bit at a footpath sign took me past houses to pass the old motte of Beacon Hill, the first castle of the day. Not much to see. A big grassy mound behind a barbed wire fence. Then the path head down a steep hill where you turn left over a bridge on the edge of the town centre. Now north again up Park Street. When the pavement becomes elevated there’s a road right that leads to Pickering Castle. This looked worth a proper look around but today I only had time to glance at it before heading back down to Park Street and following it out of town to the railway crossing at New Bridge. Just after this is the entrance to New Bridge Quarry. PEDSTRIANS PLEASE STAY ON THE SIGNPOSTED ROUTE FOLLOW YELLOW MARKERS. So I did. And I messed up. Not far in, there is a branching footpath off to the right. I should have gone this way. I didn’t and carried on right through the quarry. It’s quite creepy here, dead silent on a Sunday. Higher up some crows broke the silence a little. A owl flew elegantly out from a crag in the rocks. Finally coming up to the edge of some woods I found New Hambleton Farm right in front of me and realised I had gone wrong. I should have been off to my right where the rifle range was. But I didn’t try to correct the error because now it wasn’t silent at all. There was the sound of gunfire. A lot of gunfire not far off over to the right. So much for April to October.
Plan B. I followed the path north to pick up the farm’s access track and followed that back to rejoin my old friend Swainsea Lane, now a peaceful minor country road which I followed north for a couple of miles to reconnect with Williamson#s route at the T-junction by Saintoft Grange. Round the coner from here is another site of antiquarian interest in the shape of Cawthorne Roman camp so I went for a quick look round. It’s not Housteads though: there’s not very much to see, just grassy ground misshapen enough to make it evident that there were built structures here once. Then I headed back to the road and on towards Cropton. After about a mile the road can be abandoned to follow a field path then a lane leading into the village past Sycamore Farm. There are a lot of signs on front gates around here advertising the ferocity of the householders’ dogs but of dogs today at least not much sign. I turned left here towards the village then right soon afterwards to follow a path towards St Gregory’s Church. Just behind this is T’hall Garth Motte, the third and final castle of the day. From here it was a short distance southwest then south to the New Inn (looked inviting, should really investigate some time perhaps combined with a proper look at Pickering Castle) just past which is the footpath sign pointing right into Bull Ing Lane. This was a bit unpleasant, very, very muddy. After that it was mostly tarmac apart from a short section of footpath round the back of the houses at Wrelton all the way back to Pickering. It wasn’t a bad walk but a bit tarmacy for my taste. It might be better, with only slight modifications as an easy afternoon’s sightseeing bike trip. At one point in his description, Williamson breaks off to offer a few sentences of reassuring words for the cow timorous which might encourage readers to be wary that bovine encounters are a big feature of this walk. Not today it wasn’t and even in high summer so much of it is tarmac with very little in the way of field paths, it’s hard to see that could be much of an issue. But try not to get shot.
Postscript. Turns out I didn't need to worry. After doing this walk I emailed the Pickering Rifle and Pistol Club. Their treasurer replied as follows. “There is no problem re access to the public footpaths through the range at any time. On a shooting day the Club operates a system of radio equipped sentries linked to the firing point ensuring safe passage whilst walkers are passing through. Commencing 3/4/2016 we will be shooting every Sunday until 30/10/2016. If you are planning for a very large group, I would appreciate you letting me know in advance in order that we may manage the disruption.
From 1st October through to 1st February there is a game shoot which is active 2 or 3 times per week, but not on a Sunday”
From 1st October through to 1st February there is a game shoot which is active 2 or 3 times per week, but not on a Sunday”
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