Thursday 19th July 2001
Weather:
Mostly dull & wet
Today's Walk: Sutton Bank - Scotch Corner Chapel - Oldstead - Roulston Scar
( 6 miles )
. 
Today's walk begins at the Sutton Bank National Park Centre (Grid Ref: 516 831)

Today, along with
Jim and Stan (my regular walking pals), I was joined by Maureen
and Ken (right)
from White Rock, B.C., Canada, and their good friend, Steve
(left), from Burnley in Lancashire

We were soon
walking along High Town Bank Road, which, during the 17th and
18th centuries,
was known as the Hambleton Drove Road, an ancient highway,
running from Scotland to southern England
Huge numbers of cattle were moved from Scotland to English markets along this route to supply the demand for fresh meat

About a mile
further on along the track we came across a couple of buildings
in the 'middle of nowhere'
- passing through the little wooden gate we discover a tiny
chapel . . .
. 
Scotch Corner Chapel was built in the 1950's as a memorial to three former pupils of nearby Ampleforth College . . .
. 
. . . they were killed in World War II and the chapel is cared for these days by current pupils at the College
. 
Continuing on down from the chapel, we follow the leafy lane until we meet a minor road . . .

. . . near the hamlet of Oldstead
From here, we follow the road to the right for a few hundred yards before turning right again up a steep country lane
. 
For a precious few
minutes the sun peeped through the gloom and we were able to
enjoy the flowers and wild honeysuckle
which smothered the hedgerows almost all the way up the lane,
taking our minds away from the effort of the climb

However, a glance at the ' views' through the gaps in the trees told us the weather was closing in once again
. 
At the top of the lane we turned left along another minor road, Low Town Bank Road, soon reaching the entrance to . . .

. . . the Yorkshire Gliding Club
- in today's awful weather there was no chance of seeing the graceful gliders soaring into the sky

We followed the track along Ivy Scar above the White Horse of Kilburn
During most days of
the year, from here, you would normally enjoy some of the finest
views in North Yorkshire
- unfortunately, in today's conditions, there wasn't much to see
at all
. 
A little further
along there's a viewpoint where we got a brief glimpse of Gormire
Lake in the ever darkening gloom,
and, looking back, Roulston Scar from where we just came. . .

THIS PLAQUE IS A
MEMORIAL
TO THE AIRCREWS OF ALL ALLIED
NATIONS WHO LOST THEIR LIVES
IN THE SURROUNDING COUNTRYSIDE
NOT LEAST THE CREW OF HALIFAX
BOMBER JD105 10sqn MELBOURNE
WHICH CRASHED WITHIN HALF A
MILE OF THIS SITE, MAY 5th 1943
_______________________
ALSO IN MEMORY OF
THE PILOT OF AN F86 SABRE
XD733 92sqn LINTON-ON-OUSE
SEPTEMBER 21st 1954
________________
LEST WE FORGET . . .

Near the end of the walk, we take a final look back through the rain towards Roulston Scar
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