Saturday 13th October 2001
Weather: Very mild for October but a bit hazy
Cringle Moor - Cold Moor - Raisdale Mill - Brian's Pond
( 9 miles )
Today's walk begins at the Lord Stone's Cafe (Grid Ref: 524 029) near Carlton Bank
There's a pond near the start and finish of this walk - Cringle Moor lies ahead
. 
Our
first couple of miles follows part of the Cleveland Way. This
year's walking restrictions, due to Foot & Mouth,
have led to much of the track being overgrown - even some of the
paved sections were slippery with moss
Jean's
beaten me to the top of Cringle Moor - and to the Alec Falconer
Memorial Seat
- Alec (1884-1968) was a famous rambler in these parts
The view through the haze from Falconer's Seat across the Cleveland Plain to distant Roseberry Topping
The ever popular track continues along the northern edge of Cringle Moor...
...with spectacular views east across to our next objective, Cold Moor, and beyond that, Hasty Bank
Another view over the Cleveland Plain - the bracken on the slopes below is a rich russett colour this time of year
. 
A 200 yard detour
south from the track leads us to a prominent cairn, Drake Howe,
the highest point on Cringle Moor
- in a hollow behind the cairn, a tiny plaque on a small pile of
stones reads...
In Loving Memory
of
NEV RIDGWAY
Who spent many happy hours
walking on these moors.
Loved and missed by so many.
(1938-1997)
We wander back to the main path and soon reach the eastern edge of Cringle Moor - Cold Moor lies ahead
. 
At the bottom of the track we pass the remains of Donna Cross, then climb the steep path to the top of Cold Moor
From near the top we enjoy a lovely view south-west towards Raisdale
At a cairn (Grid
Ref: 552 035) we leave the Cleveland Way track and head south
along the ridge of Cold Moor
- here we look north-east towards the rocky outcrop on Hasty Bank
known as The Wainstones
The track along the
ridge is very clear for a mile or so, then it eventually forks at
Grid ref: 553 016
- the left-hand path is easy to follow down to Cold Moor Lane and
Chop Gate.
We went right to
follow the footpath marked on the OS map to reach Stone Intake
Farm (Grid Ref: 543 004)
However, the track petered out to nothing and we found ourselves
walking through knee-deep heather
- still, the views were just as good across Raisdale to Cringle
Moor and we managed to get there safely in the end
. 
Just near Stone
Intake, we follow a path down across a couple of fields, and
after a short road walk,
we reach the old stone buildings of Raisdale Mill
Much of the mill has been renovated into modern holiday cottages but there are still signs of the old days
. 
After passing
between the buildings of the mill we turn sharp right up leafy
Mill Lane
- it's always a pleasant walk up here and there's always
something interesting to catch the eye
. 
Soon after passing the tangled roots of an ancient tree, the lane opens up onto a grassy path leading to moorland
As we gain height the reward is a glorious view back over to Bilsdale
The smoke on the
horizon is caused by controlled burning of large patches of
heather -
it's a common sight on the moors for much of the year and it's
done to burn off the old heather
in order to encourage new shoots to grow on which the grouse feed
On reaching the top
of the lane we go straight on at a crossroads of tracks then
follow another
footpath sign pointing right which brings us to a stile near the
head of Scugdale
Harry
Cooper, the 'Giant of Scugdale', spent some of his early life as
a farm servant at Scugdale Hall,
near the trees (centre left of photo). He worked for some time in
Glaisdale, then at the North Skelton ironstone mines,
before the difficulties of his height prevented him from working
at all, so he went to London to seek his fortune.
At the age of 23 he measured 8' 6" in height and weighed 20
stones. He was reputed to be the tallest man in the world
when he accompanied the monster elephant 'Jumbo' to America, and
he was exhibited in Barnum's Circus Show
before dying in British Columbia about 1900. He's buried in
Calgary, Canada
These sheep near Barker's Crags gave us a wary look - they haven't seen many human beings this summer
. 
At Grid Ref. 525 003 we bear right at a small pile of stones and follow the narrow path through the heather...
...eventually
reaching Brian's Pond - from here it's about another mile of easy
walking along a wide track
towards the Gliding Club, then down the east side of Carlton Bank
and back to the starting point
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