Thursday 18th October 2001
Weather: Mild, drizzly and wet at first - then a little brighter
Today's walk: The Hole of Horcum - Levisham - Skelton Tower
( 9 miles )
Today's walk begins from the car park at the top of Saltergate Hill (Grid Ref: 853 937)
After crossing the road there's some great views over to the Hole Of Horcum - spoilt today by the early drizzle
The track leads down to the valley floor, crossing a small beck at the bottom...
...before passing by the ruins of Low Horcum Farm
. 
The fieldpath continues along the hillside, then after crossing a couple of stiles, arrives at a streamside beauty spot
. 
Here we turn right and follow the track gently up Dundale Griff...
...reaching Dundale Pond at the top (Grid Ref: 828 918)
At the crossroads
of paths near the pond we turn left along a bridleway signposted
'Levisham'
- here we look back across Dundale Griff, the Hole of Horcum
being 'lost' in the murk and drizzle
Due to Foot &
Mouth, the sheep have had these moors all to themselves for most
of the spring and summer
- I wonder how they feel about the return of all the hikers? I
certainly welcomed seeing them again...
Following Limpsey Gate Lane, we soon reach the pretty moorland village of Levisham...
. 
...with its tiny post office and general store and typical country pub - The Horseshoe Inn
Turning almost opposite to our approach to the village we go back up Braygate Lane and onto open moorland
. 
There were attractive wild mushrooms and toadstools all over the place
. 
The track descends a hillside towards a distant ruin - we were surprised to see Highland Cattle in these parts
. 
The ruin is Skelton
Tower - built as a shooting lodge in 1850 by the Rev Robert
Skelton, Vicar of Levisham
- it's a fine place to stop for a cup of tea and a sandwich...
The views from here are superb along the magnificent gorge of Newton Dale.
Today, Jim, Stan
and myself were lucky enough to enjoy the lovely company of
Lorraine,
a Yorkshire ex-pat, now living in Canada, but a true ' Thirsk
lass' at heart - thanks for the laughs Lou!
Like me, Lorraine
managed just in time to get a great shot of the North Yorkshire
Moors Railway steam train
as it wound its way along the bottom of the valley - what a
wonderful sight and sound it made!
The peaty track
then follows the contours of Levisham Bottoms, West Side Brow and
Levisham Moor
with Fylingdales Early Warning Radar Station just visible today
on the horizon (top left)
On looking back, we saw a glimpse of 'blue sky' for the first time today
Almost at the end of the walk - a late afternoon view of the Hole of Horcum
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