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From The Times

August 21, 2004

An 89-mile pub crawl across North Yorkshire

Kieran Falconer encountered 31 pubs on his 89-mile trek around the North York Moors. Tough work, but someone’s got to do it. Plus, Jill Turton champions the growing comforts of the Iron Coast

THERE is nothing better than a pint after a long walk. It tastes better, the pub is friendlier and best of all, you’ve earned it. You would deserve it more if you went on the kind of Yorkshire moors walk that Mark Reid envisages.

“You’ve got to be careful of adders by the riverbanks, bees as well, they can swarm on the moors, sheepdogs always go for ankles, lightning on the moors is dangerous because you’re the highest thing around, young bulls will run towards you but they have tunnel vision so just extend your arms and shout.”

Reid is the author of the Inn Way series of books, a selection of circular walks in northern national parks including the Lake District and Yorkshire Dales, where the aim is to go via the best pubs in the neighbourhood.

“I’ve always been in beer,” he remarks cheerfully. A graduate trainee with Tetley and then an area manager, Mark settled for a less stressful career when his first guide to the Dales was a success. He swilled his pint back and we were off on an 89-mile circular walking tour of the North York Moors taking in 31 pubs.

“It took me two years and 650 miles of walking to devise this North York Moors route, getting the right pubs, working out the best views, and getting good accommodation.” The route is so successful that the National Park Authority has put up Inn Way signposts.

DAY 1: Helmsley to Hutton-le-Hole The Yorkshire moors have steep valleys, dales and escarpments — the contrast in landscape over such small terrain is extreme. Leaving Helmsley we are soon alone and threading our way through thickets along the Vale of Pickering.

Through the woods of Kirkdale and the quaint villages of Wombleton and Fadmoor, we plod to Gillamoor. Even though I’ve been a nettle magnet for the past ten miles I am uplifted by the views from here. It’s the first sight of the moors, purple, brown and green. Come evening at The Crown in Hutton-le-Hole I strangely have no appetite. “That’s the beauty of beer,” says Mark. “It’s liquid bread”.

DAY 2

Hutton-le-Hole to Levisham Hutton-le-Hole is a cute little village with a brook passing through the green but its pleasantness belies the darker side of this area. The village’s Ryedale Folk Museum contains witch posts (to scare them off) and a 17th-century ouija board. Our spirits were raised by The Blacksmith’s Arms at Lastingham though, a real old snug with a kitchen range in the bar.

Page 2: days 3-6
Page 3: need to know
Page 4: Jill Turton champions the growing comforts of the Iron Coast

()DAY 3

Levisham to Egton Bridge Mark leaves me for today and tomorrow. “Don’t have more than four pints at any one stop,” are his parting words.

This is the first real day on the moors. I go out on a cloudy morning which is fast becoming darker. Then the storm hits. Being the highest point for two square miles with lightning flashing around me is not good. I find a wall and hide beside it. Four hours of a Yorkshire power shower are enough. I move on. I fall down an escarpment to the tracks of the North Yorkshire Moors Railway and from Levisham station get a train to my accommodation near Egton Bridge. (An experienced walker knows when to get a train.)