Post 69: 6th October 2016
This was intended to be a relatively straightforward 11 mile walk to complete the Derwent Way. True to form with this walk unexpected obstacles were encountered. Only 2 other people were encountered on the whole walk.
We parked near Low North Park/Camp which, we found out from a local who was walking his dog there, used to be a military camp until the 1960s. It was used to accommodate persons from the Spanish Civil War. It was also used for the work shy from work houses. They were used to plant trees. Little information seems available on the internet to verify what he said.
A sign points out the dangers of leaving the rights of way, although there were no motor cycles out at just after 9.00am on a weekday.
There are signs of infrastructure from the past e.g. house foundations and roads.
Stopping for a banana break it was decided I should walk the plank.
and take a dive.
It was not long before we encountered some unexpected obstacles
We eventually found a way round them after much clambering and came across a historic site – a tumulus. I couldn’t help but wonder who was buried here? Walkers who never escaped the forest?
We were surprised to meet a cyclist who was on the Moor to Coast cycle route. We met no one else after this.
At last we left the confines of the forest
and reached the source of the River Derwent
It seems incredible that this river that has flooded towns and much land downstream, before entering the River Ouse, starts as almost little pond. Then a slightly bigger pond.
We carried onto Lilla Cross the end of the walk. Lilla is recorded by Bede as one of King Edwin of Northumbria’s officers of court. In AD 626 he saved the king from an assassin by taking the fatal blow himself. It is not known why Lilla’s body was carried miles to be buried in this bronze age barrow. In the 1920s some Anglian jewellery was found but dated some 300 years later than Lilla.
After lunch and celebratory photographs at the cross it was time to move on as cloud decreased the temperature.
It is rumoured that Yorkshire heather is more comfortable than Premier Inn beds.
Something I had never seen before are these new flood defences designed to slow up the flow of water to the lowlands. Basically bundles of twigs and heather – is this the Government’s high expenditure on flood defences?
We finally descended off the moors to agricultural land
and the local residents
Time for celebration.
11 miles walked
966 calories burnt
23,154 steps
Would I recommend the Derwent Way as a walk to do?
Yes if you want to avoid other walkers. There are every few on much of the route and it is little walked.
Yes if you want to follow a river from its source to its end.
No if you don’t like walking through overgrown paths and paths that are not maintained e.g. fallen trees removed.
No as it is very prone to flooding for much of the year.
No as there is much rather tedious road walking – one section was 5 miles long.
I will not be doing this walk again!!!
There are so many better ones.
Bring on my 50th Long-distance Walk; either
The 319 mile Cleveland Circles
or
The Pembrokeshire Coast Path, if I walk a further 3 miles on it on my next trip there in September 2017.
secretwalkscom 