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Swaledale Outdoor Club |
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Swaledale Outdoor Club |
| > Home > Newsletter > Walking > Wass |
WassA couple of days before this walk I was talking to a well known member of the mountain biking section (lets call him "Dave") who said "I've just realised my ride is on the same day as your walk. It always rains on your walks so it must be a wet day. I hope that my ride at Barninghain is far enough away from Wass to avoid the rain. The day dawned frosty and with some fog in low lying areas as eleven members joined my wife and myself in the sleepy village of Wass just off the Thirsk to Helmsley road. As we climbed steadily through the woods surrounding the village towards Mount Snever the remaining fog was clearing to reveal a crystal blue sky. Leaving the woods for a while we headed across pastures to Cam Farm before re-entering the woods and descending a narrow path twisting through the trees into the tiny Cocker Dale with its single farm in a gloriously tranquil setting. After a brief coffee stop we crossed the dale and followed a narrow lane down to the village of Oldstead. We skirted around the village and after passing through a farmyard wound our way across now mainly arable fields until the ruins of Byland Abbey came into view. The towering gable was silhouetted against the clear blue sky and looked a perfect picture. Although the abbey is officially closed during winter a low wall allowed access to the grounds and the ruins formed a perfect backdrop for lunch as we mused about the buildings and abbey life five hundred years ago. At about this time some members twigged to the fact that we were less than half a mile away from our cars having done almost a complete circle and a bit of fast talking was needed to prevent them doing a short-cut. Leaving the abbey our route took us towards Wass Grange over some particularly boggy fields where cattle had been overwintered, but once past the farm conditions thankfully improved. We continued almost to Ampleforth village, catching glimpses of the abbey and college buildings there, before taking Westwood lane, a narrow and little used lane leading to Shallow Dale and its one isolated farmstead. Passing round the back of the steading, now converted into holiday cottages, we crossed an area of rough pasture before entering a beech wood and descending via a very faint path weaving between the trees now bare of leaves at winters end. A final stint across a couple of fields and a short road section brought us back to Wass and the end of a superb days walking on a day of uninterrupted winter sun and clear blue skies and not a cloud in sight. And the weather in Barningham? Perhaps it rained there. I'm sure "Dave" will let us know. Alan Turner |