Biking from Noelle's Cottages

Biking is big in GB this year. We are happy to encourage all abilities and ages to get on their bikes in Ryedale and enjoy the exercise, countryside and then wind down afterwards in Noelles Cottages. A list of a dozen (well nearly) things to help you on your way... 1 Advice from a man who knows..... Mike Hawtin breathes biking and has a wealth of knowledge of the bike routes in Ryedale. You can ring him or drop him an email for all sorts of advice and suggestions. 01751 47511 07802 883018 mike@gonemountainbiking. Tell him about your link with Noelle’s Cottages. He will help you with guided rides or training if you book in advance. 2 Get you back on the road spares - give Mike a call, he has plenty of standard spares to keep you going and can give bike advice. 3 Bike shops. Pickering has a helpful middle of the road bike repair and parts shop in the Market Place - Pickering Cycle Centre 01751 472 581. There is a smart mountain bike shop Big Bear Bikes near the traffic lights 01751 474 220 and in Dalby Village a bike hire and shop to be run by Pace cycles and CTC (the Cycling Touring Club) details awaited. 4 Guide books and maps. The three key OS maps are West and East North York Moors and the Howardian Hills. Paul Pickering has written a good selection routes of various levels of challenge. These should be available in the cottages. If you want to prepare yourself before you arrive the outdoor shop Trailblazers in Pickering is very helpful and also has an online site. 5 Dalby Forest - this must be on your list of possible destinations. The green and blue routes are good family cycling. Maps are available from Dalby Village or will be found in the cottages. Have a look at the forestry link which gives a good overview. If you ride in its free but cars are charged at £7 each. You can find a wide range of routes and not all have to follow the World Cup route.

6 North York Moors are threaded with bike routes of varying difficulty but my man who knows - Mike - tells me it is easy to underestimate the challenge than many routes can provide. He will be happy to advise. Rosedale is a great place to start from and many enthusiasts set off up Chimney Bank, one of the steepest roads in the UK 1:3 in places. Coming down is more exciting. You can park at the top where the Chimney used to be and ride the largely horizontal railway track used by the ironstone workings in the 19th century. The Lion Inn at Blakey is a good place to head for but it will be hard to extract yourself from the open fires, excellent fuel food and good beer. There are other good rides in Rosedale, you can climb more gently up to the railway if you ride anti-clockwise setting off north from the village towards Dale Head and then have a sharp climb to the railway after sampling Maggies special tea and traditional Yorkshire goodies at Farmhouse Fodder.... I’d push. Not a technical challenge but takes you into lovely countryside. 7 Blansby Park to Newton takes you into lovely countryside, you follow the North York Moors Railway out of Pickering, turn right after the level crossing and follow the valley briefly - the old Royal Deer Park. You then pull up the valley side to the left and take a sometimes gloopy green lane to Newton. From there you can check the local pub and peer down into Levisham Halt where the steam train runs. Noelle and I like to walk down to the station and back up to Levisham village as a leg stretcher but I doubt it makes for good riding. 8 Hole of Horcum to Levisham. I have described this as a walk on the blog. You can park a car in the National Park carpark on the road to Whitby just before it plunges over the rim of the Hole and drops down to the historic Saltersgate pub and Fylingdales listening station - not marked on your map. You can cycle across the moors and pass Dundale pond with reeds and dragon flies and head into the village for lunch at the Horseshoe pub. 9 Test your dirt jumping skills in the newly opened Newbridge Park. Best accessed along the footpath that runs below the castle in Pickering. Please push and respect those on foot. You can get a day pass from Trailblazers in the Market Place in Pickering. In time we will thread a cycle trail through the woods to give various circuits and provide cycle access to Dalby....in time. 10 Outdoor stuff, maps and advice, call into Trailblazers in the Market Place in Pickering and see if there are any toys you are short of. They tend to aim for affordable quality rather than items that will let you down. 11 Short of contours? If its hairy stuff you want then contact Mike and see if he can fit you up with the sort of ride you are looking for. He does guided rides and training and can help you with technical riding and bike issues. He does B and B and if you want you can immerse yourself in cogs, drops and even indulge in f stops and depth of field. 12 - would you like to suggest what to include so others might enjoy?

Hole of Horcum to Levisham, a 3 hour circular walk

Today it was a beautiful Spring morning with blue sky and little wind. We parked a mile beyond Lockton on the road to Whitby on a car park on the right just before you tip over a steep bank and down to Saltersgate and Fylingdales.

We crossed the road and turned right along a track that follows the road and an iron age dyke.

There are wonderful views down into the Hole of Horcum which I am reliably told was formed by a giant who scooped a lump out of the moor, and hurled it into the sky so forming the moon - or so the locals say.

As you start to drop follow the road down fast a small wooded area, there is a sign on the left for the Levisham Estate.

Climb over the style and start your descent to the valley floor. You may spot the stream running down the valley - you will follow midway between the stream and the woods on the left.

There is a well marked track but several opportunities to make a bid for an ascent back up the valley side - don't. You will pass a renovated farm building with no road access.

I suspect that the shape of the window openings and barbed wire surrounding it entirely means this is an enlightened National Parks venture. A two storey detached house suitable for several families of birds.

Follow along the valley side until you come across the board walk which takes you over boggy ground.

On your right is the very pretty stream which today had reflections of the clear blue sky and wonderfully lit moss. A small billy goat style bridge takes you across but before you cross note the way to the left and the gate a hundred yards or so to the left.

You will see a sign offering you the choice of a quick route up to Dundale Pond or the way we took to Levisham.

The longer way threads its way past lovely trees and wildlife and offers views into the valley below.

After a while on the left you can see the houses of Lockton and when you look further down the valley you will see among the evergreen trees, the old parish church of Levisham from the time that the village nested in the valley.

It is thought the village moved up the hill at the time of the black Death. Now the church roof is off but there is still one service a year to which the village attends, some taken down on the back of a trailer. There are a few moderate slopes up to the road into Levisham but a bench awaits you which provides an excellent place to rest and snack unless you can hold out to have a drink or lunch at the far end of the village.

The village is very attractive with a traditional layout, farms set back from the road and wide grassed areas either side.

Greetings to Gary and Cheryl our website designers who were elsewhere when we needed a coffee!

The pub seems to take pride of place at the head of the village while the church seems tucked away to the side. The road out of the village goes from the right side of the pub and rises gently to the gate onto the moor. Today we passed the workplace of a dry stone waller who is slowly repairing the limestone walls in the area.

When you pass through the gate to the moors there is a choice of route.

If your legs are strong you may wish to bear left just through the gate and follow the wall before swinging right and heading towards Skelton Tower which overlooks the valley through which the steam railway runs.

I always get a thrill to see and hear a steam train making its way up the valley, from the distance they look like toy trains. Perhaps I am reverting to childhood. If you take this route you walk to the end of the hillside on the right and then climb up the path that will bring you back nearly to the top of the bank from where you made the initial descent into the Hole of Horcum. Today we chose to take the right hand fork to Dundale Pond and then across the moor of a sweeping curve to the car parking you can see in the distance. The pond often has dragon flies hovering over it but today the reflection of the sky and white clouds made it very attractive.

It attracted Millie's attention who felt the need to swim around in it drinking as she paddled. The path back is easy going if not particularly exciting. We passed a group of men flying radio controlled plane some of serious size. This part of the walk becomes much more exciting when the heather is in flower. Towards the end of the path you can look down to the left and see the pyramid shaped early warning station on Fylingdales Moor.

Previously it had been contained in 3 huge golf ball shaped structures. Hear the Americans can listen in to what the naughty boys of the world are chatting about, a serious bit of kit that is not even marked on the map. Nearer to you is Barr Farm where I had the pleasure of visiting one of my further flung families. When I first called at the house there was no electricity, no mains water and the end wall was stacked with turf to burn on the fire. There was no need for sanitation as there were plenty of bushes. At the bottom of the bank you will see the Saltersgate Inn which sadly got only a short way into its renovation before it came to a halt. There was a fire that never was allowed to go out, something to do with an excise man buried beneath. The road to Whitby was often impassable for months at a time yet it was an important sea port with a safe harbour in a storm. With whaling in decline it was hoped that the quantity of goods imported made it worth while pushing a railroad across the moors and so the Pickering to Whitby Railway was built by George Stephenson - one of the earliest in the world. Your car should await you at the car park up the hill, you will recognise the short walk from here along the lip of the Hole of Horcum.

You can walk this anti-clockwise - Widdishins for those who dance round churches to conjure up the Devil. We prefer this direction as the pull up the slope of the Hole is hard work at the end of a steady walk and also to give yourself the choice of extending when half way round rather than at the start. Its a pay car park £2 so take some change to maintain the National Park. And finally - I just enjoyed this Spring picture.

Family Wedding

Noelle and Tim are delighted to announce etc. Alex our firstborn married Kasia, a lovely Polish girl, on 25th February in Pickering Parish Church where Alex had been a choir boy for six years. The night before we met with our new Polish family and had 20 for dinner. We all had a lovely day with some sun, no rain but chilly for those in stylish wedding wear. Kasia was preceded onto church by her niece who threw flower petals elegantly down the aisle. The priest failed to get his tongue around Katarzyna while the organist did an excellent impromptu performance when the church CD player refused to fire up! The reception was held at the Stone Trough Inn near Kirkham Abbey after which Alex and Kasia were highjacked and taken to a The Lodge in Old Malton for their first married night.

Noelle with Tim, Alex, Eddie and Ollie ready to leave for the Church

Tim with his daughters Kristina and Rachel

Noelle enjoyed her day

Alex and Kasia on the Church Steps

Rice, petals and confetti

Unaware they are about to be highjacked

Website spring clean and chat

We had a great meeting today with our website team Design Farm. We want to offer plenty of information but also have a lively appearance to the site. Gary and Cheryl are working on an upgrade of the site which we hope you will like. We can add more itineraries as time goes on - Our 10 favourite picnic places, what to do in Helmsley, wet weather activities with children and so on. If all goes according to plan pages will load better and pictures roll past without huge delays. Links to Flickr should be easier to work and it will be possible to view all the availability calendars simultaneously. If we work on our keywords and gather up more traffic you may find more people checking out their holiday times. You Have Been Warned. Bookings have been good this winter and our summer season is filling nicely. We have availability in the Barn in May and some 5 night breaks from 25th June as we have booked the weekend of 23rd for our 120th birthday party. £590 from 25th June. There is also 4 nights at the Coach House from 14 April at £530. This weekend we are celebrating Alex and Kasia's wedding and all our children will be home. Eddie returns from Patagonia briefly before setting off on an extraordinary journey on horse to Texas. Check The Horse Boy Trek and it will explain our lack of sleep currently! Kristina is discovering the pressures and frustrations of a first year doctor in north east London while Ollie is working with an IT consultancy firm which defies comprehension. Rachel is in her second year of training to be a children's nurse at King's in London. All three live within a walk of each other which is great for staying in contact. Spring is a season of rejuvenation and hope. It certainly feels like that here.

Circular walk from Pickering.

Pickering is an attractive market town with a small shopping street leading up to the Parish Church at the top of the Market Place. This is well worth a visit to see the medieval wall paintings and the Georgian chandeliers and pulpit. Our walk started near Pickering Castle - go left at the top of the Market Place up Burgate which becomes Castlegate where there is often parking to be had.

It is an important motte and bailey castle dating back to William the Conqueror. It had long associations with the kings and also John of Gaunt, Bolingbroke, Sir Francis Bacon as well as Cromwell and other key figures in history. We chose to walk clockwise round the Castle, anti-clockwise or widdishins was thought to be the work of witches but that way has a rather slippery surface. There is a good view down to the road to Newbridge,

the beck as it slips past the Trout Farm, the railway and in the background Lady Lumley's School and the Beacon. The latter is a mound where a bonfire could be lit to warn neighbouring parishes of troubles. There was a second world war shelter built into it but I declined a place in it in case of nuclear strike as it was but a single survivor offer. A well shod path skirts the Castle walls and an offshoot heads away to the north. Take this branch and note the very shallow wall crossing as you will drop down to the left a little, 10 paces further on. This muddy, rooted and at times glass strewn path threads its way through the woods for about half a mile to reach Lowther House at Newbridge.

The woods are a natural regrowth on 18th century quarry workings. They later were used as a Victorian dump which explains the wide variety of glass and pottery that has been dug over the years. During the last war they were used for final training before heading to Europe. We are trying to build a bike trail through the woods in addition to the bike jumping area in the quarry you will pass.

In time there will be an active woodland management plan with an ambition to recreate ancient woodland habitats and perhaps offer an example of every native English tree to search out. We will offer discount for any green wood turner who wishes to stay while giving classes in the wood! As you reach Newbridge there is a flight of steps leading down to the road,

 almost opposite is a row of houses and a metal bridge

that will take you past the front doors and to a gated crossing of the single track of the NYMR railway. Once safely across turn to the left and follow the path that runs back towards Pickering.

On the right is a valley side where our children used to gather fossils for me to carry home... You will pass close to the Pottery

and house of an interesting family of artists. There is always plenty of interest and photo opportunities.

Our children warmly recall their holiday courses where they emerged dirty, happy and carrying some pottery treasure. You will see the trout farm on the left and some tunnel like openings on the right which are derelict, and perhaps dangerous, lime kilns.

Roasting lime altered its chemical composition and became useful for putting on the land to encourage grasses rather than bracken. A gate near the Rookers house

takes you into a large field, you should head slightly to the left to meet the wall end by the beck. You will see various bits of railway carriage awaiting renovation. The steep green slope on the right - the Rookers - is where the youth of Pickering used to gather to sledge down on anything that slithered on the snow - including younger sisters. The whole field is rippled by the ploughing practice of rig and furrow which either increased surface area for planting or offered a variation of moisture content of the soil, and may have offered family sized strips for cultivation. The beck runs close to the wall side path

towards the level crossing and the approaches to the station via the car park. Its always interesting to see rolling stock renovation taking place either here or at the main depot at Grosmont.

The station has many fascinating features and characters, never the more so than at War Weekend when all are dressed in period costume. We crossed the beck again by a metal bridge and walked along Wells Walk towards Pickering.

This was the original road to Newton but somehow was never written down as a public right of way so has been surrounded in controversy of late. You will pass Beck Isle Museum on the left which was the site of the first agricultural college in the country. It houses a remarkable collection of photographs by Sydney Smith as well as an Aladdin's Cave of household artefacts. On the far side of the road is the Memorial Hall where there is a large mural by Rex Whistler. By now you may wish to consider the large number of opportunities to take tea or have a bite to eat in the town. There must be a style and price to suit everyone as you make your way up the Market Place and take the

left at the top and head back towards the Castle. You will have passed nearly all the key buildings in the town but there are plenty of delightful corners yet to discover

.