Sunday 3rd July 2022 – Knaresborough – North Yorkshire
Due to a recent accident while on holiday, our leader, Dave Tyson, had a fractured wrist and toe but was determined to carry on with today’s walk. We got off the coach near Spofforth and took various footpaths chiefly beside arable crops. A coffee break was taken in old parkland dotted with ancient oak trees and a distant view of Ribston Hall. Further into the walk we encountered the River Nidd and passed fields with horses and cattle, and two or three Red kites quartering the farmland. Country lanes and Knaresborough Round Trail led us to our pub stop at the Bay Horse Inn at Goldsborough. A large beer garden here was ideal in the sunshine for a generous one hour lunch break.
The afternoon saw us walking the final three miles through countryside to our destination, Knaresborough market and spa town, eventually following a picturesque lane with large wooden sculptures. This led to the impressive railway viaduct, built in 1851, which dominates the touristy riverside shops and cafés. Again, good walking time had been made resulting in about an hour of free time to explore Knaresborough before boarding our coach to Doncaster, arriving back just after 5pm.
- Start and finish point – A linear walk from near Spofforth to Knaresborough.
- Walk leader – Dave Tyson.
- Number of walkers – 33 (and 3 non-walkers).
- Distance – 8.5 miles / 13.5 kilometres.
- Terrain – Generally, level ground across farmland, country house parkland and along gravelled
wayside lanes, with also some quiet single track roads. - Highest point – 65 metres / 200 feet
- Weather – Fine and dry, with sunny spells and a warm afternoon.
Club news – Jean T. had no announcements.
Credits – Heroic Dave Tyson was thanked for leading the walk despite his injuries. Dave Wildsmith
and Vivienne Dales provided photographs for the blog.
Author’s memo – First time I have paid £10 for two pints of ale. ‘Stone me’, I forgot to visit Mother Shipton’s Cave.
