Route: Farndale
Area: North York Moors
Date of walk: 22nd April 2016
Walkers: Andrew and Gilly
Distance: 7.0 miles
Ascent: 900 feet
Weather: Cloudy with sunny intervals
The wild daffodils which grow along the banks of the River Dove in Farndale are a spectacular sight, though we wondered if we’d left it too late today. On the previous occasions we’ve visited they’ve been at their peak in early April, but we weren’t unduly concerned as Farndale is a superb walking area with or without its daffodils
We parked in the small village of Church Houses and followed the path towards High Mill. We could see at once that the daffodils were still in bloom and that a few days remain to enjoy this spectacular sight. A wonderful section of the walk then followed along the bank of the River Dove as far as Low Mill, which is usually full of tourists at this time of the year. Thanks to our early start there was no-one else around
We walked out of Low Mill along a quiet lane, gradually gaining height, and enjoying some superb views from the west side of the valley to the east before descending to cross the River Dove and climb up to the other side of the valley
A succession of paths and a short but quiet road section took us back to the start, where tradition dictated that we paid a visit to the Daffy Caffy for a bacon butty and a cup of tea – a great way to end a great walk
For other walks here, visit my Find Walks page and enter the name in the ‘Search site’ box
Click on the icon below for the route map (subscribers to OS Maps can view detailed maps of the route, visualise it in aerial 3D, and download the GPX file. Non-subscribers will see a base map)
Scroll down – or click on any photo to enlarge it and you can then view as a slideshow
The Feversham Arms in Church Houses at the start of the walk
We follow the track to High Mill
High Mill
We follow the path along the bank of the River Dove
Wild garlic about to come into flower
Looking up to Blakey Ridge
Wild daffodils…
We continue along the easy riverside path - a very popular one at this time of year, but thanks to an early start there was no-one else around
The end of the riverside section as we cross the River Dove at Low Mill
A view along Farndale as we walk up the lane on the west side of the valley
Looking back to Low Mill
We follow the quiet road with wonderful views across to the other side of Farndale…
Spaunton Moor beyond the ridge
The end of the road section as we turn off to follow a path to the valley bottom and up the other side
We pass through the gate below and descend to the river bank
Footbridge over the River Dove
We cross the road at Rawson Syke to climb up the east side of Farndale
Looking back over Rawson Syke
We follow the mid-level valley path
Wheatear
Low Mill across the valley - the car park was empty when we walked through earlier, but is now starting to fill
Further along the valley path
At Oak Cragg we join the road ahead for a short distance
Looking back along Farndale
We follow the road past Cote Hill
Looking across to the west side of Farndale, where we’d walked earlier
We pass through Bragg Farm
After turning left in the farmyard, we follow a path down to the River Dove, and from there we retrace our steps back to the start
Now for that bacon butty…
