What makes a great walking route is different for everyone. Some want to walk along wild coastal headlands and breathe in fresh sea air, others might prefer a ramble across rolling hills, and whilst some will want to make sure they see birds and animals on route, others will be looking at fauna and flora.
Long or short, coast or countryside, circular or ending with a delicious pub lunch, we have a huge variety of walks to choose from across East Yorkshire. To help you choose your next walk here, we asked eight local people to pick their favourite walks and share with us their route, their reasons for choosing it and their tips for what to look out for along the way.
Read on to find out more
Walks:
“The Yorkshire Wolds is one of my favourite areas to walk, particularly near my art gallery in Thixendale, where wildlife abounds throughout the year. A particular favourite of mine is a circular route that passes down a secret valley called Worm Dale, where you can often see Kestrels flying overhead. The track meets a spiralling earthwork sculpture called ‘Waves and Time’, before joining the Wolds Way where the valley sides are carpeted with thousands of wild flowers and rare butterflies. Barn owls, tawny owls, buzzards and badgers can also be spotted along this route which winds back along the valley bottom and back to the road which runs back up to my gallery”.
Robert Fuller, Wildlife Artist , The Robert Fuller Gallery
“The start of spring is my favorite time for a circular walk from Hutton Cranswick taking in the beautiful parkland of Watton Abbey. As you pass through the gate at the driveway to the Abbey, the surroundings open up into a beautiful meadow filled with walnut trees and a blanket of snowdrops covers the rolling landscape. The majestic Abbey which features in a book of haunted houses in Yorkshire provides the perfect backdrop whilst the recently renovated Priory Barn, which dates back to the 12th century provides a glimpse of what life must have been like centuries ago. A little gate leads you from the Abbey to the pretty grade II-listed St Mary’s Church which is open to the public. The inside is fairly simple but there is a delightful ornate ceiling if you look up”.
Hayley Topley, East Yorkshire Walking Festival Organiser
“This walk has it all, rolling hills and beautiful dales revealing the beauty of this unique landscape with far reaching views across the Vale of York. Start at the attractive village of Bishop Wilton, take the Minster Way to Given Dale with its pretty church, descend to Millington, then up Wan Dale and down Sylvan Dale. Leave the Minster Way to follow the Roman Road up to Millington Heights and Deep Dale dropping down to Bishop Wilton. An exhilarating walk enjoyed anytime of the year, but outstanding on a cold, clear and sunny winter's day”.
Martin Hill, Pocklington Ramblers,
“Every day the Wolds beckon. I live on the edge of this gentle landscape near Bainton, soft with unexpected views, dry valleys and dramatic skyscapes. There is silence still, punctuated by bird song: soaring skylarks, haunting curlews, mewing buzzards, screaming swifts.
My walks range in all directions from the house, the favourite a six- mile walk past the roe deer frequented cricket pitch, the buttercup dewpond, into hare racing Deep Dale, along Hay Wold bridle path bordered by ox-eyed daisies, lady's bedstraw, rose-bay willow herb with an unexpected flash of stoats and the swoop of daytime barn owls.
These walks are a meditation, an inspiration for my art-work, a chance to slow down to walk and walk and walk....”
Rose Horspool, East Yorkshire Artist & Poet
“The spring is always my favourite time for walking but the area around Kirby Underdale is beautiful any time of the year. The small village, with its 11th C Grade I listed church, lies in an extremely attractive setting on the western slopes of the highest area of the Yorkshire Wolds. Whichever of several alternative routes is chosen, a walk to Thixendale and back cannot be done without well over 1000 feet of climbing but the reward is a varied landscape of woods and fields and stunning views in all directions”.
Jack Hutchinson, Pocklington Ramblers
“Leaving behind the early season bustle of Bridlington, the North Sea with its’ changing moods on the right and the classic features of Sewerby Hall on the landward side my favourite walk follows the chalk cliffs, occasionally diving down into wooded stream-cut gaps echoing with the sound of birds searching for nesting sites. The rising land after the Flamborough lighthouse rewards with the magnificent sea bird nesting site at Bempton with the certainty of seeing Gannets, Kittiwakes, Guillemots and, for the fortunate, Puffins”.
Richard Primmer, Pocklington Ramblers and Walking for Health
“There is so much to appreciate on this wonderful walk using part of the Yorkshire Wolds Way National Trail. It encompasses the classic landscapes that define the Yorkshire Wolds, curving and secretive dry valleys that run like green rivers and wide airy field tops with “Big Sky” views.
Add to this the wonderful impact of artworks that formed part of the WANDER art project. The walk picks up two – the impressive Fridaythorpe Walkers shelter by the duck pond and the superb “Waves and Time” spiral earthwork that sits at the meeting point of a number of dry valleys. Set in an atmosphere of peace and tranquillity – it really is a tonic for body and soul.”
Malcolm Hodgson, Wolds Way Project Manager
“You can’t beat a beach stroll in beautiful Brid. On the North side, a colourful string of beach huts lead up to the bulk of Sewerby cliffs where in early spring nest building sand martins flitter back and forth. Wandering along the tideline and collecting sea glass or just gazing at the gulls bobbing in the bay soothes the soul. On the south side of town wide, golden sands, overlooked by the art deco Spa Theatre, stretch endlessly towards Fraisthorpe and beyond under the biggest sky imaginable. It’s a vast space and walking there you often have just the wind and the sea for company.”
Maria Prchlik , RSBP Bempton