Walking around Helmsley and Ryedale

The small market town of Helmsley lies on the southern edge of the North York Moors National Park and flowing past the edge of town lies the River Rye. Born high on the slopes of the Cleveland Hills, this river cuts a deep sided valley as it makes it's way through the flat-topped Tabular Hills passing Hawnby, Rievaulx and finally Helmsley before entering the Vale of Pickering.

As it heads north-west from Helmsley, a network of footpaths takes you through this valley, along wooded trails and riverside fields to the heather clad moors that line the upper reaches of this quiet, little dale. For the walker, this presents some of the best countryside that Yorkshire has to offer. It's little wonder that the medieval monks chose this valley to site their monasteries and settlements. Here history mixes with the countryside with four thousand years of human habitation lying amongst the trees, in the fields and across the moors. A walk here tells you much more than where your next footstep goes.