Our Moorsbus trip last weekend saw Katharine and I dropped off at the top of Newgate Bank in Bilsdale, and a walk through a forestry plantation and then along a track with a steep tree covered bank down on our left and an extensive area of heather moorland to our right.
The heather has mostly lost its beautiful purple colour as it flowered, although there were a very few small patches retaining their colour. We saw very few people on this part of our walk, and really enjoyed the solitude.
While walking along the track I spotted these two contrasting trees. It was quite a surprise to see just two trees in a sea of heather, with no sign of any others even starting to grow.
Our destination for this part of our walk was to reach the top of Rievaulx Bank where there is an excellent viewpoint, sadly a little disappointing with the misty conditions. Still, there were benches and an opportunity to eat our picnic lunch.
It is a very long time since we were last there. I've done walks in this area many times, in snow, in a heatwave, and in busy crowds when much of the countryside was closed due to foot and mouth disease about 20 years ago.
The track we had followed was one of the first routes to be reopened by the National Park as a start was made to reopening the countryside as foot and mouth disease began to decline, because there was little risk of contact with animals. It seemed almost as busy as some of the main tourist areas in York city centre that day!
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, they are very much appreciated.
We had a really enjoyable walk, despite the poor visibility. I'm surprised it has taken such a long time before we have revisiting this area.
Ian