1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
1. Raby Castle
Meeting Point: Raby Castle
We begin the Big Smile in the magnificent grounds of Raby Castle. We follow a broad path through the grassy landscape where Red and Fallow Deer herds live wild. We pass the impressively maintained medieval castle, built between 1367 and 1390 by John Neville, the 3rd Baron Neville de Raby.
We wander through Ladywood and then up towards Raby Home Farm and then Shotton enjoying the beautiful countryside home to some superb flora and fauna.
Eventually, we leave the Raby estate and find ourselves heading over Cockfield fell, common land pock marked with evidence of human habitation including flint arrowheads dating back to 8000BC.
We skirt around Cockfield itself and back through the estate to finish back at Raby Castle in a wonderful start to the Big Smile Walks.
Distance: 20 km ( 12.47 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: The Ramside Hall Hotel
45. Roseberry Topping
Date: 20/08/2021
Meeting Point: Captain Cook Schoolroom Museum, 101 High St, Great Ayton, Middlesbrough, TS9 6NB
This stage of the forays into Yorkshire takes us to a starting point in Great Ayton, before we cross the River Leven at Little Ayton. We follow a path across fields, and then into Easby Wood, passing near to the old Ayton mines. Our walk winds around the hillside above the river and back around into Ayton Banks Wood.
From here, we head to Captain Cook’s Monument out on Easby Moor. Erected in 1827, it stands 18 metres high in memory of the famous circumnavigator.
We carry on over the moor back into woodland, before looping round to the much-climbed Roseberry Topping. Visible from miles, it is perhaps the best-known hill on the North York Moors. Its distinctive cone-shaped summit with a jagged cliff has drawn comparisons with the much higher Matterhorn in the Swiss-Italian Alps.
Dropping down from its 320 metre summit, we head back to the starting point at Great Ayton. A super stage of The Big Smile, packed with spectacular viewpoints, geological interest, and an abundance of wildlife.
Distance: 21.3 km (13.24 miles)
Difficulty Rating: ★★★☆☆
Sponsored By: S G Petch Darlington