Читать книгу The North York Moors. 50 walks in the National Park онлайн

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St Mary’s Church stands on an 11th-century foundation and is tucked deep in a steep-sided valley. It seems rather remote from Levisham village. According to legend it was supposed to be built in the village, but each night the devil carried all the building materials down into the valley! The church was virtually abandoned before the tower was added, and a new church was built in 1884 at a more convenient location in the village.

The route varies from a muddy woodland track to a grassy path, passing through a succession of gates and eventually reaching a three-way signpost in a field. Turn left and pass through two gates to cross two footbridges: the first one crosses a drain; the second crosses Levisham Beck. The marshy grassland near the beck is the Hagg Wood Marsh Nature Reserve, where alkaline waters allow an interesting assemblage of plants to flourish. Turn right to walk through a farmyard at Farwath, crossing the North Yorkshire Moors Railway at a level crossing.

Cross another footbridge, or culvert bridge, over Pickering Beck and follow the clear farm access road of Farwath Road up across a wooded slope. It emerges at a junction of farm access roads where a right turn leads past Howlgate Farm and Howlgate Nab. Keep to the farm access road to pass East Brow House. Eventually a public footpath sign points left. Turn left and walk through a field and along a path leading to St John’s Church. Turn right to follow a road through Newton-on-Rawcliffe, where the Mucky Duck pub faces a duck pond.