Thanks to Kirsten, Mary, Julie, Janette, Carly, Hilary & Sox, who came for a wander last Wednesday evening. Starting from the village hall car park in Chop Gate, we climbed up to Cock Howe via the main path over Trennet. Climbing over 8oo feet in just over a mile it stands in a prominent position overlooking Bilsdale and Chop Gate on the northern edge of the Hambleton Hills.
Cock Howe, itself is a bowl barrow funerary monument dating from the late Neolithic to the late Bronze Age, 2400-1500 BCE. Often, used as territorial boundary markers, the barrow would have been visible for quite some distance. and may have linked with other bowl barrow mounds in the area. The North York Moors have around 800 scheduled monuments, the vast majority of these are burial mounds, of which the bowl barrow is the most numerous.
At the summit we paused to take in the view, allowing us time to catch our breaths and steady our heart rates. To the southeast, the new Bilsdale mast seemed to be suspended above the low cloud, its base and rigging lost within the smoke and mirrors of a magician’s illusion.
Once we set off again, we followed the main shooting track towards Barkers Ridge passing Noon Hill and green Howe, another ancient burial mound yet another reminder of the transient nature of life coupled with the thread of continuity that has weaved its way throughout the North York Moors since the first hunter gatherers ranged across its hills some 8,000 years BCE. At that time, they would have been able to walk from mainland Europe to Britain crossing what was to become the channel via the land bridge which still connected us.
Turning off from Barker's Ridge we descended through Stoney Wicks to join Raisdale Road. The plan then was to follow the lane to Beak Hills before climbing up onto Cold Moor south of Three Howes, which are another cluster of bowl barrow mounds.
Unfortunately for us, the paths we had hoped to take were not as they were marked on the map, new fencing and lack of use meant that they were not visible on the ground. A reminder that maps do not always reflect the actual course of paths and objects on the ground, a thorough recce is always recommended to ensure that public rights of way are still viable and in use. After retracing our steps we returned to Chop Gate along Raisdale Road. Darkness had now descended into the valley causing the light from our head torches to bob up and down over the tarmac in time with the cadence of our footsteps. Chatter, interspersed by laughter, from the runners behind us, tumbling forward to us on the night breeze. Running over the moors and into wild places does much more than just keep you physically fit, whatever the weather conditions, time of day or night, it is uplifting to explore.
In all we had covered just under 8 miles with circa 1300ft of elevation, each mile taking us through thousands of years of history. Not only in respect of the ecological evolution of the moors, but, that of the people and animals who have made the, heather shod, hills of The North York Moors their home. Ultimately, having seen out their own unique circle of life, returning ,in death, to the earth. Once more bcoming part of the innermost fabric of this ancient landscape.
Until next week, "trot on". 💪🦍
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