Jo’s Monday walk : Captain Cook’s Monument

Captain James Cook on the village green at Great Ayton

Captain James Cook on the village green at Great Ayton

I still have Paris stories to tell and photos to share, but life moves on, doesn’t it?  Late Summer is the most beautiful time of year on the North York Moors and I’ve been there several times in the past few weeks.  I wish I’d had blue skies like the one above for this week’s walk, but we’ll have to settle for ‘head in the clouds’.

‘Where do you want to go?’ asked the long suffering other half, last Monday.  ‘Somewhere with heather.  Lots of heather!’ I replied.  And where do you find the most heather?  On the very tops of the Moors, of course.  So, strong legs needed this week, but I’m in the Algarve next week so you can all have a lovely rest.  Are you ready?  Come on, then!

This is our start point

This is our start point

I’m starting out from the free car park at Gribdale Gate, just beyond the village of Little Ayton. You have several choices from this point but they’re all in an upwards direction.

This is ours!

This is ours!

That's the target! The little spike above the tree line

That’s the target- the little spike above the tree line!

Always on the Moors you are aware of nature

Always on the Moors you are aware of nature

Beneath our feet the bracken fades

While beneath our feet the bracken fades

You're following a woodland trail and steadily you will gain height

You’re following a woodland trail and steadily you will gain height

There are occasional diversions on the edges of the path

With occasional diversions on the edges of the path

Your first reward- Roseberry Topping on the horizon

Your first reward- Roseberry Topping on the horizon

Roseberry Topping is an iconic landmark in these parts.  The combination of geological fault and a mining collapse in 1912 created its distinctive shape.  The link will take you to the National Trust website with lots of spectacular views.  Joe Cornish is one of my favourite photographers.

Looking back you can see the moorland trail you have followed

Looking back you can see the moorland trail you have followed

A memorial beside the path

A memorial beside the path

Ahead, the Monument

Ahead, the Monument

Captain Cook’s Monument is a 16 metre high obelisk, located on Easby Moor and visible for miles around.  It was constructed of local sandstone and has stood on this spot since 1827.  It bears an inscription celebrating Captain James Cook, who was born locally at Marton- “a man of nautical knowledge inferior to none”.

The heather stretches for miles

The heather stretches for miles

And miles!

And miles!

It is the most glorious sight at this time of year, and well worth the climb, which can be taken slowly, with frequent pauses to look back.  Many families with quite young children were making the pilgrimage, so how hard can it be?  I wasn’t so sure about this next activity though.

Getting the heart rate going is one thing, but.....

Getting the heart rate going is one thing, but…..

He made it- thank goodness!

He made it- thank goodness!

The Monument and Roseberry Topping in the same frame

The Monument and Roseberry Topping in the same frame

You can continue on across the Moors and down into Kildale in the next valley.  The total distance is only 2 and a half miles, but you would then have to make the return journey.  I was content to simply descend the hill, much more rapidly than my ascent!

Just a little more heather!
And a last look at the Monument
Did I mention the heather?

There is a railway station at Little Ayton, on the Esk Valley Line, but I’m assuming you arrived by car.  It’s all downhill back to the main village of Great Ayton, where James Cook spent many of his boyhood years.  It’s a very attractive village, with the river running through it, and a good pub, the ‘Royal Oak’, on the village green.

You could visit Captain Cook’s Schoolroom Museum if you have the time.  I’m ashamed to say that I haven’t managed it yet.  I’d better make that a project for the winter.  I apologise for the sullen skies but the heather is only at it’s purple best for a few weeks.  As we drove home the sky began to clear, of course, and I leapt nimbly out of the car to frolic with the sheep.

He's giving me a very suspicious look!

He’s giving me a very suspicious look!

walking logo

As I mentioned at the start of this walk, I’m going to the Algarve today and won’t be around to post a walk next Monday.  I’ll be back the following one, 15th September, so if you have any walks you’d like to share, feel free to leave them in the Comments as usual.  I’ll feature them the following week.  Any doubts, click on my logo above.  It explains how I run Jo’s Monday walks. Till then, happy walking!  I’m off to put the kettle on and visit all these lovely people.

My first walk this week is from a lady you might not know?  Say ‘hello’ to Jill, at Jill’s Scene  :

Breckenridge, Minnesota

Drake takes us to lovely Ribe in Denmark, and climbs a tower, too!  Energetic, like me  :

Step back time

Amy has the BEST photo of a cross mother swan in this post  :

Zilker Park, Austin

I’ve always enjoyed ’tilting at windmills’.  Jude has the most beautiful one I’ve seen in a while  :

Tilting at Windmills

Some fabulous footage of the Azores from Cardinal Guzman, also joining us for the first time  :

Horta- Azorean Islands

Take care and ‘bye for now!

124 comments

  1. One of the things – and there are many – that I love about the North York Moors are the walls. I remember stopping so many times just to snap shots of them – and of course the magnificent surrounding countryside, and the sheep, and the….well, you know 🙂 Loved this walk and I have to say, what a handsome chappy Captain James Cook was 😉 I’ve always been fascinated by his story but, to my shame, had no idea about the monument. So now I know. Heather is so beautiful isn’t it? Always enjoy your ‘homegrown’ posts as much as your ‘away’ ones. Have a super holiday Jo…look forward to catching up when you get back 🙂

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    1. I’m shuffling backwards through my replies, Sherri. It seems so long since I was gamboling in the heather! 🙂 Seriously belated birthday greetings to you and I hope you’re having a lovely evening.

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  3. Pingback: Inner City Chic : I’m Loving Canberra | gypsy life

  4. Lovely to be taken back to the moors with you this week Jo. The heather is a beautiful site.That is a very young looking Captain Cook, he looks so different to all the images we see of him over here. I went for a walk this weekend into a very interesting inner city precinct. If you have the time, take a look, but it is rather a long post this week so you might like to leave it till you get back. Enjoy your time away I look forward to seeing more of the beautiful Algarve when you return. http://pommepal.wordpress.com/2014/09/01/inner-city-chic-im-loving-canberra

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  7. Pingback: Other side of the river | Le Drake Noir

  9. lovely walk again, reminds me a little of New Forest,, with all the heather… and the gypsies who pick it and try to sell. 😉

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  10. Thanks for the beautiful scenes of heather and for more stories about Captain Cook. Poor sheep…it was probably worried you had something to do with the red mark on its back.

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  12. That glorious heather was worth the climb Jo! The shot with the silhouette of the monument and the lone man in the distance is moody and beautiful! Enjoy the Algarve 🙂

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  13. Pingback: A Walk around Devin Castle | Lost in Translation

  14. This looks like a dreamy place, and I can’t resist but joining you :D. Wonderful, wonderful walk with spectacular views! I am linking my today’s post to your walk. Have a great time in Algavre Jo!!!

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    1. Hi Paula 🙂 If you look at Smacked Pentax, who you will see in my comments, you will find staggeringly beautiful shots of the Moors. Much better than mine. He lives at a village called Ilkley- truly beautiful!
      Thank you so much for joining me! I just have time to pay a few quick visits before I disappear 🙂

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  15. Love the bracken shot, and the heather stretching for miles … and miles. Cook country provokes thought – because of him, I’m a denizen of Potato Point now, with whatever identity I’ve got. He named the mountain I can see from my headland – it recently reclaimed it’s Aboriginal name. He’s pretty youthful in that statue.

    Enjoy the peace of the Algarve. How can your blog possibly keep up with all your venturings?

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    1. It’s not easy, Meg 🙂 🙂 I had another, sunnier one I wanted to post to a glider station up at Sutton Bank, also on the Moors, but I just couldn’t fit it in. Jude requested this one 🙂
      Many thanks! I’ll be back!

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      1. I’m very happy to see Sutton Bank too! Went along there a few years ago, and would you believe it, also in the snow! It was late November though, so understandable 🙂 Got some lovely photos over the Yorkshire Dales from up there. You are making me consider a Yorkshire holiday, but where to choose as a base…?

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      2. I was just thinking about the Sutton Bank post and when I’ll ever be able to fit it in, Jude! Did you make any progress with the Sydney bookings or are you joining me on a house hunt in the Algarve? 🙂
        There’s a rather nice pub, ‘The Beehive’, not far from Whitby?

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  16. Great walk Jo and some superb photos. I did part of this walk many years ago and Roseberry Topping is one od my favourites.

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    1. My skies are nothing like as good as yours. I just needed a shaft of sunlight through the clouds, which I managed on Sutton Bank the week before, up at the glider school. Thanks for your company 🙂

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  18. Enjoy your portuguese days, so I will sit here in Merseyside and observe the magnificent North Yorkshire moorland which reminds me so much of the jutlandic moorland from my danish region of origin but just much larger – agree late summer is so great at the moorland… 🙂

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    1. I knew somebody would ask me that, Andrew, and it might as well be you 🙂 🙂 He was very recently erected on the green to commemorate the fallen at World War II. He’s made of wicker and is actually rather ugly close to, I think, but I won’t hold that against him.

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    2. The village 2014 mark the deaths of all residents who died in the WW One – .”Willow Soldier” – to honour the deaths of all its 48 residents (who served between 1914 and 1918) over the next four years on the exact day they were killed, 100 years on… 🙂

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