Sunday 17th August 2025 | The main motivation for this walk, which was otherwise intended to help improve our walking mileage and elevation, was to pay a visit to a sculpture by RAY LONSDALE, located on Dalby Forest Drive (see the box below). The sculpture is more suitable to visit when driving into the forest than on foot however, as it’s about a mile away from the visitor hub at Low Dalby. There’s no circular option so I had to include it as an “out and back” leg which can be omitted easily, shortening the walk by a couple of miles.
The route incorporates the popular Tabular Hills Walk — a 48-mile way-marked trail between Helmsley and Scarborough — the trails in Dalby Forest and the villages of Lockton and Levisham. Trying to follow the Tabular Hills trail as far as possible means that the section through the forest isn’t the most interesting of the many options available. While I was happy to use a fairly direct trail to Low Dalby, the route could easily be reconfigured to include more of the forest walks. If I wanted to enjoy the forest trails for their own sake, I’d be inclined to come back specifically for that purpose (same goes for the cycling trails). For navigation, I was using my Garmin 64st GPS which, though it lacks the scope of a map, copes better with forest trails in my opinion.
“Old Wife’s Way” and Blakey Topping (left) on the Tabular Hills Walk
Rather than park more expensively in the forest we chose to start from the car-park at Saltergate, directly off the A169 Pickering to Whitby road. It’s a large pay-and-display car-park (£6 all-day) where you might lucky enough find a mobile food outlet. Across the road is a viewing platform overlooking the impressive “Hole of Horcum” (feature picture) around which the walk finishes. I’ve graded this route “challenge” because of its relative length, gradients and degree of exposure.
The Tabular Hills Walk crosses the A169 about 100 metres north of the car-park. We opted for a clockwise direction heading towards Dalby Forest. The highest point is at the start/finish from where the route descends very slowly into the forest before a much steeper descent to the visitor hub. The second half of the walk similar characteristic but with shorter, steeper hills. The steepest gradient (very steep) is on the approach to Levisham.
Leave the A169 following signs for the Tabular Hills Walk in the direction of Crosscliff. The trail follows the “Old Wife’s Way” past a large green building that appears to be a hanger associated with what was — or may still be — an airstrip at Field House Farm. Away to the left is the distinctively isolated peak of Blakey Topping associated with several nearby standing stones in an area managed by the National Trust known as Bridestones & Crosscliff. Views to the north-east from the steep scarp slope at Newgate Brow, towards the North York Moors Forest Park, are uninterrupted and consequently very exposed.
The trail, which is also used by cyclists, traverses the top of Crosscliff Brow before turning south-east into the forest at around the 3-mile mark. The early trails, south-east through the forest are very white, probably chalky. When we eventually departed from the Tabular Hills Walk trail itself we made the mistake of using one of the trails intended specifically for bikes. This wasn’t a good idea as they’re very narrow, making it difficult to allow cyclists to pass. So I’m recommending a more straightforward route in this description, a short section of which we didn’t actually take ourselves.
I’d describe the route to this point as undulating very gently downhill until it reaches the ever-steepening 1.5 mile metalled descent to The Courtyard at Low Dalby. Here you’ll find a cafe, toilets and cycle hub (the visitor centre is further along the road, to the north).
After soup and drinks we left the cafe, crossing Dalby Beck on the busy Forest Drive which we followed left, uphill. This would be the out-and-back leg of just under two miles, to visit the sculpture. If you’re not bothered about seeing the sculpture you can turn off the road, directly onto the trail on the right, a short distance up Forest Drive. I’d recommend going to see the sculpture though, but then I’m biased.
“Pull, don’t Push” (2013) by Ray Lonsdale, Dalby Forest Drive
Ray Lonsdale
Ray Lonsdale is a County Durham sculptor and former metal fabricator. I’m a big fan of his work and have seen most of his sculptures which are dotted throughout Northern England and into Scotland. They’re often provide the focus for our walking or cycling trips. “Pull, don’t Push”, in Dalby Forest, near Pickering, North Yorkshire, was commissioned by the Forestry Commission in 2013 to commemorate the female forestry workers (called “lumberjills”) of WWII. It’s a humorous piece depicting two lumberjills: one is fooling around on a felled tree trunk when she should be helping her colleague to saw through it. Like many of Ray’s sculptures it’s accompanied by a short, insightful verse penned by the sculptor himself.
The next part of the route offers a change of mood and terrain. Gone are the conifers, replaced with deciduous woodland, meadows and patches of a encroaching vegetation including tracts of nettles (at the height of the season). Trail gives way to a sharply ascending stony track, which then drops, twists and turns past Staindale Lodge before ascending through more woodland to reach fields prior to revisiting the busy A169 (Lockton Lane).
It was on this climb that I reacquainted myself with the noticeably improved efficiency of using a walking pole (one of Diane’s). I don’t often use mine due to the complications of carrying and manipulating cameras. These days though, I’m equipping myself more compactly (it’s mostly just the phone to be honest) so I’ve usually got at least one hand free to use a pole. I soon found myself absorbed by the perception of better flow uphill, reflected on Strava in a slightly faster pace than our usual 20 mins/mile.
Directly across the road is the metalled lane to Lockton itself, a rather idyllic medieval village that boasts a church, a hostel and — of more interest to most hikers I’d imagine — a tearoom. Ignoring the obvious exit for Levisham (Mill Bank Road) the route continues through the village, to leave via a trail, over a discreet stone stile at the top of the village.
Arriving at The Horseshoe Inn, Levisham
Shortly after there’s a long, steep and rugged wooded descent to join the previously mentioned Mill Bank Road just before it crosses Levisham Beck. Much of what remains of the route’s elevation is gained in the next few hundred metres as the road pitches steeply upwards. Just before a hairpin bend there’s an even steeper footpath on the right which cuts out the bend and delivers you to the foot of Levisham village itself — right on the 13-mile mark.
The effort’s worth it though because, at the other end of the village, a warm welcome awaits at The Horseshoe Inn — that was certainly our experience anyway. Even though it was empty the pub has a nice ambience which I’m sure would be even nicer on a cold, winter’s day. As it was, all the customers were sitting outside in the warm sunshine, where we joined them.
The final three miles of the walk eventually swap road for trail, to cross Levisham Moor, around the western edge of the Hole of Horcum. This spectacular feature is a huge, natural amphitheatre in the Jurassic bedrock, thought to have formed due to as yet unresolved aspects of glacial erosion.
Crossing Levisham Moor on the Tabular Hills Walk
Crossing the moor on a clear day, you can see the traffic on the A169, across “The Hole” and even identify the finish at the car-park. Nevertheless, it remains about ¾ of an hour distant and, being exposed, means that you’ll need adequate clothing if it’s cold, windy and/or raining.
Diane seemed well impressed by the trail itself — now back on the Tabular Hills Walk since Levisham — and I had to agree: it was a nice way to finish. We both felt that, despite the heat and steep gradients, we’d enjoyed it; the trail had been relatively kind and we both felt capable of carrying on. The route ends with a short climb past a viewing platform overlooking over the Hole of Horcum but when you’ve spent a couple of miles walking around it, it’s doesn’t seem quite so special (the platform, I mean). Anyway, I think I might have got another tick from The Boss for that one!
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