Fifty miles in the Moors with a horse

What does a pilgrimage look like? I think of Chaucer’s medieval pilgrims (swapping rude stories on their way to Canterbury!) or perhaps modern-day walkers in brightly coloured kit and walking poles, travelling the Camino de Santiago under the Spanish sun. But a pilgrimage is just a journey; it doesn’t 
have to be epic to be meaningful.

The newly opened St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail is a celebration of the historic rural and hamlet churches and chapels of the North York Moors and their Christian mission in our rural communities. As a member of the local church and an enthusiastic advocate for public rights of way via Ryedale Bridleways Group, the new pilgrimage trail, visiting 12 of those churches, was too good an opportunity to miss.

I’d always wanted to set off across the Moors with my horse, so I cobbled together a rather rudimentary pack saddle out of motorbike pannier bags, invested in some 
new walking boots, and plotted an itinerary based on the draft horse-riding route (currently being finalised before publication on the Trail website). Rev Mel Burnside kindly let me leave my car and horse trailer on the vicarage drive, so on a bright September morning, my horse Mojo, and I took off from Helmsley to walk fifty miles
 on the Moors.

Difficult riding around Bilsdale

After a day of glorious autumn sunlight travelling up Riccaldale and across Bilsdale Moor, with only the moorland birds and (rather more prosaically) what felt like five thousand pheasants for company, we stopped for the night with David and Trudy Sanderson at Bonfield Ghyl. Here, we met up with Janet Cochrane (of Ride Yorkshire) and her horse, Scout, who had travelled up by a different road.

After an enormous farmhouse breakfast the next morning, we were back on the Trail, over the moor and down into Bilsdale. After crossing the road at Fangdale Beck, Janet held the horses while I dashed back over to St John’s to stamp our Pilgrim Passports. We took the bridleway along Bilsdale, following an old farm lane, before climbing back up onto the moor above Hawnby.

This stage proved very difficult, with footpath and bridleway signage deliberately pulled out and laid on the ground and rights of way impassable due to bogs, poaching by free-roaming cattle, and newly planted trees in the middle of the path. After battling through, we concluded that the official pilgrim route would need to be routed lower down along the road, and it was with some relief that we finally arrived at Easterside B&B for hot showers and a meal at The Owl in Hawnby.

Meeting the inaugural walkers for mass at Rievaulx Abbey

We had timed our trip to tie in with the Trail’s inaugural Gathering Walk, so in the mid-morning of the third day, we caught up with the main body of trail walkers in Cold Kirby. After crossing the ford at Rievaulx fishponds in the afternoon, we arrived at the Abbey for an unforgettable service.

Organised by George and Mal Gyte, more than 10 walkers had walked sections of the Trail that day (with one enthusiastic long-distance runner – David Sanderson! – setting out early in the morning to tackle the whole route), and the general mood on arrival in the village was one of good-natured chaos. As Janet pointed out, this was very fitting and reminiscent of a medieval pilgrimage scene!

The service began after all the walkers, horses, band members, and medieval monks had been shepherded into the Abbey. Rev Mel officiated, and we all stood in the nave and sang, with the afternoon sun shining, Bilsdale Silver Band playing and the horses grazing among the Abbey ruins.

After the service, Janet headed home, while Mojo and I set off alone up the lane (and a very steep driveway) to Bungdale Head Farm, our campsite for the night. We were woken the next morning around 6:15 a.m. by the sounds of rain on canvas. I was very grateful to be offered a cup of coffee by our hosts while I packed the saddle, and breakfast was peanuts and beef jerky while on the move.

A wet return to Helmsley

Despite completing our final day back to Helmsley in the persistent drizzle, part of me didn’t want to stop walking. I was enjoying the peace and the time to think, away from the busyness and day-to-day responsibilities of normal life. I’d explored parts of the Moors I’d never seen before, made new friends and came away hugely encouraged and enthused about our rural church community.

As we travelled, I uploaded a blog every night, written from (variously) a warm corner of the kitchen at Bonfield Ghyl wedged in beside the Aga, the comfort of Easterside B&B, and my tent at Bungdale Head, sat in the dark with an iPad on my knee, accessing a data signal via a hotspot on my phone.

The St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail

I’d recommend the Trail to anyone, local or visitor, who wants to spend a few days experiencing the wildness and beauty of the moors and valleys around Helmsley. Options are available for walkers, horse riders and cyclists, and you can also travel sections of the Trail as stand-alone “petal walks” (routes will be uploaded to the website as they are finalised).

For more information on St Aelred’s Trail, please see the website, which is being updated as routes are developed and finalised. We’ve got walking, cycling, and riding routes uploaded to the website now – the riding route is “interim” – it’s still a work in progress due to the total lack of maintenance of some critical bridleways. But we’ll update the files and instructions as we improve the route, and better sections can be opened up. You can also contact the Trail team via the website for specific information on routes or accommodation. I’m happy to talk to anyone who wants to know more (mge501@gmail.com).

Acknowledgements

This post is a slightly amended version of an article written by Mary Thew for the Benefice Outlook Magazine. Thanks, therefore, to Mary and the Revd Canon Sue Binks for allowing the News Team to reproduce the article and, of course, the St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail organisers for their support.

Updated with additional text and images on 27 Nov 24.

Gallery

More images of Mary and Mojo on the Trail…

Useful links

Click on the links below to access sites  and the blog mentioned in the article

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