The Galloping Grandmas Ride in “Heartbeat Country”
By Gallopingran
Riders:-
Judith; Pauline; Vicky and Rose
Horses:-
Emma -lightweight cob 15hh; Willow - 16.2hh; Limerick Irish Cob 15h; Jim -15.2hh
Introduction
Rose had ridden with Vicky & Judith on a few trekking holidays despite having been seriously ill, on and off, which often rendered her incapable of riding. However, along with her other animals, pet sheep, hens, ducks, dogs, and cats - riding her horse was her life! [Since she was severely allergic to most animals her health problems could be fatal!] Although her Doctor had advised her to give up and sell up, she really wanted to experience one last ride in the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP) – whatever the consequences! Vicky had asked Judith if she would be willing to organise such a ride and after some thought , she willingly agreed. As the saying goes 'two’s company, three’s a crowd' so they decided to ask another friend, Pauline to even up the number (and better still they knew that Pauline was always good for a laugh!)
The Plan
Judith said she would book up four nights in the Eastern Area of the North York Moors National Park (NYMNP). She knew of The Newtondale Trail which she said that she had always wanted to ride as well as other routes in the general area. NT is a two - three day route promoted by NYMNPA. As is often the case booking for horses and riders is not always easy especially in August but as things worked out she eventually managed to book two nights B&B at a holiday cottage on a farm near Goathland which you might have heard of as Aidensfield - the location for the TV drama Heartbeat. The Newtondale Trail, is a series of narrow sausage shaped loops taking in Cropton Forest, villages such as Goathland, Levisham and Lockton and some wild moorland. Instead of riding the whole trail, Judith picked out what she thought would be the best bits, staying two nights at a Farm Stay B&B near Lockton and return back to Goathland via an alternative route which she would work out from information passed on to her by her local horsey contacts.
Plan sorted!
Day 1. Transport horses and riders to Goathland.
half day ride around Goathland area to get their bearings and generally ‘suss’ things out.
Day 2 Full day ride around Goathland and northern up-route of Newtondale Trail with an add- on to follow a bridleway to Egton Bridge, Aislaby & Sleights, which Judith knew was particularly attractive, and again return to the cottage overnight.
Day 3 Ride down the section of NT to a Farm Stay B&B at Lockton.
Day 4 Short petal ride from the farm to explore the Newton-on-Rawcliffe area.
Day 5 Ride via Newtondale Gorge / Hole of Horcum / Lilla Cross/ Fylingdales and back to the cottage and our transport at Goathland.
Since Vicky and Rose would be travelling quite some distance, Judith had suggested that they spend the first night with her and then they could all drive over to Goathland the following day to meet Pauline at the cottage where they would be able to leave the horse boxes for the duration.
Vicky, Rose and Judith had not seen Pauline for quite some time so meeting up with her again was entertaining and, unsurprisingly, Pauline (who always told a good story) had lots to tell them!
Their arrival at the cottage was not without incident. Pauline managed to get her horse box stuck in a muddy hole and the girls had to summon help from the farmer with his tractor. At last they got the horses turned out in the field to unwind and, after unpacking their gear, they all were ready for cups of tea and sandwiches interspersed with sorting out the sleeping arrangements whilst Pauline entertained them with stories in her broad Yorkshire accent! When Pauline paused for breath for a moment, Judith took the opportunity to say that if they didn’t get tacked- up it would be dark before they'd managed to get out on a ride! Pauline took the hint and they quickly cleared up the kitchen, got the horses ready.
Day 1 A ride around Goathland
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Somehow they managed to set off by 2.30pm and rode across a field to access a bridleway along a disused railway line which would lead us straight into the heart of Goathland village. It ended directly opposite 'Scripp’s Garage' and adjacent to the The Goathland Hotel also known as 'The Aidensfield Arms'. Both Rose and Judith were keen followers of Heartbeat (ITV 1), so filled the others in with the characters in the country soap opera.
They rode down a steep hill past the station where a steam train was just pulling out. Fortunately none of the horses seemed too worried about that, which was good since it would be likely that they would be seeing quite a few of them over the next few days! Then they turned off onto a permissive track across the moor, which had been pointed out to them by their hostess at the cottage.
This track not only provided them with an excellent off-road route almost as far as Grosmont but also provided fabulous views across the moorland and the whole of Goathland village and an even bigger bonus was an excellent opportunity for a half mile canter. The next off-road section was a lovely ancient highway into Grosmont.
They returned back to base via quiet roads and bridleway sections of the Newtondale Trail and as they rode back across the moor into Goathland they called at an impressive looking hotel to book their evening meal before continuing on to the Goathland Hotel aka 'Aidensfield Arms' where Pauline and Judith stopped off for a glass of lager whilst Vicky and Rose continued back along the railway line to the cottage at the farm.
Today’s ride had only been a ‘taster’ but they all agreed was an excellent day.
After sprucing themselves up for the evening, Vicky drove them all into the village to the hotel for supper. The house specialty was 'Sausages and Mash with onion gravy' which couldn’t have been bettered anywhere! Later, over a glass of wine back at the cottage they discussed plans for the next day. Although I say ‘discussed’ – only Vicky was interested in the actual route planning since Rose & Pauline confessed that they couldn’t read a map and were only there to enjoy the wonderful riding!
Day 2 Disaster!
They used the ‘old railway line’ again to get down to the village and went down a very steep minor road to “Beck Hole”. Their route turned out to be a rarely used and very overgrown Bridleway. Way-marks were conspicuous by their absence and whilst they all agreed that they would not like to see the countryside littered with signs and arrows, they felt that there were times when one or two strategically placed way-mark arrows would have been a God send! They came to a footbridge over the river and the map appeared to show the bridleway crossing the river at this point as well. The light wasn’t good under the trees and Vicky and Judith were having difficulty with the map. They said they could have done with a magnifying glass! Anyway they crossed the river and because of large trees in the way and overhanging branches they followed the only route that was physically possible to get horses along. They wandered along a precariously narrow path amongst some ancient stone ruins, later found to have been a mine. The path had, on one side, a near vertical drop of about 10 feet into the river and dense prickly shrubs and trees on the other! It wasn’t long before they knew that they had gone wrong and that had actually forded the river in the wrong place, turned left instead of right and followed a footpath instead of a bridleway, but these were only minor details! Doing a U-turn on this narrow path was not at all easy, and later Rose admitted that the sheer drop down into the river was quite scary. Somehow they managed it without mishap and retraced their steps to the other side of the river, and then forded it again further downstream where they came across a wider path and a way-marked bridleway went straight up steeply through a plantation (but not exactly as shown on the map!).
From the top of the hill they finally made it across a field to the road and almost immediately turned off onto another very overgrown bridleway on the opposite side. They were actually aiming for the village of Egton Bridge and The Three Horseshoes pub for lunch! This next bridleway section was also somewhat trying to say the least! Vicky and Judith had to use their joint orienteering skills to full effect even using a compass on occasions! But they navigated the group through a dense wood, over rough pasture, down and up a steep gully and across the moor without major incident. Fortunately it was surprisingly dry and they finally found a tiny boulder strewn path which meandered around the contours, through horse high bracken before coming to the Roman Road across the aptly named Murk Mire Moor.
Only a short bit of moorland to cross now before descending to Egton Bridge through fenced pastures - which appeared fairly close on the map and yet in reality looked miles away! The narrow bridleway they were now following was no more than a sheep path through rough tufts of moorland grass but the group took heart when they came across a way-mark post indicating crossed paths - bridleway straight on and footpaths to right and left. Here, unfortunately, the previously tiny but visible path on the ground disappeared completely. Vicky got her compass out again and Judith’s eyes were glued to the map whilst Emma, her horse, just kept walking slowly forward. Did she know the way? Anyhow, Judith was so intent on map reading that she wasn’t really taking much notice of where Emma was putting her feet and as the rest of her companions were behind her they didn’t notice the problem looming ahead either!. Suddenly - water was oozing up around Emma’s feet! Too late!! Before anyone could shout WET Emma very suddenly sank down to her belly. It looked like the ground had simply opened up and was swallowing the pair of them! – Emma went immediately into panic mode, plunging and struggling like crazy and Judith was catapulted over her head and soon disappeared. In seconds she was somewhere underneath Emma, whose legs were thrashing about and the rest of the girls were unable to do anything to help!
A few seconds later, though it must have seemed like hours, Emma struggled back towards the other horses and managed to climb out onto ‘terra firma.’ Judith managed to get to the side as Vicky, Pauline and Rose looked on in horror. Vicky jumped off Lim and ran to help her out whilst Rose grabbed Emma’s dangling reins as she moved towards the other horses. Pauline went into shrieks of laughter! (for which she profoundly apologized later!) Having dragged Judith out and to her feet Vicky gave her a big hug. Rose was checking Emma over and called out 'she looks OK!' Judith was very shocked but otherwise seemed alright but said that her leg hurt a bit! Even with a leg-up from Vicky she had great difficulty mounting. Somewhere nearby she found a suitable boulder to use as a mounting block and Vicky helped her to clamber up. They all retraced their steps back to the relative safety of the nearby tarmac road and followed it 1 ½ miles down hill to Egton Bridge. They were all still too shocked to take photos but the four wended their way to The Three Horseshoes pub. It was a lovely warm sunny day at the height of the holiday season. Egton Bridge is a real 'honey pot'! The pub was thronged with tourists enjoying food and drinks in the lovely garden as the four of them – weary, shocked and filthy horses and riders rode into the car park. Judith was soaked through down to basics and Emma had wet mud and slime all over her. Vicky ventured to the bar to order sandwiches and drinks and the rest found a table and benche by the garden fence to which they tethered the horses. They rested there for at least an hour before attempting to continue their planned ride along the Esk Valley.
Though, Judith confessed later, to being “quite a tough old bird” she had to admit that ‘the leg’ was very painful! She said that, riding along either trotting or cantering was relatively easy compared to ‘mounting and dismounting’! After lunch the four set off again and followed a ‘permissive’ bridlepath for over a mile to Grosmont then a most interesting 4 ½ mile bridleway to Aislaby.
This bridleway had ancient stone trods for most of it’s length and they all marveled at the work that had been put into this fascinating ancient highway. There were however, quite a lot of awkward gates – but Judith was excused from them! They met a girl on a horse who appeared very interested in their adventures, and wanted to take up trekking! But the group were stunned to hear that she had never ridden the full length of this bridleway despite having lived within half a mile for the last 2 years! They had another stop in Aislaby for more liquid refreshments at the pub before continuing down the historic Featherbed Lane – reputed to be the narrowest bridleway in England! Well, they all knew, even from their limited experience it's not even the narrowest in North Yorkshire! It was so horribly overgrown, it wasn’t only narrow it was also very steep, and was paved with well worn stone trods for all of it’s length. In order to avoid the overhanging trees and brambles they had to bend right over the horses’ necks or lay back over their hind quarters, which was hardly easy when descending a hill as steep as this. They virtually tumbled down to the bottom - well almost - amid shrieks and screams from Rose and Pauline who were riding the bigger horses. This Bridleway joined the busy A169 Whitby to Pickering road and they then had to negotiate their way carefully through Sleights and up the notoriously steep Blue Bank. Their original plan was to wend their way through the village streets to avoid the bulk of the traffic but since they were late they decided to stick to the road, the most direct route - knowing that from the outskirts of the village there were verges most of the way to the road junction which would lead them back to Goathland – another 3 miles! It’s true!.........the longest mile is the last mile home!
Back at the farm they still had to feed the horses and turn them out so they were all relieved when Heather, their hostess, offered to go and fetch fish and chips from the village. They were all absolutely knackered and Judith said that she’d never known fish, chips and mushy peas taste quite so good! She also said her leg was painful but not so bad that she couldn’t walk. Rather surprisingly there was no bruising or swelling so Pauline (a former nurse) and the rest felt that they were confident 'nothing was broken and it would be better after a good night’s rest'!
Day 3 Goathland to Lockton
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Overnight the plucky grandmas changed their plans as they all wanted an easier day and they decided to follow the Newtondale Trail - since they expected it would be very well way marked and therefore be easy to follow! They didn’t get mounted until 10.30, what with Pauline talking, but it didn’t matter really as she kept them all laughing as usual!
They followed a Bridleway which ran over the moor, roughly parallel to Hunt House Road. It was only as they arrived at Hunt House that they realized that the Trail did not always follow definitive Bridleways. Sometimes it followed footpaths and sometimes it didn’t follow a definitive path at all. In addition to that there were missing sign posts. They knew that because they were following the maps and route directions in the National Park booklet.
The instructions said… '….turn left on a path and keep left where the path divides. ….. after the path crosses a stream bed, turn left across the moor, veering Right through about 45 degrees. Go on to meet the Bridleway on Simon How Rigg at a marker post after about half a mile……..'
They found several tracks and paths and weren’t really sure which to follow! They didn’t find a stream bed so, presumably, they'd veered right far too soon! The instructions went on to mention a large sheep beild – whatever it was they never found it! Anyhow despite there being no path in sight to follow they worked out from the map that they were aiming for a huge plantation in the distance. As they approached it they could see a gate in the perimeter fence and they made for that! Between them and the gate there was an awkward stream to cross with steep banks and large areas of wet looking peat! Vicky dismounted & proceeded to suss it out on foot and decided it was OK leading Limerick across with no problem. Judith just froze in terror at the sight of it as the awful accident the previous day obviously had a huge effect on her. She literally had a panic attack and was just too terrified to even attempt to get across mounted or on foot! Pauline and Rose both dismounted and walked their horses over to the gate and Vicky tied up Limerick and went back to lead Emma. Emma was not keen to walk through the peat let alone scramble down the steep bank and across the stream – which was really quite surprising since normally she would have been having hysterics at being left behind by the others. The rest were worried that she might take an almighty leap across and drag Vicky off her feet! Anyway they all got across unscathed. This area of the plantation had been cleared of trees but there was a good track to follow. Then they came across Path Diversion Notices pinned to a tree. This said to follow way-mark arrows – which they did until they ran out!
Eventually the way ahead was blocked by a huge fallen tree and, by the look of the many hoof-prints on either side, some riders had been jumping it. This obstruction would be no problem for Vicky or Pauline but it was a no go situation for Rose and Judith. They all followed another track in the hope that they would be able to go round the obstruction but soon got lost. These forest tracks are like a maze – they all look exactly the same! After following a track for what seemed like ages they were quite astonished to come across a car with a man sitting in it! He was a volunteer Ranger and knew the forest well. What a stroke of luck! They followed his directions and soon picked up the NT way-marks again without more problems. What with overgrown way-marked paths, more bogs than I care to mention and Pauline’s horse Willow, putting a foot through some overgrown wooden planks (which were covering a hole) and some precariously steep over hung paths…I could go on forever! Eventually they descended a long steep path to arrive at a good forest track alongside a railway line. Judith exclaimed that she knew where they were and, in fact, had previously been here on an EGB Ride! They could now work out exactly where they were on the map. They followed the forest track as per the route directions and after a while spotted Skelton Tower up on the hill in the distance. It was now nearly 5’clock and they were all tired and hungry!
The NT crosses the railway line at a level crossing to a permissive path (thanks to the Levisham Estate). Crossing the line was via two good gates which were easy to open from horseback. The railway line is not very busy but the path runs alongside it for quite some distance. Most of the trains are steam trains run by the preservation society volunteers. There’s quite a steep climb up to the tower and the dried out clay path had a lot of deep holes which horses had previously made in wet conditions. The climb to the top was certainly well worth the effort and there was some lovely grass on which to graze the horses so they stopped there to eat their sandwiches and generally rest taking in the fabulous views up the Newtondale Gorge.
Of course they couldn’t resist riding along the edge of the gorge to take a close up look at the tower before crossing this wide open plain and continue on their route to Farwath and their B&B for the night.
A super flat wide grassy plain stretched out before them and they couldn’t resist a gallop over there. Despite the long hard day the horses were all keen, and didn’t need any encouragement to gallop the quarter mile or so to the road.
Over the minor road, now to join a bridleway running south and down the valley bottom to Farwath. A lovely wooded area. The sky had clouded over now and rain was threatening. It was colder too so they pushed on to arrive at Farwath Halt on the railway line. Unfortunately heavy rain spoilt the last leg of their journey but they still managed a slow canter up the hill to their B&B at Fairfield farm. They got a lovely warm welcome from Liz their hostess who quickly showed them where to unsaddle undercover before turning out the horses. We ran inside and took off our dripping clothes in a super warm ‘utility’ area. Their clothes were put to dry over the boiler and, after cups of tea and hot baths, Liz drove us up to the Fox and Rabbit pub for our evening meal. Only a short distance so since it had stopped raining we opted to walk back to the farm afterwards! (Judith said that her leg was still painful despite now being dosed up on paracetamol!)
Day 4 Petal ride around Newton-on-Rawcliffe
After breakfast they all went across to the field to catch the horses, but they just didn’t want to be caught and raced around for about 10 minutes. Jim and Willow just wanted to play about! Jim had a “stiffy” and kept attempting to “mount” Willow!! He obviously thought he was a stallion and fancied her! Vicky and Judith viewed all this with considerable amusement but Pauline was quite indignant and as she chased Jim off she shouted to Rose 'are you sure that Jim has been properly gelded?'
'Yes he has! ……. and I’ve got a certificate to prove it!' retorted Rose.
This response amused Vicky and Judith who both started laughing! In the end the horses settled down when Vicky caught Limerick who had stood back and looked on at all this rumpus shaking his head just as though he was saying 'thank goodness I’m past it!'
It looked as though no harm had been done – at least they weren’t suffering from any visible injuries, so the four got tacked up and rode off down the bridleway to Farwath rail crossing.
Rose wasn’t feeling too good today. She was really short of breath, but as usual – kept saying, 'don’t worry about me. I’m OK' Under the circumstances the girls decided to keep the pace to a walk and proceeded up the steep hillside of the gorge and along a bridleway into Newton-upon-Rawcliffe village .
They stopped awhile on the green opposite the pub to take photos and take in the view across the Village Green and tranquil duck pond. They learnt from a passing local that the pub had been recently renamed as The Mucky Duck, having been previously being called The White Swan since before anyone living could remember. Seemingly, the new landlord was not very popular as a result!
Continuing on their way, after about half an hour they stopped again in a gateway to view the fabulous view up Newtondale Gorge.
Rose’s condition was now giving them cause for concern, and though she still insisted she was alright they all clearly knew that she wasn’t. Though she had a nebulizer with her to assist her breathing they decided to cut the ride short and return to the farm so that she could get some rest and at least they would be in a position to summon immediate medical help if needed. Back at the farm without further incident Rose was packed off to bed with a cup of tea and sandwich that Liz the lovely landlady had kindly made. The rest of the group gave all the horses a good grooming and cleaned all the tack as best they could with the minimum equipment they had. After refreshments they sat and enjoyed the pretty garden and read magazines. By 6pm Rose was awake and quite obviously feeling much better but said she didn’t feel like going up to the pub for supper.
Day 5 Fairfield Farm, Lockton to Thornfield Farm Goathland.
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The girl’s were all relieved that Rose was up and raring to go off on today’s ride as planned. Her breathing was much better and she was in high spirits after a good night’s sleep. They went off to get the horses after breakfast as usual and thankfully they were all keen to be caught – and there was no hanky-panky! However, Willow wandered up looking quite lethargic.
'Willow’s not right' exclaimed Pauline, 'I hope it’s not ‘morning sickness’!'
(good laugh!) The other girls got the rest tied up in the barn and looked them over. Pauline discovered Willow had quite a few small lumps all over her body. Judith said that they looked like Urticaria to her, not injuries from kicks or bites and said that she normally would not have thought of them as more than a temporary skin irritation. But, since Willow was looking quite off-colour Pauline became alarmed and said she was going to get Willow home as soon as possible. A quick chat to Liz and all was settled – Liz kindly offered to taxi Pauline back to Goathland so that she could collect her horse box.
Judith, Vicky and Rose, said their goodbyes to Pauline, got tacked up and set off on the days expedition. Though, Judith had done some EGB Pleasure Rides in the area, she admitted that she had never ridden any of the route that she’d planned today, but added that she'd had it on good authority that it was ride-able! They rode up to the pretty village of Levisham and along the bridleway over Levisham Moor. Though the views were lovely , the track across the moor was in parts, quite stony so for these three Galloping Grans this was a bit of a disappointment! When they reached the edge of the Hole of Horcum they all agreed that the stunning views here made up for everything.
The bridleway track came out onto the grass verge along the busy A169 and seeing the traffic speeding along it in the distance was initially daunting. However, no fear – there was a lovely bridleway track created well set back from the road and a marked 'crossing point’ immediately opposite the bridleway which continued on the other side along Old Wife’s Way (TA854 939). The girls all agreed that this must have been planned by someone with some horse sense! Their route took them round the edge of Hazelhead Moor with view across to the MOD Fylingdales early warning station. They now had to find the bridleway that sloped down the side of the steep escarpment. Unfortunately there were no way-marks. It was quite difficult as the grass was long and it obviously didn’t appear as though it was regularly used. After riding to and fro, (and Vicky taking a bearing with her compass) they finally found the route. The path must have been dug in the dim and distant past as it was a well constructed sloping grass path six to eight feet wide all the way down to the bottom and continued to Malo Cross. The North York Moors is littered with ancient stone crosses and markers where they were placed as way-markers and boundary posts. The history books tell us that Lilla Cross is the oldest of all the moorland crosses, and the oldest Christian monument in the north of England. It dates from 626 AD, and commemorates Lilla, an officer of the King of Northumbria who died on the spot where the cross stands while saving the kings life. These have often been erected at cross-roads to mark routes.
To their dismay quite a few clouds had appeared and the sky was beginning to look gloomy. Despite that, it was very warm an humid and they all felt that this place would be an ideal spot to have their lunch.There was plenty of grass and a good fence to which they could tether their three horses. A couple of cyclists on their way to Robin Hoods Bay stopped to have a chat and appeared to be quite fascinated by the three granny's adventures.
After about half an hour Emma was getting quite restless as she’d eaten all the grass that she could reach. So they mounted up and got ready to resume their journey. The nearby bridle-gate fell to bits as Judith was trying to open it which was most unusual thing to happen in the National Park! Luckily there was no livestock about. They had to tie it up as best they could with some baler twine which Vicky produced from somewhere.
The wide grassy track alongside a big plantation looked a bit wet, but actually turned out to be quite OK so the three pressed on towards the huge MOD base of Fylingdales. The path came out almost at their back gate! What with the profusion of red and white warning signs as well as the security guards sitting in a white Land Rover - (albeit behind the high security fence) – the girls became somewhat confused as to which way to go. Vicky and Judith both agreed that at least from the map their route looked quite obvious, but the tracks on the ground were quite misleading. Security guards with dogs on patrol beyond the fence were too far away for them to ask directions. So they made a decision to go along a track to their right which finally ran into a plantation. It took them half an hour to realize they’d made a wrong decision. They were quite lucky to meet some forestry workers in a large vehicle. The told them that the track – didn’t actually go anywhere other than to a compound where they had been working. In actual fact they couldn’t read the map and had no idea about bridleways either! The girls retraced their steps and went back to the MOD perimeter fence and worked out that the bridleway ran alongside it for several yards before turning right along Worm Sike Rigg.
They now had a couple of miles to go to reach “Lilla Howe” and see the historic “Lilla Cross”. It was a huge wide open moor, but thankfully a good track to follow and at least they could see the cross in the distance. Judith couldn’t help just checking to see if there had been any coins left on top of the cross! It has been customary over the centuries for travelers to leave a few coins on top of a moorland marker to assist any penniless person in any way they could! Vicky, who was very tired got out her map and said that she thought they all should now try and shorten their journey back to the cottage. She had worked out an alternative route which she thought would have saved us all, loads of time and energy. Judith strongly disagreed, since the track she proposed we use was a private Ministry of Defense Property. So Vicky dropped the subject.
Shortly after leaving Lilla Howe Vicky broached the question of the short cut again. They had an argument because Vicky wanted to use a private MOD road. Vicky felt certain that this road would lead us directly to the main A169 at Eller Beck Bridge. Judith agreed in principle, but said it was likely that the MOD track would have a locked barrier at the end! In addition to that there was also the little problem of the fact that this was signed as a private MOD road – and Judith didn’t fancy getting into trouble with the MOD! Arguments and counter arguments followed until Judith decided to go it alone along the track that she had originally planned. So Vicky and Rose set off along Vicky’s short cut and Judith turned round and left them. About 15 minutes later, Judith heard horses trotting up behind her. Vicky had thought better if her idea! So they rode on turning North East across Foster Howes Rigg. It was a long slow journey and the sky was looking blacker and blacker. The bridleway was no longer surfaced at all, and it became very rutted and muddy in places. It appeared that it had suffered from considerable illegal use by motorbikes and/or 4 x 4’s! A quick look at the map to see how far it was to the road revealed that it was about four miles from Lilla Cross and they had only gone about half way! After about another long tedious mile they encountered a family on a tandem coming towards them. Mum and dad on tandem with a young baby in a covered pod like baby trailer towed behind and a little boy, aged about six, on a two-wheeler bike! They asked us about the track to Lilla Howe and said they were making for Robin Hoods Bay Road – a bridleway which runs north east from Lilla Howe. We said that there was little improvement in the track to Lilla Howe but we had no idea what the Bridleway along Robin Hoods Bay road was like, but Judith added that she’d been told it was OK to ride on a horse!
By now the wind was whipping up and rain threatened, so when they could see traffic ahead on the skyline they were thankful, so obviously the road wasn’t too far away now! Finally they reached the A167 main road, crossed over and followed a minor road back into Goathland. This time, Judith and Vicky were in agreement on abandoning the planned final off-road exploration to ride along an ancient highway and bridleway which ran along the edge of the moor. All three were tired; they’d had an excellent day and as Judith said 'I think it’s best to give up whilst we’re ahead'!
Post script:-
A few days after returning home, Judith’s leg was still quite painful and her husband said he thought she ought to see her GP. “I really don’t think it’s broken. There would have been some bruising and swelling,” said the Doctor (also a rider), “but perhaps you’d better go to hospital and have an X-Ray – just to be certain!”
Judith, drove herself 18 miles to her local hospital, and yes, she had broken her leg! It was actually the fibula that was broken. (We have two bones in our lower leg – the tibia and the fibula or in ‘doctor speak’ – “the ‘tib and fib”! The nurse in casualty asked how long it was since the accident happened and when Judith explained that it happened 7 ½ days ago on the 2nd day of a 5 day holiday and she had continued to ride for up to 5 hours a day, for 4 days but did have a couple of Codeine tablets now and then to ease the pain.
In Judith’s case the treatment for her broken fibula was not to put her leg in plaster. The fibula it is not a ‘weight bearing’ bone – it just has all the ligaments and muscles attached to it. Judith was of course, pleased to hear the ‘no plaster’ bit as she had visions of being able to continue to ride for what was left of the summer. She was advised not to ride for 6 weeks – but do you think she took that advice?