The
Forge Valley is a dramatic gorge created during the ice age. Human settlement in
the area of our walk takes the form of the twin villages of East and West Ayton,
joined by an old bridge spanning the River Derwent. In 1872 a railway line was proposed to run from
Scarborough to Pickering via Forge Valley to meet the Whitby line at Scalby. However,
when it came to the planning stage it was found to run through Lord
Londesborough's lands and after objections from his Lordship the railway line was
not built. Nevertheless, at the same time the North Eastern
Railway applied for powers to construct the line between Pickering and Scarborough, avoiding
Lord Londesborough’s lands.
Steam train at Goatherd (fictional Aidensfield in t.v.'s Heartbeat) on the Forge Valley railway line between Pickering and Scarborough.
The two villages lie to the west of Scarborough on the busy A170. The Norman
church of St John the Baptist in East Ayton was founded by the de Aiton family
around 1150, the same family who built and lived in Ayton Castle from 1120 to
1359. After the de Aitons the castle became the stronghold of the Eures family but
now only the shell of the main tower remains.
Ayton Castle
With the aid of the ‘No Through Road: The AA Book of
Country Walks’ (1976) we began our walk in West Ayton taking a 4.5 mile route along
the banks of the River Derwent. Using an out of date map always adds an edge to
our walks when instructions based on landmarks have changed over the
intervening 40 years.
We parked near the bridge at the edge of West Ayton and took a right turn onto
a road which leads on to a lane leading to Ayton Castle. During the 16th century it was the home of Sir Ralph Eure who, as constable of Scarborough Castle,
defended it against insurgents during the Pilgrimage of Grace of 1536.
This popular uprising in the north of England was the result of Henry
VIII’s harsh policies, in particular the suppression of the monasteries. The
uprising began in Lincolnshire and spread to Yorkshire, where it was led by
Robert Aske, a country squire and lawyer, who called his followers ‘pilgrims’. Even
though the rebels were able to summon 30,000 armed men to face the king’s
forces, Robert Aske met with the Duke of Norfolk and negotiated a free-pardon
for his men if they disbanded. However, Henry revoked the pardon and Robert Aske
was executed with more than 200 other rebels.
Scarborough castle from Scalby
After 1 mile we crossed a footbridge to the car park opposite. It is thought that the name of the Forge Valley takes its name from an eighteenth- century forge which was located at this point. We turned left out of the car park and followed the road, bearing right at a fork in the road onto a forest lane. The AA book for 1976 refers to ‘the forest drive’, now there are 3 possible walking routes at this point so we opted for the one to the extreme right. The path climbs up a fairly steep hill and then follows the edge of the valley through woodland.
We walked until we came to some farm buildings which, if we were on the
right track, belong to Osborne Lodge. A low mound of earth, known as a ‘Skell
Dike’, lies about 400 yards from the farm and is believed to have been a
boundary wall dating back to the time of the Angles, which suggests that there
has been a farm on that site for about 1,500 years
After the farm we began our descent down an old track which once served
Whetsone Quarry. As the name suggests, the quarry once produced sandstone used
for knife-sharpening. The track came out onto the main road which brought us back
into the village of East Ayton.
