Bishop Wilton Wold – 246m / 807ft – 29/11/2019
So, rather than trying to do all the detailed planning of 100+ walks before beginning the challenge I just decided to start ticking some off, beginning with the ones closest to home. After weeks of seemingly neverending rain it was great to take advantage of some clear, crisp weather with a shortish drive for myself and PJ to the car park at Millington Wood near to Pocklington, a place I’ve been to on several previous occasions to walk sections of the Yorkshire Wolds Way. This time however I had plotted a walk about 3 miles north through farmland and a lane along the course of an old roman road called The Bence. I have decided to try to take PJ along to as many of these “tops” as I can – physically he is fine to walk 10/12 miles, the problem is he is a terrier and will basically chase anything with 4 legs or 2 wings. What better start than a muddy path for about 3/4 of a mile through a field of sheep? I just have to keep him on a short lead as he strains to have his fun. (Good for the biceps I hear you say). The other issue is that PJ evidently has the most wonderful sense of smell and wants to keep stopping to sniff for something. On longer walks it becomes very difficult to build and maintain a good rhythm – hopefully just doing shorter ones with no real time pressure will make it more tolerable.
We negotiated the field of sheep and came out onto a short stretch of B road (not busy, decent grass verge) with views far away to the south-west across the vale of York and the steam billowing towers of the power stations at Drax and Eggborough.
I jogged along most of the country lane part (gradually building myself up for longer distances…) and soon we arrived at the junction with the busy A166. About 200m along the road on the other side was our destination, hidden by a hedgerow. Theroretically I could have driven to this point and parked right in the layby – but that is not part of this challenge (at least a 5 mile walk to accompany the “top”). We crossed the main road and found our way along a lane only to discover that the trig point was inside a small, fenced triangular compound with a locked gate. Inside the compound also was a TV mast and some water storage tanks I think. Nearby, across a muddy field was an old burial mound – actually higher to the eye than the trig point so we stumbled (well I stumbled) over the mud and we stopped on the mound – enclosed by trees so no real views, but nevertheless I had visited my first “county top”.
We stayed a short while, PJ had a snack and the retraced our steps back to the car. The sheep were still an attraction in the field as we descended towards the wood with Cold Wold and Millington Pasture as a backdrop. So about 6 miles walked, first one ticked off and onto tomorrow.
