Hole of Horcum to Pickering – 29 April 2023
The Hole of Horcum is one of the most spectacular features in the North Yorkshire Moors National Park. It is a huge – a huge natural Devils Punchbowl feature, 400 feet deep and more than half a mile across. It was formed a long time ago when Wade the Giant scooped up a handful of earth to throw at his wife during one of their many arguments.
Actually, it was created by a process called spring-sapping, this is where water welling up from the hillside gradually undermines the slopes above. Over thousands of years, a once narrow valley has widened and deepened into an enormous punchbowl – and the process still continues today.
Unfortunately, we do not stay very long around the Punchbowl. All three of the walks get off the coach at the Hole of Horcum, the 9.5-mile route goes roughly through the center of the Punchbowl and then goes south past Levisham village and then further south again before turning south-west to Pickering.
The 11-mile route heads west around the Punchbowl along the Tabular Hills Walk but turns off to visit Skelton Tower which was built in 1830 as overnight lodgings for shooters using the moors. From the Tower, the route goes south to Farwath and then west to Newbridge and follows the 9.5-mile route into Pickering.
The 12-mile route heads east along the Old Wife’s Way towards the Bride Stones and then through Stain Dale and south through Low Dalby before turning southwest through Ellerburn and coming into Pickering from the east. The Bride Stones are odd-shaped sandstone pinnacles, they are spread over 300 acres so the 12-mile route is just passing between what is called the High Bride Stones and the Low Bride Stones.
So if you fancy a walk through the Hole of Horcum or a wander to Skelton Tower or a visit to the Bride Stones you will find a variety of routes to choose from. You can get in touch with us from our Contact Page and you can also download the walk descriptions below and the GPS routes here.
We are missing images from our past walks to Pickering so the image for this post was taken on one of the routes from our recent walk to Caldbeck. You can check out the other images from our gallery
