Route M 08 – On top of the Wolds, Holm Dale and Horse Dale from Huggate

This walk of about 6½ miles (or 5 miles using short cuts) passes through typical Wolds scenery – arable farms on the high plateau and pasture in the valleys.  The paths are mainly firm, on farm tracks for more than half of the distance.  There are some moderate gradients. This route shares some paths with M 06 , M 07 & M 10 .
Start from the lower end of Huggate village, by a right turn to St Mary’s church (OS Explorer Map 294, Market Weighton and Yorkshire Wolds, reference 881554 ).   

1.     Start from the lower end of Huggate village, ( map reference 881554 ) and walk northwards downhill to just beyond the last house then go through a wooden gate into a field and cross the field diagonally to the far corner. [350 metres]

2.     (879557)   Go through a wooden gate and turn left onto a tarmac drive.  Where the drive turns right to farm buildings, take the narrow signed footpath slightly left and follow this between hedges until it rejoins the tarmac drive and continue to a wooden signpost where the drive bends left. [800m]

3.     (871559)   Turn right on the signed grassy track with a hedgerow to the right and a crop field to the left.  Continue to a gate (the OS map shows the path turning left just before the gate). [300m]

4.     (870562)   Go through the gate into Access Land and turn left onto a path with the fence to the left and a valley (Horse Dale) to the right.  Follow the path as it descends into and across the valley bottom to a wooden gate beside a hawthorn tree. [350m]

5.     (866561)   Go through the gate and continue northwards up a shallow valley.  Continue through a gate and follow the field-edge path until it meets a tarmac drive. [900m]

6.     (862569)   Turn right onto the tarmac drive and follow it to Wold House Farm.  At the large yard, turn left diagonally across the yard to a very wide gate.  Go round the end of the gate and turn right to leave by a compacted gravel track.  At a junction of tracks, keep left.  There are distant panoramic views here.  Continue until the track turns left. [1400m]

7.     (872579)   The diagonal short cut across a field (shown on the OS map) is not available, so follow the track to the left and then to the right where it becomes a rough grass track with vehicle wheel ruts each side.  Continue through a wooden pedestrian gate beside a metal gate into the Access Land of Holm Dale.  Take the uphill path to a path junction by 2 large chestnut trees (874584) and turn right onto a path down the centre of the Dale.  Alternatively, from the point of entry to Access Land, take the short cut downhill to the bottom of the valley.  Continue southwards along the bottom of the valley, eventually keeping to the left of a fence (not as shown on OS map). [1950m]

8.    (884575)  Go through a gate by a signpost. Short cut: Turn right following the Wolds Way sign and continue on the path that climbs the side of the valley to a gate (882570); turn left through the gate and follow the Wolds Way along a field edge for 450m then turn right onto the drive from Northfield House Farm. Continue along the tarmac drive, eventually into a valley (Cow Dale) and back up the other side to a junction with another drive on the right then as step 13 [1900m]. Main route: From the signpost, turn left over a stile and follow the base of the valley, eventually bear right where the path divides and climb gently to join a compacted gravel track. [750m]

9.    (891576)  Turn right onto the track that goes uphill, turns left and right and continues straight for a while. [300m]

10.  (893573)  Continue on the track when it turns right towards Northfield Farm. After 70m, turn left at a wooden sign on a field edge path downhill to the bottom of a valley (Rabbit Dale). [1100m]

11.  (895570)  Turn right onto a path along the bottom of the valley for 950m to a junction of paths (where Oxlands Dale and Cow Dale meet Rabbit Dale) [950m]

12.  (891561)  Keep right into Cow Dale and continue along the base of the valley (there is an alternative route to the left part way along Cow Dale). Follow Cow Dale almost to its end, then veer right for a few yards to a gate. Through the gate, turn left onto a tarmac drive (short cut from 8 joins here) and continue to a junction with a farm drive. [1100m]

13.  (881557)  Do not follow the Wolds Way to the right, but continue on the tarmac drive to the left up into the village of Huggate and the car parking place. [200m]