M 03 Millington Dale 1

M 03 Millington Dale 1: map and directions

Route M 03 - Millington Wood, Millington Dale, Wolds Way & Millington village

This circular walk is a bit less than 5 miles long. It follows the quiet road along the base of Millington Dale, where there are flowering orchids in June. Kestrels, buzzards and red kites may sometimes be seen. The walk follows the Yorkshire Wolds Way back above Millington Dale and Sylvan Dale (near route of Roman Road), with extensive views before descending to Millington Village.  The route then follows the road along the valley back to the car park. There are several gradients, both up and down. Also there are short cuts for those wanting a shorter walk. Route M 04 is an anticlockwise alternative using some of the same paths.
Start at Millington Wood car park, ¾ mile north-east of Millington village. (OS Explorer Map 294 Market Weighton etc. reference SE838530).

Walk details (clockwise)

1.     From the car park at Millington Wood (ref. 838530), turn left along the road that leads through Millington Dale. After ½ mile there is a spring on the left near which two varieties of orchid may be flowering. Continue along the road for a further 950 metres to a gate on the right leading to Nettle Dale and the Yorkshire Wolds Way [turn right here for a shorter walk].  [1650 metres]

2.     (848540) Follow the road further up the valley for a further 450 metres to the point where the Yorkshire Wolds Way crosses (850544). Turn right through a gate and up a narrow path, through a gate and then downhill to the bottom of Nettle Dale [the short cut from 1 re-joins here]  Follow a gravel track (Wolds Way) uphill to a gate marked “Private”. [1200m]

3.     (848537) At the gate, turn sharp left up the grass bank to a metal pedestrian gate. Go through the gate and turn right. Follow the field edge grass path along the top of the valley with occasional glimpses through the hedgerow on your right. After 700 metres, go through a gate and follow a waymarked zig-zag path downhill to the bottom of Sylvan Dale. [For short cut to Millington Wood car park, turn right along the bottom of the valley, over a footbridge and left onto the road back to the car park]. Continue slightly left up the other side of the valley to a gate into a field at the top. [1100m]

4.     (844828) Turn left on a field edge path along the top of Sylvan Dale (from where the approximate course of a Roman Road may be seen). At the end of the field, turn right and follow another edge of the same field (with distant views to the Vale of York) to Warren Farm where a track crosses the path. [1000m]

5.     (841519) Continue for 150 metres (to the end of a horse exercise yard on the right) and turn right through a gate onto Minster Way downhill towards Millington. After 500 metres, at a field corner and gate on the right, keep left past a hawthorn/elder bush down to a boardwalk and a wooden gate. [850m]

6.     (833519) Go through the gate and across a further boardwalk then across a gravel drive and through a gate, following the drive to a road in Millington Village. [Non-drivers need not complete the walk and can turn left, following the village road to the Gait Inn]. Turn right uphill for 100 metres to a cross-roads. [350m]

7.     (830520) Turn right at the cross-roads and continue for 1200 metres to the point where the road bends right and zig-zags down a hill. Keep straight on down a gravel path to meet the road and turn left into Millington Wood car park. [1350m]

Note: This walk may be extended by about 1½ miles by continuing along the Wolds Way (at point 5) for 2 kilometres to a road junction, then turning right, following the road into Millington village and turning right through the village to resume the route at point 7.  The anticlockwise version of this extended route is M 04.

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