Scenic secrets and castle follies

Everyone knows the Yorkshire Dales and North York Moors but there are lots of other, smaller scenic bits dotted around our county including the Howardian Hills which stretch across a swathe of countryside about 10 miles north of York. A designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, they take their name from the Howard family which owned – and still own – Castle Howard, more of which later.

My journey started in Terrington. I’d last visited the village during the snows of 2010 when I risked life and limb tearing down Terrington Bank on toboggans with the kids. Returning with my eight-year-old son, Bertie, for his first proper bike ride, it came as no surprise, then, that our journey started with a descent, but thankfully it was much more gentle and controlled this time and to the east of the village.

The first place we passed was Ganthorpe. This unassuming hamlet was the birthplace of botanist and adventurer Richard Spruce who collected 700 species of plant from the Amazon jungle between 1848 and 1862. The oak tree on the green is a fittingly fine specimen.

Another giant oak drew our attention two miles further south in Bulmer, this one planted in the middle of the small triangular green in 1894 to commemorate the act which created parish councils.

Unusually for its size, the village has no pub. The Slip Inn used to lie opposite the church but is was closed by the Countess of Carlisle of Castle Howard who was a fervent abstainer. She also made her mark at Welburn which we visited next.

Opposite is the new Pattacakes Shop and Tea Room, where we bought some bits and pieces to sustain ourselves for the ascent back, up and out of Bulmer and along the road ahead. And what a road. The Stray, as it’s known, must be one of the grandest thoroughfares in the county. An avenue of beeches and limes, it stretches imposingly ahead like an airport runway all the way up to Castle Howard, as straight as an arrow but with several undulations. Bertie preferred to push.

We had ample opportunity to see the various features along the road which revealed themselves gradually and teasingly as, I suspect, would’ve been the intention of their architects, primarily Sir John Vanbrugh and Nicholas Hawksmoor. Motorists would miss such subtleties but, travelling at our speed, we certainly didn’t.

Looking behind us as we turned right from Welburn we could see a column, the Howard monument, and ahead was Carrmire Gate.

Curiously, the Gate – a rusticated arch running into castellated walls – is one of only a few genuinely castle-like features of Castle Howard but serves no defensive or even boundary purpose as the main entrance is some distance away.

Bertie and I started playing a “how many pyramids can you spot?” game. For a start there were six small capped brick pyramids on piers clustered either side of the arch in the Gate. As we continued up the road, a much larger pyramid gradually appeared which turned out to form the roof of the main entrance to the estate. Getting closer we could see another apex appear in the distance but this revealed itself to be the top of an obelisk, the first folly at Castle Howard, which dates back to 1714 and is dedicated to Lady Cecilia Howard. The most substantial pyramid is the Hawksmoor Pyramid which we spotted to our right through gaps in the trees as we approached the main entrance. Castle Howard is as close as Yorkshire gets to ancient Egypt.

The final leg led us downhill through woodland to the west of Coneysthorpe. Back in Terrington, our journey over, we lingered a little among the stone-built cottages with red pantiled roofs. The village oozes class. This is North Yorkshire at its most desirable – with all the charm of more well-known villages in the Dales and Moors but off the tourist trail and therefore somehow seeming more real-life.

All those follies and a dollop of art at the end. Bertie and I had enjoyed an enriching and energetic afternoon on our bikes and hopefully the first of many.

Howardian Hills bike ride

Distance: 11½ miles.

Map: See www.bit.ly/blHMB6.

Time: Two hours excluding stops – if cycling with 
a child.

Refreshments:

Pattacakes Shop and Tea Room, Welburn. Tel 01653 618352.

The Crown and Cushion, Welburn. Tel 01653 618304. 01653 618304

The Arboretum Café, Castle Howard. Tel 01653 648767.

The Art Café (at the back of Terrington village store). Tel 01653 648530.

The Bay Horse, Terrington. Has its own CAMRA award winning brewery. Tel 01653 648416.