Richmond to Ingleby Cross
Distance: 24.0 miles
Height Gain: 920 feet
Highpoint: Richmond (440 feet)
Walking time: Approx 9-12 hours
Part 1: Richmond to Catterick Bridge
Leave the town by Richmond Bridge, immediately taking the footpath to the left beside the river, past a row of houses and onto the main road for a short distance before picking up another path to the left, past the sewage works and through fields and woods to Colburn Hall. This section is quite fiddly, but well signposted and you are soon back into fields, never far from the Swale, until you arrive in Brompton-on-Swale. Take the grotty tunnel under the A1 and then cross the Swale on the road bridge at Catterick Bridge.
Part 2: Catterick Bridge to Rawcar Bridge
As you cross the river, take an immediate right and follow the path beside the Swale to a road which brings you into Bolton-on-Swale. The churchyard here holds the memorial to Henry Jenkins, who supposedly lived to be 169. Leave the village and follow the path beside Bolton Beck, making the most of the lush green fields and springy track while they last. At the road turn left and begin the worst section of the whole route. You now follow roads for several miles, the only consolation being that they are little used by motor vehicles.
Part 3: Rawcar Bridge to White House Farm
Various public Rights of Way offer themselves as alternatives along this section of the walk, but use these with care. Many will not be well maintained and the resulting battles with nettles, brambles and overgrown hedges may be worse than the road walking you are trying to avoid. The roads will eventually bring you to Danby Wiske where you may be lucky enough to find the White Swan open for lunch, or the B&B about 100 yards on serving tea and sandwiches. Other than these there are no supplies on this route until you reach the petrol station at the A19 crossing.
Part 4: White House Farm to Ingleby Cross
A mixture of fields and road walking for several more miles brings you to the A19. No niceties like bridges or tunnels are available to the walker at this intersection, you have to walk across this very busy road dodging the traffic, much of it doing 70 or 80 miles an hour, as best you can. There is a petrol station available for supplies before you cross the road, but you won’t need a packed lunch for tomorrow, you have Lord Stones cafe.
Note: The final map section for today’s walk is covered on the first part of Day 10’s map