Byland Abbey & Kilburn circular walk

Parking opposite the Abbey. With an adjacent cafe and free entry to Byland Abbey, this is a good place to start.

I know I've gone for a walk, but the Abbey is just too impressive to set off without having a stroll around.

Cistercian Monks called this 'home' nearly 850 years ago. The abbey must have been very impressive. It still would have been, if not for Henry 8th and his suppression of the monasteries in 1538. That bloke has a lot to answer for. Anyway, it's still here in part - and now protected by English Heritage.

Byland Abbey Inn & Tea Rooms.

Heading off down the very quiet lane towards Oldstead

The joys of retirement, a Wednesday afternoon in sunny April - three weeks in and I'm loving every minute of it !

Leaving the lane, and turning right onto the public footpath.

Woof !! Funny looking chaps these

Bluebells starting to appear. Wonder what the Rannerdale Fells are looking like in the Lake District right now, can't be long before the side of those fells are a carpet of blue.

Arriving at the very small hamlet of Oldstead

The Black Swan at Oldstead - Never visited, but sounds like a really good country restaurant. No good for a daytime country pub crawl as we found out a few years ago as it only opens for a few hours on the evening. My path was to the right here through the hedgerow.

There's the bridge over the beck hidden in the trees. The beck was only 1" deep, but it saved getting my boots muddy if nothing else.

As we are not far from Sutton Bank gliding club, the peace and quiet was only broken by the occasional flypast of a plane & glider - they are actually there, but at this scale, just dots !

The Kilburn White Horse pops up every so often. As I took this photo, I remembered taking a photo with the same backdrop on one of our country pub walks some years ago. I was standing in exactly the same place when I realised. That was a good day out.

A peaceful lunch stop for 20 minutes with views over to Mount Snever and its Observatory

Approaching High Kilburn

St Mary's Church, Kilburn

Kilburn - The centre of the village there is a small square which is dominated by The Forresters Arms, a nice pub if you enjoy a good pint of Real Ale and also nice food too. A great place to finish a walk in this beautiful area. Kilburn is also well known for its oak furniture with the famous 'Mouse' trademark. When Robert Thompson, the founder of the firm Robert Thompson's Craftsmen Ltd, started the business he was as poor as a church mouse and decided that every piece produced should therefore bear a reminder of his humble beginnings. He is now known affectionately as 'Mousey Thompson'

Leaving Kilburn I headed southwards in the direction of Kilburn along the side of the country road. Not overly busy, but I decided to turn right into the farmland and cut back across the road further up.

Not much benefit really, probably better to have stuck to the road for 1/2 mile and turn left further up.

Not a big fan of farms and this path certrainly wasn't well walked, so next time I'll stick to the road or follow the path to the east of Kilburn

You can't come into 'Our' field - Okay, I'll go another way. These chaps seemed overly excited to see me !

Across the road and it's back into nicer terrain

A bit of woodland as I head back towards Byland.

Skirting round Brink Hill

And back to the very scenic Byland Abbey. A very enjoyable few hours in the countryside only a stones throw away from the industry of Teesside.