Egton Bridge walk River Elk Beggars Bridge Whitby Yorkshire Eskdale way

This is an excellent shortish walk from Egton Bridge to Beggars Bridge along the River Esk and returning via the Eskdale Way and East Arncliffe Wood with an excellent pub stop at the end (and even half way if you want!) It’s an idylic and quiet river & woodland walk near Whitby away from the crowds who want to sample authentic Yorkshire!

WALK OVERVIEW:

DISTANCE: 3.68 miles
TIME: 1.5 hours
TOTAL ASCENT: 648ft
DIFFICULTY: EASY

WALK MAP ROUTE:

The walk is fairly short at 3.6 miles and can be done in around 1hr 15mins with no stops. It starts in Egton Bridge – with free parking right next to St Heddas RC Church. It goes in a clockwise direction and you follow the River Esk initially – before walking on the quiet minor road called Broom House Lane. Just after you pass Broom House Farm, you then get back on the footpath with a short incline through fields and a small woodland until you reach Limber Hill Farm. From there it’s back on a minor road for a few mins until you descend through more woodland to Beggars Bridge (an old pack horse bridge of local legend). You can head a couple hundred meters to Carr End village to the Arncliffe Arms for a drink, or miss this little section out and just get straight on the Esk Valley Way route through the lovely East Arncliffe Wood. Once you reach the Delves, it’s on another quiet road with some great views until you reach The Horseshoe Hotel (a lovely pub for a stop). From there you cross the River Esk on stepping stones as long as the river isn’t in flood!) and you are soon back at the car! You can view the interactive OS map route on the button above.

PHOTOS FROM THE WALK:

Here’s some photos to give you a flavour of what to expect on this excellent short walk.

This walk starts at the free car park right next to St Heddas RC Church – a rarity in this day & age!

St Hedda’s Church is a Catholic parish church in Egton Bridge. A Catholic chapel was in existence in Egton Bridge by 1743, and it was replaced by a church in 1790. In 1867, it was replaced by the current, larger, church, while the old church was converted into St Hedda’s Catholic Primary School. You pass the church before immediatly swinging right to walk along Broom House Lane which tracks the River Esk. 

You can detour off Broom House Lane for a short section and walk on the footpath right next to the River Esk for a few mins.

Continue on Broom House Lane up the bank and under the railway bridge

Just after you pass Broom House Farm look out for this footpath into the woods on your left. 

You’ll then walk through this small field and keep left and an eye out for the path to the little foot bridge.

Cross the bridge on the left and continue to follow the path. The phone map app comes in handy on these sections and needs referring back to to ensure you are on the right route.

Head up into this little woodland for a short while

We now follow the path towards Limber Hill Farm and the highest point on this walk (note the footpath takes a left just beofre you get to the farm gates).

After Limber Hill Farm we are back on a quiet road for 200m or so – look out for this stile (or you can just keep on the road) both routes take you down to Beggars Bridge

I like to stay off road where possible so we descend through another little woodland

We come to the half way point of the walk at Beggars Bridge – an old pack horse bridge from the 17th century of local legend.

Beggar’s Bridge was built in 1619 by a wealthy merchant named Thomas Ferris. According to legend, Ferris was born in nearby Egton, the son of a poor farmer. As a young man, Ferris fell in love with Agnes Richardson, the daughter of a prosperous squire who lived in Glaisdale, across the River Esk. When Ferris asked permission to marry Agnes, the squire refused, dismissing Ferris as a beggar.

Tom Ferris decided to go away to sea to make his fortune. He wanted to say goodbye to Agnes before he left, but a flood made the river impossible to cross. He left Britain for the Caribbean, where he made his fortune. On his return to Yorkshire he married Agnes before becoming the Sheriff of Hull in 1614 and Mayor in 1620.

Between those two dates in 1619 Ferris built a bridge across the River Esk so that no future lovers would ever be parted as he and his love had been.

Nice story eh! Always good to know a bit of history about landmarks on your walk. Beggars Bridge is well known locally and songs have even been written about it!

A nice little sign tells you about the local legend of Beggars Bridge

Just after Beggars Bridge as you enter Glaisdale – you have two options as the top of the short steps pictured – swing a right to have a short 200m detour to Carr End to visit the Arncliffe Arms for a drink – or swing a left to head back to Egton Bridge via East Arncliffe Wood. If you only stop at one pub – I’d recommend the Horseshoe Arms at the end.

On this walk we decid to check out the traditional yorkshire pub at the Arncliffe Arms. It was worth a stop for a quick drink! After here – just retrace your steps to the top of those steps where you swung a right and then just continue straight ahead on the Esk Valley Way

The Esk Valley Way is a clearly marked path along the River Esk and is part of the C2C route and takes you through the really nice and quiet East Arncliffe Wood

This shot taken by my drone shows the scale of the woodland around this section of the River Esk and the path through East Arncliffe Wood is one of the nicest woodland walks in this area of Yorkshire 

I really enjoyed the peace and quiet of this section of the walk through East Arncliffe Wood.

You gain a little bit of height in East Arncliffe Wood and the get the odd viewpoint

Once out of East Arncliffe Wood you follow the quiet minor road downhill called Delves Lane

After 10 mins or so Delves Lane leads you to the Horseshoe Hotel – a lovely pub with a good beer garden and well worth a stop as you are nearly at the end of the walk! This is our first visit to this place and we’ll definitely be back – you can even park your camper overnight for free in the car park if you eat in the Horseshoe Hotel

Feeling peckish we decide to eat and the food at the Horseshoe Hotel looks really nice. We opt for a light lunch and I get an egg sandwhcih with the eggs fresh from their coup!

There’s even a farm shop at the Horseshoe Hotel with pastries and meats an drinks! the chickens even roam around they are definitely free range!

Once your done at the Horseshoe Hotel keep to the road and look for the immediate left it’s not far at all.

One of the best sections of the walk is left for the end just after the Horsehoe Arms and be sure to look for the footpath sign or you could miss it!

If the River Esk isn’t in flood then the stepping stones are a fun end to the walk and relatively easy to cross – as long as you haven’t over indulged on the beers at the pubs

It’s really picturesque around here – reminds me a little of one of Monet’s paintings – just needs the water lillies!

Another set of stepping stones to navigate! Makes the walk a good one for the kids too

The walk comes to a close as we get back on Broom House Lane where we started the walk – keep an eye out for the giant Redwood Trees around here, native to North America but planted here many years ago!

 

I hope you enjoyed that little write up! The area around Egton Bridge is one of my favourites in the whole of North Yorkshire and is relatively unknown, off the beaten track and well worth an explore! If you do visit the area – be sure to check out the Lone Tree on Egton Moor when the heather is in full bloom in Aug-Sept – it’s a photographers dream!

BLOG POST BY STUART HODGSON

THE HIKING PHOTOGRAPHER

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