History road over the North York Moors with many tales to tell - Julian Norton

Traffic along the Drovers’ Road apparently reached its peak in the 17th Century. Galloway cattle from Scotland (I don’t know their route prior to my local bit) were heading to York, Malton and then London. Of course, they could cover just a limited distance each day and would require rest and grazing at intervals, as well as washing. There is an area near Osmotherley known locally as “Sheepwash” where, you guessed it, travellers used to wash their sheep on the way to market. The beck has a natural ford there which lent itself to cleaning the sheep before arrival at market a few days later. Another place where drovers would have stopped and rested is around Limekiln House. There is a commemorative plaque where an inn later existed, right above the now sleepy village of Kepwick. The inn was in a wild place and provided welcome sustenance to the workers from the local mines. Neither the inn nor the mines exist now and just a small collection of stones and the memorial mark the inn’s existence, which is a big shame. I think I’d have been a regular, but one of just a very small number. Around the time of this inn, in the late 19th Century, there were sandstone and limestone quarries, as well as kilns. There was even a railway (the remnants are just about identifiable now) which ran from the quarries above Kepwick to Yarm and Thirsk. Initially, this was a horse-drawn tramway which went as far as Leake. The oolite limestone found around the drovers’ road here was considered the best in Yorkshire and was used to improve acidic soil.

Now, as walkers and outdoor enthusiasts enjoy the hills and tracks for leisure, it’s fascinating to consider that this was once a place of gruelling work, both mining and moving livestock. Times change but there are constants in abundance. Everyone- from prehistory, through the limestone era to now, will have marvelled at the views, gazed in wonderment at the orange and red of the setting sun over the Dales to the west and heard the calls of the lapwings and curlew. And there is still chance for rest and recuperation along the route of this ancient byway. Not at Limekiln House nowadays but at High Paradise Farm, where I have fond veterinary memories to accompany their fantastic food and hospitality.