East
Yorkshire and Yorkshire Wolds Walks
East Yorkshire was formerly known as the East
Riding of Yorkshire, the old name for one of the three parts of Yorkshire
with the West Riding and North Riding being the others. “Riding” is an
old Viking word meaning a third. “Ridings” were officially abolished by
local authority reorganisation in 1974 but the term seems to have stuck more
to the East Yorkshire than to North and West Yorkshire.
A large part of East Yorkshire is the
Yorkshire Wolds, a serene plateau landscape of low chalk hills intersected
by quite perfect valleys or dales, which look as though they were created by
an artist, but which in fact owe their origin to glaciers.
The hills which comprise this plateau curve
from the River Humber to the cliffs between Bridlington and Scarborough. The
brilliant white of the chalk is clear to all at these cliffs in the
Flamborough Head area.
The chalky nature of the terrain makes for
much drier than normal ground so East Yorkshire is worth a visit for walks when
other areas may be waterlogged. Even the dales have no water flowing through
them so are relatively dry in the bottoms. The shortage of water has led to conflict
between communities in the past.
The Wolds Way is one of the National Trails
stretching 79 miles from the official start at Hessle Haven to Filey Brigg.
It is a well marked trail with the acorn sign of National Trails prevalent.
The area is dotted with ancient earthworks,
though you sometimes have to look closely to find them.
Most roads are quiet and actually lead to
very pleasurable driving harking back to conditions decades ago, which in
other areas are just a memory. Villages are also quiet, many are picturesque and
many have very nice pubs, although the quiet nature of the area means opening
times can be variable.
Walking in the Wolds is a joy. Very peaceful and
you could walk for miles and see no-one.
Yorkshire
Wolds Reading List
If
you need to buy any hiking equipment/clothing before your trip see the Hiking
Store
All information on this
site is given in good faith and no liability is accepted in respect of any
damage, loss or injury which might result from acting on it.
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