Highfield, Bubwith to Ellerton
A good place to start is the car park al the old Highfield Station. on the old Selby to Market Weighton railway line. now a bridle path. lt’s good for me because I live opposite, but if you live further away it is a convenient place to leave your car.
There is a bottle bank at the car park, and it is found a few hundred yards south of the crossroads between the A163 and the B1228, at Highfield Garage. towards the eastern edge of Bubwilh. Walk north on the B1228, up to the crossroads, and go straight on. past the garage on your right. Although a small B Road, the road is quite busy all times, but there is only about half a mile before you can turn off into the fields, and for most of it you can walk on the verge or a footpath anyway. Just short of the Oaks Golf course, at Birk Lane Bridge over a land drain, turn to the right at a public footpath sign and follow the field edge to the East along the boundary of the golf course. There is often a fine crop of golf balls along this stretch of the path. and I usually spend several minutes picking them up and tossing them back onto the golf course. In spite of the number of balls. and the number of golfers you can see on the course, l have never been present when a ball has left the course, so it perhaps is not as dangerous as you might guess.
At the other side of the field, the path turns to the Left around the corner of the course, then goes a little further to the East along the drain, which we have rejoined, to a bridge which takes you into a small copse. In the summer, the nettles here are often chest high, but it is not difficult to negotiate so long as you are not wearing short sleeves or shorts! Through the copse, now heading North, go through a style into a field of rough grass. Sometimes there are sheep or horses in this field, but mostly it’s just a wilderness of long grass and wildflowers. The path continues northwards through a couple more fields, following the eastern edge of the golf course, with brambles and sloes along the fence in the appropriate season. There are stiles and another small bridge along the way. Eventually, almost at the northern limit of the golf course, the path turns east again, along the edge of a small wood. If you don’t mind scrambling over the barbed wire fence, it is possible to divert through the wood, but l believe there isn’t any right of way for this. However, I did find myself obliged to do this one winter. when a number of horses in this field had churned the official path into a reasonable semblance of the Somme battlefield.
At the far comer of the field, there is a gate and a stile into Long Lane. Crossing the lane, with a slight dog-leg to the left, pick up the path again, going north-east at first, then north. The fields this side are rather better quality grazing, and are often used for livestock from Rosewood Farm, reached about four fields further on at Aughton Ruddings. This is a small farm, raising mostly beef cattle, which they sell through their website (easily found – if you are interested) and they aim to be nature-friendly, using no pesticides or artificial fertilizers, and feeding the cattle only on their own grass and hay. I often stop for a friendly chat with them if I encounter them on the way through. There is other livestock on the farm. usually geese and hens, the occasional pig and sometimes sheep. In the winter the farmyard can get pretty muddy, so good boots are definitely recommended, although there is a firm surface under the layer of mud, so you don’t sink too deep.
Outside the farm gate turn left onto Ruddings lane which leads out via Short Acre Lane to the B1228 again. Turning north there is another short stretch on this busy road, before turning off to the left on the (unclassified) road which leads down to Ellerton. Recently there have been llamas in the field opposite the turnoff.
Another mile and you reach the village pond, then the Boot and Shoe Inn. For those who don’t already know it, this is a hidden gem of a country pub: low beamed ceilings, a roaring log fire, and several real ales, some brewed specifically for them alone. The pub is hundreds of years old, a single storey, with a more modern bungalow built on at the rear, and a massive oak tree growing out of the middle.
On Saturday afternoons, the pub doesn’t open until four o’clock. but there is a small friendly group, composed of some locals, some from a little further away, shooting parties in the season, and even some from as far away as York or Market Weighton, who fancied a change, or stumbled on it while having a drive in the country.
After an hour or so, and suitable refreshment, I tear myself away for the return trip. For the sake of interest and variety, I always take a different route for the return, starting by turning to the west from the pub, further into the village. About twenty yards down the road, you come to a public footpath sign which sends you south through a narrow alley between high hedges. There are houses and their gardens to either side, but once past those you’re back into fields. The path leads to Aughton, and many of these fields are used for growing turf for the Rolawn company based in Elvington. Closer to Aughton, other crops such as potato, grain, or sweetcorn may be grown. This section is popular with dog walkers from Aughton, and I often pause to chat with some of them. At the village, turn left onto the road, which leads back towards the B1228. However, just out of the village, the road crosses a bridge over a wide drain, and just beyond that, another footpath sign points south down a track. With a few turns in the track. this brings you eventually to the drain encountered at the edge of the golf course, but nearer to the River Derwent. A little concrete slab bridge crosses the drain and the path continues, coming out at Intake Lane in Bubwith.
In the flooding season, this bridge can be a serious problem: not only does the bridge often disappear under up to a foot of water, but there are no sides to it, so it can be difficult to see where exactly the bridge is, and you certainly don’t want to walk off the edge of it! Moreover, the path leading to the bridge crosses an area of the bank which is below the level of the bridge, so it can be too deep to walk through, even if the bridge would have been all right. In this case, it is possible to get to the bridge by negotiating a bank which at one time may have been the path itself but is now so overgrown that it’s a bit like walking through the middle of a hedge.
However, I have many times used this route without inflicting too great a degree of damage to clothing or person.
What makes the crossing even more exciting is that flooding tends to occur in Winter. and since I got to the pub at four o’clock, when it was already nearly getting dark, it is invariably dark for the return journey. I know the route well, so with the moon and the stars, I have no trouble finding my way, but negotiating a flooded bridge in the dark can be a little tricky, especially if there is no moon or it is overcast. In these circumstances, I sometimes take the path to Aughton, then follow the road all the way back of to the B1228. It is a shame when I feel the need to do this, as the final stretch back down the B road to Highfield is a little tiresome, especially because of the number of cars on the road, which I then meet in the dark. Still, it is always possible to step off the road onto the verge along that part of the road, even if the grass is a little rough for comfortable walking: the main problem is that the headlights destroy my night vision, and it takes a while before I can see properly again after they have passed.
At the point, where the path mets Intake Lane, there are several choices of route. Straight ahead down Intake Lane leads to the Bubwith Main Street. Turning left down Main Street leads past the village shop (good for ice creams or drinks in summer) and on to highfield road, and the crossroads at the garage. Alternatively, you can turn off to the right to the village Sports and Social club (signposted “Leisure Centre”) and walk across the sports ground to the far end, where a steel bridge over a drain leads out into fields. A path to the left leads to the old railway line, which takes you east to the car park at Highfield Station.
Or you can turn right from Intake Lane and take Main Street to the west, then turn onto Church Street or Staithe Street, down to the village Church. Across the churchyard, a path leads out to the river bank, and this gives another choice of paths to the railway line. The railway line and the river bank are naturally popular with dog walkers from the village, and you often meet them on this stretch. Taking the river bank all the way to the railway line is the longest route (the other paths here cut different corners off), but is a pleasant walk nonetheless. The bridle path on the railway line starts at the river (because the old bridge is gone) and Leads through a wood (a nature reserve) to Budwith Station, then on up the line to Highfield Station. Note that when the line was open, Bubwith had two stations, only about a mile apart.
