Walk details

(Wheelchair and Pushchair Accessible)

Takes a leisurely 1½ to 2 hours to complete!

The walk starts at the car park on Coach Road near the centre of Sleights. Before this area became a car park, it was a field with a whalebone arch over the gate. From here, there are lovely views up the Esk Valley and, looking South West, on the horizon it is possible to make out the shape of Sleights beacon near a group of trees. In the past, beacons were used to transmit warnings of danger, but are now used to celebrate notable events.

We cross Coach Road via the traffic light controlled crossing and make our way uphill, passing Gibson's Handmade Kitchens, Radford's Butchers and the Spar Shop and Post Office. Gibson's was previously a cafe and before that the village post office. A narrow footpath leads off to the left, joining up with Selstone Crescent, but we  continue up Coach Road, passing The Old Vicarage (no 115) built in 1765. This fine old house was once thought to be haunted by a servant girl who committed suicide there. On the right of the road, we pass the entrance to NH Lloyd Fencing Contractor then on the left, Midge Hall (no 125). 1819 is the date on the front of the building, but that was not the date of the original structure. Midge Hall was at one time the Red Lion Inn. For a time after the pub closed, the building became a post office.

In days gone by, horses used to haul stone down Coach Road from local quarries on a type of sledge down the road to the railway, where it was taken to Whitby for transportation around the world.

Shortly, we pass the end of Ingham Close where Sleights Church of England Primary School is located. Adjacent to the main road is the Old Surgery. Nearby is an old stone post which is inscribed on one side with 'Ugglebarnby' and with 'Sleights' on the other. This was the boundary when Sleights and Ugglebarnby were two separate  parishes. Next to it is the old turnip mashing trough from Foss Farm. The inscription FHP stands for Francis Henry Pierson who gave the trough to the village. Note also the sundial and the stylish Diamond Jubilee seat. (Further along Ingham Close, a path leads to Ingham Close Play Park, a great addition to village life).

Continuing up Coach Road, on the left we pass the Old Village Pump, which provided water for surrounding   houses. The village pump was installed in 1859, and last used in 1930 when the Great Flood washed away the  water mains. In olden days, a set of stocks stood here. Immediately above the pump stands a milestone from the time of the old North Riding of Yorkshire and Whitby Rural Council. Two more striking buildings are passed, Sleights Hall on the left (now apartments) and Field House (no 140) on the right. Sleights Hall was once the home of the Donkins from Rugby who also owned Hall Farm. It is said that Lewis Caroll visited Sleights Hall which was built in 1762, though a top floor was added in 1893 and the house then became a prep school for Repton. The oldest part of Field House was built in 1632 with the rest of the house being built in the early 1700s.Two businesses are reached shortly, on the right Eskdale Antiques and on the left Eskdale Fisheries. The First & Second World War Memorial stands proudly on the corner.

Not on our route, up the main road, can be found the Eskdaleside junction on the right hand side. A short  distance along here is the English Martyrs Catholic Church and the village toilets, with two benches. The old National School (now a dwelling called Inkwells) was erected in 1834 next to the junction. It had just one room,  divided by curtains. Teaching in such close proximity was difficult for staff and children and in 1885 the school was enlarged with the addition of another room. The school was in a dangerous spot as the steepness of Blue Bank caused vehicles to run out of control. In one such event, a lorry crashed into the schoolyard resulting in a new school being built on Ingham Close in 1968.

There are two benches, one each side of the road between the church and Church House. A little further up the main road, is the Plough Inn.

Our route goes left onto Iburndale Lane at the Church of St John the Evangelist and its cemetery. The church was built in 1895 at a cost of £3,350. Ian Carmichael, the actor, married a Sleights girl, Pym Maclean, here. Running alongside the churchyard next to the main road is a strip of land that is said to be a felons' graveyard for those who were denied Christian burial because of their sins and deeds. Built into the wall near the bench here is an old sundial which came from the old Georgian church of St John, which stood on the site of the    present church.  Across the road is Church House (no 172), belonging to St John's Church. Well Cottage, which was adjacent to Church House was lived in by a witch by the name of Meg Collet. She was ducked and drowned in Iburndale Beck in 1719.

On Iburndale Lane, just past the Fisheries, is a cottage  (no. 1) that was another Old Post Office. A little further along on the right is Churchfield Surgery followed by our first chance on the route proper to sit on a parish bench and take in the distant view of Whitby Abbey. Continuing downhill towards Iburndale, we pass the drive to the Ailsa Nicholson Glass & Ceramic Gallery (no. 24), which is open when an advertising board is displayed at the end of the drive. Iburndale Lane passes through Iburndale where Zetland House stands. It was owned by the Nightingale family for many years and it is said that Florence Nightingale spent many holidays there. The name of the road changes to The Cliff and reaches Ugglebarnby which is recorded in the Domesday book of 1086 as Uglebardsby. The first house on the left coming from Iburndale was called the Doss House where night shelter was given to poor old farm labourers. They were also fed and given 4d a day to work.

(For anyone with ample energy and nimble feet, there is an option to go to the bottom of Iburndale Lane and turn left along the track before the bridge and follow the beck to rejoin the walk at the end of Whin Green, near the bottom of Lowdale Lane). However, for the main wheelchair-friendly route we turn left on Birch Avenue. This used to be a gated road and right up until the 1960s, it had a rough uneven surface. We follow Birch      Avenue to its end and turn right down Lowdale Lane and soon come to another parish bench.  We go straight on past the end of Whin Green (a footpath sign here points the way to walks along Iburndale Beck or across the footbridge to Lowdale Hall and up Battle Banks to Ugglebarnby).

At the bottom of the hill, we note that Sleights Bowling Club is located at the far end of Beck Holme. This was also the location of Sleights Amusements, comprising a swimming pool, tennis courts as well as the amusement arcade. We have two choices here: we could go straight on over the footbridge, along the right-hand side of Sleights Sports Field - (lots of seats if you need a rest) - to the small gate, which would bring us out onto a lane that we would follow round the back of the pavilion, ending at a stone road bridge. The alternative, more wheelchair accessible route, takes us left along the road by the beck, to arrive at the stone road bridge.

The route continues to Sleights Railway Station, where we need to cross the tracks carefully and climb large,    shallow steps to pass the old signal box, which will be fully renovated shortly.  These steps may prove difficult in a wheelchair. The alternative route is to cross the railway and River Esk via a short section of A169. To do this, go past the station along the road past the Salmon Leap and follow this road as it bends right to the junction with the main road. Turn right across the bridge, turning right again to Briggswath.

If steps are no problem, cross the railway, originally built as a horse-drawn tramway in 1836, and then cross the River Esk via the metal footbridge, which is located on the site of the old road bridge. When the water level is low, the original ford crossing can still be seen below the bridge. Turn right along Briggswath. The striking house opposite was erected as the lodge gatehouse to the Woodlands estate. The drive to Woodlands started here where the old main road was before the new road was opened in 1937. This was also the site of the Sleights Bridge Ironstone Mine, which operated between 1856 and 1859 producing a modest 11,000 tons of ore.  A little further along, across the road, we see the start of Featherbed Lane, one of the oldest highways in England, which would lead us to Aislaby and close to there next to a postbox set into the wall, look out for a plaque describing the history of Briggswath.

Brook Cottage (Brook Park was named after it) was at one time known as Pickernell's Folly, built by Francis Pickernell, a Whitby engineer, who designed the Whitby swing bridge which preceded the one now in use. He had previously rebuilt the Whitby piers and designed and built the lighthouse at the end of West Pier. The cottage was so nicknamed because the house was designed with lots of doorways to allow Pickernell's ponies a clear run through the house in bad weather!

Briggswath & Sleights Methodist Church is passed on the left and Briggswath changes to The Carrs. We pass Perry's Plants Garden Centre and Riverside Cafe then turn left between the houses numbered 9 and 11 to  follow a path, then turn right, go across the entrance to a cul de sac then turn right along a drive which will lead to Linden Close Wildlife Area (see the information board on the left of the path just after a wooden ramp up to the pond). Look out for the small children's playground with wooden railings located just outside the Wildlife   Area. Just  beyond the play area, we reach the end of a cul de sac. Follow the path leading from here and turn right  back onto the Carrs, passing Perry's again.

Soon, we reach The Old School House (no 9), formerly the Toll House circa 1759, Tannery House (no 5) and The Olde Ford Cottage (no 1). Very near here, stood a Toll Bar built in 1763, one of three toll bars built on the first turnpike road constructed in the district. This road ran from Whitby along the Carrs, through Sleights to within two miles of Saltergate.

If the thought of walking back up to the start of the trail is too daunting, there is an option to catch a 95 bus, either here on the opposite side of the road to the bus shelter, or at the stop on the main road, mentioned in the next paragraph.

 

We now have a choice of direction. Either recross the footbridge and railway tracks to turn right heading past the Salmon Leap (previously called The Station Hotel), or continue towards the main road, turning left over the            road-bridge. Note the large plaque on the left. It commemorates the opening of the new bridge in 1937 which     replaced the one further downriver that was washed away by floods in 1930. There is a seat overlooking this     junction and one just over the bridge near the bus stop above the Salmon Leap. Below this, on the grass next to the public car park, is a hornbeam tree, planted to celebrate the Queen's Diamond Jubilee in 2012.

Of note is the First World War Memorial Bench on the Daffodil Green. Daffodil Bank, as it was then known, was planted with daffodils by members of the Women's Institute. Half way up the green there is a mountain ash tree, planted to commemorate the presentation to Eric Preston of the title of Honorary Freeman of the Parish, 2nd  October 2020. Walk either side of the green and cross The Avenue. Continue uphill passing the Village Hall, formerly known as the Institute, which was built in about 1910 at a cost of £650. During the First World War, it was used as a hospital, firstly for British soldiers, then for injured Belgians. Outside it, there is a bench to mark the coronation of Queen Elizabeth ll in 1953.  Across the road is an old watering trough called Coblers Dish.

On the right is the drive leading down to Esk Hall, now a nursing home. A story of Esk Hall is told that a witch's curse was put on it relating to use of the gate or drive. After four members of the family had died, the gates were permanently closed and the drive allowed to grass over. A new drive was built through an avenue of trees.

On the left is Carr View Hall, now apartments but formerly a private dwelling before conversion to a nursing home. A little further uphill is a branch of Botham's Bakery, a business established in 1865. Next, we find  Capello Hair & Beauty and Simon Gibson Chartered Accountants both located in what were the coach house and stables of Carr View Hall (note the horseshoes above). In the past, a cobbler ran a business there and there was an antique shop and more recently a tea room.

We return to the car park and our last chance to sit on a village bench.

Map Photographs courtesy of Cllrs M Gregory and L Jones, 2021

Bibliography

The following publications were invaluable during the research for this trail:

Sleights – Eskdaleside-cum-Ugglebarnby – Facts and Legends, Myfanwy A Stephenson, 1976

Aspects of Sleights, Alan Whitworth, 2000

Ruswarp & Sleights Through Time – Alan Whitworth, 2011

The Sleights Village Trail has kindly been funded by the European Union Regional Development Fund via   Scarborough Borough Council

Every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information in this Village Trail.   However, Eskdaleside cum        Ugglebarnby Parish Council cannot accept any liability whatsoever for any errors or matters in any way connected or     arising out of use of this information.