Villagers who designed their own walking trail linking five historic churches in the North York Moors have been inspired to have the route permanently signposted and plan to expand it to cover Helmsley as well.
George Gyte from Upper Ryedale Parish said: “We are thinking of calling the two routes together the Helmsley Pilgrim Trail. It goes in a wide loop all around Helmsley which would be the start and finishing point. It should make an interesting and beautiful weekend of walking and admiring some stunning historic churches for visitors to Helmsley.”
St Michael’s at Cold Kirby is one of the newest of the five, having been built in 1841. It stands close to an old drovers’ road that William the Conqueror’s army used before it became a main route for Scottish cattle traders driving their stock to market in Malton. The area was also home to an 18th-century racecourse called ‘the Newmarket of the north’.