-
Bilsdale Fell Race
I am pleased to announce that there will be a new AL race on the North York Moors next year. The inaugural Bilsdale Fell Race will be on Sunday 17th March 2019. More details available on the Esk Valley Fell Club website shortly. Brief summary as follows:
23km with 1300m of climbing. Registration at Chop Gate Village Hall.
Start: 562 003 – Road bridge over Bilsdale Beck east of B1257 (1km walk from Chop Gate car park)
CP1: 594 016 – Round Hill trig column
CP2: 567 032 – Disused quarry on south of White Hill (B1257 road crossing marshalled)
CP3: 551 035 – Northern summit of Cold Moor (cut off time here of 90mins and runners not making this directed back to Chop Gate south along Cold Moor ridge)
CP4: 542 038 – SE fence corner of Kirkby scout hut
CP5: 535 034 – Falconer Seat on Cleveland way
CP6: 526 036 – Stream on Busby Moor
CP7: 517 027 – Path junction below Carlton Trig
CP8: 528 010 – Gate on public right of way
CP9: 518 000 – Scugdale Hall
CP10: 543 984 – Cock Howe cairn
Finish: 559 993 – Chop Gate car park
-
Nice.
One query: should "CP2: 567 032 – Disused quarry on north of White Hill" actually be more like 567 037? The given GR leads me to the edge of the open access land next to hasty bank farm.
Now I'm back on the edge of the moors I'll have a trot round maybe next weekend. Race day will probably be a no as I'll be in road-running mode at that point.
Will try to get out for a Tuesday run next week with EV as well.
-
Thanks Nic.
Just checked and the grid ref is about right (maybe 5675 0325 to be more precise) but the description should say south side not north. I've updated the description. There is a trod that leads round to the quarry from the Cleveland Way above Hasty Bank Farm. The CP is just above the 350m contour.
After your trot round please do let me know of any more errors/queries so I can hopefully sort them out before race day. Will be good to see you next week at Pinchinthorpe if you can make it.
-
Race map and route description are now on the Esk Valley web-site.
Map: http://www.eskvalleyfellclub.org/rac...Race%20Map.pdf
Description: http://www.eskvalleyfellclub.org/rac...escription.pdf
Any queries/errors please let me know.
-
Had a wander round this at the weekend, really good route Quinny - a great addition to Moors races. Tough middle section. Not sure if you are prepared to give any tips, but coming down from Falconer Seat to CP6 (stream on Busby Moor), would you say it is better to follow a path left, then it drops down to a path which leads to the stream? A bit of a longer way, but direct down that heather slope looks rough! I couldn't find a direct trod.
-
Cheers Tim. Glad you enjoyed the route.
As for the descent from the Falconer Seat you're right that there is no direct trod below the contour path. When I recced the route I quite liked going down a gully which was pretty direct but it was rough! I think the path you've mentioned takes quite a detour and the bracken should have died off by March so a direct route won't be quite as bad. There might be better options but I'm hoping that will create a bit of discussion :-)
-
Looking forward to throwing myself down the hill then! One more that I meant to mention, coming back up to Carlton Trig from CP7, there is a pretty obvious path which winds up there, but near the top of the hill goes through a big gap in the fence next to a sign saying no right of way...the map suggests you go through the fence at the bottom of the slope to get the CP7, then take a sharp left and up (but I couldn't find a track up at the bottom). At the top of the hill it looked like a feint track did head down there to the bottom.
-
That sign is the main reason we're not using that path up to the trig. Not sure why the sign is there as the land is Open Access anyway and it's a shame as it's a really nice ascent. The other reason is that there is a much steeper path further round the hill :)
The map is right in that you go through the fence at the bottom on the contour track. I think the map is about right where it shows the left turn uphill. The turn is possibly a bit further round than the map suggests. The path is really clear and joins up with a downhill mountain bike track at the same junction which heads off into the trees towards Carlton. You probably didn't go far enough round on the contour path if you couldn't find it.
Hope this helps. Any more queries please ask.
-
Thanks...maybe not for the extra climb though. I carried on that path for a bit but obviously not far enough. Am enjoying getting off the main paths round there and onto some different areas.
-
If you're free on a Tuesday (or Wednesday) evening and want to explore some new paths you should join us on one of our training runs:
http://www.eskvalleyfellclub.org/tra...acing_news.pdf