For some reason Osmotherly to Kilburn appeared on the programme for tbis year which is rather odd because Osmotherly is quite some way north of Kilburn. On the other occasions we have visited Kilburn, the village of Osmotherly has not been one of the starting points for a route. However we do pass it on the way south to the first of the drop-offs.
Kilburn is a village at the extreme southern end of the North York Moors and is known for the White Horse figure cut in the hillside overlooking the village. Kilburn was also home to Robert Thompson the furniture maker who was known as the Mouseman because of the small mice he would carve into his furniture.
There are three walks planned and all three walks are going to come into the village from the north, passing the White Horse on the way. Although they all pass the White Horse the routes themselves are quite varied in their approach to the destination. All three routes have some sort of climb to get on the Cleveland Way
The first drop-off is the 10.5-mile route which starts in Thirsk and while it is the most northerly of the routes it heads west towards Felixkirk and then towards the Cleveland Way before heading south to the finish.
Second to start is the 9 mile route that comes from the south and passes through Sutton-under-Whitestonecliffe before turning west towards the Cleveland Way.
The last route is the 10-mile route which is heading east to Bylands Abbey and then north-west towards Mount Sneever Observatory which unfortunately is now disused. Continuing north-west the route passes the Chapel at Scotch Corner and continues to the A170 road which is close to the top of Sutton Bank. The route then turns south on the Cleveland Way.
The image for this post was used when we last visited Kilburn in 2018 but the image was taken in 2015 on a previous visit. The person in front coming down the steps from the White Horse is John Lohoar who was a member of the club for many years. Sadly John died recently and his funeral was earlier this month.
So with three routes, all coming from different directions and all three heading towards the White Horse there must be one route that you would just like to do. So if you would like to come and walk with us you can get in touch from our Contact Page, you can also download the walk descriptions here and the GPS routes here.