Ready, steady, GO!

Nov 4

4 min read

Running the St Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail October 27th and 28th 2024.

Jamie and Jill from Wimbledon have just run the Trail in 2 days - here's how they did it.

Stage 1

We’ve just got to East Moors – St Mary Magdalene- and got our first stamp in the Guidebook. Lovely sunshine, bright blue skies all the way, amazing autumn colours. We ran through some pleasant valleys. Only a few parts underfoot were muddy. Only missed the route a couple of times but no arguments charted so far! It's 10 o’ clock and we’re about to depart on to Stage 2 for St John’s in Bilsdale.

Stage 2

Really great stage, especially for runners. There’s a bit of a punchy hill at the start but once you’re up that there’s a beautiful view across the moors. Very easy path to follow. There’s a steep descent at the end which you might need to walk. It can be a bit lumpy and bumpy in parts! Otherwise an easy stage apart from the hill at the beginning and a nice downhill finish to St John’s, Bilsdale. It’s a very different church to St Mary Magdalene, much bigger and grander, although its apparently built by the same person. Very pretty church set at the bottom of the hill in a small wood.

Stage 3

A lovely walk up the hill - it’s a bit tough to start with but then the views from the top of the moor are stunning, wide open spaces and good tracks. We were very pleased we didn’t have to walk over Hawnby Hill, we walked round it. All Saints, Hawnby is a very pretty church, probably the nicest so far. Beautiful stained-glass windows and set in a wood by the river. Our daughter loved bringing us lunch!

Stage 4

We had a delightful walk/run on Stage 4. We left Hawnby over the River Rye on Dallicar Bridge and headed back towards Old Byland. There were some pretty steep hills in the valley which tested us! We walked the first half of the stage and then had a lovely jog down into Caydale and up into Old Byland and ended the day with a very well-deserved beer to celebrate the end of our first day - 22 miles!

Stage 5

So here we are at the end of Stage 5. We had a lovely day yesterday and then it rained all night. But the sun is shining this morning and we arrived at Scawton under a rainbow. The stage itself was a bit muddy and slippery in places so we half ran/ half walked it. The highlight was running over Farmer Brian’s fields. We dipped down into Callister Wood and across stepping stones in a conservation area and through a wood up to the village of Scawton with a really pretty well kept little church. We’ve got our stamp and we’re on to Stage 6.

Stage 6

So we left Scawton through fields and game crops and headed to Cold Kirby. Great stage and good to have a short one. Some ups and downs through wooded valleys. Some scrambling up a bank towards the end. We would recommend that for the last hill up to Cold Kirby you take the slightly longer alternative route in the Guidebook to avoid the scramble up a muddy hill behind the signpost in Flassen Dale. Very attractive church at Cold Kirby - St Michael’s. It looks out over a beautiful valley where the sunshine picked out the autumn colours. The church is closed but you get your stamp for the Guidebook in the porch.

Stage 7

Really good stage to stretch the legs. Good downhill jog from Cold Kirby along the Cleveland Way, past the stepping stones again and beside fishing lakes. Then you get to do a beautiful woodland walk around Ashberry Hill and into Rievaulx. A really nice stage. St Mary the Virgin church in Rievaulx is very commanding.

Stage 8

We’ve finished Stage 7, just one more stage to go. This is a great one for runners. We had really low energy during the first part of the stage, coming up through the old deer park. It was a relatively steep hill but with good views at the top. We then emerged from the wood which runs parallel to the A170 and met our brilliant support crew who gave us some well needed food and drink, which really perked us up. Then the second half of the stage was fantastic- a good run across the top of the hill along the road, again with great views. Then you emerge from a wood and you get amazing views towards Sproxton and a really pleasant downhill jog top stretch the legs. Again a lovely little church at the end - the curved ceiling

with painted stripes reminded us of the first two churches! One more stage to go….

Stage 9

So we finally tackled the last stage! It was a lovely gentle descent from Sproxton. Far reaching views over the Rye valley and then we had a flat section onto Helmsley - a little bit muddy and a few fields to navigate and then into the metropolis of Helmsley to All Saints church. We loved the display by Trudy, the artist, rested in the St Aelred Chapel and then we loved the pint and chips in The Feathers!