Parking in the sunshine at the top of Sancton Hill, the wind turbines were turning merrily in a stiff breeze and the first mile or so of the walk was back along the road. In fact, there was quite a lot of road walking today, but the views are magnificent.
Then came a long section through fields of oilseed rape and wheat before arriving at Goodmanham, where the little Norman church stands on the site of an early heathen temple destroyed in AD 626 by Edwin, the Saxon King of Northumbria when he converted to Christianity. Just opposite the church is an impressive stone house with an unusual bay window on the first floor.
The landscape is dominated by farming - largely arable farming, but also sheep in large numbers and a few cattle. So more wheat, more barley and more wonderful views, this time of the Vale of York, featuring Drax power station (visible for the last three days) and Eggborough power station to the right and even (just) Ferrybridge further to the right (not in the photo below).
The Londesborough estate may be a shadow of its former glory, but is impressive even so. The approach through parkland and past two small lakes doesn't prepare you for the entire village that follows, all part of the estate which is still privately owned.
And so to more views of the Vale of York before we rached the end of today's walk at Nunburnholme, a tiny village with one great claim to fame. The rector for 40 years from 1854 was the Victorian ornithologist Francis Orpen Morris. During this time he published his six-volme A History of British Birds which changed Victorian attitudes to wildlife and birds in particular, leading to the establishment of the RSPB.
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