Brompton Circular

Five and a third miles of field paths around Brompton and Water End, about two hours, with sixteen stiles and eleven gates - a great deal of climbing for a dog and a reason to leave a stiff old hound at home. Start at the crossroads in the middle of Brompton; the Darlington bus stops at the church and the Stokesley bus at Water End, and there are pubs at both. Brompton Beck runs beside the first stretch for a drink, the fields are grazed and worked throughout, and the narrow concrete ford is genuinely slippery in wet or icy weather.