Egton Bridge, the toll road and Grosmont

Mortuary Chapel and Beggar's Bridge from Egton Bridge

Six and a quarter miles with 210 metres of ascent and around three hours, following the Esk west on the old toll road to the seventeenth-century packhorse arch of Beggar's Bridge and returning by the woods and the little mortuary chapel above the village; the toll road is surfaced and level, the woodland return is steep, rooty and slippery. It starts at Egton Bridge by St Hedda's church, with a small free car park and Egton Bridge station on the Esk Valley line a hundred yards away, and the famous gooseberry show fills the village on the first Tuesday in August. The Esk is deep, clean and reachable in a dozen places for a proper swim, the toll road is traffic-free and safe, but there are stepping stones across the river that a nervous dog will refuse and the riverside meadows are grazed by sheep.