Pickering Castle and Beck Isle

A 2.2-mile hour-long amble around the top of the town with 40 metres of ascent, all of it on pavement, churchyard path and a short surfaced riverside stretch, so it works in any weather and with any age of dog. It starts at the market place below the parish church and runs up Castlegate to the motte-and-bailey castle before dropping to Beck Isle and the old bridge, with free two-hour parking on the market place and long-stay at the station five minutes away. Dogs are welcome on leads in the grounds of the English Heritage castle, the beck at Beck Isle is shallow and easy to reach for a drink, and there is no livestock at all, but a good half of this walk shares pavement with traffic.