Our drawing of the route, over road and path data from OpenStreetMap. It shows where the walk goes and what it goes through. It is not a survey and not a navigation aid — carry OS Explorer on the hill.
Six flat miles out along the Ure from Roecliffe to Westwick Lock and back by the navigation towpath, two and a half hours, on riverbank and towpath with a few field gates and no climb at all. Start at the village green in Roecliffe, a mile west of Boroughbridge, where there is roadside parking by the church and a waymarked blue-arrow route signed to Westwick Lock; Boroughbridge itself is on the Harrogate to Ripon bus route if you would rather walk out from the town. The riverside fields are grazed and the summer cattle here are the real hazard rather than the water, so read each field before letting the dog go; there are information panels and a view over to Newby Hall at the lock, the Ure is deep and cold with steep banks, and the towpath half stays walkable in winter while the meadows flood.
Under three miles and a little over an hour on level ground beside the River Ure and the Milby Cut, with only about 20 metres of rise and firm towpath and riverside path most of the way, which keeps it usable when the field walks have turned to mud. Start on Boroughbridge High Street, where there is free parking in St James Square and the market cross, and the town sits a mile from junction 48 of the A1(M). The lock and weir at Milby run fast and deep and there are moored boats along the cut, so keep dogs on the lead by the water; the riverside pasture is grazed in summer.
Five level miles from the town out to the three Bronze Age standing stones and on to the Roman town at Aldborough, a little over two hours, on field paths and quiet lanes with a scattering of kissing gates. Start from Hall Square in the middle of Boroughbridge where there is free short-stay parking and buses from Harrogate, Ripon and York all call; the Devil's Arrows stand in a field ten minutes from the square and cost nothing to visit. Sheep and cattle use the fields between the Arrows and Aldborough so this is largely a lead-on walk, the return along the Ure gives a dog a drink, and the whole route is on well-drained ground that stays walkable through winter even when the river meadows flood.
A Grade II listed former roadhouse by the Tutt bridge, listed on CAMRA's National Inventory of Historic Pub Interiors with the maximum three stars for its original stained glass and mock-Tudor front. It is run as a taproom now, with at least four rotating cask ales, a lounge fireplace, darts and a pool table, and dogs are welcome everywhere except the restaurant area. Benches at the front and a courtyard take the overflow in summer.
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