The Woodman

Bishopthorpe Palace riverside loop

Three flat miles from Bishopthorpe village out to the Ouse below the Archbishop's palace, upstream along the bank towards Middlethorpe and back on the tarmac of the old railway; an easy hour and a half with no stiles and one gentle ramp. Park on Main Street or Chantry Lane and walk down Acaster Lane to the water; the number 11 bus from York runs through the village every half hour. Dogs can be off lead on the railway path and the riverbank away from the road, and the Ouse gives a swim from the shelving bank, but the riverside meadows are grazed in summer so watch for cattle; the riverside half floods after heavy rain, at which point the railway path alone still gives you a dry there-and-back.