Ryedale Revisited — and a good food find

By fold­ing bike to Helms­ley.  Few spring flowers yet apart from snow­drops and cro­cuses, one patch of celandine, and few lambs too, though lots of fat ewes.  Catkins, but not yet the light green sheen on the trees which is the true col­our of early Spring.  Sun, and a light breeze from the SW, so mainly behind me.  A fine des­cent, new to me, from Years­ley to Ample­forth, with some fine views.  The White Swan at Ample­forth proved a gem — well-kept Black Sheep bit­ter and the best toasted sand­wich I’ve ever had.  Brie and bacon both excel­lent, deli­cious coleslaw, a very mixed and inter­est­ing mixed salad, and crisps.  9 out of 10. It would have been 10/10 if the crisps had been Seab­rooks instead of Walk­ers.  Must get back there to see if their meals are as good as their snacks.

Past the stream bridge of fam­ily fame and on to Helms­ley for the bus home.  Sev­eral cross­ings of the former rail­way which ran from the ECML to Pick­er­ing and on to Scar­bor­ough.  Some fine sta­tion houses remain, and a sig­nal­box at Coxwold.