Stroll With Stu: Kneesy does it - a pleasant six-mile potter around Danby

I ignored dozens of people who said “Go for it - best thing I ever did”, in favour of the one or two who said “Absolute agony mate.

"Might as well have your leg off”.

Well, after several months of advanced level moaning and groaning, I’m back on the waiting list.

I’d gone into my local doctor’s surgery to see some men in white coats who were looking at my x-rays from 2019.

They burst out laughing when I walked into the consulting room (which I thought was a bit harsh), explaining that they were hoots of incredulity that I could manage to walk at all.

It didn’t take long for them to persuade me to make a date with a scalpel, sometime soon.

Accordingly, I have to wait for a very good day to get out for a walk at the moment, and I’m pleased one came along in early October, allowing me to potter around for six miles, east of Danby.

I hadn’t done any sort of walking since I fell down a monster of a pothole on the Hebridean Island of Barra in July (I was sober too, Guv, though I had just eaten an ice cream flavoured with peat which may have been a bit of a shock to this Teessider’s system).

From the station at Danby, head uphill and turn right at the pub.

At the top of a steep hill, take a left along a little Tarmac-ked road doglegging left then back right.

As it heads sharp left again, follow the right hand of two grassy tracks straight ahead, following a wall that comes in on your right.

Stick by that wall, even as the main path jags left, eventually dropping downhill to reach a gate.

Turn right and soon go downhill through woodland to emerge through a gate adjacent to the Moors Centre.

OK, you could have just walked down the road, but this way was prettier.

Go straight on along the road past the car park, and after it bends left take a signed path going diagonally uphill through a grassy field.

Keep the wall on your left to pass a farm on your right, then go past several buildings on a track to reach a minor road, following it straight ahead to reach the hamlet of Houlsyke.

The village is tiny and you will quickly emerge at the other end where you need to look out for a crossroads of paths at a handy bench.

Go right through the gate, to cross the railway on two immaculate new stiles, then onwards to a surprisingly wide bridge over the River Esk.

I implore you to stop for a while on the bridge, because this is quintessential Kingfisher country and you may be luckier than me and get to see one of Europe’s most iconic birds for a tad longer than the nanosecond I got.

Carry on to drop on to the road in the valley courtesy of a stile, and turn right.

As you reach the bridge over the Esk, you will see a gate on your left next to the white railings.

Go through the gate and drop to a second gate, before heading up and slightly away from the river.

The less than obvious path leads from the next field boundary straight across the middle of the next two fields, before going left through the centre of a farm, then bending sharp right onto a much more obvious track that will ultimately take you back to the road.

Turn left for half a mile or so, and as the road bends right towards Danby, go straight on to reach the scheduled monument of Duck Bridge.

It is named not after mallards or any other animal quackers, but after one George Duck, a local stonemason who restored the bridge in 1717.

Impressive it is, too.

Bear right, then after the road falls and rises to cross a little beck, take an obvious path right to cross the railway and river to reach the Moors Centre with its giggling schoolkids, café, gift shop, and an art gallery that is always worth a look.

Make your way back to the road, and after a steep initial climb, you will return to Danby where the Duke of Wellington pub awaits to quench your thirst.

Hey, I know we’ve ended up here several times before, but it is one of my favourite watering holes in the Esk Valley.

However, I was worried as it has recently changed its opening hours (for the better) and started serving lunchtime food.

I was worried that it wouldn’t be the pub it once was, but I’m pleased to say my fears were unfounded.

Pleased to report that it’s still a cracking little pub!