A Stroll With Stu: five-mile circular walk from Castleton in the snow

High above the town, I’ve sunk into peat bogs which should have been frozen solid and walked in the valleys with coat wide open and pullover confined to the rucksack.

So, even in mid-winter my quest for a snowy walk hasn’t been rewarded even in the Cairngorms.

But wait! In early January, northerly winds dumped four inches of overnight snow across the Esk Valley and I couldn’t wait to take the train out to reacquaint myself with that yummy ‘crump, crump, crump’ sound under my boots.

It’s another five-miler – a circular from Castleton – but though I can’t promise snow, it’s still worth spending some of your time doing a few miles in the fields of Danbydale, before relaxing for as long as you can in front of the log fire in the Fox and Hounds at Ainthorpe.

From Castleton station, head past the Eskdale pub and turn right along the Westerdale road.

The road was closed off with concrete blocks, suggesting a landslip that won’t be repaired anytime soon.

It’s OK to walk along and after successive left and right bends, just as the road begins to climb, take a footpath left, climbing steeply alongside a wall to the road in the upper village.

Puff your cheeks out and turn right, then just ahead of a road junction, turn left down a track marked as the route to Didderhowe Farm.

This is the Esk Valley Walk and the wide track soon goes between the farm buildings, (stay on the low side of a fork ahead of the farmhouse) then into a field after a gate.

Cross a beck (I didn’t and got lost, so that you don’t have to) then bear right.

The path goes through a number of waymarked gates, but – so long as the snow has melted off the waymarks – is easy to navigate all the way to a tiny lane crossing Danbydale.

Now, the next paragraph is dedicated to my Geography teacher of 1971, who explained the principle of temperature inversion – because it was evident in Danby today in 2026.

Strap in and don’t turn the page. This is interesting. (Er, honest).

The land cools down the air immediately above it and when there is no wind to mix it all up a bit (probably not the exact text book terminology), that cold air becomes denser and pools of it form in valleys.

In turn, the cold air is less able to hang on to its moisture, so it condenses as fog.

Higher up, perhaps with a little more wind, the temperature is higher and the air remains clear.

And that is the gist of the weather phenomenon called temperature inversion.

So, next time it is sunny on the moors, and the valleys look like they are filed with cotton wool, you can explain to your mates in the pub just how it works.

They’ll probably glaze over, get up, and go to the bar. Result!

Turn left along the lane and climb steeply.

Pass the junction on your left at the top and follow the road as it subsequently takes its own sharp left bend.

A few hundred yards later, a green footpath sign points you right through a gate onto a track eventually bending left to Rowntree Farm, then onwards to Bramble Carr.

Join the road downhill into Ainthorpe where the first building on your right is the welcome one of the Fox & Hounds pub.

The pub dates back hundreds of years and on my snowy day the open fire, which looks like something out of a medieval banquet hall, was a beautiful and mesmerising sight.

You could lose yourself in the glow of its dancing flames, whilst your friends are discussing current affairs, last night’s Emmerdale or temperature inversion.

Carry on down the road eventually to Danby and after crossing over the river and railway bridges, branch off left in front of the church.

Cross a little bridge and bear right.

At the top of the slope, follow the signed footpath on the left, ultimately emerging on the Castleton road.

Go left, and follow the road slowly uphill.

After it begins to descend again and at a shallow left bend, look out for a signed path initially running parallel with the road.

This path cuts across grassland before entering Danby Park Wood leading all the way back to Castleton station, accessed by a gully leading off left after a little line of houses.

The snow remained deep and crisp for me, but had gone the next day – hopefully heading north to Aviemore!