So I thought this time, I'd post a walk that was a little beyond Cottingham. back on New Years Eve, I went off to do a favourite walk of mine - The "Welton Wander". I found part of this walk as a result of walking the Yorkshire Wolds Way, and then researched the area a little more and found the walk on the National Trail website : www.nationaltrail.co.uk
So, the first stage is to find your way to Welton Village and get parked - you need to find Dale Road and walk along it. The road quickly becomes unsurfaced and you soon join the Yorkshire Wolds Way. These paths can be muddy, so a good pair of boots is essential in winter or after a lot of rain. On this occasion, some of the route was frosty - and the frozen mud was much easier to walk on!
You will pass some lovely mill ponds on the right and a spring on the left - all in amongst trees. As the seasons change the walk takes on a different feel. It is most certainly a walk to repeat regularly.
As you pass through the lodge, you pass through a gate and the valley opens out, with trees to the left and fields to the right. Listen out for the pheasants. See pictures below.
Keep walking until you reach another gate and go into the woods on a wide path. You can walk the whole length of this path until you come out onto a road. But I recommend a detour. You'll see a couple of vague pathways on your left hand side that go into the trees, seemingly nowhere. Walk into the forest and eventually you will find something very unusual. In the summer, the structure you will see is barely visible from the main path - in the winter you may be able to spot it. This is the Raikes Mausoleum.
(This is the GPS position if you need it : 53.7500199°N 0.5375192°W)
The mausoleum was built in 1818 for Robert Raikes, and is a circular building with a shallow domed roof on top of a frieze decorated with triglyphs, standing on a circular plinth. There is an inscription above the door : AEDIFICAVIT ROBERTUS RAIKES ARMINGER AD MDCCCXVIII - Robert Raikes, Esquire, built this. 1818 AD.
The land alongside the Mausoleum was consecrated in 1822, for use as 'Welton Dale Burial ground' but was not commonly used. In 1960 the vault under the mausoleum was broken into, and disturbed, and a skull stolen, later recovered. After a coroners inquest and police investigation the vault was permanently sealed by the then land owner, Sir Basil Parkes.
It has been a grade II listed building since 1968. I love how the foliage cascades over the roof, and the shadows the trees cast over it. When it was built, it wasn't within a wooded area and looks very different in the open air. Have a search for the pictures on Google.
Moving away from the mausoleum, walk back down the hill to the main path and follow it up to a gate. Go through this, turning left and walking to the main road. When you get to the main road, turn left again and follow the road towards Welton until you reach a footpath sign pointing to the right into another wooded area.
Follow the path until you meet a fork. Here you can fo straight on, left or right. You can carry straight down the hill if you dare. Take it slowly. You're actually best to take a left and follow the wider path as it bears to the right down the hill. At the bottom of the hill, you meet a road. Go down to the left and towards the village. Just before the first houses, there is a footpath on the right hand side of the road.
This path goes up and into some further woods. You can walk straight on or slightly to the left. The main path is straight on and this path is steep! I think the path to the left up the hill is slightly easier and certainly less muddy. At the top of the path, go through the gate and turn to the left. Follow the path round and down. Eventiuallty on the right you'll come to Elloughton United Reform Church cemetery.
As you continue down, you come to a large gate and then go through this (close it behind you), onto the road - carry straight on. Follow the road up the hill and you get fantastic views across the Humber. Once over the brow of the hill, you then follow the road all the way back down into Welton where you will find your car. All in all, a lovely 5 mile walk which should take you around an hour and 40 minutes.
Below is the National Trail version of the instructions, in case you like your instructions less flowery! This also includes a useful map of the route.
Let me know how you get on with the walk. I'd love to hear how you enjoyed it!
As well as walking, I also do TALKING for living! I'm a personal coach, who uses counselling and psychotherapy techniques to help you resolve your issues and achieve your goals.
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