THE North York Moors National Park is riddled with old tracks and roads, but the most notable by far is the Hambleton Drove Road, part of an ancient highway running from Scotland to the south of England.
The track is thought to be prehistoric and various burial grounds from the Neolithic and Bronze Ages are evident along the road, as well as the remains of an Iron Age promontory fort near Boltby.
However, it is the large-scale movement of cattle from Scotland during the 18th and 19th centuries that gave it the name it is known by today.
Approaching from the north, the route would have crossed the River Tees at Yarm and climbed steeply on to the moors south of Swainby. It ran roughly south for about 15 miles over the Hambleton Hills to Sutton Bank where it forked, one way continuing southwards towards York and the other turning eastwards to Malton, the Lincolnshire Wolds and the south.
The drovers were nomads and before rail and modern transportation, the drovers’ routes were trodden by tens of thousands of animals – many specially shod to protect them on their long journey to market.
A good drover required many skills. He had to know the countryside along his route and be able to get the herd to the market on time, but in good condition. He needed to be capable of protecting himself and his herd from attack by outlaws or cattle thieves and once at the market, he needed business skills to get the best prices for his stock.
Passing through isolated communities, the drovers were usually welcomed by the local people. They brought news of the outside world and they frequently carried letters or performed errands elsewhere along their route.
Lime carrying was another important aspect of the Hambleton Drove Road’s traffic at this time.
The Hambleton oolite (a limestone made up of tiny grains of calcium carbonate) was very suitable for lime burning, and quarries and limekilns are plentiful along the route south of Black Hambleton hill. Iron was also carried from the numerous bloomeries (hearths) in the Upper Ryedale and Rievaulx district up to the mid-17th century.
The industrial revolution brought an end to droving.
The expansion of the railway network and the speed of travel enabled the breeder to slaughter his beasts locally and send the carcasses to market.
From a rapidly growing occupation at the start of the 19th century, droving had all but ceased by the beginning of the 20th century.
Some of the inns regularly used by drovers can still be located, however only one – The Hambleton Inn on the A170 near Sutton Bank – is still in business. Of the other three, Dialstone and Chequers are now farm houses and Limekiln House above Kepwick is in ruins.
Much of the original Hambleton Drove Road is now incorporated into the modern road system but around six miles remain as a rough moorland track just as the drovers would have known it and today forms part of the Cleveland Way National Trail.
● Carl Cockerill is North York Moors National Park Authority western area ranger.
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