FROM its highest moors to its confluence with the sea, Eskdale is a magnet for walkers. This eight-mile route (with two short cuts of five and six miles) explores the lower reaches of the valley, a land of well-groomed fields, wooded slopes and three picturesque villages.

We start from Aislaby, perched on the northern shoulder of the dale, some four miles from Whitby and famous for its sandstone, which was quarried on the ridge above. According to Alec Clifton-Taylor in his Pattern of English Building, some of the most durable building stone came from Aislaby's quarries. It was used in the building of the abbey and the two piers in Whitby and was shipped down the coast in the 19th century to provide the foundations of some of the bridges in London. Most of the village's houses are built of this Jurassic sandstone, as is the church of 1896. The churchyard on the south side offers panoramic views of lower Eskdale.

From the church (GR 858086) walk down the village street and look out on the left in 200 yards for Pond House of 1789, “approached curiously”, says Pevsner, “by a bridge with an insistently undulating parapet across a round pond”.

In another 150 yards, where the road to Whitby bears to the left, carry straight on down Featherbed Lane. In 200 yards the lane plunges right down to Sleights and is the return route for the shortest of our three walks.

Instead, we continue ahead on a green lane with a distant view of Whitby Abbey. In 300 yards, the right of way goes through a gate and drops around one field before descending a second field to a footbridge over a tiny beck. It then climbs to the A169.

Cross straight over on to Carr Hill Lane and follow it down through houses before turning left at a postbox on to Ridge Lane. At the end of the houses, a path leads across fields to a farm track. Turn right and in 100 yards look out for a path on the left which descends through a field equipped for military combat games followed by a more relaxed scene of animals belonging to the activity centre of Minimonsterz (open daily with cafe).

Our walk now joins the B1410 next to the Esk, which was dammed here to provide water for the huge corn mill ahead, built in 1752 for Nathaniel Cholmley. The dam now serves as a popular boating lake. Walk alongside it past the weir and the mill into Ruswarp where go right, across the railway and over the Esk.

Bear right along the B1416 for about 500 yards. At a sharp left bend, and by a national park sign, go right on a rough lane which crosses the railway in a few yards. After a second crossing, go right through a gate on a path which climbs across fields to Hagg House Farm, a few yards away on the left.

Just beyond the buildings turn right and follow the leaping salmon sign of the Esk Valley Walk. It's an easy, well-signed path through meadows and with good views over the valley. In just over a mile, we drop down to join a lane on the outskirts of Sleights. Follow it through to the station.

Cross the railway to the right of the platform and then the Esk by a sturdy footbridge to reach the B1410. If you wish to take the five-mile walk, then turn right for 50 paces and look out for the Featherbed Lane footpath sign on the other side of the road. It's a climb of less than a mile back to Aislaby on what must be one of the finest stone causeways in the national park. In the 17th century it was said to be “the narrowest high road in England”. It's intact, except where it crosses the A169, and is flanked by high hedges. There's a welcome seat (and spectacular views) at the half-way point. The finely set stones can be slippery after rain.

The main walk goes left from the footbridge to the A169 by Sleights bridge, opened in 1937 after floods had swept away an earlier structure.

Go straight over on to a tarred lane by the river. It soon climbs gently through a grove of stately beeches and past Groves Hall to Woodlands, an imposing Georgian house, probably built by Henry Yeoman in the 1780s. To follow the six-mile walk, continue past the castellated St Oswald's Close on a bridleway which climbs directly back to Aislaby church (not mapped).

The eight-mile walk bears to the left just after Woodlands, following the Esk Valley Walk. For the next one and a half miles we follow another well-preserved flagged path. Still known as the Monk's Trod, it was probably the medieval route between Grosmont Priory and Whitby Abbey.

After Thistle Grove, the first farm, it is tarred for 100 yards but then goes left and the flags are visible over two fields before the crossing of Lady Hilda's Beck. It then climbs over higher land through Back Wood before skirting Hecks Wood to reach the 17th century Newbiggin Hall, a good example of a U-shaped manor house, once the home of the Salvins.

Beyond the hall, we follow Old Park Lane. The Monks's Trod turns off left in 200 yards but we continue along the lane, which probably marks the boundary of the medieval hunting park of Newbiggin, one of five parks of Egton Forest, all belonging to the de Maulay family of Mulgrave Castle. For much of the next half-mile, the lane is flanked by a flagged causeway, mostly hidden in the grass on the left. On the same side there are hints of the pale or bank on which palings would have been erected to enclose the deer.

Turn right when you reach Egton Road, a misnomer, for it's a tranquil, traffic-free lane with excellent views. In a mile and a half it will bring you back to Aislaby.