Guard House Way

This is a point-to-point walk, about 4 miles one way, running from the car park at the top of Runswick Bay (Runswick Bank Top) to Lythe village. It is not a loop, so plan your return before you start. The mapped line measures closer to 4.2 miles; the 4 miles is the official rounded figure.

From the top car park you cross the road and pick up the waymarkers through field edges, over a sleeper bridge, along a gravel track and a disused railway line with filtered views over Runswick Bay. Then it is fields again, including a ridge-and-furrow field, past ponds and the Old Guard House area, across Goldsborough Lane, through fields and newly planted woodland, down a flight of steps, and on beside field hedges with coastal views. You pass Upton Hall Farm, cross Goldsborough Lane a second time, and finish by the tennis courts in Lythe.

Rolling rather than hilly. Sampled heights along the route run from roughly 77 m to 173 m, with something in the region of 100 m of cumulative climb spread out over the distance, so nothing sustained. Expect grass field edges, a gravel track, old railway bed, woodland and gates, plus steps on the descent. This is working farmland, so footing varies with the season and with livestock and machinery use; boots beat trainers.

• Around two thirds of the wider Mulgrave path network was created for the project with farming tenants, so much of this is new concessionary path alongside existing waymarked routes.
• Cross roads carefully, including both Goldsborough Lane crossings and the village road stretch at the Lythe end.
• Follow the waymarkers and local signs, and leave gates as you find them.

Dogs are welcome, with real conditions attached. Cattle are usually in the ridge-and-furrow field, and the estate specifically asks that dogs be kept under control there. Keep dogs on a short lead near any farm animals, never let them chase livestock or birds, and stay on the rights of way. On moorland, official guidance is a lead under 2 metres from 1 March to 31 July.

Walking back the same way turns it into roughly an 8 mile day, so decide in advance whether you want the return leg or a second vehicle at the Lythe end. If you want more of this landscape, the same estate has two other waymarked routes in the network, which are separate walks rather than extensions of this one.