Week 1: Sunday Walk in Roseberry Topping
The views from the top of Roseberry Topping are absolutely breath taking and well worth the short climb to the top. The long walkers will also take a walk through the neighbouring forest and climb up to the Captain Cook monument which again yields stunning views of the surrounding Moorland scenery.
Visible for miles around and one of the most distinctive of all English hills, Roseberry Topping, 320m high, was once an integral part of the North York Moors plateau. Over the millennia, however, the forces of nature eroded the land around it, but the Topping itself was protected by a cap of harder sandstone. In time it became an isolated conical hill, stranded above the plain of the River Tees. Through the centuries it has been called many things, from Odinburgh (after the Norse God), to Roseberry Torp (by the notoriously inaccurate Daniel Defoe). Roseberry means 'fortress in the heath' and Topping, a 'point' - though there is no sign of a fortress there now.
We'll take a coach to Roseberry Topping, and from there split into two groups, one group takes a medium-length walk whilst the second group take on a larger route. Both walks are preplanned and lead by our trained walk leaders.
Medium walks are generally between 6 and 8 miles (10-13 km) long, and tend to be at a reasonably gentle pace and always include a stop for a pub lunch. Long walks are slightly more challenging and are between 10 and 12 miles (16-19 km) long and don't include a pub lunch but instead stop for a packed lunch along the way. At 4.00pm all the groups meet back at the coach and return back to the University, arriving no later than 6.00pm.