As notified, Gill Lane is due to be closed from from Wednesday 7 May for two days for top dressing work from the Low Bridge junction by the caravan park up to the White Horse junction – weather permitting, it says!

Those of you who have driven on Chimney Bank recently will have noticed that the NY Highways road walkers have been busy. Now we know that work is due to start on the Bank for 4 weeks starting Tuesday 30 May.

Essential works will be carried out to the School over the summer holidays which will mean controlling the traffic in the area of the school and the Abbey Stores car park.- warning notices are out already.

Hutton Lane is due to be closed until February 12^th to repair the land-slipped section between Hutton le Hole and Keldholme. The council’s alternative route from Hutton le Hole to Kirkbymoorside is via Lowna and Gillamoor and is signed.

Work continues to stabilise and conserve the Bank Top ironstone kilns and it should be finished by mid September. Sean Doughty and his team are busy working their way around the line from Blakey to Reeking Gill, restoring culverts and cutting new ones where necessary as well as diverting the path around the worst of the swampy areas.

The line remains closed while all this work goes on – just a reminder!

Natural England have announced the temporary removal of open access to the old railway line from Reeking Gill around Dale Head to Blakey Junction from 8 July to 30 September to allow essential work to be done restore the path as part of the Land of Iron project- see the flyer for details:

Signage has been put by NYMNP at 16 access points to the line around the dale.

The proposed road closure at Hartoft Bridge on 24 June will now not go ahead according to NYCC Highways. Instead, further discussions will interested parties will now continue with a view to doing the work later in the year – more information will be posted when known.

Rosedale gets weekend buses

On Saturdays and Sundays until the end of September Moorsbus connects Rosedale with the rest of the world.

Not only can visitors from the region get to Rosedale Abbey for its walks, tea rooms, accommodation and other attractions, but Rosedale residents can get to Pickering to connect with other services.

Five services on Saturdays make it possible for locals to get to Scarborough for over a four hour visit. And four services on Sundays connect with Pickering as well as giving locals a direct morning service to Ralph Cross and Danby.

Using the bus also gives locals and visitors some great choices of ‘Buswalks’ – linear walks which save both the cost and problems of taking a car to the start of a walk, and then having to get back to the car at the end.

Fares for an all-day, travel-anywhere Moorsbus Rover ticket are £9 or £4.50 for a child. Single fares are also available and Rosedale to the Moors Centre at Danby costs £3, for example. National concessionary passes are accepted on all Moorsbuses. All the details are on www.moorsbus.org or pick up a timetable in shops and libraries.

So this summer, Rosedale is better connected than ever.

A six axle HGV on its way to Updale on 13 February, having come down Chimney Bank and discovering that there was no way through the narrow High Bridge at Bridgefoot. As usual, satnav was the excuse for the driver not reading the warning signs at the Spaunton Moor road junction and again at Bank Top. The result was he had to reverse all the way back up to the Lookout and then drive up Chimney Bank!

… or the perils of not reading the danger signs and not using common sense when the Bank is covered with ice and snow. There were two accidents today, the first occurring overnight and then another this morning which resulted in the Yorkshire Air Ambulance being called out, along with the Fire and Rescue Service and the normal ambulance.

Remember, stay away from Chimney Bank in wintry conditions, no matter how well you think you know the hill, if you want to avoid being the fifth incident so far this winter. No-one seriously hurt this time, but please support the Yorkshire Air Ambulance – you never know, you might need it sometime!