The Lyke Wake walk

The Lyke Wake walk is a 40 mile challenging walk across the North York Moors. With 4,500ft ascent and taking up to 18-20 hours to complete, the route follows the old coffin and pilgrimage routes between Osmotherley and Ravenscar. "Lyke" is an old English word for "corpse", hence the name of the walk literally means "the wake of the corpse". The route was devised in 1955 by Bill Cowley, who issued it as a challenge in the "Dalesman" magazine. Unfortunately, the popularity of the route over the years led to significant erosion of the delicate ground on some stretches of the route. Because of that, and to protect the ground nesting birds, the route is no longer mentioned on the new editions of the OS maps.

The Lyke Wake Club

The Lyke Wake Club was formed not long after the challenge was issued, with a mission to record the successful crossings, maintain the route, and preserve the Cleveland historic heritage. Club meetings were called the "wakes" and the club badge was coffin shaped and decorated with the Ordnance Survey symbol for tumulus (burial mound). Successful pilgrims were issued a condolence card and a coffin shaped badge of the club. Female club members are called "Witches", and the males members are known as "Dirgers". The club was headed by the "Chief Dirger" (Bill Cowley) and had several other officers, including a Melancholy Mace Bearer, Harassed Archivists, Melodious Minstrels, a Cheerless Chaplain, a Horrible Horn-blower and an Anxious Almoner. There were additional degrees awarded at the club meets (or "wakes") upon multiple crossings such as the Master/Mistress of Misery (minimum 3 crossings and with at least one crossing walked in the opposite direction), Doctor of Dolefulness (minimum 7 crossings, including an unsupported crossing and a winter crossing, plus a presentation of a thesis on a subject relating to the wake or the club) and Past Master/Mistress (an honorary title, for those who completed 15 crossings and performed "great services to the club" and are capable of "finding the way across any moor by day or night, whether drunk or sober without map or compass"). The original Lyke Wake Club dissolved in 2005 (on the 50th anniversary of the walk) and a new club was formed in 2015. The new club awards all the degrees mentioned above, and an additional degree of the "Purveyor of Purgatory" for leaders who have successfully led at least three parties safely across the full route. The New Lyke Wake Club is involved in conservation activities, maintenance of the footpath, and funds educational and youth activities related to the route. You can find some of the crossing reports on the Club website: https://lykewake.org/crossing-reports/

Points of interest along the route

The route follows old coffin roads, passes prehistoric burial mounds and cairns, and is dotted with boundary stones and medieval crosses. There are several interesting features on the walk (these and several more can be found on the map here https://tinyurl.com/4p2zckm2):

• Scarth Wood prehistoric village - a large settlement potentially in continuous use from the Neolithic to the Iron age with the Seven Stones (also known as the Seven Sisters) nearby, which were possibly part of the ancient boundary.

• Lord Stones cairn circle - a group of stones most likely defining the perimeter of a Bronze Age burial mound.

• The Hand Stone - boundary marker on Urra Moor, most likely dating to 1711.

• The Face Stone - another marker on the Urra Moor, first mentioned in 1642 as as “the bounder call Faceston” suggesting that it was a boundary marker and possibly older.

• White Cross - a medieval boundary stone standing on an ancient road junction.

• Causeway Stone - marking a spot where the ancient paved path (the George Gap Causeway from Great Fryup Dale to Rosedale) crosses the parish boundary near Loose Howe.

• Lilla Cross - This was originally a Bronze Age barrow but it contains a secondary Anglo-Saxon burial which was accompanied by grave goods including rings and a brooch. The 7th century stone said to mark the grave of Lilla, chief minister to King Edwin of Deira, and the oldest Christian monument in the North of England, mentioned in the Whitby charter of 1078-1120.

The Lyke Wake Dirge

A dirge is a sombre song expressing mourning or grief, often in the form of a brief hymn. The Lyke Wake walk is named after the "Lyke Wake Dirge", one of the oldest surviving examples of the Yorkshire dialect verse, describing the soul's passage into the afterlife.

This ae neet, this ae neet,

Every neet and all,

Fire and fleet and candleleet,

And Christe receive thy saul.

If thou from here our wake has passed,

To Whinny Moor thou com'st at last;

If ever thou gavest hosen and shoen,

Then sit ye down and put them on;

If hosen and shoon thou ne'er gav'st nane

The Whinny will prick thee to the bare bane;

From Brig o' Dread when thou may'st pass,

To Purgatory fire thou com'st at last;

If ever thou gavest meat or drink,

The fire will never make thee shrink;

If meat or drink thou ne'er gav'st nane,

The fire will burn thee to the bare bane;

This ae nighte, this ae nighte,

Every nighte and alle,

Fire and fleet and candle-lighte,

And Christe receive thy saule.

The route:

The full route of the Lyke Wake Walk can be found here: https://www.outdooractive.com/en/route/hiking-route/north-east-england/lyke-wake-walk-2024/288388425/?share=%7Ezyjgx3wk%244ossixtu

Happy crossing!