Cod Beck Reservoir

If you have walked along Cod Beck in Thirsk, this is where that water starts. The reservoir sits up on the moors above Osmotherley at the head of the same beck, and since the treatment works closed in 2006 its job has been to release compensation flow down the valley, which means the water running past the Market Place comes from here.

It is a good short walk in its own right. The circuit is about a mile and a half on a wide, well-surfaced path with very little climbing, and it is a full loop rather than a there-and-back, which makes it unusually easy to plan around. Conifer woodland and open moor sit either side of it, there are brown trout in the water, and the moorland above is known for hibernating toads.

It also sits at the western end of the Lyke Wake Walk, the 40-mile moorland crossing devised by Bill Cowley in 1955 and meant to be done inside 24 hours. Officially it starts at the trig point up on Scarth Wood Moor. In practice walkers start at the stone by the reservoir.

North from Thirsk, joining the A19 and then local roads through Osmotherley. It is about 13 miles and takes 20 to 25 minutes, though the last two miles are narrow and the approach from the Swainby direction is a steep hill.

Use the coordinates rather than a postcode. Yorkshire Water gives DL6 3AL and other sources give DL6 3AQ, and the first of those geocodes about a mile west of the water. The northern car park is at 54.3877, -1.2788.

There is effectively no public transport to the reservoir. Buses reach Osmotherley village from Northallerton or Guisborough, but a trip from Thirsk would need a change and is not a realistic car-free plan.

Park at Sheepwash at the top end, walk the circuit in whichever direction suits, and stop at the dam at the southern end for the long view back up the water. There are picnic benches by the car park.

Look out for the Lyke Wake Stone, which is the practical start of the crossing. If you want more, the Cleveland Way runs over Scarth Wood Moor immediately above, and Scarth Wood Moor itself is good for lapwing, curlew and golden plover.

Then drop down into Osmotherley for the market cross, the stone table and lunch. Mount Grace Priory is a mile and a half west of the village, which makes reservoir, village and priory a natural half-day triangle.

The circuit is the thing: a genuine loop, well surfaced, walkable in an hour, in open moorland scenery that usually costs a much longer drive from Thirsk.

Osmotherley repays the extra fifteen minutes. The village cross and the stone table stand together on West End, both listed since 1970. The table is sixteenth century, five tapered supports under a big slab, and John Wesley preached from it, which is the detail that makes it worth stopping at rather than driving past. Above the village is the Lady Chapel, properly the Shrine of Our Lady of Mount Grace, where there has been a chapel licensed since 1397 and where sixteen people were arrested for praying on the eve of Little Lady Day in 1614.

For walkers, having the Cleveland Way and the Lyke Wake Walk meeting the Coast to Coast in this corner of the moors makes the village a standard overnight stop, and the reservoir the natural place to leave a car.

Arrive before about 10am on a fine weekend. The three car parks are free but very small, one of them holds seven cars, and they fill early. If they are full, keep driving and come back another day: the approach road is a clearway for two miles, meaning no stopping for any reason at any time, and it is ticketed rather than merely signed.

Take everything you need with you. There are no toilets, no kiosk and no cafe at the reservoir, only bins at the car park. The village has free toilets by the village hall from 7am to 7pm.

Do not swim, however inviting it looks on a hot day. Yorkshire Water prohibits it outright and the reasons are worth knowing: the water stays cold enough year-round for cold water shock, the reservoir is operational so there is machinery and current, and blue-green algae is a real risk. Keep dogs on leads and out of the water too.