Dirty Weekender NORTH YORK MOORS
The North York Moors, up on the north-east coast of England, are a bit of a trek for many, but that’s what makes this National Park a wonderful area to visit, most of it far from the madding crowd. There’s plenty of wild, rough and rugged riding on the bleak, barren but beautiful hills, although with much of the landscape being moorland, it can get pretty boggy in places.
From late August into September, the heather is in bloom, providing a magnificent blaze of pink and purple flowers that sweep across the hills and bring them to life with colour and the buzz of insects. Red grouse are also abundant, bursting out of the heather and making you jump as they shriek and flap away. They’ve good call to be alert, though, with commercial grouse and pheasant shooting being the driving force behind the land management here. So be alert, considerate and polite when out riding in shooting season, which is mid-August to mid-December for
