The Yorkes left many marks on the landscape and shaped much of the village as we know it today, including the landscaping of the popular Fishpond Wood. The Yorkes also built a folly that bears their name and is visible on the skyline above the village.

A popular local classic, this walk tours much of the estate and the parish of Bewerley, and as it does so takes in several woodlands, some natural and some landscaped, all of them offering spectacular autumn colour.

THE VALLEY OF THE SEVEN BRIDGES, RIPON
This dramatic walk cuts through a steep and often sheer-sided valley as the River Skell leaves the Studley Royal estate and heads towards nearby Ripon.

The hills that surround the valley floor are topped with trees and at the furthest end of the valley, the woodland follows the contours down to the valley floor as the momentous rocky cliffs give way to open fields.

In the autumn months, this makes the valley particularly atmospheric as you walk the path that crisscrosses the eponymous bridges surrounded by autumn colour on all sides.

The woodland follows the River Ure with shale banks and sandy beaches that make for great picnic spots. The trees reach up the surrounding hillsides, with curious and castle like follies hidden away amongst the ancient trees.

The undulating landscape and views across Masham and the Ure Valley mean that come autumn the rich and rusty colours that consume the woodland frame the surrounding countryside with a bright and vivid palette.