In September 2023, the Upper Ryedale Parish Trail was introduced. The following year, it was expanded into a 41-mile route connecting every church within the Benefice of Helmsley and Upper Ryedale. This extended route was named Saint Aelred’s Pilgrim Trail, in recognition of his time as Abbot of Rievaulx Abbey (1147–1167), as well as his passion for walking, history, companionship, and writing.
The trail, which spans 41 miles and is suitable for walkers, cyclists, and horse riders, links five historic rural churches in Upper Ryedale—located in Bilsdale, Hawnby, Old Byland, Scawton, and Cold Kirby—with the notable Church of All Saints in Helmsley and the town’s 19th-century Methodist Church. It also includes several significant sites: the secluded Church of Saint Mary Magdalene at East Moors in the North York Moors, the “slipper chapel” of the abbey (the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin in Rievaulx), the Methodist Chapel in Rievaulx, the impressive ruins of Rievaulx Abbey, and the restored Elizabethan Church of Saint Chad in Sproxton.
This year a group from St Oswald's are walking the St Aelred Trail between 1st and 8th May.
See all the photos from St Aelred's Pilgrim Trail here.