THE LYKE WAKE WALK is a complete crossing of the North Yorkshire moors along their main east-west watershed between the Stone at grid reference 470994 and the Trig point at 971012, a distance of approximately 40 miles. Every person who completes a crossing of the Lyke Wake Walk on foot within a period of 24 hours and who reports it to the Club within 28 days, is eligible for membership. There is no membership fee. Female members are titled Witch and males are titled Dirger.
Lyke Wake cuff links: The latest addition to our range of things to buy is this set of Lyke Wake cuff links, priced at £6.25. the design is a black coffin, on a yellow/gold-coloured metal with the letters LWW on it. More information on the things to buy page.
As usual, please respect the moors (Countryside Code) taking particular care during dry periods to avoid starting fires and avoid any disturbance to people who live on or near the route. All areas of the North York Moors currently have a severe fire risk warning in place — see below. Should there be any emegency closures we will post them on this site when notified by the National Park authorities. Please avoid bringing vehicles into Osmotherley and Ravenscar during ‘antisocial’ hours.
SEVERE FIRE RISK
All areas of the North York Moors currently have a severe fire risk warning in place. As things stand, the Lyke Wake route is open, however, given the current circumstances, this could change rapidly. The New Lyke Wake Club will do its best to keep you informed with the latest information, however, it is worth being aware that diversions may have to be made and even the route closed at very short notice.
Please ensure that no open fires are lit on the moors and that a strict no smoking rule is enforced in parties. Glass bottles are often the cause of fires, please do not discard these and should you come across a bottle, please remove it to a suitable bin - it could prevent a fire.
Please report any fire you discover IMMEDIATELY to the emergency services (999). Catching them early before they take hold is paramount - it is better that the same fire is reported several times than not at all.
If crossing, please make all your party members aware of the situation.
Here you will find all the information you need to:
- tell you about the Walk;
- organise and achieve your crossing successfuly and safely;
- report your crossing to the Club;
- buy badges, clothing etc to celebrate your crossing, and
- come to Wakes to socialise with others who have made the crossing.
In addition you can:
- Read about Bill Cowley who, with others, made the first crossing and founded the original Club;
- learn more about the Lyke Wake Dirge;
- Read the Club's Objectives and Rules
The new club, a members' club, is a non-profit-making body whose stated objects are: -
- promoting interest in the North Yorkshire Moors, their history and folklore.
- assisting in safeguarding the moorland environment.
- encouraging the sports of long-distance walking and running.
- providing advice and fellowship for those taking part.
With the new Club on a sound financial footing, we intend to use the Club's future income from merchandise sales etc to the advantage of the Lyke Wake community. So far the Club has made a donation to help with the upkeep of the route in the area of the Lords Stone Café, and last year substantial amounts were presented to the two Search and Rescue teams which cover the North York Moors. For the future we propose to offer modest grants to young Dirgers and Witches who are unemployed or in full time education, in order to help them participate in an adventurous activity, project or training. More information is on our grants page.
THE NEW LYKE WAKE CLUB is dedicated to the memory of the late BILL COWLEY, who, with others, made the first crossing of the LYKE WAKE WALK on 1st October 1955.
Bill died on 14th August 1994. The ‘Old’ Lyke Wake Club closed down on its 50th anniversary on 1st October 2005. We regret the closure of the ‘Old’ club, but look forward to the future. We believe the ‘New’ Lyke Wake Club has a valuable function in recording crossings, arranging meetings in the form of Wakes for like-minded individuals and in campaigning for responsible access to the Cleveland moors under the CROW Act 2000.
THE COUNCIL OF ELDERS
The club is managed by a Council, which consists of the elected officers plus every Past Master and Past Mistress. The Council holds Vigils at least twice yearly.
POLICIES
The club supports
- reducing moorland erosion.
- defining the Lyke Wake Walk as a right-of-way.
- marking the Lyke Wake Walk on Ordnance Survey maps.
- discouraging excessively large groups on the Lyke Wake Walk.
- creating and implementing a programme for path repair and waymarking.
ALL EXISTING DIRGERS AND WITCHES are entitled to membership of the new club. Please fill out this contact slip and send it or email it to the hon. secretary.
You might also be able to help us to find other dirgers. Bill Cowley's filing system consisted of a tea-chest into which he threw letters after he had replied to them. When the tea-chest was full Bill made a bonfire of the contents and started again. Not much has changed since. Consequently our mailing list started out somewhat scanty. We shall be most grateful for any names and addresses you can let us have.
If you have a website please link to us! This will also help lost dirgers and witches to find us. The address to link to is http://www.lykewake.org
Contacting us
To be kept informed of Club events, please either:
- (Preferably) send your email address to our contact email, new.club@lykewake.org, or
- send a small pile of SAEs to our contact address:
Gerry Orchard, General Secretary NLWC,
Angram Grange, Cold Kirby, Thirsk, North Yorkshire YO7 2HL
COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE CLUB AND ITS MEMBERS
The club maintains this website www.lykewake.org which is regularly updated. The secretary, Gerry Orchard, is happy to reply to E-mails sent to We know that not all members have an E-mail address. For members with a postal address the club prints off the website information as a Newsletter and this is always available. Please write to Gerry Orchard, enclosing an A5 stamped, self-addressed envelope. We are sorry but because of the high cost of postage, it is impractical to send out a postal Newsletter to everyone each time we update the website
