Ralph Cross and Fat Betty

South of Castleton the road climbs onto Castleton Rigg and runs along the very top of the moors, with Westerdale on one side and Danby Dale on the other. At Rosedale Head, where roads from four dales meet, stands Ralph Cross, a tall stone cross that has marked the moorland crossing since the Middle Ages and is now the emblem of the North York Moors National Park. Travellers traditionally left coins on top for those poorer than themselves.

A few hundred yards away is Fat Betty, or White Cross, a squat white-painted stone with a cross-shaped head, one of a series of medieval boundary markers. Custom says you leave a sweet or coin and take one left by someone before you.

The road continues over Blakey Ridge, past the Lion Inn, to Hutton-le-Hole. Drive it, cycle it or walk the moor tracks from Westerdale; the views in all directions are immense.