Askrigg (x4!)

'There are several fords above the village. Firstly there’s a small concrete watersplash on Low Straights Lane (Image 1), a rough but motorable road. It’s 5 yards wide and 2 inches deep.

There are three fords on High Straights Lane. The first (Image 2), near the junction with the tarmac road, is about 5 yards wide and a couple of inches deep. There is an even less significant splash at SD943922, not worth an entry. Then a muddy one, with a few inches of water spread over a few yards (Image 3). High Straights Lane is very green.

There is an unusually constructed Irish bridge over Arngill Beck (Image 4). It has stone walls like an ordinary small bridge, but with the addition of rectangular overflow holes. There is also a little bit of concrete on either side of the road. A closer inspection reveals that there are two culverts beneath the road, which ought to cope with the small beck in all but torrential weather.'

'The ford is located in the middle of Barton village,North Yorkshire. It is to the north of the green. The base is concrete and is about 1-2 car lengths long. It is suitable to all traffic but it can easily be 12+ inches deep after heavy rainfall. The ford is always in water.'

Battersby (x2!)

'The first ford doesn't look a lot but the tide marks suggest some high water levels in the wet!

The second is a small watersplash on an unsurfaced country road. Firm bed and typically 7 - 10cm of water. The ford is located immediately after the track leaves the surfaced road through Battersby and is easily crossed in any vehicle but the 'road'later becomes a steep rocky track climbing into the Cleveland Hills, unsuitable for normal cars. This ford can easily be confused with a private ford which is visible from the surfaced road about 150m West of the public ford. Do not cross that one as it is solely a farmers access to a field.'

'This ford on the Brandstone Beck is found at Beweley Moor near Greenhow.'

'It's on Wreaks Lane near Kirkby Malzeard, North Yorkshire. Map ref SE 211 755. It's on a stony byway that should be suitable for all. The ford has a rocky base so should be checked before driving through.'

'It’s about a foot deep and rough with a high footbridge alongside. The access on both sides is now extremely narrow, so it would be suitable for bikes and horses only.'

'A small shallow full time ford in an attractive village setting. The surface is a single concrete slab, however there is a steep tarmac ledge of around 9" to climb out of the ford to the north. You have to push beneath the branches of a weeping willow to get through the ford, which makes forward visibility a little interesting. The road is tarmac throughout and whilst there are signs on both approaches, there are no depth indicators.'

'Taken a few days after a major flash flood. Marks on the trees caused by debris sweeping downstream give an indication of the raging torrent that swept through this normally tranquil beauty spot. The Rye starts its long journey to the Sea via the Ouse and Humber on nearby Snilesworth Moor.'

'I have used the ford at Boggle Hole a couple of times and often thought it must be interesting when in flood in winter. From memory I would guess it at around 100 metres in length as you enter and exit from different points on either bank of the river. There is no attempt at constructing a road surface, you simply drive along the river bed. It is not deep or rough in summer and as the photo's show it is easily negotiable in a standard car. There are steep roads leading down to it in both directions and these surface whilst tarmac are quite broken up. Please note that the access roads are a byway I believe, and as at one end it runs through a farmyard then please close the gates.'

Boltby (x3!)

'Irish bridge with stream a good 6" below the road surface (Image 1). There is another ford in the village on the Lunshaw Beck and is found on a byway leading from the south-east of Boltby (Image 2). The third is an irish bridge ford on the Lunshaw Beck (Image 3).

'This ford is only about 1 to 2 car lengths across and is only 4 or 5 inches deep. The base of the ford is cobbled. It is still worth a visit just because of the area it is in.'

'This ford is only about 1 to 2 car lengths across and is only 4 or 5 inches deep. The base of the ford is cobbled. It is still worth a visit just because of the area it is in.

http://www.geograph.org.uk

'This ford on the Stanley Beck is found along Lime Kilns Lane beside Lime Kilns Farm.'

'This ford is found on the track below Bray's Croft Farm on the Capelshaw Beck.'

A classic rally ford

'The image mouseover shows Mike Clark taking his Salmson through Caydale Mill ford, North Yorkshire, on the Vintage Sports Car Club's Hambleton Rally in 1987. This is one of the great rallying fords. A naughty trick in rallying days was to use the private road through the adjacent farm.'

Image 4 is Nick Huntridge driving through Caydale on the 1969 North Fells Rally in my Cooper S. Yes, he did get through!

'A basic ford where a suburban street becomes a country lane. It has a concrete bed and is about 5cm deep under normal conditions. The road is signposted 'No Through Road'. The OS 1:25k shows the lane leading into an ORPA continuing on to join another road, but I had no opportunity to follow this through and find its' condition.'

'Just off a nice road over the top of Near Moor is this very precise little ford. The OS map shows an "Other route with public access" but I've got no idea what that means especially in these days of RUPP. I can't guess the purpose of this ford either, any vehicle that could make it up the hill on the far side of the ford (out of shot) would have no need of such a neat crossing place and the drop down off the road would ground many vehicles anyway.'

'Small setted ford on back road'

'This ford is found on the Cowhouse Beck.'

'It's a part-timer/Irish Bridge.'

'This ford on Old Beck is found on Back Lane, just off Water Lane in Dalton.'

'This ford is found on Eryholme Lane near Dalton-on-Tees.'

'A pretty and basic ford with concrete bed and stepping stones, usually 3 - 6 cm deep but can get much deeper after heavy rain.

The ford itself is maintained by N. Yorks CC but there is uncertainty about the next 20 metres or so to the East. Beyond that the road is certainly private. Summer visitors driving through the ford then parking are causing annoyance to locals and to each other (see Image 3 - the people on the right have found their parked car blocked in by later arrivals while the blue car on the left of the road is asking to be most unceremoniously moved on by the next farmer passing with tractor & trailer) so exercise common sense if visiting.'

'Picture taken in deeper than usual flow. The green lane is driveable by car apart from the ford. The ford was formerly cobbled but is now a bouldered stream.'

'On an unsealed lane perfectly driveable by car in summer.'

Duck Bridge (x2!)

'This was installed within the last ten years, previously the bridge was open to traffic, although so narrow that in practice only cars could use it. The Esk is prone to sudden changes in level - at this point the flow also seems rather swift, this led to an unfortunate fatality here when a car was swept downstream. Since then a heavy rail has been installed on the downstream side which would hopefully stop a vehicle in any 'borderline' fording incident. When the River is at more normal levels the water runs through large pipes.'

'This ford is found on the Waingate Beck at Dunsley.'

East Barnby (x2!)

'The first ford is an Irish bridge where in wet periods water flows diagonally across a crossroads then about 15 m along one of the roads . I have never known it get over 15 cm deep and it is only in water at all after heavy rain or when snow is melting. (Images 1 and 2, Image 2 mouseover sent in by Peter Saunders, 05/01/2010)

The second ford I also suspect is only in water after unusually heavy rain or snowmelt. On the day the image was taken there had been rain on the last 3 days and there was melting snow along the hedgerows, but the ford was still dry. As the image shows, North Yorks CC have recently done work on the ford, including putting a massive barrier on the downstream side, presumably to stop vehicles being swept away under severe flood conditions. (Image 3)'

Ellerbeck (x4!)

'The first is on an unsurfaced road and has a silt and pebble base. No signs, bridge or depth gauge. About 6-8" deep. The second has rutted approaches and is not suitable for low clearances. It too has a pebble base and is about 6" deep.'

'The third ford on the Howl Beck is found further down the byway from the ford on Cod Beck at Ellerbeck (Image 3). Finally, an irish bridge ford on the Cod Beck is found at Village Farm in the centre of Ellerbeck (Image 4).

'Small irish bridge crossing Swinney Beck.'

'This irish bridge ford is found on the Sutherland Beck at Fall Rigg.'

'A basic ford on a green lane, mud bed with lots of rocks, as shown in the image. The lane appears to be an unmade public road but is clearly very little used by vehicles, if at all. Driving on it would soon churn the grass surface into ruts and completly change the character of the lane ( a single off-road bicycle had left clear marks of its passage) so this ford is best visited on foot.'

'This ford is found at Farwath.'

Fearby (x2!)

'Image 1 shows that the first ford at Fearby is just a pipe under the road, the water level would have to rise by at least a foot for the road surface the get wet.

Image 2 is of a proper ford with a concrete and cobble base. There was about 1 inch of water, if that.'

'This ford is found at the end of Kiln Hill Lane at Feizor.'

'This ford is found on the Firby Beck beside Firby Hall at Firby.'

'This ford on the Cod Beck is found just downstream from the three at Ellerbeck on Foxton Lane leading to Mill Farm.'

Gayle (x2!)

'The base was cobbled, and it was very slippery I would say that, at that time, it was four or five inches deep.'

'The other ford is about 2.5km upstream from the one in the village. It’s on a steep and badly rutted ORPA and is 6 inches deep and 7 yards wide.'

Glaisdale (x4!)

NZ779065 (Images 1 & 2)
'Ford taking an unmade country road through the River Esk, with a set of stepping stones just upstream. The ford has a sandy bed with some football-size rocks and is about 60cm deep at normal water levels. The water is fast-flowing and is too cloudy for the bottom to be visible. The road is easily drivable to the West of the ford but to the East it becomes steep & muddy, probably 4x4 only. Tyre marks show that a tractor often crosses but there was no sign of other vehicular use.'

NZ776066 (Image 3)
'Part of an unmade road, the ford has a bed of stone setts with about 15 - 20cm of water over it. There is a footbridge beside it. The ford bed curves - driving in a straght line from one bank to the other may result in falling off the setts, so inspect carefully before crossing. The bed also has a camber and is covered by weed: cycles and motorcycles beware of slipping over. Just South of the ford the road is steep with a loose surface - normal cars which can pass the ford may not be able to cope with this hill.'

NZ784055 (Image 4)
'A watersplash with a stone sett bed, giving access to a house. It is part of an unmade road which beyond the house has become overgrown by trees, so in effect it is a dead end. Another unmade road branchs off this and leads to #4 ford (see below).'

NZ783055 (Image 5)
'A ford on an unmade road which has become seriously erroded and encroached by trees. It is probably only accessible by cycles / motorcycles, but off-road motorcycles seem to be causing a lot of the gullying West of the ford. Might be worth trying in a 4x4 with good ground clearance, but I suspect anything less robust than a tractor would have great difficulty getting down the lane and even that might need some tree branches lopping first.'

'This is a rough rocky ford on a very rough unsurfaced lane accessible by high clearance 4x4s only. On this day it was 14 inches deep which is deeper than usual.'

'The newly constructed stone ford and relaid track replace the former morass of waterlogged ruts'

'This ford on the Gordale Beck is shown at dusk and is found close to the remains of a Roman Camp on Mastiles Lane.'

Great Broughton (x2!)

'The main ford is a full time ford crossing at an oblique angle and therefore around 2 car lengths. The ford has a concrete base and is on a perfectly motorable tarmac road there is a warning sign on the north approach, a footbridge for pedestrians but no depth indicators. I used the road quite often when I worked at Middlesbrough and have never found it more than about 8" deep.

The second is an Irish bridge 100m south of the main ford, on a track giving access to a few houses.'

Grosmont (x4!)

'In addition to the main ford at Grosmont, there is a little road off the main one that takes you to no less than three fords in the space on two hundred yards which are suitable for all! The road did say it was closed but there is a business down there and I had no trouble with it either. These fords were quality!

The Northern and middle fords of the series are through the River Esk while the Southern one is through a small stream. All three are paved with stone setts. The Esk occasionally deposits sandbars and stone rubble over these, making crossing more difficult. There are no footbridges immediately beside the three fords: there is a footpath route via two footbridges which are not visible from the fords and a map may be needed for finding this.' Image 1 mouseover sent in by Carl Tyler (04/04/2005), Image 3 mouseover by Stephen Godsell (12/09/2005)

FreeFoto.com

'This ford on the River Washburn is found beside the footbridge at Hanging Bottom on the Six Dales Trail just downstream from the dam at the head of Thruscross Reservoir.'

'A silted up crossing a mile or so upstream from Aysgarth.'

'This ford on the Hartforth Beck is found close to Hartforth Hall.'

'Crossing Hartoft Beck. In February 2010 there was a sad fatality here during high water levels.'

'There is a ford at Hawsker Bottom which I passed on the "coast to coast". It is on an access to a caravan site, it was approx 10 feet across & 8 inches deep with a good flow. Would imagine it gets a lot better after a drop of rain.'

'This ford is found beside the sheepfolds on Pickles Gill Beck.'

'Its on a UCR with full vehicular rights but one definitely for high 4x4 only! Although its rough tarmac all the way to the Helwith side, after that its nasty - just past it is a severe washout on a Z-bend where even my truck had problems getting through. Ford spotters can from here take a footpath upstream to see the Goats Bridge crossing.'

North York Moors Cam

'This simple, little ford is halfway up a steep but well-maintained gravel track. Too steep unless you’ve got a 4x4. The track has vehicular rights. '

'This is just outside the Bakery & tea rooms, you can drink and eat whilst watching the ford users!'

'The Leven also offers us a tamer ford at Ingleby Greenhow where it crosses a short unsealed lane. Despite the unsuitable for motors sign, from memory this should be doable in a car, at least in dry weather. The ford has both a footbridge and stepping stones (in left of image). The ford bed is firm but as the image shows the approaches can get muddy. The unmade road either side of the ford has a good gravel or stone surface but West of the ford there is a very sharp bank where low-underframed vehicles might risk grounding.'

'Irish bridge with good small stream below. Near the start of a 2 mile dead-end road towards the moors. Has depth gauge in feet and metres(!) and a footbridge. Dry on this day except for the last of the snow-melt running down the approach roads.'

'A part time tarmac affair where the water, when flowing, runs diagonally across the cross road.'

'Only an Irish bridge by the looks of things but a Ford sign, depth gauge and footbridge this time.'

'Taking the north road out of Thornton in Lonsdale leads you into a beautiful valley 'Kingsdale'. After 1 1/2 miles a farmers track turns off to the right which takes you down to this interesting ford. Shallow on a stable but stony surface, this ford has a small island to steer round. 4x4 recommended due to sloping access and exit, and also muddy track! A footbridge gives pedestrian access.'

'This ford is found on the end of Foxton Lane beside Willow Tree House. The byway beyond leads down to the Ellerbeck fords.'

'Simple byway ford'

Langdale End (x2!)

'An attractive ford (Image 1) about with a rocky bed and about 30cm deep when visited. It has a set of stepping stones which stop short about 3m from the South bank! The ford forms part of an unsurfaced road which is subject to a 'no motor vehicles' restriction. Anyone got a horse-drawn cart?'

'There is a second ford (Image 2) on the southern side of the road, next to the bridge that replaced it.'

Littlebeck (x6!)

'In a delightful steep-sided valley is a series of fords, some no longer accessible to vehicles, at Throstle Nest 1km North of Littlebeck. Starting in Littlebeck, an information board nearby indicates that it's on a coast-to-coast route. First there are a few irish bridges on minor roads (Images 1, 2 and 3; Image 1 mouseover sent in by Peter R Saunders: 04/04/2007).

Immediately after the third ford the surfaced public road ends, leading to a private driveway and to the next ford (Image 4). This is a shallow rocky-bedded ford with concrete stepping stones. The path North from here is technically a public road but tree growth has made it impassible to 4-wheeled vehicles. The county council has imposed a temporary ban on motor vehicles to tackle the damage done to the path by off-road motorcycles. Image 5 shows the last two fords.

The next is another shallow rocky-bedded ford with concrete stepping stones (Image 6). Technically a road but in practice a bridleway as trees on each side prevent cars, etc, passing. As above, temporary ban affects off-raod motorcycles. The final ford is muddy-bottomed and about 30cm deep, similarly restricted access. There is a footbridge about 100m upstream (Image 7).'

'This ford is found on the River Skirfare on the bridleway leading from the pub in Litton.'

'This ford on the Hartoft Beck is found on the track leading to Head House. Another ford with a recent tragic history.'

'Fully tarmaced, but at least 300m long. Lowdales Beck joins the road for a while. I suspect it's just a trickle in the gutter in dry weather, but after some snowfall it was a couple of inches deep all the way. There are also several (private or bridleway) crossings of the beck on the access to Lowdales Farm at the northern end.'

Link to geograph

Malham (x2!)

'It is on a small side road on the edge of Malham Village leading to a few houses. It is about 5m across with a gravel base. The approach to the ford was also gravel. The Ford is 6-8 inches deep. The river it crosses is the one from the base of Malham Cove (Image 1). Image 2 shows the second of the Malham Beck fords.

'This ford is found in the entrance to Markington Cricket Club.'

Marsett (x3!)

'There are three very different fords on Busk Lane near Marsett. The first is an ordinary one through Raydale Beck (Image 1) with a depth of about 5 inches and width of about 11 yards. Its base is smooth but stony and there’s a footbridge.

Then a short distance later the lane enters Cragdale Water and runs along it for 60 yards before exiting without having actually crossed the beck. Image 2 shows the north-western end and 3 is the south-eastern end. There’s a footpath on the bank alongside. Alternatively, a footbridge leads to a public footpath across the adjacent field.

Then the lane finally does cross Cragdale Water 50 yards after having exited it, at a simple Irish bridge (Image 4) that wouldn’t need much rainfall to become wet.'

'This ford is found on West Lane just outside Melsonby.'

Mickleby (x2!)

'The first ford is an irish bridge, rarely in water, on a minor road. (Image 1).

The second ford is a small rock-bottomed ford on a track of doubtful legal status. No footbridge but at under 5cm deep it was easy to wade in walking boots (Image 2). The OS 1:25k shows an ORPA linking the villages of Barnby & Mickleby passing slightly North of this ford. In practice local people use the path through this ford. There is no sign of any path along the line shown on the map so this may be the real route and the one on the map an error or an assumption (or just no-one is sure exactly where the line of the route goes). It appeared physically possible for a 4WD vehicle to traverse the route although for 500m East of the ford there is no clear sign on the ground that anyone has done so. Anyone trying will see fields with no apparent path and will need to scout ahead on foot to find the gates which connect the fields (I suggest checking the exact legal status of the route before trying this).'

'A full time crossing, shallow with concrete base (if ever looking for a fords on TV section, then this one once played host to either a bus or lorry crash in Heartbeat and was used quite a bit throughout the series)'

Wheeldale Moor

'The ford is a concrete-based watersplash which sometimes dries out in summer. When pictured it was about 15cm deep, and looked unlikely to get much deeper except in serious floods. The road it lies on is marked variously in white or yellow on different OS editions and in fact is a minor road tarred throughout it's length from the A171 to Moorsholm.'

'You can just see the entrance and exit on the picture and the stepping stones as well, the River Ribble is quite flooded at the moment so the stones are not seen to their best'

'This irish bridge ford on the Newbiggin Beck is found at Nappa Mill.'

'There is a good concrete ford at Ravenseat. It’s about 2 inches deep and 3 car lengths across. There’s a narrow packhorse bridge alongside for pedestrians.'

'This ford is found close to Ravensthorpe Mill.'

'This is a second ford on the byway leading up from Caldbergh.'

'The ford which used to feature on the opening shots of the James Herriot series. It is full time with a cobble base and no depth gauges to spoil the view.'

James Herriot Watersplash

'This ford on the River Seven is found beside Millfield Bridge on Battling Hills Lane leading up to Moorland.'

'A long shallow ford (about 300m long and mainly 3 - 5 cm deep) which provides rear access to a row of houses and leads to a private access track. It is unusual in that it has several exits: as well as the two ends (Images 1 & 4) several houses have rear garden parking accessed along the ford (e.g. Image 3). It also has a pedestrian sub-ford (Image 2) where a private footpath crosses the long ford. Most of the surface is firm gravel apart from a short section of concrete at the Western end. It is not clear whether there is an public right of access along the ford, but in practice local people use it without apparent restriction. It seems popular with dog-walkers in wellies (one way of avoiding poop-scoops ?) and children on bikes. The West end is at a junction with the village main street and at the East end the ford leads to a trackway giving access to two houses about 1km further away.'

'This ford on the Mulgrave Estate is found at the Sawmill at Sandsend.'

'This is a very broad concrete-bottomed ford at the northern end of Scalby village which seems to take the flow from the duckpond, as well as some of the ducks. When I first visited it early in the morning it was a good 6-9 inches deep and fast-flowing, but returning a few hours later for the picture it was much drier. Catch it if you can!'

Scaling (x2!)

'Small rock-bottomed ford on an unmade county road. The ford itself was about 10cm deep when visited and easily crossed by any four-wheeled vehicle, although cyclists should beware of the uneven bottom. However the road East of the ford is not suitable for non-specialised vehicles. The road is hard to follow as it is only marked on recent 1:25 000 maps, but a wood shown on these is not present and there is no physical sign of the road at its' Eastern end, just a gate to an apparently trackless field.

There is an attractive waterfall and the ruins of a mill just downstream of the ford.

'There is also a ford at the hamlet of Hailthorpe 1km East of Scaling. It is located where a surfaced lane ends and the ford is theoretically the beginning of the lane's continuation as a route marked by OS as "other public access" (probably an obsolete county road). The ford itself is only about 10cm deep in water, but the bed is very muddy. There is a patch of mud just beyond the ford, visible through the upper bars of the gate in the image, which was about 50cm deep when probed with a stick near the edge. While a sufficiently robust vehicle might traverse the ford and mud, in practice the route is impossible to follow to its other end at the A171 with any kind of motor vehicle. I had considerable trouble passing through on foot (or all fours in tight places) as the route involves several barbed wire fences, a dense thicket of thorn bushes, and a steep-sided land drainage channel.'

'This one is in a dip on a quiet back road on the edge of the moors. It was just a meandering trickle when I spotted it, but the presence of the depth gauge indicates that it must get more serious from time to time.'

'You pass through Spennithorne village and turn right just after the pub down an unsealed lane. Just after the small sewage works is a small cobble based ford with a wooden pedestrian bridge. On this visit the stream was deep and fast flowing after the recent heavy rainfall.'

Stainsacre (x2!)

'The first is a concrete -bedded ford 3 - 10 cm deep at Rigg Mill near Stainsacre. The gate shown in the image marks the end of the surfaced road but the path beyond which looks like a private drive seems to be an unmade county road continuing to the hamlet of Sneatonthorpe. About 50m beyond the ford this passes between fences which may be too close together to allow a 4-wheeled vehicle to pass. (Image 1)'

'The second is a Lengthways ford on Scraper Lane, Stainsacre where it crosses Stainsacre Beck at the top end of Cock Mill Wood, on the way to Long Rigg, Just below Stainsacre Sewage Treatment Works. Footpath skirts the right side on the concrete embanking, crosses a wooden footbridge in the background (Image 2).

Staithes (x2!)

'Staithes is barely a ford at all. It is an Irish bridge which is only in water after heavy rain. (Image 1)

http://www.geograph.org.uk

However, there is another ford about 100m upstream. This one is permanent, usually 20 - 40 cm deep with a gravel base, but may not count for 'wetroads' as it is on a bridleway. The route is a tarred lane linking two roads and with no adjacent properties, making me suspect it might be maintained by the local council (I'll make enquiries later) but it is signposted and marked by OS as a bridleway. (Image 2)'

'It was dry today and looks like an Irish bridge for most off the time but it had a Ford sign and a depth gauge never the less. By the looks of the road it does sometimes breach its banks.'

Stokesley (x2!)

'The ford is about 70cm deep, although the rest of the river in both directions is between 20 and 40 cm deep. Presumably long use has eroded a deep pool at the ford site. The bed is soft sand with some rocks. There are concrete ramps at both approaches, but the one on the North bank ends at a step of about 10-15cm (again indicating erosion). The main use made of the ford seems to be by horse riders and the occasional off-road vehicle. (Image 1)'

'The second ford consists of a concrete slab bed and about 10-15cm of water over it. It gives access from a road to the back yard of a shop only and has no way through for customers or the public. The building looks as if it may have been an inn in the past, so the ford may have given access to the stables. (Image 2)'

'Finally, for completeness, upstream is this now unaccessible ford It connected two roads which run along each bank of the river. There are cobbled ramps leading down to a sandy and stoney bed between two concrete edges, with about 20 cm of water over it. It appears that the ford may have had a cobbled bed at one time, perhaps washed away during flooding. If the bed was paved with stone setts it would be an easy 1* ford. However, it has been fenced off at both banks, a shame for a nice little ford: possibly too many local children fell off their bikes in it, or shot through it into the path of cars on the connecting roads. (Image 3)'

Account sent in by Chris Marsh
'I never saw the main ford in Stokesley shallow enough to attempt in my car, you'd typically be looking at about 12 to 18". There are ford unsuitable for motors signs and no depth gauges to aid the wavering. Grippy concrete ramps give way to an informal natural riverbed and there is certainly a bad lip on the village side where breeze blocks had been positioned to lessen the drop. I was advised that locals dislike 4wds playing in the ford (there have been instances of people driving up the river) and North Yorkshire's fun reduction department will doubtlessly be keeping a watchful eye!

'This ford is found on the Slei Gill beside Storthwaite Hall.'

'This ford on the River Tees is found on the track leading to Swinelair Farm.'

'This ford is situated just through the village of Osmotherley on the road to Thimbleby, it has a stone set bottom and is part time when it is very dry, it has no less than 2 depth gauges and 2 waterfalls, the first fall is upstream of the ford and the second is the drop off of the ford under the foot bridge down stream, there is enough room to park your car under the bridge but mind the edge as there is a 20 foot drop.'

'This ford on the Thirlby Beck is found in the centre of Thirlby'

Thoralby (x3!)

'There are two fords through Bishopdale Beck on the southern edge of Thoralby. The first, right next to a tarmac lane, would be suitable for off-roaders (Image 1). In practice it seems to be used mainly by horses.

Secondly, there is a deeper and narrower crossing further northeast (Image 2). The approaches are too narrow for anything other than bikes or horses.

Finally, for completeness, the ford in Thoralby that sees most traffic is a shallow one through a small stream on an unmade lane in the village (Image 3).'

Thornton Rust (x3!)

'The first is found on a byway above Thornton Rust (Image 1), the second is found on the track beside the carpark in Thornton Rust (Image 2). The final one is found on Nipe Lane a byway leading down from Thornton Rust (Image 3).

Thornton-le-Dale (x2!)

'Image 1 shows the double ford at the southern end of the village, on Bottons Lane. There are two attractive footbridges. Each half is about a car's length in the picture, but my recollection is that the stream was somewhat swollen.'

There is also a part-time effort on nearby Preistmans Lane (Image 2)

http://www.geograph.org.uk

http://www.geograph.org.uk

'The ford is concrete base raised about 3 feet from the watercourse. Although there will usually be no water on the ford, the flow is rather sluggish being across flat country and therefore after prolonged rain there can often be a significant depth - note the height of the footbridge. A colleague had waded in up to mid thighs and not even got to the Irish Bridge. Got to be just a 1* being temporary. '

'An Irish Bridge on an ORPA linking the village to the A171. The ford is only in water following heavy rain or snowmelt on the Moors upstream. The road is surfaced for 1km south from Ugthorpe and the rest is a stony track suitable for any vehicle except in very muddy conditions. It's Northern end in the village looks like a private driveway to a farm, but it seems to be a county road.'

'This ford is found at Wharram beside the dismantled railway along Station Road.'

Wheeldale (x2!)

'Image 1, shows the first ford suitable for all with a concrete bottom.

Image 2 is of a nearby ford on Wheeldale Beck. I remember it was a particularly interesting one, because, lying at the confluence of two becks, there were tracks from each of the three banks meeting in the middle of the ford; two of the three are concrete Irish bridges. The trouble is I can't remember whether the road is open to the public or not, so please check before driving. My one photograph hardly does the place justice anyway.'

'This ford is found on the Fell Beck at Wilsill.'