The New Lyke Wake Club badge
The New Lyke Wake Club badge


NEW LYKE WAKE CLUB

WELCOME

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, is eligible for membership. There is no membership fee. Female members are titled Witch and males are titled Dirger.

LATEST NEWS

WAKES

To my esteemed Dirgers and Witches

It gives me great (dis)pleasure to confirm that the 2024 Wake will be hosted on Saturday, 16th March, 2024.

We are delighted to confirm the Wake will once again take place at the Raven Hall Hotel in Ravenscar, which was the setting for last year’s most mournful gathering after many years away.

The Raven Hall Hotel is a fabulous venue in stunning surroundings and is, of course, the traditional end point of the Lyke Wake Walk as was first suggested by Bill Cowley in 1955.

See the Wakes page for more information.

The 2023 Wake was held on Saturday 25th March 2023 at The Raven Hall Hotel, a fabulous venue in stunning surroundings and, of course, the traditional end point of the Lyke Wake Walk as was first suggested by Bill Cowley in 1955. We have now added a gallery of photographs taken that evening. Details of earlier wakes are on the wakes page.

Dirgers Past and Present

A new page has been set up offering Dirgers and Witches the opportunity to comment on their Lyke Wake walk experiences. Although there are several formal questions, the reality of what anybody wishes to say is left very much up to the individual……………………

All other news items are on the News page.

As usual, please respect the moors (Countryside Code) taking particular care during periods of adverse weather. During hot weather there can be a severe fire risk and the route may be closed at short notice – more about this on the Preparations page. Winter can be equally challenging: the Lion Inn at Blakey Ridge was cut off for eight days in December 2010.

Please avoid any disturbance to people who live on or near the route. Please refrain from bringing vehicles into Osmotherley and Ravenscar during ‘antisocial’ hours and likewise avoid making noise near residential areas such as Scugdale. And please ensure that all gates are closed after your party has gone through to prevent livestock escaping.

Equally, please take care not to disturb wildlife on this fragile environment that is home to a number of rare and important species. This is particularly true on Fylingdales Moor.

Here you will find all the information you need to:

The New Lyke Wake Club does itself not organise crossings of the Lyke Wake Walk. On occasions we become aware of forthcoming crossings. Naturally, since the New Lyke Wake Club does not organise these crossings it can be in no way held responsible or accountable for any aspect of them.

In addition you can:

The new club, a members' club, is a non-profit-making body whose stated objects are: -

With the new Club on a sound financial footing, we intend to use the Club’s income from merchandise sales etc to the advantage of the community. So far the Club has helped with the upkeep of part of the route, made a substantial donation to Search and Rescue and sponsored a children’s essay competition in conjunction with the National Park. We also 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—2nd 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 of Elders meets formally at least once a year, but discusses issues informally on an ongoing basis.

POLICIES

The club supports


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

COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE CLUB AND ITS MEMBERS

The club maintains this website www.lykewake.org which is regularly updated. The secretary, Tom Chapman, is happy to reply to E-mails sent to


Last update: 3rd January 2024

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