on Dale. From the inn
also, the great ravine we have been describing appears as an enormous
trench cut through the heathery plateau, and we are led to wonder how it
was that no legends as to its origin have survived until the present time.
The Roman road, which is supposed to have been built by Wade and his wife
when they were engaged on the construction of Mulgrave and Pickering
Castles, seems uninspiring beside the majestic proportions of Newton Dale.
To the south of the Saltersgate Inn lies the remarkable circular hollow
among the hills known as the Hole of Horcum, and the bold bluff known as
Saltersgate Brow rises like an enormous rampart from the smooth brown or
purple heather. To the west lies the peculiarly isolated hill known as
Blakey Topping, and, a little to the south, are the Bride Stones, those
imposing masses of natural rock that project themselves above the moor.
The Saltersgate Inn has lost the importance it once possessed as the
stopping-place for the coaches between Whitby and Pickering, but is still
the only place of refreshment for many miles across the moors, and its
very isolation still gives it an importance for those who seek sport or
exercise on these breezy wastes.

[Footnote 1: Henry Belcher, "The Scenery of the Whitby and Pickering
Railway," facing p. 51.]

Levisham and Lockton, the twin villages that stand upon the very edge of
the heather, are separated by a tremendous valley, and although from above
they may seem so close as to be almost continuous, in reality they are as
remote from one another as though they were separated by five or six
miles. To reach Levisham from Lockton means a break-neck descent of a very
dangerous character and a climb up from the mill and lonely church at the
bottom of the valley that makes one marvel how the village ever came to be
perched in a position of such inaccessibility. The older inhabitants of
Levisham tell you that in their young days the village was more populous,
and their statements are supported by the pathetic evidence of more than
one cottage lying in ruins with the interior occupied by a jungle of
nettles. The Vicarage is the only new building that breaks the mellowed
grey tones of the wide, grass-bordered street.

[Illustration: LOCKTON VILLAGE. The ash tree that grows on the church
tower can be seen in the drawing.]

Lockton is a larger and better preserved village. The little church with
its grey tower is noticeable on account of the vigor