Cliffe circiluar walk.
Updated: Aug 7
Cliffe Circular Walk – 4.11 Easy Miles Near Selby
Our 4.11-mile Cliffe Circular Walk is an easy countryside route through the flatter landscape east of Selby.
Lyn and I personally walked, photographed and GPS recorded this route for The White Shire.
We rate the walk as easy.
At just over four miles, it's a comfortable distance, and we didn't find the overall route particularly demanding.
Cliffe itself might not be somewhere that immediately springs to mind when people think about walking in Yorkshire, but that's exactly why routes like this belong on The White Shire.
It's a quiet Yorkshire village surrounded by working countryside, with connections to the River Ouse and a history stretching back at least as far as the Domesday survey.
Cliffe Circular Walk at a Glance
Distance: 4.11 miles
Route type: Circular
Difficulty: Easy – based on our experience
Location: Cliffe, near Selby
Historic county: East Riding of Yorkshire
Current local authority: North Yorkshire
Nearby: Selby, Hemingbrough, Howden and North Duffield
Terrain: Countryside paths, tracks, field paths and village sections
Highlights: Cliffe village, open countryside, local history and the landscape around the River Ouse
Walked and photographed by: Michael and Lyn Palmer, The White Shire
Our 4.11-Mile Cliffe Walk
Lyn and I found this to be a straightforward and enjoyable countryside walk.
At 4.11 miles, it's long enough to feel like we've had a decent walk without taking up most of the day.
We didn't find the terrain particularly strenuous, which is why it sits comfortably in our easy category.
There's something we enjoy about these less obvious Yorkshire walks too.
We're not heading towards a famous waterfall, castle or viewpoint.
We're simply exploring a village and the countryside surrounding it.
Quite often, that's where we discover some of the most interesting stories.
Exploring Cliffe
Cliffe lies a few miles east of Selby in the Vale of York.
Historically, it formed part of the East Riding of Yorkshire, which is why we've kept the walk within our East Yorkshire collection on The White Shire.
The wider landscape is considerably flatter than the Yorkshire Wolds we've recently been exploring around places such as Huggate, Welton and Market Weighton.
That gives this walk a completely different character.
Instead of rolling chalk hills and dry valleys, we've got broad agricultural countryside influenced by the nearby rivers.
Cliffe Goes Back to the Domesday Survey
One thing that needed correcting from our original article was the age of the village.
The old White Shire post said Cliffe's history could be traced to at least the 12th century.
It goes back further.
Cliffe is recorded in the Domesday survey as part of the manor of Howden. During the medieval period it was in the Ouse and Derwent wapentake of the East Riding and formed the township of Cliffe cum Lund within the ancient parish of Hemingbrough. (Wikipedia)
So people have been living and working around here for a very long time.
A Village Shaped by the River Ouse
One of the most interesting things about Cliffe's story is its relationship with the River Ouse.
Today, we might look at the map and assume the village has always occupied roughly the same position in relation to the river.
It hasn't.
Historically, Cliffe was much closer to the banks of the Ouse.
The river later changed its course after a meander was cut through, leaving the village farther away from the main river channel. (Wikipedia)
We find details like this fascinating.
The countryside can look permanent when we're walking through it, but rivers have been changing Yorkshire's landscape for thousands of years.
Out into the Countryside
Once we're away from the village, this becomes a simple walk to enjoy.
The landscape around Cliffe is predominantly agricultural.
We're following paths and tracks through the sort of working countryside that covers a huge part of Yorkshire but rarely appears on lists of the county's biggest attractions.
For us, that's part of its appeal.
There's a feeling of space here.
The flatter landscape gives us long views across fields, and we can simply settle into a comfortable walking pace.
Sometimes we don't need anything more complicated than that.
Why We Rate Cliffe Easy
Our difficulty ratings on The White Shire are based on how Lyn and I actually experienced each route.
We rate Cliffe as easy.
At 4.11 miles, the distance is manageable, and we didn't find anything about the terrain particularly demanding.
As with any countryside route, conditions can obviously change.
Field paths can become muddier following prolonged rain, particularly in low-lying agricultural landscapes.
So easy doesn't mean we'd turn up in completely unsuitable footwear.
We'd still recommend sensible walking shoes or boots depending on recent weather.
But overall, this is one of our more approachable Yorkshire countryside walks.
Cliffe and the Railway
The arrival of the railway brought another major change to this part of Yorkshire.
A historical description from 1870–72 records Cliffe-cum-Lund as a township in Hemingbrough parish, adjacent to the River Ouse and on the Selby and Hull railway.
At that time the township had its own railway station and a population of 615 living in 145 houses. (Vision of Britain)
That's another little reminder of how much rural transport has changed.
Railways once connected many relatively small Yorkshire communities directly with larger towns and cities.
Some of those connections have disappeared, but their influence on the places they served remains part of the local story.
Evidence of Much Earlier Settlement
The Domesday survey isn't actually the beginning of human activity around Cliffe.
Archaeological evidence found between Cliffe and Cliffe Common suggests people were using the area during the Iron Age or Romano-British period.
Evidence has included rectangular enclosures interpreted as part of a field system, ditched enclosures and roundhouses. (Wikipedia)
There is also evidence of medieval ridge-and-furrow farming.
That makes our modern walk part of a landscape people have been farming and travelling through for many centuries.
We may be following today's public footpaths, but the relationship between people and this land is much older.
Walking Through Working Countryside
This history of farming continues today.
Much of what we're walking through remains working agricultural land.
The fields aren't simply scenery created for our benefit.
They're part of somebody's livelihood.
We stick to public rights of way, respect crops and livestock and leave gates as we find them.
That's something we want The White Shire to encourage alongside discovering new places.
Enjoy Yorkshire, but look after it too.
Is the Cliffe Circular Walk Suitable for Beginners?
Based on our experience, we'd consider this one of our more approachable routes.
It's 4.11 miles and we've rated it easy.
For somebody reasonably comfortable walking for a couple of hours through normal countryside, we think it's a good option.
There aren't the major climbs we'd encounter in the Dales or on some of our coastal walks.
That doesn't mean conditions can't affect the route.
Rain can make natural paths muddier, while agricultural activity can change the condition of field sections.
But in normal conditions, we found it a straightforward walk.
A Very Different Yorkshire Landscape
One thing we're enjoying as The White Shire walking collection grows is seeing just how different Yorkshire can look from one walk to the next.
Around Huggate we've got rolling chalk hills.
At Filey we're beside the North Sea.
Around Staithes we're tackling more demanding coastal paths.
Here at Cliffe, we've got flatter agricultural countryside shaped by the River Ouse.
They're completely different landscapes.
Yet they're all Yorkshire.
That's exactly why we want our walking collection to cover West, North, East and South Yorkshire rather than concentrating only on the famous walking areas.
More Walks Around Selby
Cliffe also gives us another route in an area where we've already explored quite a bit.
We've walked around Selby, along the Selby Canal and through other countryside close to the River Ouse and Aire.
That means someone finding this Cliffe walk can use The White Shire to discover several other routes relatively close by.
That's becoming increasingly important to us.
We don't want somebody to land on one article, read it and disappear.
We want The White Shire to become a resource they can come back to whenever they're wondering where to walk next.
Or look further afield across the county.
Discovering the Real Yorkshire
Cliffe is exactly the sort of place we mean when we talk about discovering the real Yorkshire.
It's not a major tourist destination.
There aren't coaches arriving full of visitors.
But start looking into the landscape and there's plenty here.
We find a village recorded in the Domesday survey.
We discover evidence of Iron Age or Romano-British settlement.
We learn that the River Ouse once ran differently through the landscape.
And we see how farming and the railway helped shape the community that followed.
All of that sits behind a relatively simple 4.11-mile countryside walk.
That's what we want The White Shire to uncover.
Not just the Yorkshire everybody already knows, but the villages, footpaths and local stories sitting quietly between the famous attractions.
About Michael and Lyn
Michael and Lyn Palmer explore Yorkshire together on foot, personally walking, photographing and GPS recording the routes featured on The White Shire.
We're not professional hikers or historians.
We're simply a husband and wife who enjoy getting outside together, discovering interesting places and learning more about Yorkshire as we go.
Our difficulty ratings are based on how we personally experienced each route.
Cliffe Circular Walk – Our Verdict
Our Cliffe Circular Walk measures 4.11 miles.
Lyn and I rate it as easy.
It's a straightforward countryside route through the flatter landscape east of Selby, making it a good option when we fancy an enjoyable few miles without anything particularly strenuous.
What makes it interesting for us is everything sitting beneath that simple walk.
Cliffe appears in the Domesday survey, archaeological evidence points towards much earlier settlement, and the River Ouse itself has changed course over the centuries.
It's another reminder that we don't need a famous attraction to find an interesting Yorkshire walk.
Sometimes all we need is a village, a few footpaths and the curiosity to find out what happened here before us.
Another 4.11 miles of the real Yorkshire explored on foot.
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk 
Cliffe circiluar walk
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