(S/E) From the front door of the pub, turn right and follow the narrow lane through the village, which winds between a mixture of modern housing and old cottages. After 350 metres, keep ahead as a lane joins from the left and another drops away to the right. At the next junction, continue ahead past a house dated 1862. Leave the village and continue for 600 metres or so.
(1) At Park End Farm, go through a gate on the right by a footpath sign to Brigsteer Park, and bear left down the field to the wood at the far end. Walk down the wall alongside the wood then, shortly before the corner, go through a gate into the trees. Follow the obvious path through the woodland for 500 metres with occasional open patches. Just beyond a spring on the left, at an obvious fork, take the upper, left-hand path that climbs the slope through the woodland. Keep right at a path junction then, beyond an interpretation panel detailing the trees and butterflies of Brigsteer Park Wood, bear left, shortly arriving at a small car park by the road.
(2) Cross the road and go through a gateway onto a farm track, ignoring the footpath signposted to Brigsteer on the left. Beyond a gate, follow the track along the right-hand edge of a large field. At the end of the field, go through the right-hand gate with a National Trust sign into a hedged path.
(3) As you approach Sizergh Castle, pass the end of a footpath on the left (the continuation of the route) to reach the café, castle and gardens. Having visited the castle, return the way you came, turning right through a gate beyond the birdwatching screen (signposted “Helsington Church via Holeslack 25 mins”). Cross a field to a gate and join the track leading ahead beyond.
(4) At a barn, turn left through a gate into a path along a wooded bank. At the end of this section, climb steps to a hand gate and turn left through a gate and pass the barns of Holeslack Farm. Go through the gate to the right of the farmhouse and follow the driveway uphill. Beyond a cattle grid, another track joins from the left; ignore it and bear right along the wall to Helsington Church.
(5) Beyond the church, continue along the tarmac road ahead. Just before the cattle grid at the junction, leave the road at a footpath sign and follow the fence steeply downhill. At the bottom of the field, bear left to a wooden kissing gate, through which turn right and follow a narrow path through trees which shortly drops down to join a bridleway. Turn right and follow the bridleway down and up (ignoring a path off to the left) until you meet a road.
(6) Turn left past the Brigsteer sign and walk down the road with care back to the Wheatsheaf.(S/E)
