With the Swinton Park gates and gatehouses behind you, head down the hill and turn left. Follow the road down the hill to where the golf course is on either side of you. Before the bridge, you need to take the stile on your right onto the golf course. Take care to avoid golf balls and players for this section of the path! Make sure to stay to the left hand side of the course, so that the tree line and River Burn beyond is immediately on your left.
The path will follow the river bank until you get to the end of the course, and here you will need to negotiate a stile where the path leads into some woodland and crosses a ditch. At this point you will see the river meander with a sharp bend to the left, where the path has been eroded away. You will need to cross a stile into a field, follow the fenceline for a short distance, and then cross back again (all the time keeping the river on your left).
From this point follow the path and signs through the woodland and field (following the river) that will take you to the Lower Burn Bridge. Go over the stile onto the road, turning immediately left and over the bridge. At the end of the bridge, cross the road and turn right to take the path that follows the river downstream (so the river will now be on your right). Just before the River Burn meets the River Ure, the path bends to the left and up a bank. Here you will meet another path, where you need to turn right and continue with the River Ure on your right (walking upstream). Walking through two fields, the path becomes a track. Continue past the waterworks, through a gate and onwards to where the track meets a tarmac road. There will be a sign for the Glebe House behind you (which you should ignore), as you continue with the fence on your left and the road then crosses over a cattle grid. From here there is a short steep hill, and the road then meets the market square.
If you want to spend time exploring Masham, there is St Mary’s church in the square and both Black Sheep and Theakston’s breweries as well as several shops, cafés and pubs. The Masham Community Office, opposite the cashpoint, is a useful source of local information.
To return to Swinton, you need to head through the square to the main road that runs through the centre of Masham. Turn left onto this road and follow it as it heads towards Grewelthorpe. On the outskirts of town there is a right hand turn onto Swinton Terrace. Take this turning and continue for about half a mile where the golf club is on your right. Follow the road over the bridge and from here you can retrace your steps up the hill to Swinton.
