More centrally, a minor road departs from the A170 at Keldholme and passes through Castleton before joining the A171 which connects Whitby and Guisborough.

On weekends during the summer, these are complemented by Moorsbus services, which run from local urban centres into more remote parts of the national park which are difficult to access without private transport.

[6][7] The North York Moors consist of a moorland plateau, dissected by a number of deep dales or valleys containing cultivated land or woodland.

The largest dale is Eskdale, the valley of the River Esk which flows from west to east and empties into the North Sea at Whitby.

[8] About 23 per cent of the North York Moors is under woodland cover (mostly located to the south-west and south-east), equivalent to more than 300 square kilometres of trees.

[10] As part of the United Kingdom, the North York Moors area generally has warm summers and relatively mild winters.

The latitude of the area means that it is influenced by predominantly westerly winds with depressions and their associated fronts, bringing with them unsettled and windy weather, particularly in winter.

For its latitude, this area is milder in winter and cooler in summer due to the influence of the Gulf Stream in the North Atlantic Ocean.

Onshore winds in spring and early summer bring mists or low stratus clouds (known locally as sea frets) to the coasts and moorland.

Roads over the high moorland areas are notoriously prone to drifting snow due to the exposed nature of the terrain.

Fluctuations in sea level produced different rock types varying from shales to sandstones and limestones derived from coral.

As the climate became warmer at the end of the ice age, the snowfields on the North York Moors began to melt.

The boulder clay blocked the eastern end of the Vale of Pickering causing a permanent deviation in the course of the River Derwent.

[17] The North York Moors National Park encompasses three main types of landscape, whose differences are clearly visible, and the coastal belt.

Wheatear and golden plovers inhabit grassier patches on the moorland and ring ouzels live in stony areas.

The limestone streams with their nutrient rich waters support an abundance of aquatic invertebrates such as insect larvae and crustaceans.

The cliff at Boulby, at 690 feet (210 m), the highest point on the east coast of England is formed by Jurassic shales, clays and ironstones.

Rocky shores offer an abundance of seaweeds in zones of different types which are more and less tolerant of exposure to the air and salt or clear water.

Radio carbon dating of pollen grains preserved in the moorland peat provides a record of the actual species of plants that existed at various periods in the past.

Around 8,000 BC, Britain was still part of the European landmass, and communities of Middle Stone Age people migrated to England and began to inhabit the North York Moors.

The Neolithic farmers grew crops, kept animals, made pottery and were highly skilled at making stone implements.

There are Roman camps at Cawthorn and Lease Rigg near Grosmont and signal stations along the coast at Filey, Scarborough, Ravenscar, Goldsborough and Hunt Cliff.

In the 9th century, Viking raiders began to attack the Yorkshire coast, and in 867 these Danes destroyed the religious houses at Whitby, Lastingham and Hackness and after battle set up a new Danish kingdom based at York.

It has been mined in the area from prehistoric times but the industry grew in the middle of the 19th century in response to a fashion for the jewellery produced from it.

Agricultural use of the moors is shared with grouse shooting as a means of gaining financial return from the vast expanse of heather.

The area also offers opportunities for cycling, mountain biking, and horse-riding, including a circular long distance bridle route created around the North York Moors which can be accessed at a number of locations.

[25] These are at: The North York Moors have not changed much in the past 50 years, and are often used as a location for British television programmes and films.

The film version of Downton Abbey shot some scenes at the Pickering station of North Yorkshire Moors Railway.

The Runaways with Mark Addy (2020), The Secret Garden with Colin Firth and Julie Walters (2020) and Miss Willoughby and the Haunted Bookshop with Kelsey Grammer, Caroline Quentin and Nathalie Cox (2020) were all partly filmed in the National Park.

The North York Moors are within a reasonable distance of Redcar and form part of East Cleveland, and are within 20 minutes' driving time from central Middlesbrough and Scarborough.