I usually plan my walks well in advance, but very occasionally something turns up that I cannot resist. I love walking through history and on this occasion I have even ventured out of Cumbria and into Yorkshire. My reason was that the body of Richard III has been found under a car park in Leicestershire. The king was the last English monarch to be killed in battle but how do we know it was him. A couple of very distant relations are still alive and their DNA matches perfectly with that of Richard III. His power base was at Middleham in North Yorkshire and here I found a walk packed to the brim with his memory.

How to get there:

Follow the A65 from Kendal to Ingleton. Then take the road towards Hawes and along the A684 to Leyburn. Here turn right onto the A6108 and follow the signs to Middleham where there is plenty of street parking.

Map: OS Explorer OL 30

Grid reference: 125 876

Length: 3.5 miles

Richard III was killed on the battlefield of Bosworth in 1485. He was beaten by Henry VII who was the start of the Tudor dynasty. When William Shakespeare was writing it would have been suicide not to paint Richard III as a hunchbacked, evil faced midget and a sadist. The truth is that Richard was much loved in Yorkshire. The recently discovered skeleton showed that he did have a spinal disorder but he was not a hunchback and that he was 5-feet 8ins tall. This was an average height for people of that time.

Route:

1 Start from the grounds of the church of St Mary and St Alkelda. The latter was a Saxon princess who was killed by pagan Danish women because of her Christian faith. Richard of Gloucester (later Richard III) extended the Norman church to provide a college for the training of priests and his name is still revered in this lovely and unspoiled town.

From the church cross the A6102 and ascend the road to reach the town square on the left.

2 From the square look for the old Nosebag cafe and the Richard III pub. Between the two pass through a narrow archway.

3 Turn right to reach the substantial castle ruins. This is open to the public but out of season it is closed on Mondays. Richard was found here as a knight and by all accounts he was a ‘bonny fighter’. He was killed at the age of only 32 and as his only son died in infancy the Plantagenet line died out.

Pass the castle and its now dry moat on the right.

4 At a metal gate look out for a substantial earthworks on the right. This is William’s Hill where there was an earlier castle built on the site of an Iron Age fort. Follow an uphill path with a wall on the right, before descending across fields to reach the River Cover.

5 At the river, turn left, and continue parallel with its banks, keeping woodlands to the left. This is a steep section and the path divides at times but always keep to the right. Pass through a stile and continue ahead to reach South Lodge on the left.

6 At Chapel Fields the footpath sweeps to the left until it returns to point 4 on the walk. Follow the return route, passing the castle on the left and return to the starting point.

The town always echoes to the sound of racehorses and I should end with the last words of Richard III given to him by William Shakespeare - ‘A horse, a horse, my kingdom for a horse.’ How prophetic. How strange it is that we have had to wait until February 2013 to write the final chapter in the life of the last Plantagenet king.

NB: Restrictions on space mean that this article provides a general summary of the route. It is advisable for anyone who plans to follow the walk to take a copy of the relevant Ordnance Survey map.