ON a dark December day in 1759, a young mother slipped on the ice in a Yorkshire street and died from her injuries.

Her unborn child, a boy, was delivered prematurely by caesarean section. He was christened Julius Caesar Ibbetson, a name which he hated for the rest of his life.

Julius was educated in Leeds before being apprenticed to the Hull painter John Fletcher.

As his career developed, he found employment in London restoring old masters, where he learned the skills and painting techniques of the Dutch artists.

He became a talented artist in his own right, but was also adept at copying paintings of leading artists. He exhibited his work at the Royal Academy in London several times, then took an appointment to sail to Java, the Cape of Good Hope and Madeira to draw scenery and fauna.

On his return to England, he became a prolific artist painting landscapes of Yorkshire and the Lake District. But his skills lay in his pictures of industrial development scenes of mining, iron furnaces and the people who worked them. He was also an accomplished painter of nautical scenes, shipwrecks and smugglers.

In 1794, Julius lost his wife and the pressure of bringing up his children gave him brain fever, which was the start of his demise, as his untrustworthy staff robbed him of all he owned while he was incapacitated.

When he recovered from the brain fever he moved to Liverpool to avoid his debtors before settling in Ambleside.

Julius was impressed by the Cumbrian scenery, and it was there he met Bella and was remarried in 1801. He was soon to meet a Yorkshire gentleman who sponsored his work and made his final move to Masham with his family where he lived until his death in 1817.

You can find Julius Caesar Ibbetson, now at peace, as he is buried in the churchyard at Masham.

Your route

Gazette & Herald: Masham country walk Leave Masham Market Square and head off towards the church in the corner.

Take the path around the right-hand side of the church passing the ancient Saxon Cross near the church entrance. Pass by the church on the path heading towards a gate in the fence. Julius Caesar Ibbetson lies at the other side of the church.

Pass through the metal gate, turning left into a field. Pass the leaf sculpture and exit the field through another gate to head downhill to a small road.

Turn right, here to walk past the Old Mill, then bear right to continue past Glebe House to a gate adjacent to the sewage works. Pass through the gate onto a narrow path alongside the River Ure.

Continue along until the path sweeps right away from the river. Turn left here onto a narrow path into a wood, then bear right nearby the River Burn.

Exit onto the road to turn left over the bridge. Once across turn right over a stile into a field to continue your walk along the bank of the River Burn.

Take the diversion left, then right, where the river bank has collapsed. Soon turn left and right again at the golf course, then continue along the path into a wood.

A little further along look carefully in the hedge on your left to see a stone shrine, then cross a stile at the large gate to walk along the golf course – beware of uncontrolled flying objects.

Stay on the golf course, keeping well to the right, until you reach the road. Cross a stile here, then turn right over the bridge.

A little further along at the entrance to the golf club, turn left onto the driveway, then go right across a wide, black path which crosses the fairway – beware again.

As the path reaches the other side and starts to go left, you must go right up a grassy bank to cross first a stone stile, then a wooden one into a field.

Keep straight ahead through the field as the path climbs past another sculpture, the enclosure, then cross a stile into a field, with a bull in field sign on the gate. He looked pretty harmless when I patted him as he passed me, but I did glance behind once or twice as I sped along.

Continue across the field, heading for a gap in the hedge, then go downhill to a large gate to exit onto a small road.

Go right here through the industrial estate, and at the road, turn right along Westholme Road, then past the Theakston’s Brewery buildings.

At the junction go left, then soon bear right to head back to Masham Market Square and a pint in the King’s Head.


The facts

Distance – 3½ miles (5½km).

Time – 1½ hours.

Grading – Easy.

Start/grid ref – Masham Market Square, grid ref 226806.

Best map – OS Landranger 99.

Parking – Masham Market Square, 50p honesty box.

Refreshments – Pubs and cafés in Masham.

Public toilets – Masham.

Guide book – Twelve Scenic Walks around the Yorkshire Dales by J Brian Beadle published by Trailblazer, priced £2.50, and available from Trailblazer Outdoors in Pickering, book shops, NYMR railway stations, visitor centres and tourist information centres.