A streaky sky foreshadowed a morning of sun and breeze in East Yorkshire. Jane and I were off early from our night stop at Kilham Hall, following paths through pale fields of wheat and oilseed rape. Long whalebacks too low to be called hills gave the skyline a seductive dip and roll you would never suspect from the main roads.

The poplar groves along Lowthorpe Beck stirred and hissed like a dark green sea away to our left. By the brook, on the outskirts of Harpham, a sparrowhawk pounced, startling a brace of hares to lollop away into the hedge.

Harpham holds two ancient wells, both encased in steel cages and old stories. St John’s Well, on the eastern edge — efficacious in curing headaches, deafness and dumbness and in calming wild beasts — was brought into being by the holy healer St John of Beverley, a native of Harpham.

To the west, the Drummer’s Well has a more ominous history. The story goes that William the Conqueror promised the local land to whomever arrived there first. The noble Sieur de St Quintin, infuriated when a humble drummer boy beat him to it, pushed the lad to his death down the well and claimed the title for himself.

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To this day, the death of each head of the St Quintin tribe is foretold by a drumbeat from the well.

Burton Agnes church tower beckoned us, while the handsome Tudor manor house of Burton Agnes Hall hid its redbrick face amid its trees. We turned west again, finding a long green lane that brought us back to Kilham and a welcome pie and pint by the Old Star’s bright fire.

Start & finish Old Star Inn, Kilham, East Yorkshire YO25 4RG (OS ref TA 064643).

Getting there Train (thetrainline.com; railcard.co.uk) to Driffield (5 miles), or bus (No 126) from Driffield.

Road Kilham signs from A614 Driffield-Bridlington.

Walk (7½ miles, easy, OS Explorer 295): Leave Old Star, right (“Bracey Bridge” fingerpost) through pub garden; left at path junction (fingerpost, yellow arrows/YA) through kissing gate to bottom right of field. Bear right (066642); cross fields parallel to Lowthorpe Beck for 1½ miles. Cross A614 at Bracey Bridge (076620).

Cross parking place; across stile by gate; follow track. In 200yd fork right (079618; fingerpost, YA); follow field edge for two fields; through kissing gate; left on track across Lowthorpe Beck (085614); on to road. Right into Harpham. Past St Quintin Arms, left (“Bridlington”) for 30yd; right over stile (YA); aim for Burton Agnes church tower. At A614, right into Burton Agnes.

Second left to church and Burton Agnes Hall. Return along A614; first right (“Rudston”); pass village sign; in another 50yd, left (fingerpost, YA). Follow YAs through fields for ¾ mile; right along lane (087634) for 1 mile to road. Round right bend; in 50yd, left (fingerpost) past sewage works; over stream (068641). Bear right to field corner; into Kilham.

Lunch Old Star Inn (01262 420619).

Accommodation Kilham Hall, Kilham YO25 4SP (01262 420466; kilhamhall.co.uk): upmarket, welcoming.

More info Bridlington TIC (01262 673474); yorkshire.com; www.ramblers.org.uk