Threshfield Moor

Monday 14 August 2017. Today has been bookended by rain. The morning rain stopped at about 10am but it looked like there was more to come, so, instead of walking, I had a drive into Skipton to have a look around the street market. It was full of tat and a complete waste of time. I took the opportunity to do some shopping for a few basics before returning to my caravan.

The sky’s had cleared by lunchtime so I took the opportunity to go for a short walk directly from my caravan up onto Threshfield Moor. I had done most of the route before but took a slightly different path on the way back. It was only 5 miles but had a total ascent of almost 800ft.

As I’m writing this blog at 4pm it has clouded over again and has just started to rain. With luck, this will clear overnight and I’ll be able to get out walking again tomorrow.

Aerial View

Threshfield Moor – walk route

 

Pateley Bridge

Sunday 13 August 2017. I met Jacqui yesterday for a walk up Parlick Fell. It rained quite heavily on the drive there and there was a heavy shower as we dashed from the car park to the village tea shop. The hills were still shrouded in cloud and it didn’t look very promising so the walk was abandoned in favour of a visit to the food festival being held in nearby Clitheroe. The corndoned-off streets were packed with stalls and people. It stayed dry and the intended hill walk might have been more preferable.

The weather was much improved today so I made the 10 mile drive to Pateley Bridge. My route followed the Nidderdale Way for much of the time but large sections of the route were made up of tarmaced farm access roads shown on the maps as bridleways. I only saw one car but the hard surface was unforgiving on my feet.

I stopped for coffee at Brandstone Dub bridge with the beck flowing just below me. Another stop was taken sat in the sun near the caravan site at Ashfold Side. The walk was just 5.9 miles with a little over 900ft of ascent.

Aerial View

Pateley Bridge – walk route

 

Great Whernside

Thursday 10 August 2017. Great Whernside at 2,309ft comes in at 6th in the list of the Dales 30 highest hills and, as I haven’t done it before, today was the day. I made an early start and was parked up (£4.50) in Kettlewell at just after 9am. The cafe across the road was open so I looked in with the idea of fuelling up with a bacon sandwich (£4.25) and a pot of tea (£2.50). The prices were extortionate and the tight-fisted Yorkshire man in me wouldn’t allow me to pay so much for something that I bought in Grassington yesterday for half the cost.

There was a stiff 1in4 climb out of Kettlewell and I stopped after half an hour to get my breath, take a few pictures and to have a swift coffee. My next stop was at the top of Cam Head. My knee was beginning to hurt and I thought that a few minutes rest might help. The knee pain had eased by the time that I crossed the Leyburn road which was good news as a steep 700ft climb lay ahead of me to the summit of Great Whernside. The lower slopes were waterlogged, both on the way up and on the way down, and I soon had wet feet.

The outcrop of rocks and the trig point that mark the summit of Great Whernside aren’t spectacular in any way so, after a quick coffee, I made my way down towards Kettlewell passing Hag Dyke on the way. At 1,525ft this converted farmhouse must be one of the highest and most remote Scouts accommodation in the Dales. The last mile or so was on a lovely green path  across fields with views over Wharfedale. Having now ticked-off Great Whernside, I doubt that I’ll take the trouble to visit again, something I suspect that I might be saying about other Dales 30 hills which lie at the top of bleak sodden moors.

The walk was 7.9 miles with a total ascent of 1,900ft. Having missed out on breakfast I couldn’t resist a very late lunch (3pm) of fish and chips at the Kings Head.

Aerial View

Great Whernside – walk route

 

Hebden

Wednesday 9 August 2017. I first did this walk some 25 years ago as I started to get into hill walking and since then it has become one of my favourite walks in the Wharfedale area. I last did this walk in March 2015 when there was a good covering of snow and I took a picture of my orange Slam-Duck with Yarnbury farm in the background. I thought that it would be fun to try to re-create this picture on today’s walk. My route was somewhat longer as I took in a diversion to the old lead mine workings on Grassington Moor and to Linton Falls.

Leaving Hebden I made my way steadily uphill alongside Hebden Beck. There was a strong northerly wind blowing in my face making the going tougher than normal. I’ve had to abandon this walk in the past as the stepping stones across the beck were under water. This wasn’t the case today although the last stone was slightly submerged. I stopped for a coffee break soon after, sheltered from the strong wind behind a stone wall.

I broke away from my normal route to Yarnbury to follow the Duke’s New Road and the Lead Mine Trail to have a look at the old working and to visit the large chimney. Old Moor Lane then lead me back towards Yarnbury, my Slam-Duck photo shoot, and a much needed lunch stop/rest which consisted of an apple and a cup of coffee. My turning point at Bare House marked the half-way point of today’s walk. When I was last here the snow had drifted so high against the gate that I couldn’t open it and had to climb over instead.

From Bare House into Grassington my path ran parallel to the Dales Way although a little higher up the hillside. This provided great views. I had been looking forward to reaching Grassington (8 miles) as I had planned a 2nd and more substantial lunch stop. Unfortunately, my favourite cafe was packed so I went across the road to buy a takeaway bacon sandwich and a cup of tea from Walkers bakery. My £2.50 sandwich was so large and loaded with bacon that I was unable to finish it and saved some for when I got back to the caravan.

By now, I was a more than a little tired and enquired at the YDNP office about getting a bus back to Hebden. There would be a wait of 3 hours so I had no chance to whimp-out and had to walk the last 2 miles back to the car. The plus point was that I could visit Linton Falls which were in fine form following recent rains. My walk was a little longer than intended at just under 10 miles with a total ascent of over 1,300ft.

Aerial View

Hebden – walk route

 

Grimwith Reservoir

Tuesday 8 August 2017. Rain was forecast soon after midday so if I wanted to stay dry I needed to complete this walk before lunch. I was living in Harrogate, more than 22 years ago, when I last walked near Grimwith Reservoir and, as I recall, there wasn’t a path all of the way round. This has since been rectified with the addition of a section of “permissive” path and Yorkshire Water have provided a “free” car park and a good toilet block.

I started my 4.35 mile walk with just under 400ft of ascent at 09.50 and finished at 11:30 just as the first spots of rain were falling. I did a clockwise circuit which seemed to be the non-conventional route as I met about a dozen walkers coming towards me on their anti-clockwise walk. Other than the water and landscape, much of which has blooming purple heather, there isn’t a great deal to see. However, towards the end of the walk, I passed a restored “cruck barn” which, the information board suggests, was about 400 years old.

Aerial View

Grimwith Reservoir – walk route

Warmington

Sunday 30 July 2017. 10 of us met in Warmington for today’s 8.4 mile walk with just 430ft of ascent. The plan to use the village hall car park was scuppered as it was closed for some celebratory event. There was plenty of on-street car parking nearby.

Our route followed the Nene Way to Ashton where we stopped for coffee. The village peacocks were in residence but, unusually, were being shy. From here we walked through Polebrook and then on a section of road which took us to Ashton woods. It was a relief to get off the tarmac and to enjoy the cool dappled shade of the woods. Lunch was taken sat on the trunk of a fallen tree not far from Ashton Wold Farm.

The woodland bridleway soon came to another section of road taking us to Tansor Wold Farm. The fields from here, through crops of wheat, had a very wide footpaths, it was therefore something of a surprise to find our way out of one field and into the next blocked by overgrown vegetation and a small fallen tree. We found a way through and got back to the cars in Warmington. I’ll report the footpath obstruction to the local council for clearance action.

1st August update. Northamptonshire County Council responded quickly to my reporting of the footpath obstruction and have advised that it was cleared during their inspection visit.

Aerial View

Warmington – walk route

Dales 30

Saturday 29 July 2017. I still have a couple of caravanning/walking trips booked for what remains of this summer but my thoughts are already turning to what I might do next year. I recently came across a list of the top 30 hills in the Dales. I did the 3rd highest hill, Great Shunner Fell a couple of years ago but I’ve only done 13 (highlighted in red) of the top 30 so there is still plenty of scope to do more.

The caravan sites at Hawes and Wharfedale (Grassington) are ideal bases from which to explore the 17 hills that I’ve still to climb and visits will be scheduled next year. Some of these hills are the summit of vast areas of moorland without any direct footpaths so they will certainly be a challenge.

			Height (ft)	Height (ms)	1/25,000 Map	Trig point
1	Whernside	Western Dales	2,415	736	OL2	SD 739 814
2	Ingleborough	Western Dales	2,375	724	OL 2	SD 741 746
3	Great Shunner Fell	Northern Dales	2,349	716	OL 30	SD 849 973
4	High Seat	Cumbrian Pennines	2,326	709	OL19	NY 802 013
5	Wild Boar Fell	Cumbrian Pennines	2,323	708	OL19	SD 758 988
6	Great Whernside	Upper Wharfedale	2,310	704	OL 2	SE 002 739
7	Buckden Pike	Upper Wharfedale	2,303	702	OL 30	SD 961 788
8	Pen y Ghent	Western Dales	2,277	694	OL 2	SD 839 734
9	Great Coum	Western Dales	2,254	687	OL 2	SD  701 836
10	Swarth Fell	Cumbrian Pennines	2,234	681	OL19	SD 755 967
11	Plover Fell	Western Dales	2,231	680	OL 2	SD 848 753
12	Baugh Fell, Tarn Rigg	Cumbrian Pennines	2,224	678	OL19	SD 714 917
13	The Calf	The Howgills	2,218	676	OL19	SD 667 971
14	Lovely Seat	Northern Dales	2,215	675	OL 30	SD 879 951
15	Calders	The Howgills	2,212	674	OL19	SD 671 961
16	Great Knoutberry Hill	Northern Dales	2,205	672	OL 2	SD 789 872
17	Rogan’s Seat	Northern Dales	2,205	672	OL 30	NY 920 031
18	Dodd Fell Hill	Northern Dales	2,192	668	OL 30	SD 841 846
19	Fountain’s Fell	Western Dales	2,192	668	OL 30	SD 864 716
20	Little Fell	Cumbrian Pennines	2,188	667	OL19	SD 809 966
21	Simon’s Fell, Ingleborough	Western Dales	2,133	656	OL 2	SD 754 751
22	Yockenthwaite Moor	Upper Wharfedale	2,110	643	OL 30	SD 909 811
23	Fell Head	The Howgills	2,100	640	OL19	SD 649 982
24	Yarlside	The Howgills	2,096	639	OL19	SD 686 985
25	Gragareth	Western Dales	2,060	628	OL 2	SD 688 793
26	Darnbrook Fell	Western Dales	2,047	624	OL 30	SD 885 728
27	Randy Gill Top	The Howgills	2,047	624	OL19	NY 687 001
28	Drumaldrace, Wether Fell	Northern Dales	2,014	614	OL 30	SD 874 867
29	Birks Fell	Upper Wharfedale	2,001	610	OL 30	SD 919 764
30	Calf Top	Western Dales	2,000	610	OL 2	SD 664 857