Thruscross Reservoir

Thursday, 18th February 2012
15.2 km (9 1/2 miles) - 3 hrs 45 mins
Map : OS Explorer 297 - Lower Wharfedale & Washburn Valley

Thruscross is the highest of four reservoirs in the Washburn Valley, only a few miles from where I live. A Thursday off work gave me the chance to try the route above which I got from the Trailzilla site.

The walk starts from the Car Park at the very top of Fewston Reservoir (GR : SE 168553).  Care must be taken crossing the very busy A59, the main road between Skipton and Harrogate, to pick up Hall Lane (signed to West End). The road climbs steadily until it takes a sharp right turn.  The route, however, carries straight on up a green lane that carries on the steady ascent until it meets another metalled road (GR : SE 143556).  Here you turn right along Kex Gill Road until passing Burnt House on the left hand side and a footpath sign which gives on to rough pasture land.
In all honesty this was the only difficult part of the walk,although heading just to the right of West End Outdoor Centre should lead you in the right direction.
Thruscross, was the last of the four reservoirs to be built and included flooding the village of West End. The church (or chapel) was moved to higher ground, but without a congregation is now an oddly shaped outdoor centre (which I have stayed in on a couple of occasions).
From here the route is very straightforward as you follow the paths laid out by Yorkshire Water, who own the reservoir.  At first the route hugs closely to the shore of the water, passing through maintained pine woods, giving off a heady mix of resin smells on this particular day.  Whilst extremely muddy the going is not too tough, although care had to be taken due to the slippery nature of the underfoot conditions.
Emerging at the far end of the reservoir the route does take a detour up a fairly steep incline to cross Roundells Allotment before dropping back down to the shoreline again.

Eventually the dam at the end of the reservoir is crossed before dropping down the embankment and finishing the walk alongside the River Washburn itself. 

A slightly longer walk than I first anticipated but even though it is mid-October I managed this with just a base layer and fleece (discarding the fleece for the latter part of the walk).  The light was not particularly good for photography and the photos do not, perhaps, reflect the scenery that is visible.  It was however a varied walk - with hardly a soul about - taking in open moorland, the reservoir and woodland. All in all a fantastic day and my back seems to have held up, although the legs are pretty stiff !