Ullswater

Saturday, 19th November
8Km (4.9 miles) 2hr 24mins

A number of weeks since we've  been walking due to other commitments and the weather.  Thankfully, this walk proved to be anything but seasonal.  Mid-November and we ended up walking in t-shirts !!
Thanks to friends John and Marilyn who had been given a free night's accomodation at the North Lakes Hotel and decided to share it with us !!  It was only fitting that I planned to Saturday afternoon excursion !

From the hotel we took the short drive to Pooley Bridge at the very top of Ullswater and, after exploring the village (a full ten minutes worth) we bought tickets for the Ullswater Steamer and boarded the boat for the short 20 minute journey to Howtown.  The weather at this stage of the day (midday) was chilly with low cloud over the hills, although there was a hint of blue. I have to say that sitting at the front of the boat I was pretty cold by the time the voyage ended !

Disembarking at Howtown Jetty (GR NY443198) a short walk leads to the road and just by the Howtown Outdoor Centre a gate gives onto the path and a short uphill stretch to another gate which gives on to a track.  The track hugs the wall as height is gained, almost inperceptably and the views spread out below you.

Also, as we gained height so did the cloud and within 10 minutes of starting the fleeces were discarded in favour of t-shirts.  The route was easy to follow and gained height almost without notice and the views became more and more extensive making it a delight to be outdoors at this time of the year.

The apex of the walk is a stone circle called The Cockpit (GR NY 482222) at approximately 330 mtrs. - 150 mtrs of ascent that hardly felt like it.  From the stone circle the anly way was downhill firstly across moorland and then along an old Roman Road that eventually became metalled and landed us back in Pooley Bridge.

A fantastic walk which, had we known what the weather was going to be like, would probably have been longer.  However, if I could  predict the weather then I wouldn't be writing this blog and the next day proved a point as, back in Yorkshire, the day from dawn to dusk was thick fog.

A selection of photos avaiable which probably don't do justice to the fantastic scenery.  Thanks to John, Marilyn and Gill for a fantastic weekend. Let's hope the weather at the weekends is better over the next few weeks and let's us get out - only 20 miles to go to crack the 300 mile mark for this year !

Viva Black-Vegas!!

Sunday, 30th October
13.7 Km (8.5 miles) - 2h:33min

Unbelievably on the penultimate day in October we completed this walk in t-shirts - the temeprature was around 14 degrees !!  The reason for visiting Blackpool was my father's annual holiday there. The excuse was there to walk from Blackpool up the coast to Fleetwood.
I have to say, and I don't want to sound snobbish, that Blackpool is still as gaudy as I remember it in my youth.  However, the Parkinson's Disease Society have held a week's event there and my parents have attended for a number of years.
The walk is very easy - ensure that the sea is on your left hand side and don't wander too far to the right ! It is also not a walk if you want solitude - the crowds were certainly out, and why not it was an absolutely glorious day.
If both Gill and I have any complaint it was that the whole walk was on concrete and both of us complained about sore feet and Gill ended up with some nasty blisters. 
Oh ! getting back ?  Thanks to the No. 14 bus which dropped us in the middle of town and left us with a half mile at the end getting back to our start point - a bit of a hobble if the truth be told.  Still, a very enjoyable walk.

Ingleton Waterfalls & Kingsdale

Sunday, 16th October

13 km (8 Miles) - 3 hr 18 min
OL2 - Yorkshire Dales (Southern and Western Areas)

Well, it's been almost three weeks since our last walk - in the meantime we have been busy moving my daughter into her new house in Lincoln (good luck to both Hannah and Alex in their new jobs and their new life in England) and also moving my father into a sheltered flat.
The latter has been quite emotional in respect that my sister and I have had to clear out the old house and, in the process, have unearthed memories of our childhood and family history that we had almost forgotten about.
In that respect this walk was also nostalgic given that (as far as I can remember) the last time I visited Ingleton's waterfalls was in my childhood - we lived some 20 miles away in the village of Langcliffe).
The walk itself really needs no detail as, once you reach the waterfalls (and pay your £5.00 entry fee), there is nowhere else to go but to follow the path that winds through woodland at first and then past Pecca Falls climbing steadily to Thornton Force.

Here's Gill stood next to the Force which, following almost a week of prolonged rain, was in good spirits !!

The going is good throughout and your £5.00 has obviously been well spent in creating and maintaining the footpaths.  A word of warning is that the outward stretch is reasonably strenuous with plenty of uphill sections - you are, after all, going against the river on this stretch and water, as we all know, flows downhill !

Just above Thornton Force the walk, which we got from the walkingworld website, deviates from the waterfall route and instead heads off up Kingdale.  A gloriously wide and flat bottomed dale with a single track road and quiet after the relatively crowded surrounds of the waterfalls.  The walk up the dale is via. the road as far as a ladder stile (GR SD702780) where we stopped for lunch next to the dried out Kingsdale Beck. Inagine our surprise then when the Beck suddenly sprang into life with the water filling as if the tide were coming in !
The route back is across meadow before a relatively easy climb over the shoulder of Wakenburgh Hill to re-join the waterfall route. 
Again, the route back is simply a case of following the signs for the waterfall walk as the return stretch down the River Doe again provides spectacular falls and gorges where the water gushed through.
By the time we got back to Ingleton the rain was fairly beating down but, I'm happy to say, my investment in a new pair of walking boots paid off as I was able to change without having wet feet !!  Congratulations to Scarpa - top class boots that didn't make my feet ache too much although it was the first time I had worn them.
Usual set of photographs is available from the link

Dallowgill and Greygarth Monument

Sunday, 11th Sept
11.7 km (7.2 miles) 2hr 55m
Explorer 26 - Nidderdale.

A wonderful scenic walk with clear views stretching for miles, although the wind was a bit pesky towards the end!  This was another walk from Paul Hannon's "Ripon and Lower Wensleydale" book and covered ground I did in May 2010, although this walk was clockwise !
The walk starts on a stretch of moorland road (GR SE199706) that can easily be missed. Once kitted up the first section follows a moorland path that drops quickly and easily into Dallow itself (GR SE197714). Dallow can hardly be called a village only containing a couple of houses but, once the settlement is left, the scenery changes as you skirt a wood and then drop to cross the River Laver by a footbridge (GR SE190714).  A short climb takes you into woods before crossing fields to a ruined farmhouse and up through a green lane to join the road.  A short stretch along the road, followed by an equally short climb sees you arrive at Greygarth Monument (GR SE 186723).  The monument contained our only cache of the day but the ability to climb up inside the monument to a "viewing platform" afforded long range views - as far as the eye could see and right across to the North Yorkshire moors.
After spending some time at the monument the "official" route is to retrace one's steps and then double back past the monument to cross Swetton Moor.  However, being cheats we went directly from the monument, across the moor dropping down to Swetton and eventually crossing Carlesmoor Beck.

Of point of interest along this route are a number of mosaics.  There are about ten of these (some photographed in the album that accompanies this blog), each depicting some form of wildlife or livestock.
The route from Carlesmoor is a lovely lane which follows the line of the beck before emerging onto the road. A short skip up the road and another lane gives way to the right which drops back down to cross a couple of fords before rising steeply to become Belford Lane.
This joins the main road just by the Drovers Inn before a further lane (Wetshod Lane) heads out towards Skelding Moor.  The final section skirts the edge of the moor before rejoining the road for the last 1/4 mile when the parking place is regained.
A superb walk in almost total isolation.  Dallowgill seems to be one of those places that no-one has ever heard of and we only met one other group of walkers. The weather was breezy but not uncomfortable apart from the last stretch along the road when we had to walk into it.  An enjoyable afternoon where we broke the 250 miles for the year mark !!  Photos available from this link (Note: the album is called Greygarth so it does not clash with a previous Dallowgill album!)

Oxenhope

Sunday, 4th Sept
10k (6mls) - 2hr 40m
OL21 - South Pennines

A delightful Sunday with the weather set fair giving us long distance views for miles on the "head of the valley" walk, right at the top of the Worth Valley.
Oxenhope is most famed as being the last station on the Worth Valley Railway and this walk started from the Station Car Park (GR SE032353). The walk quickly gained height as we strode up Dark Lane eventually emerging onto a back lane and dropping down to the main road before rising again to the Dog & Duck pub.
Here, thankfully, we turned off and up Sawood Lane, again gaining height pretty quickly to Cobling Farm and an amazing array of chickens and ducks (lots of variety of fowl - I need to look them up!).
From Coblilng Farm the scenery changes to moorland as Sawood Lane goes from being a metalled road, into track and, finally, moorland track.  This section was the real high point in more than one sense as the views afforded were truly spectacular.  Sadly, the camera doesn't catch these but we could make out Ingleborough in the far distance quite clearly.

After crossing the moor a road is regained (GR SE033331) and, after following it for a short distance, the route crosses fields to Intake Lane and eventually gives out at the Waggon and Horses.  After crossing the Hebden Bridge Road you descend Hard Nese Clough which was bathed in purple heather before climbing the other side of the clough to Lower Fold Farm (GR SE015345).  From here the route gradually descends along a road and then pathway to bring you back to the car park.
After the trial of strength last week this was an absolutely delightful walk with magnificent views.  The fact it took three hours less than last week and the fact that I can still walk shows that it was less than "challenging".
Link will take you to some photographs.

Forest of Bowland

Sunday, 28th August 2011
16.7km (10.3 miles) - 5hr 20mins
OL14 - Forest of Bowland and Ribblesdale

In my youth the Forest of Bowland was forbidden country, privately owned and inaccessible to all. So, when Country Walking Magazine published a walk in the area I could not resist - in retrospect I wish I had ! Described as a "challenging" walk it proved to be at the edge of our capability and, whilst the weather contributed to the challenge, it became a chore rather than a challenge. Looking back we probably shouldn't have set off for this exposed and wild location given the amount of rain that has fallen. Our reward was trudging through peat bog, almost shin deep in places which extended the time taken to cross the fell and turned "challenging" into strenuous.
Anyway, the route. We parked at a surprisingly populated layby just North-East of Dunsop Bridge (GR SD632511). The first part of the route was on well-made tracks and took us alongside Langden Beck to the strangely named LangdenCastle, a ruined shed, and the discovery of a cache. It was here that we encountered our first downpour of the day, but luckily we were inside the "castle" and escaped it. Clear skies ensued as we went further up the valley before turning up Fiendsdale (GR SD 598500). Here, a clearly defined path climbed the side of the dale gradually climbing 200 mtrs to Fiendsdale Head (GR SD588484)

It was at this point (moving from footpath to open access land) that the going got really tough.  The landscape was open fell with peat hags  and shin deep peat bog made the 4/5 kilometres extremely hard and slow moving. Added to this was driving rain and an absolutely howling gale. It was a great pity since the scenery was aboslutely magnificent, especially as we climbed to the high point of the walk with the cairn at 520mtrs.
Eventually, we reached the trig point at the top of Totridge (GR SD635487), although by this point the wind was so strong it almost blew us over. Both agreed that the preceding section was not enjoyable and was a slog through the relentless bog picking our way around the pools at the bottom of the hags.
From Totridge the route went virtually straight down hill (another challenge since both our calves and thighs were aching by this point) and dropped us to Hareden Farm where two very weary people then struggled along the riverbank and back to the car.
Certainly, the most strenuous walk we have done this year. As stated, given the amount of rain that had fallen in the preceding days we can't really complain about the conditions and I'm sure that looking back the magnificent countryside will outshadow the peat bogs !  We all live and learn !
Group of photographs available from this link - amazingly this doesn't show the extent of the peat hags and bogs. In fact, it looks quite idyllic but be warned the middle section was hard going !

Burnsall & Linton

Sunday, 21st August
11.6km (7 miles) - 2hr 40min
OL10 - Yorkshire Dales (Southern Area)

My third walk of the week (unless you count Sunday as the start of a new week !) and a walk we had promised to do a few months back but had abandoned because of the weather.  However, today was perfect walking weather - hot enough for a t-shirt, but not overwhelming - the temperature in the high teens.
I suppose one of the tips to give when trying to park in Burnsall is to arrive early.  Even at 10:30 on a Sunday morning all the "free" spaces had been taken, the riverside car park was nearly full and people were starting to arrive at the field, over the bridge.  It was certainly a differend story when we got back some three hours later when the place was cram-packed !

This is an old favourite of mine and is, to all extent and purposes, a gentle stroll rather then a walk. However, what it may lack in walking machismo it makes up for in the glory of its surroundings ! The first section is easy enough - find the river Wharfe and walk along it's banks crossing the river at the suspension bridge just North of Burnsall.  I couldn't be easier and if you feel yourself getting wet, then you've gone off course !  Along the bank we grabbed our first cache of the day at "Harry's Hollow" - just above Loup Scar where people were throwing themselves off the cliff into the river (a pastime I understand is called "tombstoning").

The river was pretty high which meant that the stepping stones across the Wharfe, just below Linton Church were not available, so we popped round the corner to cross the bridge over Linton Falls before climbing up a dropping into the village of Linton itself.

Linton is reknowned as a pretty village and it was nice to sit and have lunch overlooking the stream, although we did have guests in the shape of about twenty ducks hoping a crumb or two might fall their way !

After lunch the walk climbs up a gentle incline to join Thorpe Lane and drops into the hamlet which, reputedly, was missed by marauding Scots and became a refuge whenever the raiders from North of the Border were in the area !
The final section climbs out of Thorpe and cuts through some fields before the final stretch which can onlybe described as "stile practice" - there must be 10 or 12 stiles to negotiated before arriving back in the village and a welcome coffee at the Wharfe View Tea Rooms.

A delightful walk, although both Gill and I commented on it's seeming brevity !  Grabbed a couple of caches on the way round and took a few photographs, although the light wasn't that good.