Holy Trinity Church – Bentham Footpath Group

Middleham Circular

7.8 miles | 12.5 km | 298 m Ascent | 9.3 Naismith miles | Glyn Barnes
We enjoyed an excellent walk from Horsehouse to Carlton in Coverdale in March 2025, noting how quiet this lovely dale is in comparison to many of the others we have walked. That first impression is confirmed by this return visit where we explore the banks of the river Cover at Middleham, slightly downstream of our last visit – quite close in fact to the point where Coverdale and Wensleydale meet. Middleham claims to be the smallest town in Yorkshire, but it is a giant in the world of horse racing with its 15 professional stables earning it the nickname ‘The Newmarket of the North’.
As well as providing a particularly lovely riverside walk, this route, starting in Middleham, gives us much else of interest – Splendid Georgian architecture, all the horse racing infrastructure around the town, two (or perhaps 3) castles, a particularly lovely church and many good options for refreshment in the town centre. All with ample parking and well maintained toilets. Perfect.

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Kirkby Lonsdale and Casterton circular

5.0 miles | 8.1km | 164 m Ascent | 5.9 Naismith miles | Don Cartledge
This is one of our shorter walks – partly because we revised part of the route on the day to avoid flooding, and partly because sometimes it’s just nice to offer an easier route that can be used to fill a Sunday afternoon or a spare couple of hours on a balmy summer evening.
Despite being quite compact, this walk packs a lot in – we get to see the dismantled railway line that once linked Ingleton and Sedbergh, via Barbon, we walk on a Roman road, pass a number of Andy Goldsworthy art installations, catch a distant glimpse of a stone circle, visit the beautiful Holy Trinity Church in Casterton, walk on the access road to coal mines that can be traced back to the reign of Charles I, and all still have time left to get some shopping in Kirkby.