Ingleborough

Whernside from Ribblehead

Moderate

8.2 miles | 13.2 km | 516 m Ascent | 10.8 Naismith miles | Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
The Yorkshire Three Peaks are a marketing triumph, and perhaps something of a distraction: They are indeed in the Yorkshire Dales, and there is no doubt that each of the three make a great walk in their own right. Whether they are best combined and walked as gruelling challenge is more open to question.
Within the group we do have some super-fit heroic types who tackle all three at pace to raise money for charity, but they were unavailable on the day, so we sent the B* team to walk Whernside, taking as long as it takes, with plenty of stops to enjoy the views and have a chat. Add a glorious sunny day, and this is Dales walking as it should be. [* Bentham]

Whernside from Ribblehead Read More »

Wenning Ways from Low Bentham

Moderate

8.0 miles | 12.9 km | 203 m Ascent | 9.0 Naismith miles | Mary & Kate Taylor
We have enjoyed a number of local walks this spring, and all of them have reminded us just how lucky we are to live here. As the name suggests this excellent walk showcases the Wenning Valley, and visits both Low and High Bentham, making good use of the popular “Heritage Trails”.
How fondly we remember a walk depends to some extent on the weather (perfect on this occasion), and on random events that even the best walk leaders cannot plan. On this walk, it was the chance to watch an otter hunting in the River Wenning near Low Bentham, apparently unconcerned by our presence. You may or may not enjoy that particular treat if you take this walk, but there are lots of other interesting things to see, with industrial archaeology, local history, and great views all included.

Wenning Ways from Low Bentham Read More »

Ingleton to Cold Cotes circular

Easy

6.0 miles | 9.7 km | 164m Ascent | 6.8 Naismith miles | Don Cartledge
Picking a walking route during the winter presents challenges that don’t apply during the summer: Travelling time to the start of the walk eats into the available daylight, and so shorter more local routes are particularly attractive.
This week’s walk fits that description . . . but that sells it short: This compact route right on our doorstep offers great views, has a cafe on the route, visits a couple of idyllic dales villages, and has opportunities to either extend the route up onto the slopes of Ingleborough or onward into Ingleton. You could also shorten it in a couple of places if time is pressing.
The only downside is that you need to like stiles for this one – there are plenty of them.

Ingleton to Cold Cotes circular Read More »

Chapel le Dale and Ingleborough environs

Moderate

8.0 miles | 12.9 km | 226 m Ascent | 9.2 Naismith miles | Kate Rowe
Last week’s walk to the Old Man of Coniston from Torver was a real treat, but it’s not a walk that you could decide to do whilst eating your breakfast and be back in Bentham by mid-afternoon.
So, this week we offer a more local walk: For those of us lucky enough to be based in Bentham it is easy to get to, and despite being on the slopes of both Ingleborough and Whernside is generally quiet and peaceful.
We visit a lovely church, see a well-known statue, walk under the most photographed railway viaduct in the UK, have lunch in a nature reserve, before passing close to Viking settlements, seeing some wonderful limestone pavement, and the entrance to a cave. There are great views of the hills all the way along, and you could even have an ice cream or a pub lunch halfway round.

Chapel le Dale and Ingleborough environs Read More »

Train to Horton-in-Ribblesdale then walk to Settle

Moderate

8.6 miles | 13.8 km | 429 m Ascent | 10.7 Naismith miles | Sandra Craggs
Most of the walks that Bentham Footpath Group offer are circular – that’s not a policy, just a practical constraint. However, the fact that one of the most scenic railway lines in the UK runs through “our patch” offers the opportunity to add linear walks where we let the train cover one half of a larger loop.
This walk does just that – we start from Settle and then take the train to Horton in Ribblesdale, before walking back.
There are many ways we could plan a walk from Horton to Settle, and in this case we opt to take a route via Brackenbottom and Dub Cote, before picking up the Pennine Journey and then Ribble Way paths to take us to Stainforth. We then climb Stainforth Scar past Lower Winskill, and then descend into Langcliffe before taking a quiet lane back into Settle. This involves a number of ascents – none of them too challenging, but together placing this walk at the top end of our “moderate” category.

Train to Horton-in-Ribblesdale then walk to Settle Read More »

Keasden Church Circular

Easy

4.4 miles | 7.0 km | 143 m Ascent | 5.1 Naismith miles | Kate Rowe
Being able to take a walk on a balmy summer evening is one of life’s treats, and its one that the Bentham Footpath Group try to enjoy a few times each year.
The weather is beyond our control of course, as our August 2023 evening walk from the same starting location showed. This time we were lucky and got good light with excellent views.
The later starting time means that a shorter walk is appropriate, so this walk falls well into our easy category. Easy does not mean dull though -there’s plenty to see with hay meadows in full flower and some great views across the valley to Ingleborough.

Keasden Church Circular Read More »

Chapel-le-Dale, Scales Moor and Oddies Lane

Easy

7.4 miles | 11.9 km | 206 m Ascent | 8.4 Naismith miles | Mary Taylor
Living in Bentham gives us easy access to the Yorkshire Three Peaks, and many BFG walks have featured them as their main attraction. This walk however takes a route between two of them without climbing either. Does that mean we miss out on points of interest? Not at all – the best views of the peaks are often not from the top.
We start at Chapel-le-Dale, using the car park for the lovely St Leonard’s Church, and then head up toward Ellerbeck, passing the interesting Statue of a Warrior by Charles I’Anson. From there we head left onto Scales Moor – in effect the southern slopes of Whernside, seeing some of the best limestone pavement anywhere. Once at Twisleton Scar End, we take a path down to Twisleton Hall, and then on to Oddies Lane – a metalled road, built over the route of a Roman Road, which sees very little traffic. This takes us back to Chapel-le-Dale, with great views of Ingleborough along the way.

Chapel-le-Dale, Scales Moor and Oddies Lane Read More »

Ingleborough from Clapham

Challenging

9.6 miles | 15.4 km | 751 m Ascent | 13.3 Naismith miles | Bernie & Sheila Garrett
One of the (many) advantages of living in Bentham is easy access to the Yorkshire Three Peaks. The group has taken various routes up each, and in this excellent walk we tackle Ingleborough again. Why? – because it’s still there as Mallory might say.
Most walkers start at Ingleton, but we take the slightly less common starting point at Clapham and approach the peak via a route that passes Clapdale Wood and Ingleborough Cave. We then take an optional short diversion to look at Trow Gill, before continuing slightly further north to find an easier route uphill across Clapham Bottoms and on to the famous Gaping Gill. After that there’s a steep climb up Little Ingleborough before we finally reach the peak, where we enjoy fine views and note bronze age remains and a demolished hospice. The diversions just tipped us over the 15km limit that we use to mark a walk as challenging but leave those out and it would be moderate – though still steep.

Ingleborough from Clapham Read More »

Levens and Heversham

Easy

6.0 miles | 9.6 km | 205 m Ascent | 7.0 Naismith miles | Don Cartledge
A quick glance at our website shows that Levens is a firm favourite of the Bentham Footpath Group, and this easy walk demonstrates exactly why – it’s convenient to get to, offers easy walking, is packed with interesting locations, landscaped parks and industrial heritage, as well as offering stunning views back to the Yorkshire Dales, of the Kent estuary, and over to the Lake District fells.
The route we present here overlaps in places with a number of our other walks – the great advantage of this is that you can use this as the basis for longer or more challenging days out by adding sections from the connecting routes.

Levens and Heversham Read More »

Ingleton Circular via Fell Lane

Easy

4.1 miles | 6.6 km | 197 m Ascent | 5.1 Naismith miles |Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
This walk was designed to be brief such that as a group we could meet as usual yet be finished in time to reconvene with friends and family at the Old Sawmill in Clapham for a convivial meal.
Don’t go thinking that this walk is any the lesser for being short and sweet though – it goes far enough up Fell Lane (one of the routes up Ingleborough) to give good views of the peak, and we have Ingleton and the Lune Valley to enjoy too.
A brief look at the OS map will show that this walk intersects with many other footpaths so there are ample opportunities to extend or modify the route – or simply enjoy it as it is: An easy but enjoyable walk that can be slotted into the day with minimal planning.

Ingleton Circular via Fell Lane Read More »