Packhorse bridge

The Tolkein Trail

Easy

6.8 miles | 11.0 km | 164 m Ascent | 7.6 Naismith miles | David & Sheila Longton
Think of Tolkein and Middle Earth, and many people will think of New Zealand – largely because The Lord of the Rings trilogy was filmed there. But where is Middle Earth in reality?
We can all agree that Great Britain is the centre of the civilized world – nowhere eats more custard cream biscuits. We also know from our Dunsop Bridge walk that the centre of Great Britain is within the Forest of Bowland.
When we find out that Tolkein stayed at Stonyhurst College near Clitheroe whilst writing his masterpiece, it all falls into place: Middle Earth is the route we walk here. We start at Hurst Green, then walk down to the banks of the Ribble, past the confluence with the Calder, upstream to the union with the Hodder, then along the Hodder to pick up a path through the grounds of Stonyhurst College to return to Hurst Green. This excellent easy walk takes less time than watching the films.

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Stainforth

Easy

6.9miles | 11.1 km | 329 m Ascent | 8.5 Naismith miles | Bernie & Sheila Garrett
What are the ingredients for a perfect walk? For some it’s something easily accessible with good parking and not too far from home, perhaps with riverside walks, and a waterfall or two. Or you may prefer ancient packhorse bridges, and traditional village greens, and perhaps a war memorial and village church. Or water mills and abandoned industrial remains excite you.
This walk has all of these and is so densely packed with interest that all this is delivered within our 12 km limit for an easy walk.
What more could you want? No wonder we had such a good turn out for this walk.

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Ravenstonedale and Smardale

Moderate

7.8miles | 12.6 km | 328 m Ascent | 9.5 Naismith miles | Jim Shuttleworth
Bentham Footpath Group has enjoyed many good walks in the Howgills. This time we go just a little bit further North and explore Ravenstonedale, Smardale and the fantastic Smardale Gill Viaduct.
The viaduct alone is worth the trip, but this walk offers much more: a thriving nature reserve, great views back to the Howgills and Wild Boar Fell or across to Brough Castle and Warcop Fell, industrial archaeology, and free parking within walking distance of two award winning pubs.
Much of the route is on accessible paths so although the walk is long enough to be classed as moderate, it’s not too challenging and there are some potential shortcuts.

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Langcliffe to Stainforth Circular

Easy

4.7 miles | 7.6 km | 192m Ascent | 5.7 Naismith miles | Peter Lennard
The Bentham Footpath Group has a tradition of making the walk between Christmas and New Year an easier and shorter walk than usual, so that we can combine it with a meal at a local venue. Our aim is to make the walk accessible to all our members and to ensure that we can be at our venue by lunchtime.
Does that mean the route needs to be dull? Absolutely not – as this walk shows. We start from Langcliffe and then take the path up the western side of the river Ribble as far as Stainforth Force and the historic pack horse bridge. From there we cross the river and take the bridleway into Stainforth village and then over fields to the fascinating Hoffmann Kilns at the old Craven Lime Works. Finally, another short section of field crossings brings us back to Langcliffe.

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Grisedale and Garsdale

Challenging

9.5 miles | 15.3 km | 590 m Ascent | 12.4 Naismith miles | Sandra Craggs
Grisedale is not well known, and often missed by visitors, but there is a simple beauty in this Dale – which is what why we chose this walk.
We start at Garsdale Station and then head up Grisedale to East Scale and the Quaker Burial Ground, before walking up Galey hill to Flust where we pick up the Pennine Journey path down to the B6259.
A very short section of road walking takes us to Quarry Farm where we head over fields and through a plantation to Lunds Chapel, before climbing (quite steeply) up the side of Abbotside Common to pick up (Lady Anne’s) High Way. We follow this along the valley side for a while before heading down the Pennine Bridleway to the Cobbles Plantation and Ure Force.
A brief stop at The Moorcock Inn is a recommended option, before crossing the A684 and walking under the impressive Dandry Mire Viaduct to return to the start.

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