Yorkshire Dales Hiking

Bracewell from Gisburn

Easy

7.2 miles | 11.6 km | 212m Ascent | 8.2 Naismith miles | Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
Bentham Footpath Group is lucky enough to have good access to the Yorkshire Dales, The South Lakes and the Forest of Bowland, and it’s to the latter that we head for this walk.
It might be tempting to assume that a walk in the forest would involve a lot of time spent amongst the trees. Not necessarily so, as the name Forest of Bowland, was first applied when medieval Royal hunting forests were established – the title ‘forest’ refers here to hunting rights, and not to a large expanse of woodland, as we would interpret it today.
From the attractive village of Gisburn, we loop out round Gisburne Park, before following Stock Beck upstream to Horton, and then Bracewell. We have a quick look at the lovely church of St Michaels, then head west across farmland to Sullside Hill, before strolling back down into Gisburn, via another ancient church – St Mary the Virgin.

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Copplestone Gate and Conistone Pie 2

Easy

6.9 miles | 11.1 km | 369 m Ascent | 8.8 Naismith miles | Peter Lennard
Offering interesting walks on as frequent a basis as we do within the Bentham Footpath Group is a challenge. One which we compound for ourselves by trying to ensure that everything we do is new to the group. Every now and again though, we complete a walk that is so good we think it’s worth revisiting with a minor variation.
So, this is a slight reworking of our walk from 6th May 2022, taking a different route through the mine workings at Benfoot Brow. This simple change makes the walk sightly shorter and a little easier, making it more suitable for the shorter winter days.
It still includes the wonderful climb up the Dib, along with an alternate gentler route to the fantastic limestone pavement adjacent to the Bycliffe Road. We still walk the Conistone Turf Road, via Copplestone Gate to see the bleak spoil tips from past lead mining, before taking in Swinber Scar, Conistone Pie and St Mary’s church in Conistone. Take the GPS for both versions and you can decide which walk to follow as the day unfolds.

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Bus Gargrave to Skipton, walk back along the canal

Easy

5.3 miles | 8.5 km | 10 m Ascent | 5.3Naismith miles | Kate Rowe / Kate Butcher
In an inspired piece of themed programming, our last five walks have all shared a common feature –significant sections walking alongside water. This week we make that a run of six using the Leeds and Liverpool Canal as our waterway.
Canal walking is always interesting, with plenty of industrial heritage to see, and as a bonus, they tend to be gentle walks with no navigational challenge, making them an ideal easy stroll requiring little preparation. The potential downside is that they often involve turning round and re-walking the same route to get back to the start, but we have a solution to that: We park in Gargrave, then take a bus to Skipton and walk back making this a linear walk. Both Skipton and Gargrave are interesting places to visit with opportunities for shopping, eating and drinking, so this is a walk that could easily be incorporated into a longer day out.

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Lunesdale ramble from Kirkby Lonsdale

Easy

6.8 miles | 10.9 km | 151 m Ascent | 7.5 Naismith miles | Valerie Eccles & Mary Pickstone
Last week’s walk took us to Wensleydale where we noted that everyone loves a riverside walk, and this week we test that theory with another riverside ramble – this time much closer to home.
We start from Kirkby Lonsdale, a place that Bentham Footpath Group have used as a starting point many times. Our route takes us west to Wood End, then along a quiet path down to Sellet Mill. We then stroll over to Sellet Hall and follow Hosticle Lane through Hag Wood until we get to Whittington. We spend some time at the lovely church there before heading down to the river Lune via Coneygarth Lane, and finally return via a riverside path directly to Kirkby.
We conclude that riverside walks are indeed lovely. This is a great walk, and other than a couple of stretches that can be wet and muddy after heavy rain, is easy going.

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Askrigg

Easy

6.5 miles | 10.4 km | 284 m Ascent | 7.9 Naismith miles | Sandra Craggs
Take a look at any tourist guide to the Yorkshire Dales and they all feature lovely bright midsummer days.
We do get some of those days, and they are indeed special, but perhaps even better are those really crisp wintery days when the ground is hard, the air is crystal clear and the views uninterrupted by haze.
This walk is not one that only works in winter through. Key attractions are Askrigg, the original and true All Creatures Great and Small village, a couple of water mills, long lost dams, waterfalls, perfect views of the Cam High Road, a unique chapel, a couple of fortified houses, a riverside stroll, a brief diversion to a lovely Dales village, magical stepping stones, and finally a visit to a really good café and cake shop.

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West Windermere Way and High Dam

Easy

6.8 miles | 11.0 km | 237 m Ascent | 8.0 Naismith miles | Kate Rowe / Kate Butcher
Windermere is the nearest of the major lakes in the lake District, so it’s not surprising that we have started a number of walks in this area. However, a quick glance at our website shows that we have so far stayed to the east of the lake.
This excellent walk shows that that the Western side of Windermere is well worth visiting, and we offer an easy route starting from Finsthwaite, that runs in a figure of eight shape, offering the opportunity to divide it into two shorter trips – of about equal length.
The first half is a climb through ancient woodland at Bell Intake up to High Dam before returning to Finsthwaite via High Stott Park. The second half takes a path through fields and then woodland to Newby Bridge before strolling next to the railway up to Lakeside. From there we take a path through Great Knott Wood back to Finsthwaite.

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Staveley Woodlands

Easy

7.3 miles | 11.8 km | 254 m Ascent | 8.6 Naismith miles | Rick Clapham
Staveley has long been a favourite of Bentham Footpath Group – this is the third time we have visited in the time we have been documenting our walks on our website, but a review of old program cards shows that we have visited here at least once a year for as long as the group has existed.
A quick glance at the gallery for todays’ walk explains why we keep coming back – the views are stunning, and the varied landscape provides a rich mixture of flora and fauna. Add a few fascinating buildings, and even an opportunity to go shopping, along with riverside sections featuring weirs and waterfalls, and we create a walk that’s too good to miss. Our members clearly think so, as evidenced by the great turn out. Lovely autumn sunshine helps, but this is a great walk at any time of the year.

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Sedbergh, Brigflatts and Millthrop

Easy

6.3miles | 10.2 km | 217 m Ascent | 7.4 Naismith miles | Terri Kwiecinska
People often associate Sedbergh with the Howgills and steep climbs such as Cautley Spout, Winder or The Calf. These are indeed great options, but there are gentler walks from Sedbergh, and that’s what we offer here.
We start in the town centre and then take a route past the parish church to Birks, then walk over flat fields to the historic Friends Meeting House at Brigflatts. We backtrack slightly and take a disused railway line to the river Rawthey which we follow upstream to a footbridge at Birks. We cross this and then head across a golf course to the rather lovely Abbot Holme Bridge, then follow the Dee upstream to Dent Foot Chapel and Rash Bridge. From there we cross and at Rash climb through a couple of fields to pick up the Dales Way into Millthrop, before crossing the Rawthey again and returning to Sedbergh. Overall then we get to see lots of the Howgills in their autumnal colours without needing to actually climb them.

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Sell Gill Holes from Horton in Ribblesdale

Easy

7.1 miles | 11.4 km | 247 m Ascent | 8.3 Naismith miles | Alison Kinder & Colin Stroud
During last week’s Chapel-le-Dale and Ingleborough environs walk we took a path down the side of the Ribblehead viaduct and enjoyed great views down the Ribble valley toward Pen-y-Ghent and Horton in Ribblesdale. This week we start from Horton and get a much closer look, this time with the viaduct in the far distance.
On a route that is a figure of eight – giving an opportunity to opt for a short version should the weather change – we get to see the two entrances to the Sell Gill Holes cave system before taking the Ribble Way path along the side of the valley as far as Old Ing. From there we cross Birkwith Moor to pick up the Pennine Way to bring us back toward Horton at a higher level. Once we get back to Sell Gill Holes, we opt to take a path across to New Houses rather than repeat the outbound route and end with a stroll along the banks of the Ribble.

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Giggleswick Scar 3

Easy

6.9 miles | 11.1 km | 257 m Ascent | 8.1 Naismith miles | Peter Lennard

There are a number of walking groups that you could choose to join. The Ramblers alone have 500 groups, whilst also in our area there are independent groups in Settle and Lancaster. But surely none of them offer the same level of care to their members as the Bentham Footpath Group. We saw that last week when a last minute change of route was required to avoid flooding, and we see it again this week: When this walk was planned, our leader noticed that part of the route was obstructed by thistles and nettles. Rather than risk inconvenience to group members, he set about organising a clearance party, ensuring a safe and comfortable walk on the day.
This easy route is one we have walked a number of times – and there is no apology for that. It offers a convenient start, great views, enough of climb to get the pulse racing, and an opportunity to visit Settle town centre.

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