Horton in Ribblesdale to Fountains Fell

Wednesday 11th April, 2012 – 12.7 miles

Our last day of the Easter trip to Malham.

We drove over the hills to Horton in Ribblesdale and parked at the roadside. We followed the Pennine Way southwards, making the gentler ascent of Pen y Ghent. The way was up a walled farm track with views of Pen y ghent across a small limestone valley, Horton Scar, a bit like a miniature Malham.

I was rather glad we had decided to stay for the extra day, as we had warm sunshine, blue skies and white fluffy clouds … until we began the main ascent, when a sudden shower meant we dug in the rucksacks for waterproof jackets!

It was very quiet on the way up. We passed a family with toddlers, and a slow couple of about our age, and we were passed by two speedy fell runners. However it was quite busy at the top, and on the way down, as most people choose to go up the steep route, and come down the gentler side. There are a couple of very steep, but fairly short, descents – I took it slowly and cautiously, but it wasn’t as bad as some descents!

Wind and hail showers meant that we layered up again, and had lunch in the shelter of a drystone wall at the bottom of the main peak.

We continued to the road, then up Fountains Fell. It was a bit muddy underfoot, and felt like quite a long slog uphill. It dried out and got a bit rockier near the top. We crossed a drystone wall, entering a National Trust area, with warnings of open mine shafts – there was a very impressive one fenced off near the wall. We walked a few hundred yards further to get to the point where we had stopped on Sunday – we could see much more this time round! We might have continued to the wall, had we been able to see it, but it would have been a bit too far to go to the road.

We returned over the lower foothills of Pen y Ghent, reaching the road to the south of Horton in Ribblesdale.

Gargrave to Elslack Moor

10th April 2012 – 15.2 miles

We had a day off from walking on Bank Holiday Monday, and went to Fountains Abbey instead. It wasn’t quite as bad as forecast, but then, we weren’t in the hills.

Tuesday – the forecast wasn’t too good – wintry showers – so we headed south to the lower country rather than to the hills. We headed south out of Gargrave and over the fields, up to the Leeds Liverpool canal at East Marton. Quite a few boats moored there, some that we recognised from Gargrave locks on Saturday. On the opposite bank was an old church, surrounded by trees. Interesting lumps and bumps in the fields, marked on the map as the site of an old hall. There was also a double decker bridge – the old canal bridge had been raised when the new road was built.

We headed uphill, over fields full of sheep and lambs. In one field, the sheep scattered as we walked past, but then we stood still, and they flocked round, and followed us down the hill!

We stopped for lunch at Thornton in Craven, sitting on a wall in the sunshine. It didn’t last long and we moved to shelter under a disused railway bridge, – we repeated this a couple of times as the sun reappeared, then the rain came again! It was like this all day, the compensation being that once the rain started, you could see it was going to stop again in minutes.

After lunch we headed uphill, had a chat to a farmer out with his sheep and up onto the beginnings of the open moorland again, with lapwings swooping and calling nearby.

We returned mostly the way we had come, with the weather clearing up by mid afternoon. Nearer Gargrave, though, we walked back along the canal towpath, just cutting off a loop, all the way back to Gargrave.

Malham to Fountains Fell

8th April 2012 – Easter Sunday – 16.6 miles

Quite a bright morning as we set off down the easy footpath to Malham Cove. Surprisingly, we were the only ones there. Heard, and then saw, a woodpecker! My first one, apart from the glimpse I think I caught of one on our garden fence!

A family appeared on the footpath as we set off up the steps, and the younger ones soon caught us up and overtook us as we admired the view. I’d forgotten quite how eroded the limestone pavement is – quite difficult walking in parts, but not so bad when you got onto the larger stones (there is a proper name for them, but I can only remember clints and grykes).

Watlowes Valley

The Pennine Way took us up a narrow valley, running north from the cove. We saw our first odd patches of snow underneath the dry stone walls, but we wouldn’t have been bothered if we had known what was to come later … We could see cloud sitting on the tops of some of the higher hills, and, as we approached Malham Tarn, it got mistier.

The tarn was fairly busy, considering the weather, but I imagine on a sunny Easter Sunday, there would have been a lot more people about. We followed a well-made path around the tarn, past the field studies centre, then took a path off across the fields and hills. There was a lot more snow here, again lying in drifts against the walls and in the hollows.

We reached a road, but took the decision to go on a bit further over Fountains Fell. It was a bit of a slog heading uphill, and the mist was very damp. As we got higher, the mist grew thicker – we could see the way, but nothing in the way of a view, or where we were headed in the longer term. It did feel a bit like ‘The Hound of the Baskervilles’ – do you think it had that sheep? The snow lay quite thick in places – some footprints seemed to go down a good 6 or 8 inches – and we slogged on, getting a bit cold and wet, until we decided to turn round at a National Trust sign. The next road was still a good mile off, so we turned round and headed back.

Once we got to Malham Tarn (deserted!) we sat in the hide and put on overtrousers. I wish I’d done it before – I hadn’t wanted to put them on over damp trousers as I thought they would never dry, and be more uncomfortable, but they seemed to dry out and warm up – something that’s worth remembering for the future!!

We came back from the Tarn to Malham village a slightly different route over the moor, taking us to the minor road to the east of the village, rather than over the limestone pavement and down the cove again.

Malham to Gargrave

7th April, 2012 – Easter Saturday

Malham to Gargrave – 12.9 miles approx (no GPS)

We stayed over the weekend at Beck Hall, Malham, a rather lovely 18th century guesthouse. You have to go over a clapper bridge to get to it (or ford the emerging River Aire, just a stream a mile from the source at Malham cove).

It was bright and dry, with a few patches of snow showing on the higher ground, but none where we were. Most of the route followed the Aire, with some detours over the hills to meet it later on.

We first passed Hanlith Hall, where they were setting up for a horse and pony show – horse boxes arriving, a few jumps set up. Lots of primroses blooming along the high banks.

Further down, at Airton there is a mill, now residential. According the book it was once owned by Bolton Abbey, but the building itself looked rather too modern for that to make much sense.

We carried on down to Gargrave, and had lunch by the canal, watching a few boats come through the lock, and feeding ducks with a few crisps. The lock had a strange handle which had to be raised before using the windlass to open the main lock paddles – not seen that before.

We decided not to go further today, but had a look round Gargrave, including St Andrews church,  where John, the eldest son of James Wilson and Ellen Pettyt, was baptised in 1803. The church was heavily restored in the mid 19th century, but parts of the village must look very similar.

We followed the same route back. On the way we were entertained by sheep and lambs running after a farmer on a quad bike, obviously with something good to eat! The lambs just continued running round the field in an excited group.It felt about the right distance to walk without being too shattered. MInd you, Robby had worked nights up to Good Friday morning, and I had run 8 miles.

We went to the Lister Arms to enquire about a table for this evening and sat outside with a well deserved drink!