Grassington to Pateley Bridge 21/07/18

11.6 miles, via Hebden, Dibble's Bridge, Fancarl Top, Dry Gill, Stump Cross cavern, 
 Craven Moor, Keld Houses, Greenhow Hill, Cold Stones (the Quarry & The Cut), 
  Toft Gate (& the Lime Kiln), Red Brae Bank, and Bridgehouse Gate. 

That preceding week felt like it went on for two days longer than it should have, with me feeling so tired and deflated at its end that I got anxious that I might not have anything in reserve for walking when my first Summer break came along, which itself feels like its taken an age to arrive, which it has as it's a week later than I'd usually break up in July, and the fight we've had with the heatwave conditions and broken AC at work coupled to me being unusually active through the High Season transition has left me feeling levels of exhaustion not felt in along while. So as the day takes a turn for the overcast and cool, it's not a massive disappointment as I really need a break from the relentless heat and sunshine after four solid weeks of it, and while some bright illumination would have been appreciated for our last trip of this season from Wharfe to Nidd, it will instead allow us to see the high roads and their environs when they display a completely different visual character. Thus we ride out to Grassington on the #874 bus, knowing that the day will feature more travelling time than actual walking time, but safe in the knowledge that we are testing the very limits of trekking by public transport in this quarter, departing the National Park Centre bus stand at 11.25am and immediately turning our back on the town as we join Hebden Road, pacing along in front of the grey stuccoed council houses soon departed past Barden Fell View. The road rises and twists as it passes Mil Gate Lathe farm, and we are going to have to get used to the behaviour of the B6265 as we go today as it will be our constant companion as we make our way across this finger of Limestone country, and I realise that I haven't much talked about geology on our travels this year, but this is a fine spot to see how the Craven faults elevated the older Carboniferous Limestone to the levels of the younger Millstone Grit over 50 million years back. The rising bulk of Barden Moor contrasts markedly with the grassy valley below, the result of much weathering over the ensuing millennia, as we pace on east past the plots of Garnshaw House and its flower meadows, and meeting a very large party of Asian students out on a country ramble (not the first party seen today, so that seems to be A Thing), and as the road rises some more we can look north to see the exposed and broken crags that rise above the cleft of Hebden Gill. Also get sight of the chimney on Grassington Moor before we drop down to meet the top end of Hebden village again, on familiar territory before we strike off onto the moors to the east, passing the coach depot and the Clarendon Hotel with the village to the south before crossing the 1827 Hebden Bridge over the beck and then starting the first serious rise of the day a climb of 60+m out of the dene up towards Bank Top farm.

Departing Grassington on the B6265.

The northern flank of Barden Moor, limestone abutting gritstone.

The way forwards, with Barden Fell looming.

The Clarendon Hotel, Hebden.

Looking north from here we can't see much of Hebden moor as the rise of the fields obscures lit, but we can look across the grassy plots to the south to the lumpy rises of limestone hills above the Wharfe, passing paths that advertise our proximity to the path that we walked last week, about 2 miles south of here, which keeps me eager to investigate this quarter more closely in the future, finally getting a view north as we pass the valley of Hard Rake Dike as we pass Hebden Moor Side farm. The risks of road walking are also exposed here as despite keeping close to the verge, the are still motorists who behave like my place is not on the tarmac with them, someone in a Black Citroen who decides to overtake behind me while topping a blind summit into a hidden dip gets That Close to mowing me down, and earns my unending loathing for good measure. Attention is restore to my surroundings, spotting the traffic queuing on the long slow descent down to Dibble's Bridge ahead of us, though before we get there, we can look north to see the large dam of Grimwith reservoir, constructed in a depression of the Wharfe-Nidd moors that lie beyond, displaying their gritstone character and darkly forbidding nature to the north of this limestone country, with the perimeter path about the waters being the probably viable limit of walking in that direction. Attention then turns to Dibble's bridge and the passage over the River Dibb, where the road heading east turns sharply downhill from the neighbouring farm to cross the deep channel of the river at an oblique angle, and it's evident from the fencing on the bridge and the evidence of repeated repairs that this is something of an accident blackspot, indeed one of the consultants from the LGI was killed here in a cycling accident. However the eastern side is even more terrifying, as the road approaches on a long descent of over 100m steeply down over less than half a mile, before sweeping left and then turning sharply right at the bridge, revealing why it was the site of the worst road accident in Britain when a descending coach suffered a brakes failure and crashed through the bridge parapet, claiming 31 lives on 27th May 1975, and the walk up the hill is pretty alarming, even when doing your best to keep out of the way of the traffic. The hard push done, we get a gloom shrouded view back over Upper Wharfedale, as well as looks to the surface of Grimwith reservoir and to the tempting wrinkles in the dark moorland beyond, as well as across the shifting perspective over Barden Moor and way down the river valley to its southern portion, and finding an unknown viewpoint like Fancarl Top is always a pleasant surprise, at 340m up where the road shifts to look forward towards Simon's Seat and the rest of Barden Fell, and down into the valley of Dry Gill.

Hebden Moor Side farm, and the Hidden Dip.

Grimwith Reservoir Dam.

Dibble's Bridge.

Looking back from the bank over the River Dibb.

Grimwith Reservoir, and the Wharfe-Nidd moors.

Our initial descent into the hidden valley brings us to the top of New Road, previously seen heading north from between Appletreewick and Skyreholme, and we hit some relatively level going past Fancarl House B&B and on towards Nussey House farm, which is just as well as the road has recently been redressed and there's a lot of loose gravel to be kicked up by the passing traffic, and the gill below looks like it hasn't seen any water in a while, the beck having long since disappeared underground, but it's evidence of it being a post glacial feature, as are the limestone crags that hang above the roadside. As we start to climb again, the mind traces the path of the gill down to the southwest, bringing the realisation that it hides Troller's Gill among the folds of landscape down towards the Wharfe, and a look uphill shows the rough top of Nursery Knot rising above the roadside to the north, where a sole walker is tracing the rough paths, as well as the way up the bank to the buildings that contain the entrance to the Stump Cross caverns, found at the edge of Craven Moor and evidently the busiest tourist feature along this particular B-Road. High Crag, or Rear Clouts, dominates the level moorland to the south as we rise again to the highest stretch of moorland, rising to the National Park - AONB boundary and continuing to look north into the forbidding stretch of moorland, rising to a summit plateau that peaks above 400m which looks like it's been seriously disturbed, as it is littered with abandoned shafts and remnants of the lead mining that dominated the industrial landscape out here until the early 19th century, and the safest place to regard all these bellpits is surely from the road. Things start to look a bit more familiar to the south as sight is caught of the outcrops on Pock Stones Moor, and the tops of Simon's Seat, and we run in close to the headwaters of the Washburn, hiding across the moor to the south but not crossed as we pass over the Wharfe-Nidd watershed, moving us away from the trajectories traced over the last few week and running us in towards the settlement of Keld Houses, and surely one for the hardier farmers in these parts as it sits so high above the streams running down into Nidderdale, looking far more cultivatable than most at way over 300m. The rise to Greenhow Hill comes beyond the scattering of farmsteads, advertised by the Hill Top rising to the south of the road, and as we cross the next rise, the horizon shows long finger on Upper Nidderdale stretching out to the north, while concealing Gouthwaite Reservoir, which means the valleys above the road flowing down to the east must be those containing Ashfold Side and Brandstone becks, where we walked among the remnants of the lead industry while travelling on The Way last year.

Dry Gill, from Fancarl Top.

The Dry Gill, descending to Troller's Gill.

Stump Cross caverns, and High Crag.

Craven Moor Lead Mining remnants.

Keld Houses, and Greenhow Hill.

We soon meet Greenhow Hill village just before the sole road junction of note since hitting the moorland, meeting St Mary's church, built to serve the community that grew up here with the lead mining industry, and now forms the major feature of the settlement that endures up here, with desirable residences filling those once occupied by miners, quarrymen and shepherds, the sort of place that seems unnaturally removed from the modern world, where a journey in any direction from the junction would take a long trip to a provincial town. The low cloud has us feeling like we are at the top of the world again, as we pass the War Memorial, the cemetery, and our third distinctive water tower in as many weeks, while getting an aspect back to the dark moors that has it feeling that bit less mentally challenging to me if I were feeling bold enough to venture into it, not that I'll be traveling that way any time soon, but I don't feel as completely out-psyched by the trackless mass of moorland as I did when I set out. Pass the only available staring bench by the road as we pass the entrance to the Cold Stones quarry, and press on below its perimeter as there's a better place to pause once some more paces are put down, and that can be met as we get a first reveal down towards Pateley Bridge and down the Lower half of Nidderdale, across the bulk of Heyshaw Moor and to all the familiar sights beyond, and here we depart the B6265 to seek the Coldstones Cut. It can be found at the top of a rising path, over 410m up and overlooking the quarry, designed by Andrew Sabin and opened in 2010, created to give a viewpoint that allows you elevated panoramas all around the Wharfedale-Washburn-Nidderdale bracket while also allowing a view down into the quarry which is slowly devouring Cold Stones Hill from within. Interpretative boards can give indications of the layers in the rock below, while illustrating the seams and faults that lie within it, presenting an aspect of geological history that can be gained from viewing it on a very large canvas, while the toposcopes on the elevated platforms give indications of the sights to be seen around, as well as the many locations far beyond Nidderdale, and the multitudinous wildlife that might be seen on these high lands. A grand place to get a new or refreshed view of your place in the larger universe, or just to contemplate how far the walking career has taken you now that a whole mass of lands in this quarter are now within my wandering sphere, and I'll make it my intention to come up here again, hopefully on a brighter day to plan my assault on the moorlands to the north, all of which are still shrouded in cloud, all thoughts for the futures as we depart this impressively gourd-shaped (or penis-shaped) edifice.

Greenhow Hill (village).

Upper Nidderdale revealed.

Off Piste to The Coldstones Cut.

Cold Stones quarry, with geological history revealed!

The Coldstones Cut, up close.

Returning from the hillside, we need to make another short detour before we head to the finish line, and that involve visiting the other feature accessible from the roadside car park, and that's the Toft Gate Lime kiln, a particularly large structure with a vast firing chamber and long flue leading to an isolated chimney, with an interpretive board that explains the functions of the draw kiln, and the extent and necessity of Quicklime production through the centuries. Altogether fascinating, and the sort of thing that proves interesting in providing insights into the changes in the landscape, where Hanson's quarrying business is really the sole business these days, and after the path around the site has been paced it's time to return to the road and walk the last stretch into Nidderdale proper, down 250m over the next two miles, working our way down to Red Brae Bank past Toft Gate farm and down from moorland altitude on a meandering course to Long Green Head farm. The views down Nidderdale are grand, revealing the Guise Cliff end of the moorland below Heyshaw Moor, and the last hints of the view up the valley appear to Middlesmoor and the hills beyond, a solid dozen miles away, before we drop below the tree line and the corners become blind and potentially dangerous, and thus we have to be alert to the sounds of traffic, and drifting to the clearest sightlines is the best method to stay safe. It's not fun for my sore feet either as we pass down the 14% and 16% slopes to meet Strawberry Hill farm, and the rather ostentatious and Gothic-y Victorian pile of Nidderdale Hall, before we reach the woodlands around Eagle Hall and meet the clusters of estate cottages that sit on Street Lane around the passage of the Nidderdale way, closing a new northern edge on my walking fields until I decide to walk into the higher valley across the moors from Upper Wharfedale. One more steep descent comes as we drop though the heavy tree cover that surrounds the big houses above the Royal Oak Inn in Bridgehouse Gate and from here we are safely back into a familiar field, pacing down past the Dales Market corner and the Memorial park to cross the Nidd and arrive in Pateley Bridge and to step off the B6265 at the bottom of High Street to conclude the trip at the King Street bus stand at 4.05pm, what would have been a 10 miles in 4 hours burn if I hadn't made my digressions. Still, the day's not quite done, as I've got a date to make at The Pancake House, having wanted to get my fill of crepes here since my jaunts last year, and I'll need all of the time available before the 5.30 bus to get my late, late lunch of savoury (bacon, egg & tomato) and sweet (toffee sauce, shortbread & vanilla) pancakes with a welcome pot of tea, for the very reasonable price of only £13.70, surely enough of a temptation to draw me back to treat myself when I explore the many paths that Nidderdale will still have to offer in the future.

Toft Gate Lime Kiln.

Descending Red Brae Bank.

Nidderdale Hall, Strawberry Hill.

Bridgehouse Gate and our arrival in Nidderdale proper.

Pateley Bridge High Street, and a date at the Pancake House awaits!

(You're not getting any food pictures, though, This isn't Instagram!)

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 3431.3 miles
2018 Total: 318.8 miles
Up Country Total: 3101.1 miles
Solo Total: 3152.5 miles
Miles in My 40s: 2025.1 miles

Next Up: Down Country and The Leicestershire Round resumes in the County's east and south.