Bolton Abbey to Birstwith 07/07/18

14.3 miles, via Cavendish Pavilion, Bolton Park, Hammerthorn Gate, Hazlewood Moor, 

 Rocking Hall, Rocking Moor, Thrusscross Reservoir, Hanging Moor, RAF Menwith Hill, 

  High Birstwith, and Swarcliffe Top.

It's a bit early in the Summer to start complaining about the heat, but two weeks into a national heatwave, and after two months of having barely functional AC at work, it's all starting to get a bit much for me, but I'm determined to keep my focus on, as getting out and about on the moors will involve less exposure to high temperatures than going through my regular daily routine, and anyway, I have far more interest in doing my own thing than much of the rest of the nation, who are getting themselves all excited by England being in the last eight of the World Cup. So we ride to Wharfedale again, on a Dalesbus that is much less busy than last week's, happy to see some cloud in the sky as we go, alighting at Bolton Abbey at a shade before 11am, only a mile north of where we last travelled from to Nidderdale, but with a complete fresh perspective to take on as we plot another route over the moors, starting out up the driveway to the Bolton Priory ruin and the extent church of St Mary & St Cuthbert. Head on above the dramatic scene of the bowing Wharfe and past the Cavendish memorial fountain to walk down the long driveway to the Riverside car parks, getting a good view up to the way to come on the hillsides beyond the river, and finding that the Bolton Abbey estate is already pretty busy with people as elevenses time lands on the day, though I'll not be visiting the Cavendish pavilion on this occasion either, instead we cross the Wooden bridge among the trippers and cyclists to start our trail to the east. Meet the path up the wooded glade of Stead Dike to reach Bolton Park farm, in the shadow of the looming mass of the South Nab hill, and then hit the rising farm track beyond which will elevate us some 150m up to the moorland edge as the sun beats down, testing my resolve on the early going as the local sheep look on at me as I struggle, but the views that emerge are worth it, over Skipton Moor and Barden Moor, and back to the Priory ruins, and forward to the mass of Hazlewood Moor that is so far unseen. Meet the passage onto the moor at Hammerthorn Gate, above the Nab Hill at 300m up, where we can look back to Addingham High moor and Beamsley Beacon before a gravelled track leads us on into the sea of heather, on a gentle rise before forking left sharply to land us above the moorland valley of Hudson Gill, flowing down to the forests around the Valley of Desolation. Our track evens off a bit at 350m elevation, and we can look north to the company of Barden Fell, with Carncliffe Top, Simon's Seat and Lord's Seat forming the high and rocky features on the horizon, and that's where we were headed this weekend, five years back, on a day equally hot, though we do have sufficient liquid for the journey this time around, as well as enough cloud cover to keep much of the Sun's radiant heat off as we carry on along this shadeless track with the majestic view to its north.

Bolton Priory and the Wharfe, Bolton Abbey.

The way to Cavendish Pavilion, and the Wharfedale Moors.

Ascending from Bolton Park farm.

The view back from the Hazlewood Moor fringe.

Carncliffe Top & Simon's Seat, from Hazlewood Moor.

As we start to rise again, we bit the Upper Wharfedale company a farewell as the track shifts over to the Long Ridge of Hazlewood Moor to land us on the side that looks over towards the Round Hill and Beamsley Beacon high lands, and over towards Kex Gill Moor and the Washburn valley beyond, as well as back down the valley of Pickles Gill, which goes unexplored as it lacks viable paths up onto this elevated access land, and we progress on above the 390m mark to reach the almost longitudinal wall that crosses so much of this moorland in an arrow straight line. Beyond lies Rocking Moor, and our rolling track teases us with inconsistent views of our major target on this high ground, which is Rocking Hall, secreted away in its own enclosure on the boundary with The Great Stray, where a pair of shooting houses reside, dated to 1758 and property of the Bolton Abbey estate, commanding views over the moors to the southeast, and with the so called Rocking Stone between them, an erratic boulder perched atop a gritstone outcrop. It's a fine place to pause for lunch, and to look into the small and ornate house with its dining tables and stove, and to admire the larger house as ideal for a bunkhouse makeover, and also to look down the Washburn valley to confirm that you can see all the way up here from Pool Bank, as the house rises on the horizon between Weston Moor and Norwood edge, odd that such a remote-feeling spot could feel (and actually be) quite so close to home. As we are still establishing new northern boundaries on our Wharfe to Nidd jaunts, it's worth having a look north, across Pock Stones Moor and on to Greenhow Hill and Coldstones, and also east to espy Thruscross Reservoir and the visible path beyond on Hanging Moor, as well as getting a sight line over to Brimham Moor, and its visible rocks, which makes us feel a lot closer to the bulk of familiar Nidderdale than we did last week. Move on, dropping off the high end of Rocking Moor to hammer out a good distance to the southeast along the moorland track, watching our company of views evolve and recede as Rocking Hall soon vanishes from the horizon as we drop downhill towards the passage over Green Sike, with the familiar terrain of the Washburn valley ahead of us. We meet sheep and cultivated fields around Hard Ing as we reach the moorland wall that elevates us enough to return Rocking hall to the Horizon, and then pass on through the enclosure that seems to have most of this moor's rock outcrops and boulders in it as we drift below 300m elevation and meet the stile that takes us off the moor at Spittle Ings house farm, where the local Swallows and Meadow Pipits sit on the powerlines and our route starts on it's course to the east on decent tracks after so long on the rough moorland.

Hazlewood Moor and the way to the Washburn.

Rocking Hall.

Rocking Moor and distant Nidderdale.

Rocking Moor and Hard Ing.

Gritstone Outcrops and Spittle Ings House.

It's a bit more of a trek to reach the road by Burnt House farm, and there are huge enclosures of sheep to upset before we get there, and there are also views across to the best rock outcrops on the southern part of the Wharfedale moors, namely Brandreth Crags on Hall Moor, which would surely garner more attention if they were more accessible or even visible from more than a couple of angles, something to draw the attention before we meet North Moor Road and start our descent into the Upper Washburn. Here we can look south to Fewston Reservoir and north to Heyshaw Moor, and as we approach the equestrian centre at Breaks Fold farm, we can be mildly amazed that this is the first time we have dropped into this corner of the West Riding, despite having plotted a walk up here for 2016 and have still never gotten the transportation necessary to walk it, and as we join West End Road we get no sight at all of Thruscross Reservoir, which is completely concealed by its company of conifers at the perimeter. Join Reservoir Road and descend past the flower Craddock house, and choose to not venture into the picnic area at the reservoir's car park, choosing to press on down the lane to cross the dam, a proper concrete one rather than the huge earth embankments like the others down the valley, dating it to 1966 and much more recent than its 19th century companions, and the path across it is fenced off to keep the traffic crossing in single file, as we look south down the valley unwalked and north over the waters that consumed the village of West End. I'd hope that I might get my Upper Washburn trail in before then end of this year, but my breath is not bated, and so we rise on the eastern side, through the rocks that have been blasted out to accommodate the road, and it feels like there ought to be an easy route onto Hanging Moor beyond as the track that was surely built for the reservoir's construction traffic is still traceable even from miles distant, but it seems to be cut off by the grounds of the Reservoir Lodge house, and I'm not going to tangle with the barbed wire on that particular gate. Instead continue north along the lane in the direction of Thruscross Hamlet until we meet the 'No Right Of Way' gate that leads onto the moor, as it's all access land on the way over to Greenhow Hill Road, tracing a path around the lodge house, which is nowhere near as appealing as its Victorian counterparts and hit the overgrown road that leads up over the moor. Onward through an enclosure of heather and many scattered hunks of gritstone, getting some views of the large and elongated surface of Thruscross Reservoir, and back to the company of the Wharfedale Moors, forming a western horizon that will endure for much of our trip over into Nidderdale, with Rocking Hall still prominent next to the hillsides that still await my adventuring footfalls in the coming weeks of Summer.

Brandreth Crags, Hall Moor.

The Washburn from above Breaks Fold.

Thruscross Reservoir Dam.

Thrusscross Reservoir and the distant moors, from Hanging Moor.

Across Hanging Moor to Denton Moor.

Over the moor crest we finally get that elusive view south to Denton Moor, and sight of the cairn on Lippersley Ridge, before we meet the road previously walked, as well as signage that declare the Access land closed due to fire risk, which I'd missed completely at my previous access points, though I'm uncertain whether I might pose a risk to the moor or the moor pose a risk to me, but now we are safely in the realm of traffic again. A short stretch to the south we meet the end of Menwith Hill Road, which will lead us on to the east, starting off among some rough fields, especially when looking north towards Slade House farm, but things soon even out as we past Delves Ridge House farm, with trees accompanying the roadside and teasing us views across to the angle of the Nidd below the hill of Brimham Rocks moor. Delves Ridge isn't much of a ridge to notice as we pass over it, offering flat plots of moorland grasses and certainly not showing the forest of radio masts that the map suggests are present, and the view to the north will be the enticing feature as we dodge the traffic on this dead straight road before we come up to the junction of Day Lane where quite the most surprising collection of 80s suburban houses sit rather incongruously. One cluster even names itself Trafalgar Square, which immediately makes them look like MoD property, but the presence of Forest Moor school next to them makes their location even more perplexing, and maybe the school ended up here because of a paucity of flat ground in the valley below to the north, but we are surely in the orbit of RAF Menwith Hill up here, as the best view of the radomes appears across the fields on the south side of the road. Can't be too sure what the MoD does with the fields between here and the B6451, but we surely aren't welcome on them, and trees obscure the views for some time before we arrive above Prospect farm and the road that undulates down towards Darley, Dacre and Summerbidge before passing the front of the super secret intelligence gathering station, and noting that they are definitely exporting hay from the site this summer. Do my best to not look suspicious as I pass, and note that the model aircraft club are acting far more strangely in this situation than I am, and ponder how odd it must be to live next door to this base, as the residents of Turpin Lair house do, I'd guess you come up her for the views rather than the spying, as a grand panorama over Nidderdale presents itself from the 232m Menwith Hill trig point by the roadside. Altogether, this elevated track is a grand spot to get a feeling for this valley that got so thoroughly loved last year, which shifts to a wandery path past the Stumps Lane corner, taking us past North Pole farm, and the top of Langer Hill Lane, where we meet the High Birstwith boundary stone and figure that we have enough time to finish lunch by one of the best revelation views that the dale has to offer.

Menwith Hill Road, Delves Ridge.

RAF Menwith Hill's many Radomes.

Above Nidderdale on Menwith Hill Road.

The MoD exporting Hay, RAF Menwith Hill.

Nidderdale from the Menwith Hill Trig Pillar.

We are still a couple of miles out from our target, but the parish seems to claim all the farmsteads and cottages spread out over these hillsides, which seems to be a bit of a theme in these parts when you consider how neighbouring Felliscliffe fits together, not that we can see much to the south up here, aside from the idle Knabs Ridge wind farm as attention still looks to the northwest for a panorama over the moorlands traversed and the river valley below. Past the water tower, the haulage depot and the incongruous country terrace we get a straight sightline down to Harrogate, mere miles distant to the southeast before our last look back up Nidderdale as the view beyond the recumbent cows and sheep presents hills rising beyond Heyshaw Moor in the upper valley, but such is the distance (and lack of appropriate map) it's hard to distinguish them, which is frustrating, but it draws the mind back to the way of The Way before we start for the finish line along Back Lane. Pass Somerset Farm and get no landscape indicators at all from last week's path, only a mile south of here, as we run into the house cluster at Swarcliffe Top, where we finally drop below 200m altitude and follow the lane as it twists downhill below Hill Top farm to meet the second hamlet-let at Meg Gate, which is home to Swarcliffe Hall, nowadays in uses as Belmont Grosvenor school. A steep and heavily shaded drop down the Lackon Bank road soon brings us down to St James's church, Birstwith, its sleek and austere spire being well hidden in the landscape as the day takes a turn to conclude on a gloomy note, passing down to meet New Row and the upper portion of the village, with the vicarage, the post office and Wreaks Square situated around the CofE school. Thence down past the recreation ground, and the tennis club to meet the second part, around the former Wreaks Mill, now the Kerry food processing plant, where we pass into the circuit of the Nidderdale Way, and over the Nidd via Wreaks bridge, where the waters seem exceptionally low and the structure hides well from the camera's eye, and then we meet the suburban mass of the village at the bottom of Clint Bank, where the NER's branch once passed overhead and the Station Inn still stands and does business. I'll not join the sports crowd in there as we are short on time, but we do have enough to walk our way back along the deserted streets to the bus stand on Elton Lane as that gives us an additional perspective on this corner, as well as a view of Swarcliffe Hall rising in Jacobean splendour above the valley to conclude the trip before 4.45pm (just in time to here the cheers erupt to indicate that England just beat Sweden to make the semis), and a mere feeding and watering break away from the #24 bus arriving to take me away from my very last trek across my ancient copy of the OS E297 map plate (which gets immediately retired as I accidentally leave it behind!).

The High Birstwith Boundary Stone

The Water Tower and the distant Wharfedale Moors.

Swarcliffe Top.

St James's church, Birstwith.

The Station Inn, and the lost Nidderdale Line, Birstwith.

5,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 3405.6 miles
2018 Total: 293.1 miles
Up Country Total: 3075.4 miles
Solo Total: 3126.8 miles
Miles in My 40s: 1999.4 miles

Next Up: Wharfe to Nidd take 3, or the Summer Heat defeats me, whichever comes first.