|
Cheshire amateur rambling Club |
|
(CARC) |
|
We have decided to build up a library of walk descriptions as follows below. |
|
Walk descriptions |
|
1. Conistone to Kettlewell Circular
Map: O/S 1/25,000. OL2 Yorkshire Dales Southern & Western Area
Distance: About ten miles Time: Five hours with breaks
Difficulty: Moderate - care needed on early section in wet weather
Parking: Some spaces in Conistone + roadside parking at the bridge over the River Wharfe
Start: Leave Conistone eastwards through a metal gate at the edge of a concrete ramp. Head up towards the Scar. Pass the Dib. Take a right through a gate and immediately turn left up to Scot Gate Lane. Follow the track to a post marked 'Copplestone Gate'. Follow the path towards a wood - keep between the wood and the wall. Follow the track uphill towards the cairn. Bear left and follow the yellow marker posts keeping the wall on your left. At the wall bend descend into Kettlewell. Time to Kettlewell: about three hours. Lunch may be taken at the Cottage Tea Room, The Bluebell Inn, The King's Head or simply on a bench overlooking the humpback bridge over Dowber Gill Beck a tributary of the Wharfe.
Less than fifty yards downhill from the bridge take a signposted path 'Conistone Road 1/2 mile' on your left passing along the side of a stone building. At the 'Dales Way' sign take the left fork. Follow the path across a number of fields and numerous stiles until you reach the Conistone Road. Follow the road for about half a mile passing Scargill House on your left. Leave the road at the signpost 'Dales Way' on the left. Climb the hill towards the trees. Follow the path until you reach a stile which you cross to reach the crags. Keep the crags on your left until you reach Scot Gate Lane. Descend into Conistone. Time from Kettlewell to Conistone: about two hours.
Accommodation: Group - The Confluence Centre, Kilnsey. Skirfare Bridge Barn, Kilnsey. Deluxe: The Tennant Arms, Kilnsey.
Food: The Tennant Arms
Other features: Trout Farm & Shop, Kilnsey
Shorter adjacent walk: Begin as above but before reaching the Scot Gate Lane take a right through a gate signed for 'Grassington'. Follow the clearly-marked path towards Grassington but take a right through a stile at the gate to the farm. Descend towards Grass Wood passing some stone farm buildings on your right. Cross a stile into Grass Wood Nature Reserve. Follow the path through the reserve emerging onto the minor road to Conistone. Leave the road almost immediately at a stile in the wall and follow the path across the fields. Arrive into Conistone. Distance: about five miles. Time: about two and a half hours.
AGS February 2011
|
|
2. Cautley Spout & The Calf Circular
Distance: About eleven miles
Time: 7.5 hours with breaks
Difficulty: Steep ascent up the side of Cautley Spout waterfall; stone steps tricky when wet. Moderate thereafter. Boggy in places. Steepish descent.
Parking: A short walk across the fields from the Tarn. Otherwise a dozen spaces on the roadside on the A683 next to the Cross Keys
Start: Starting at the Tarn go down the side of the building past the boot room entrance. Follow the path across three fields until you reach the access road off the A683. Head towards Sedbergh on the A683 for 100 yards then leave the road on a clear path on the left. Follow this path until you reach the Cross Keys. Follow the steps from the parking area down to the bridge across the river Rawthey. Take a left turn and follow the clear path towards the waterfall ascending gently at first. Cross the beck and take the path leading to a long incline comprised stone steps; these are well set and provide a steady, if steep, climb. It is worth stopping and looking back frequently as the view down the valley is spectacular. Cross the first beck and carry on upwards. As the hill levels off stay on the right of the substantial beck until you reach the rebuilt sheepfold; this is worth a visit and provides shelter if the weather is inclement. Cross the beck and follow it back to where you first encountered it. Take the path upwards on the edge of Cautley Crag until you reach the flat area of Great Dummacks. Follow the fence until you reach a well-defined path leading towards the Calf marked at its highest point by a trig point. Bear rightwards from the trig point towards a small body of water keeping it on your left. Just beyond the water are two clear paths: one to the left rising gently; the other starting to fall down into the valley. Take the right-hand path and descend into the valley; the last part of the descent is marked only faintly. At the foot of the valley turn right and follow the clear path which eventually descends to the point at which you crossed the beck on the ascent of Cautley Spout. From there you retrace the path towards the Cross Keys. An alternative return to the Tarn may be made by following the Rawthey upstream rather than crossing the bridge at the Cross Keys. After about a mile the path approaches the river and it may be crossed here in relative shallows. The path rises steeply on the left -hand side of a stone wall. A steep-sided field is crossed diagonally to a gate serving a farmyard. Turn right through the farmyard and follow the track. After traversing a wood and a couple of fields you reach the A683 at the foot of the Tarn access road. You reach the Tarn after crossing the three fields below it.
Accommodation: Group - The Tarn bunk barn. Deluxe - The Cross Keys on the A683 Sedbergh to Kirkby Stephen road. The Fat Lamb at Ravenstonedale on the A685.
Food: The Cross Keys (temperance inn but happy to provide glasses, ice, chilling etc for your own alcoholic drinks.); The Fat Lamb
Other features: Remains of Iron Age settlements; many other attractive walks.
Shorter adjacent walk: Leave the Tarn and turn right at the access gate across the field in front of the building. The path drops down to a bridge across a stream. Cross the stream and climb the hill and pick up the path that eventually leads along the stream past a number of small waterfalls. Cross the stream at a bridge and take the path up through the woods reaching a dual-track concrete road. Turn left and follow the road down a right-hand bend and up an incline. Tarmac replaces the concrete and the road leads out of a gate, passing a farm entrance with cattle grid to your left. The road then joins the back road from Ravenstonedale to Fell End. Turn left and after two hundred yards the rough track to the Tarn is on your left.
AGS September 2011
|