|
Many long distance walks have wonderful scenery for some of the sections, but they're linked by some rather boring bits or include lots of road-walking. Others are
devised just to promote the ambitions of a council or area tourist board and have little to recommend them other than they are well waymarked. But the Bowland-Dales Traverse route spends nearly all its time in an
Area of Outstanding Beauty and a National Park, so it should be and is good all the way. And it’s under a hundred miles, so it shouldn't be too arduous.
The Yorkshire Dales National Park needs little introduction. It’s a fanfare of limestone cliffs, coves, caves, ravines, underground rivers and picturesque villages
with idyllic village pubs. In popularity terms, the Forest of Bowland has always been the poor neighbour of the Dales. Its anonymous blue hills, more often than not seen through the glass of a car window, arouse
some curiosity, but they’re soon forgotten after a day in the Lakes. That’s a shame.
So Lakeland wanderer, stop that car: you’re missing out! If you want a walk without crowds; without mile upon mile of flagstones ripped from the floors of old mills; and
without fell-to-fell Coke cans, then the Traverse is for you. Try mixing Bowland with the Dales: it’s an interesting cocktail with no nasty bits to dilute the fun.
The Route
Day 1 Garstang to Slaidburn
Garstang's got a nice sleepy canal with ducks and boats on it. The little cattle market town, just off the M6, has got some good inns and interesting shops, but most walkers
will be eager to leave it behind. Just a handful of miles away, the hills wait.
The walk starts easily on the canal, which quickly leaves the houses behind and winds lazily through the green fields. The keep of Greenhalgh Castle peeps through the trees.
It seems insignificant now but the 14th-century castle was one of the last Royalist strongholds against the Parliamentary forces. The owner, the Earl of Derby was put to death for his valour.
The higher heather moors of Bowland are doing an even better job of hiding behind the pastured hill of Sullom. Leaving the canal behind the Traverse crosses farmland, the M6
and the London to Glasgow railway in search of these shy Lancashire tops. But first it finds a shy Lancashire valley, Calder Vale and a little village of the same name. Dominated by a cotton mill, this old Quaker
village is all but engulfed by trees. Being Quaker, they didn’t build a pub.
Paths through the trees transport the route to the very foot of Calder Fell. Within half an hour, after raking up the fellside, you’re standing on the ridge north of Fair
Snape wondering whether to make a detour to the summit.
Those who decide in favour could make use of the new concessionary footpath to Totridge before descending to Dunsop Bridge: the peat hags will remind them of the Pennine Way
before those ghastly gritstone pavements were laid. However, the main route through Fiendsdale and the Langden Valley is a classic. A narrow path cuts through the heather and into a mini-ravine to find a river,
Fiendsdale Water, that wriggles like a serpent, sometimes glowing silver in the afternoon sun. Fiendsdale leads to the wider Langden Valley, which, in turn, leads to the Trough. If it's the weekend, there may be a
hot dog van waiting for those who need food to go fast with.
Straddling Whins Brow and into lonely Brennand valley, you’re getting deep into Bowland. A few green fields separate dusky moorland from dusky moorland, while Middle Knolls'
separates Brennand from Whitendale, where the theme is repeated. Dunsop Fell is the last hill of the day before the traverse descends into the ever-so-green Hodder valley. The day ends in Slaidburn, where 17th
century stone cottages cluster between the banks of the Hodder and Croasdale Brook. The 16th-century Hark to Bounty Inn once housed a courtroom. The other pub has been turned into a youth hostel. Sounds good to me.
Day 2: Slaidburn to Settle
Day two is a transitional one where you leave the gritstone moors and head for the limestone of the Yorkshire Dales. It starts by the banks of Croasdale Brook, by the
Georgian Hammerton Hall, before passing Stocks Reservoir an early 20th-century scheme, which submerged the village of Stocks in Bolland all except the church that is that was dismantled and rebuilt on
higher ground. Without a congregation, one wonders why.
Beyond the church the Traverse is sucked into the sprucewoods of the Gisburn Forest, but, even through the trees, the route is not to be imprisoned. Instead, it climbs to
higher ground where it stumbles upon Whelp Stone Crag. The splendid little tor has a wide-ranging view across squat biscuit coloured moors to Yorkshire’s Three Peaks and gives a foretaste of days to come. Within an
hour you’ve crossed those moors and descended into Ribblesdale where Settle sits beneath crags and terraces of limestone. It’s a busy little town with lots of shops and some fine old buildings, including the
16th-century house known as The Folly. They’ve got some good outdoor gear shops here if you’ve broken or run out of anything.
Day 3: Settle to Kettlewell
Today’s scenery is a spectacular as Yorkshire gets, and the spectacle starts early. After leaving Settle by the back streets beneath Castlebergh's cliffs, the path climbs
luxurious green meadows to a high pass, which is guarded by the weird-shaped rocky knolls of Warrendale Knotts and Attermire Scar.
No sooner has the path left behind this fascinating scene of caves and cliffs, then it enters another that of Malhamdale where the fields form patterns of green and
white with the intricate web of dry-stone walls. Among it all, Malham Cove gouges out a huge amphitheatre among the fields.
The Pennine Way leads the route past Water Sinks towards Malham Tarn. Here the Bowland-Dales Traverse leaves it for Mastiles Lane, a stony 'green lane' descending from the
high plateau into Kilnsey in Wharfedale. The valley hereabouts resounds to the sounds of quarrymen exploding rock from the hillside and the clinking of climbers' ironmongery. A glance to the left will usually reveal
the climbers who will be grappling with the huge overhanging rock of Kilnsey Crag.
After walking along the limestone terraces to the east of the River Wharfe, the route comes across Kettlewell, the prettiest large village in the Dales. It’s sheltered
beneath the slopes of Great Whernside and has many quiet corners, especially in the region of Dowber Gill, where beautifully laid out cottage gardens are ablaze with bloom.
Day 4: Kettlewell to Aysgarth
There’s a big hill, Buckden Pike, to do today. At 2302ft, it’s the highest peak of the walk. The Tor Mere track offers an easy but satisfying way to the ridge. It’s the one
shown on the opening credits of ITV's Emmerdale. En route you’ll see a cross commemorating the Polish crew of a World War II plane, which crashed during a violent snow storm. The one survivor, who had broken his
leg, found his way to a nearby farmhouse by following some fox tracks. In thanks, he included a brass replica of a fox's head at the base of the memorial.
Beneath Buckden Pike, the Walden Valley is one of Yorkshire’s secrets: a dale with no through road and no village to speak of just a handful of farms dotted along
riverside pastures. The first village encountered is West Burton, where the valley meets Coverdale just short of the much wider Wensleydale.
Aysgarth lies just a short walk away. You’re now in Wensleydale, and the River Ure summons up the energy to form several good waterfalls, which can be heard through the
trees, and seen on an after-dinner stroll from the village.
Day 5: Aysgarth to Reeth
Aysgarth to Reeth is a short day. Strong walkers could make Richmond if they had a mind to do so. The short day involves the climbing out of Wensleydale onto the moors
before descending into Swaledale.
A couple of miles north of Aysgarth the route discovers Carperby. James Herriot and his wife Helen spent their honeymoon at The Wheatsheaf inn, a splendid hostelry by the
village green. From here the route does a bit of climbing on Wensleydale's northern hillsides to Castle Bolton. The ruined 14th-century castle with a turbulent history once confined Mary Queen of Scots, and, in
1645, Royalists were besieged by Parliament forces, which resulted in it being partially dismantled.
Beyond Castle Bolton village, the route heads north, getting to grips with the moors. A high and shallow valley, Apedale dissects the high ground, but Greets Hill, a stony
heather moor is soon reached.
Over the brow of the hill grouse butts remind walkers that the frequently seen raptors are not the only predators around here. Reeth appears in the mid-distance, but
Grinton, the nearer village, lies hidden beneath lower slopes until the last minute. Grinton church’s parish once extended almost to the Westmorland border but as the village’s importance diminished, so did its
boundaries.
You can tell by the four-storey inns, the number of them, and the size of the greens, that Reeth was once more important. Formerly an agricultural market town, it expanded,
largely on the riches of lead-mining. Now tourism rules, and Reeth's a grand place to stay the night if you’re not intent on making it to Richmond before dawn.
Day 6: Reeth to Richmond
If you haven’t spent too much time and money drinking Newcastle Brown in one of the pubs, today should be an easy day. You will be rubbing shoulders with Wainwright's
legions on the coast to Coast Walk. Generally the Bowland Dales Traverse goes a little higher, so you will be able to look down on your new colleagues and maybe advise the males among them if they need Elton John’s
miracle hair restorer or a woolly hat.
The day starts with its most serious climb to the top Fremington Edge. Here you can see the length of Swaledale as it weaves through the moors towards the dark mass of
Great Shunner Fell. The Pennine Way hard men will be somewhere up there.
There’s a nice little remote valley, that of Marske Beck, to be seen before the parade down Swaledale with the Coast to Coasters, and you can see the keep of Richmond a few
miles before reaching the town.
Those who started the day at Reeth will have more time to look around Richmond, and you need it just to get the feeling of this historic and bustling place. Narrow streets
radiate from the market square. Then there’s the church (which is really the Green Howards' military museum), the restored Georgian Theatre, and the remains of the Franciscan Friary. Oh! And did I mention the
castle? It’s worth seeing that, if only for the views back over the town to the river and all the hills you’ve just done. It’s a good way to finish this fascinating walk.
FACT FILE
Distance: 85 miles
Time: 4-6 days
Start: Garstang
Nearest Town: Lancaster
Finish Richmond (Yorks)
Terrain: Mostly high moorland
Accommodation: Garstang, Dunsop Bridge, Slaidburn*, Settle*, Malham*, Kilnsey, Kettlewell*, West Burton, Aysgarth*, Grinton*, Reeth, Richmond. Those
with an asterisk have youth hostels.
Transport: Garstang by bus from Preston or Lancaster, the nearest railway stations. There are regular buses from Richmond to Darlington, the nearest
railway station.
Maps: OS Landranger Nos 102, 103, 98 and 92
Tourist Information: Lancaster: Tel: 01524 841656, Richmond Tel: 01748 850252
Guidebook: The Bowland-Dales Traverse, John Gillham (Grey Stone Books) £3.75
|
