This was a walk that was not long in distance, but was full of the rich history of Nidderdale. The historic sights included a disused tramway, an abandoned quarry, a former railway line, and a unique, pentagon-shaped chapel. It was a varied and interesting route through a beautiful dale. Continue reading Walking Through History in Upper Nidderdale
In none of my many visits to the Lake District had I ever walked up Cat Bells. I don’t think I ever consciously decided to not set foot on this fell. It’s more likely that an underlying desire to avoid crowded mountains meant that walking up the incredibly popular Cat Bells never occurred to me. Yet, it’s the very things that make Cat Bells well-liked that are the reasons I chose it as the first Lake District fell for my son to climb. Continue reading Never Had I Ever…Walked Up Cat Bells
This last stage of the Nidderdale Way had old mills, the fantastic rock formations of Brimham Rocks, a moor, a beautiful, wooded valley, and brilliant views over the lovely Nidderdale. It was a great end to a wonderful walk. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 6: Shaw Mills to Pateley Bridge
The Nidderdale Way has many fascinating historical sites along its route, but this stage seemed to have more than the other stages I’ve walked. There was a castle, lovely villages, stocks, crosses, churches, and disused fishponds. All of this in a beautiful dale. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 5: Birstwith to Shaw Mills
My fourth day on the Nidderdale Way had a folly, a close encounter with running deer, and a beautiful old packhorse bridge. All of this on a walk that took me over moors, along riverbanks, through woods, and across meadows. It was a walk with variety, great views, and fascinating historical sights. Unfortunately, this walk also involved a horrible path that has been my low point on the Nidderdale Way. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 4: Bewerley to Birstwith
The third stage of the Nidderdale Way started with what must be one of the best views in the Yorkshire Dales, and took in hay meadows, rolling pastures, a pretty reservoir, a lovely valley, and the ruins of a lead mine. It was a gorgeous walk that an encounter with some irate cows couldn’t spoil. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 3: Middlesmoor to Bewerley
Walking the second stage of the Nidderdale Way was a day of green fields, lush woods, caves, a disappearing river, moors, a castellated dam, and an abandoned village. It was brilliant. Even if you are not going to walk the whole Nidderdale Way, this loop through the upper part of the dale makes for a grand day. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 2: Lofthouse to Middlesmoor
It was an inauspicious start to an amazing walk. Within the first few minutes of starting on the 54-mile (87km) Nidderdale Way, I was a bit lost. My guidebook had directed me to walk down Mill Lane in Pateley Bridge before passing “between houses to reach a footpath that signs you up a narrow alley along the backs of houses.” I was now wandering around the cul-de-sac of Mill Lane wondering where the Nidderdale Way had disappeared to. The large number of signs on houses and gates proclaiming “private”, “no right of way” and “no footpath” suggested that I was not the first person to get confused about where to go, and that the people who had come before me had decided the way to go was through someone’s garden. Luckily, I spotted a small footpath sign pointing to an inconspicuous, narrow alley partly obscured by greenery. Continue reading Nidderdale Way – Stage 1: Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse
I have sometimes wondered if I should write a guidebook of walks to do on days with poor weather. Walks without exposed summits and ridges that you might be blown off by high winds or on which you battle gusts that make it impossible to go in a straight line. Walks without paths that turn into quagmires in heavy rain. Walks that have points of interest within a few metres for when low level cloud means there is no chance of a stirring view across a valley. Although I have not put a single word on paper for this imagined guidebook, I have got a mental list of walks I can do on wet and windy days. Last week I tried out a new walk that I was thinking would be a good addition to this list. Continue reading A Walk for a Wet and Windy Day?
It’s been a while since I last wrote a blog post. The main reasons for this were that the pandemic, and actually getting Covid-19, made it hard or impossible to do the activities I normally write about here. Then there was moving house, and all the changes and work that brings. Thankfully, that move has brought many opportunities for climbing and walking as I’ve left London for the wonders of Yorkshire. I therefore have more to blog about, and so I’m returning to posting on The Severe Climber. Continue reading Somewhere New
The best photos of my climbing and hiking adventures in 2019. Continue reading My Climbing 2019 in Pictures
A little over a year ago I returned to climbing outside after surgery on my knee. It felt absolutely great to be climbing again, but I knew I still had a way to get my strength and technique back to what they were. I did a lot better that weekend than I thought I might, but I did feel disappointed to not get up some problems. So last weekend I returned to Burbage to try those problems again. Continue reading “Trying Again and a Little Bit of History”
Sometimes rain on a climbing trip can be good thing. A couple of weeks ago, rain forced me to give up on climbing at The Roaches and instead go for a walk in the surrounding countryside. It turned out to be a great walk, going to places I had never been and seeing some fantastic sights. I hiked over Hen Cloud, past The Roaches, through the chasm of Lud’s Church, along the pretty River Dane, under The Hanging Stone, and back along the whole length of the Roaches ridge. The best bit was the amazing, clear views from The Roaches once the rain and cloud had cleared. Continue reading “Roaches – along and high”
The other weekend I got reminded that a great walk doesn’t have to be up the highest peak, or to a famous summit that everyone wants to tick off their list. I had a brilliant time walking up a hill that’s just lovely for being in a great location, a bit different, and with an interesting character. Continue reading A Lovely Hill
the Severe climber 