Tag: Walking

Hiking

A Walk Through the Mining History of Wharfedale

This was a splendid walk along a pretty valley and across a moor full of fascintating lead mining history. As a bonus, it gave me the chance to visit the remains of a henge.

I hadn’t heard about the lead mining near Yarnbury on Grassington Moor until it was mentioned to me by fellow blogger the Mountain Coward. After my interesting walk around the remains of lead mining in Nidderdale, I was keen to do the Grassington Moor Lead Mining Trail that winds its way through these old workings. It’s possible to just drive to Yarnbury and walk the Trail from there, but I wanted to incorporate the Trail into a longer walk. I therefore decided to start my walk in the village of Hebden and follow the small valley of Hebden Beck up to the Trail. I also noticed that there is a henge marked on the map not far from Yarnbury, and I thought that I could incorporate a detour to this into a circular walk that came back over the hills above Wharfedale.

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the Severe climber15 Comments
Hiking

Not Quite A Walk Around Scar House and Angram Reservoirs

I felt a bit despondent as I read the sign saying that one of the bridges at the top end of Angram Reservoir was closed. No reason was given, but the reason didn’t really matter. If I couldn’t get over the River Nidd where it flowed into the reservoir, then I was not going to be able to complete my planned walk around Scar House and Angram Reservoirs. I thought about heading somewhere else, but decided that I would head out as I had intended, see what I found, and change my plan if I needed to. I was keen to do this walk, and the reasons I was keen didn’t change simply because a bridge was shut.

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the Severe climber4 Comments
Hiking

A Walk Through the Mining History of Nidderdale

This was a short walk through the rich geological landscape and mining heritage in the Greenhow area of Nidderdale which took in the modern Coldstones Quarry and the extensive remains of abandoned lead mines. It also involved visits to a giant work of art, a huge lime kiln, and a couple of Robert Thompson’s mice. This was a lovely walk, that was full of interesting sights, but which came with a worrying encounter.

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the Severe climber11 Comments
Hiking

Linking Together Some of the Best of Wharfedale

A few weeks ago, I was puzzling over where to go for a walk. I wanted to do something new, but I’d ruled out doing several of the routes on my “to do” list of hikes in the Yorkshire Dales because I wanted to do them when the conditions were better. After looking over my maps for a while trying to decide which walk I might repeat, I realised that the most interesting option would be to bring together in one hike the highlights of a few different walks. It would be like doing a dot-to-dot puzzle of great limestone features in Wharfedale. This I could do by walking a loop that started and ended in the town of Grassington, and which took in a waterfall, a strid, a gorge, and plenty of limestone pavement.  

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the Severe climber11 Comments
Hiking

Never Had I Ever…Walked Up Cat Bells

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

the Severe climber17 Comments
Hiking

Nidderdale Way – Stage 4: Bewerley to Birstwith

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

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Hiking

Nidderdale Way – Stage 1: Pateley Bridge to Lofthouse

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

the Severe climber14 Comments
Hiking

A Walk for a Wet and Windy Day?

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?

the Severe climber9 Comments
Hiking, Rock climbing

Somewhere New

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 Severe climber16 Comments