The Walk

It has been weeks and weeks since we had walked with Uncle Bob, so we were very happy when Dad told us we would be off on Sunday to the Yorkshire Dales to meet him and climb two more hills.

We had to be up and ready early as we set off about 07.30. The drive took us to Ingleton, famous for its waterfalls, and then over to Ribblehead where there is a huge viaduct that carries the Settle to Carlisle railway over the valley. This is an archive photograph taken some years before.

Driving on we next came to the town of Hawes then on through the village of Gayle and over the tops eventually to the hamlet of Yockenthwaite where we met up with Uncle Bob and started the walk. You can see that it had been a cold night as there is still frost on the ground.

After crossing Yockenthwaite Bridge, we headed towards the buildings but soon took a track on the left through a gate and then onward beside the River Wharfe that flows on its way over many cascades.

It was absolutely delightful and there were many ideal places to sit and picnic, but it was still early and Dad too said we had a long way to go. We came to a house called Beckermonds where we continued up the valley but now on a narrow and gated road.

After what seemed a long time we came to a place called Low Greenfield, that had an entrance of imposing pillars and gate across the road. We thought we might not be allowed to go through but as you can see only vehicles are not allowed.

We still had not started to climb and we began to wonder if we were ever going to bag any summits, but Dad told us that soon it would be steeply uphill. That was if only Uncle Bob and he could find a way through the dense forest that clad the lower half of the fell.

If you look carefully at this photo you can see in the centre what appeared to be a clearing in the forest and it seemed to go all the way to the open fell. This was not the route that Uncle Bob had originally envisaged but Dad seemed to think that it was a good option. Uncle Bob agreed to try it and off we went. It was necessary to climb a fence to gain access, so this was not what could be called an authorised route. There seemed to be a path and we kept close to a wall on our right. The ground underfoot was very wet and it was completely and eerily silent as we climbed on up reaching a bank that brought us to a forest road. This was on the map so we knew that we were halfway. The path/clearing continued on the other side but much more steeply. After negotiating an area of dead nettles (they still stung though!) we reached another fence once over which, we were on the open fell. This had been the most worrying part of the route to find so we were all relieved it was over. Then we continued steadily up to the ridge and finally to the top of High Green Field Knott just beyond a wall corner.

Unlike the Lakeland Fells the summits in the Yorkshire Dales are often large flat areas. It was therefore necessary for Uncle Bob to use his GPS to find the exact top as per the Ordnance Survey, and once done his and Dad's stick was planted to mark the spot and we hopped out to have our photo taken.

You can see the wall behind us. This went on for miles and to reach out next objective - Horse Head Moor, we had to follow this. It seemed that we would never reach Horse Head, and indeed when the white trig point came into view it was ages before we reached it. Looking back the High Green Field it was very distant and we realised how far Uncle Bob and Dad had had to walk! At Horse Head it was windy and Allen was in danger of being blown off the trig point, so Uncle Bob kindly held on to us while Dad took our photo.

We have no idea why it is called Horse Head, as there were certainly no horses about and not even any sheep either. Uncle Bob and Dad then worked out the names of the hills they could see from the top, which were Darnbrook Fell, Fountains Fell, Pen-y-Ghent, Plover Hill and Ingleborough. We are very proud to be able to say that we have climbed them all too! It was now the simple matter of walking along to a gate in the wall and once through descending down to the valley and the car. On the way we had a view of the hamlet of Yockenthwaite with the hill Yockenthwaite moor behind. This is one to be climbed in the future.

There are 100 tops in the Yorkshire Dales and we had now done 45. We settled in the car now to have our picnic - sandwiches and cake etc. Dad followed Uncle Bob to the village of Buckden, where surprise surprise they went to a tea room for tea and cakes!! Then we said our goodbyes to Uncle Bob and we headed home. Dad stopped in Hawes to have a meal. He had missed the excellent chip shop as it had closed about half an hour before, so he went across the road and got burger and chips, sitting on a seat by the road side to eat them. How common! Home then at then end of another great day!

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