Thu 19 Apr 2018
For an index to my other walks please click here
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Linton Falls |
For his annual spring walk
this year John chose Grassington, in Wharfedale. We started very late because he
and Colin had been trapped in a traffic jam for over an hour en route to meet up.
It was a glorious day, almost like summer, with the
temperature around 20C! We started the walk by crossing the footbridge over
Linton Falls. Turning right we walked along the bank of the River Wharfe and
joined a short lane which took us near the edge of Grassington village.
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River Wharfe |
There we turned up the hill and took a very narrow stone-wall-enclosed bridleway on the left. It was far too narrow for horses, especially
as there was a number of large trees growing in it. It was a new experience to
all of us, as we followed the path around three or four right angled bends.
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Narrow bridleways |
Right on the
north east edge of Grassington we took High Lane, and then over a stile from
where a path led across several fields to Edge Lane. One of the field boundaries included extremely large boulders, suggesting it was originally constructed a very long time ago.
We were now at around 1000 feet up the hillside with panoramic
views over Wharfedale. We began to feel tired already because of the hot sun
and the long hours since breakfast. We were hoping for a decent place to
stop for lunch.
Colin found the grassy bank so comfortable that he would
have liked to stay for an hour or so; but we still had half of the seven miles
to walk. So we humped our packs
and after some hesitation (signposts seem to be a rarity in the area) found the
path we needed to drop down to Hole Bottom.
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Hebden Beck |
The way by Hebden Beck was delightful, and after a short
while we reached the tiny village of Hebden. We continued alongside the stream
until we reached Mill Lane, at the bottom of which we joined The Dales Way along
the Wharfe near the long suspension bridge.
Further along we
reached some stepping stones over the river, which John had intended to use as
part of his route. They were rather too far apart and looked very slippery so
we decided to give them a miss and continued on the path.
We soon reached Linton Falls and the bridge we crossed at
the beginning of the walk. It had been a lovely day, made a little tiring by
the sudden change in the weather, but most enjoyable.
After waving goodbye to Colin and John I had the idea of
driving up to the Lakes and staying the night in Langdale, but I decided
against it, not having prepared the camper with water and food nor any bedding,
so after taking some photos near the bridge over the beck in the lovely village
of Linton I headed for home.
