A Dales High Way

Week long parking at Saltaire 

From: Tony G (Friends)
Date: 19 Aug 2018

Following the inquiry sent by Alan C. (see below) abut parking his car for a week in Saltaire, he later emailed us to tell us he'd found a way to use the small local car park at the junction of Caroline St. and Victoria Road, right in the centre of Saltaire. He told us:

"I contacted Bradford Met District Council and they issued me with a parking permit (£15.00 Mon thru Fri, no charge on a Sunday) to display in my car in the Caroline Street car park which is 20m from Victoria Hall and a 15 min walk from Shipley railway station."

We were unaware of this facility, so we contacted Bradford Council for information. Stephen Hook, Parking Services Supervisor, told us:

"There are two options for a  week long parking at this particular car park.
A waiver permit can be issued  for Monday to Saturday (£3.00 per day), the car park is free on a Sunday.  Please telephone 01274 434300.
Alternatively, payment can be made by telephone, the instructions for this procedure are on the side of the pay and display machine."

So there you have it. Many thanks to Alan for sorting that out. We've had a number of enquiries on similar lines, so this will prove very useful. It should be born in mind, though, that this is an unsecured car park, so obvious security precautions should be taken.

UPDATE Aug 2020: This Info is now out of date. Please see Forum item of Aug 2020 for latest information on car parks.

The Dales High Way walk 25th June to 2nd July 2018

From: Alan C
Date: 12 July 2018

Can you help? We are embarking on the DHW this Sunday from Saltaire so looking for somewhere safe to park the car for 6 days as close as possible to the start/Shipley station. We will be returning on the train from Appleby to Shipley on the train on Friday.

Chris replies: There's no long term parking I know of in Saltaire or Shipley and Saltaire village is residents only. Shipley railway station has a car park but I don't know if you could leave a car all week. You could try yourparkingspace.co.uk . If you are staying the night before you start walking you could try and make a deal with the accommodation provider. Settle offers week long tickets in Greenfoot Car Park if you were able to drive to Settle then catch the train to the start.

I hope you have a great walk.

The Dales High Way walk 25th June to 2nd July 2018

From: Terry Yarrow
Date: 5 July 2018

I am 70 this year and I have just returned from a week backpacking an 'embellished' version of The Dales High Way in the hottest weather we have had for many years! Not a drop of rain, and dry paths all the way :) ! I decided to go because walking friends had told me that it was one of the best walks they had done - I definitely wouldn't disagree! 

Just wanted to say that it was an amazing walk, with awesome scenery and spectacular, breathtaking views, as well as some really lovely villages and hamlets. With most long distance footpaths, there are usually parts that are not so good but with this walk, I don't think there was a bad part anywhere and I enjoyed all of it. If I was nitpicking, I'd say that short parts of the last day were a bit overgrown but that wasn't a problem apart from the fact that I was wearing shorts. I used the small guidebook which proved to be very good for 99% of the route - I just needed to refer to my OS Map Ap on a handful of occasions to check/correct my position where paths were a bit vague.

My 'embellishments' were to adapt the route so that I could climb Hope Hill, climb Pen Y Ghent, Ingleborough and Whernside (the last mentioned I climbed on the day there were a thousand people going up), visit Hull Pot, explore Gordale Scar, take in Malham village, walk via the Ribblehead viaduct, climb Arant Haw, and sometimes an extra mile or two to reach a campsite. This meant that my total distance walked came to 120 miles in 7 days. Oh, and I made sure I had enough time at the start and finish to explore Saltaire and Appleby! Naturally, the train ride back was a big bonus too :) !

I confess that although I am a 'purist' backpacker, with the extreme heat (combined with dodgy knees), I did resort to using Sherpa for a couple of the days and the service they provided was excellent. This was particularly necessary on the Ingleborough day as I don't think my knees would have taken the steep descent into Chapel Le Dale with a 35lb pack up!

The campsites along the way were all good and I met some lovely people on the way - lots of walkers and runners as well as locals who were always helpful.

Thanks for putting the walk together, it was most enjoyable, even though challenging, especially in the unusually hot temperatures!

I have a blog and I have already posted an initial entry on there regarding the walk. I will be putting up some full blog posts detailing my experiences as soon as I have processed the pictures (I am a photographer as well as a blogger). My blog can be found at https://thedorsetrambler.com.

Thanks again for an amazing walk! With my best wishes

Terry Yarrow (AKA The Dorset Rambler - not the walking organisation, that's my blog name :) )
https://thedorsetrambler.com
https://www.facebook.com/thedorsetrambler/

Our walk on the Dales High Way

From: Laraine and Andrew
Date: 21 Aug 2017

We have just finished our very enjoyable walk on the DHW.

We took 6 days. 3 days using the train from our house in Settle and the final 3 days from Ribblehead to Appleby, backpacking camping at Sedbergh and Ravenstonedale. Got to Appleby just in time to get enjoy a celebratory pint at the Midland hotel before catching our train back to Settle.

Thanks for a great walk.

Camp sites

From: David Hall
Date: 15 July 2017

Hi  I have posted a message on the face book page. 

I am looking for a camp site near or on the route at Sedburgh.

I have been on the tourist information web site and Howgills Bunk Barn charges £20 per night for a back pack tent !!!!!!

Can you post this on the blog

davidhalltraining@hotmail.com

07920770260

Dales High Way Walk - April 2017

From: David Chippendale
Date: 9 May 2017

I walked the Dales High Way between 21st and 27th April this year.  What a superb route, full of interest and contrast.  I enjoyed every section of it. 

The path through Trench Wood and Shipley Glen at the start was a delightful surprise, I loved the way the path gave you great views from high above the towns of Ilkley, Skipton, Settle and Appleby before dropping down to them, and enjoyed the contrast between the high moors, the valleys, the limestone scenery, the ruggedness of Ingleborough and the softness of the Howgills. 

A real highlight was seeing Ingleborough covered in snow – fortunately the day after I'd gone over it. 

My only disappointment was not being able to get the train back down to Saltaire due to the Northern train strike, however, I'm planning to head back to Appleby after walking the Dales Way later this month to complete the experience. 

My only suggestion for improvement would be to have some sort of plaque or marker to denote the official start and end of the trail.  Keep up the good work. 

 David Chippendale

Dales High Way - April 2017

From: Maurice Walker
Date: 10 Apr 2017

Just completed The Dales Highway on Saturday 8th April 2017. A great walk. The weather has been perfect, with some great views and met some great people along the way. I have a nice certificate from the tourist information centre. Really helpful people. The deputy mayor ran me into Penrith as northern train strike. Many thanks to all. Had a great pint to celebrate at the 301 miles pub on Carlisle Station.

News from the Sedbergh Area Walking and Cycling Group

From: Robert Powell
Date: 22 Feb 2017

The AGM

As you probably know, the Sedbergh Area Walking and Cycling Group had its AGM some days ago. We didn’t have a huge turnout, but we did get some useful business sorted out. Amongst other things we are having some guided walks, thanks to a kind offer from Keith Birbeck, who has just moved into the area with his wife Joanna. Please see details below, which will also appear in the March edition of Lookaround. I have also attached a poster for anyone with anywhere to put it.

Guided Walk Details

The Sedbergh Area Walking and Cycling Group is planning a short series of walks in the Howgills and Dales area, the primary aim of which is to gauge if there is sufficient interest amongst local people to develop and support an ongoing programme of regular walks in the future.  These will be of between 8 and 10 miles in length,  and centred around Sedbergh. All the walks listed below will begin and end at the Information and Book Centre at 72 Main Street and they will start at 10am.

·         Sat 18 March – Sedbergh Low Level – 8 mile walk along River Rawthay and Dales Way. Generally easy walking on good tracks and minor roads.

·         Wed 05 April – Howgills Hike – 9 mile walk around Calders and Bram Rigg. Good fell tracks over open exposed terrain with 500M of ascent.

·         Sat 15 April – Dentdale – 10 mile walk along Dentdale via the Dales Way and the Dales Highway. Good paths and tracks with 150M of ascent.

·         Wed 03 May – Howgills Hike – 9 mile walk around Knott, Calders and Arrant Haw. Good fell tracks over open exposed terrain with 500M of ascent.

More information about these walks is available on the Sedbergh Gateway website at www.sedberghgateway.org.uk/guidedwalks  and from the walk leader, Keith Birbeck, via keithbirbeck@gmail.com or 015396 20941. Any comments or suggestions concerning this walking initiative would be most welcome.

Fine alternatives

From: Tony Woodhouse 
Date: 16 Oct 2016

We walked the DHW south to north over eight days at the beginning of October 2016.  It is a wonderful trail, thanks to everyone who has helped to create it, prepare the guide books and maintain it, and for the welcome at the Appleby TIC.

We were already acquainted with the steep descent from Ingleborough, so with heavy backpacks we had decided in advance that whatever the weather we would take the alternative route via Selside.  This is a lovely route in its own right and not in any way a poor relation to walking up and over Ingleborough, it just needs care and concentration with map reading.

The wind on the Howgills at the Calf was too strong to make the long ridge walk to Bowderdale a particularly pleasant prospect, so we dropped down to the alternative route along Bowderdale Beck – again, a lovely alternative in its own right.

On reaching Bowderdale, by way of variety we left the DHW and walked directly east to our accommodation in Ravenstonesdale using a route described by the Howgills and Limestone Trail.  However, it would have been just as easy – if less interesting - to follow the DHW to Newbiggin and walk across to Ravenstonedale from there, thanks to a splendid separate pedestrian/cycle path alongside the busy A685 section.

Highlights?  Too many to mention.

Flasby Flashpoint

From: David Wright  
Date: 30 Aug 2016

Walking yesterday (29th August) on the Dales Highway, my wife and I were enjoying a fine, scenic walk in the sunshine. However, after leaving Flasby village and heading south towards Sharp Haw, we encountered severe problems at the end of the path from the village where the bridleway crosses a track (appx Lon, Lat: -2.074302, 54.003754). There are 2 gates on the bridleway in front of the track, neither of which can be opened, and we had to climb one of them. This is totally unacceptable - a bridleway should be useable by horse riders, but they would have been prevented from continuing beyond this point because of the blocked gates.

Crossing the track we were then confronted by a heavy metal double gate which was very difficult to open, and close - surely not in the best interests of the farmer, especially as there was a very long train of cattle walking past. Going on from there, there are no waymarks, the correct route is not clear, and it is very boggy in places, with open dykes having broken banks cross cutting the path, making progress both difficult and dangerous. There was also a large bull in the next field but one which we had to cross. The bull was placid, but there was no warning sign which would have been advisable. Section 59 of the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981 bans the keeping of bulls in fields crossed by a right of way, unless they are under the age of 10 months or not of a recognised dairy breed, provided they're accompanied by cows or heifers (young female cows). Recognised dairy breeds are Ayrshire, British Friesian, British Holstein, Dairy Shorthorn, Guernsey, Jersey and Kerry, but I do not know which breed this bull was.

The blue-topped posts which mark the route help, but there aren't many and can be difficult to spot - e.g. one was lying in the bracken. Progressing past Sharp Haw, the bridleway forks - one path going to the top of Sharp Haw, the other heading SE, but again, no signage. The Dales Highway forum web page reveals that some of the problems I am reporting were also in existence in Autumn 2015 - it seems not much has been done since. I have reported this to Yorkshire Dales National Park.

Something very special

From: Mark Farrar   
Date: 17 Aug 2016

For our first holiday for 24 years without children we decided to walk the DHW, (24th July-1st August). It was wonderful!

Being born and bred in Eccleshill in Bradford, living in Otley for my teenage years, this is a part of the world (up to Settle) I know very well. However, having lived in Norfolk for 30 years I had forgotten how beautiful it is.

Apart from around the honeypots of Malham and Ilkley we saw hardly anyone all day on our walks. Great stuff! We only met one other person doing the DHW itself, a woman from London, who told us you had kindly met her in Saltaire railway station at the start of her walk. Sadly, she gave up after a couple of days. I am not surprised as she was carrying everything. We could not have managed that.

Your guide books were excellent, we hardly ever needed our OS maps, let alone a compass. Thank you. You should be very proud of what you have created.

It is something very special. But please do not let it become too popular!!!

Thanks

From: Janet and Derek   
Date: 12 Apr 2016

We have just finished walking the Dales High Way. It was a brilliant route and the guide book was excellent, probably the most accurate we have used in many decades of walking. Also, it was a good idea to have a guide book and a separate, larger, companion book. (I do wish other guide book writers would take up this idea!)

Many thanks.

Dales High Way Badge

From: Brian Foster  
Date: 8 Jan 2016

I’ve done quite a few nation trails; my first was the Cumbria Way many years ago. This was followed by the Coast to Coast which I finished on my 60th Birthday. More recently and locally I’ve done the Peddars Way & Norfolk Coast Path followed by the Rutland Round. In October 2015 I did the Herriot Way and, as I was born and brought up in Harrogate, I just had to do the Dales High Way which took me through some of my favourite walking areas in God’s own county.

Whilst I got my completion certificate for the Dales High Way from the TIC in Appleby and signed the C2C finishers book in the Bay Hotel; I felt that I needed a more longer lasting and permanent memento to mark the completion of these trails. I’m sure that there are some providers of merchandise for a few of these trails but rather than trawling the internet, I thought that I’d try the DIY approach which would at least ensure that I got what I wanted at a sensible price. My first thought was some form of embroidered badge that I could sew onto my rucksack but since I’m not very good with a needle and thread, I thought that a metal pin badge might be an easier option. A quick search on the internet brought up http://www.createabadge.co.uk/ .

At that time, I only had a picture of the waymarker for the Rutland Round so thought that I’d get a couple of badges made up; one for me and one for the friend who did the walk with me and provided the second car, making this walk possible. I was so pleased with the badges that Createabadge produced that my thoughts then turned to getting a few more made to mark the trails that I’d walked over the years. I downloaded a waymarker image for the C2C and then asked Chris if she would allow me to use her waymarker for the Dales High Way. She very readily agreed and sent me an image that I could use. In return, I promised to send her a sample badge. I think that the results are quite impressive as you can see for yourself from the following picture.

For anyone that might be interested in doing something similar for themselves, I can thoroughly recommend Creatabadge who made these up for me within a few days of submitting my order. The 55mm badges cost me £1 each with a postal charge of £3.99. This is a standard charge irrespective of the number of badges ordered. My goal now is to find suitable images for the other trails that I’ve done and to then complete my set of badges.

Our Dales High Way Walk

From: M and M Waterworth   
Date: 9 Oct 2015

8 days  24 Sept - 1 Oct 2015

Our Route:
Day 1       Saltaire to Ilkley   8.5 miles  Riverside Hotel
Day 2       Ilkley to Skipton   11.5 miles  Napiers Restaurant with Rooms
Day 3       Skipton to Malham   13.5 miles   Youth Hostel Malham
Day 4       Malham to Stainforth   11 miles   Craven Heifer
Day 5       Stainforth to Ribblehead    12 miles   Station Inn
Day 6       Ribblehead to Sedbergh    13.5 miles   Daleslea B&B
Day 7       Sedbergh to Newbiggin    11 miles    Tranna Hill B&B
Day 8       Newbiggin to Appleby    13 miles   Bongate House B&B

What a superb and varied walk!  Each day was different - variety of walking and scenery within each day made for a very interesting 8 days.  A few of the ascents a bit challenging (for us Seniors) but we just took our time!

Highlights: 
Discovering The Howgill Fells and the stunning views from our highest point, The Calf.  We were lucky in having clear sunny weather and could see the outline of the Lake District hills in one direction and the Pennines in another - couldn't quite see Morecambe Bay though! 

The limestone pavement and scars around Malham and then again between Stainforth and Ribblehead. 

Route Guide Comments:
An excellent Route Guide.  We had had enough time to study it before the walk and make plans for which routes to take, where there were alternatives.  The detailed directions were very helpful, alongside our OS maps.  The updates from the website are also useful supplements.  The following comments from our experience might be helpful:
Map 7.  Descending from Sharp Haw to Flasby, the correct route isn't clear, is very boggy in places, the bracken was high (as mentioned in the Guide) - the blue-topped posts mentioned in the Updates do help, but there aren't many and you don't always spot them, eg one had been uprooted.
Map 24.  Item 3 - the gate is no longer waymarked.  Items 4 and 5 - some of these gates have been blocked from being opened, so it's necessary to climb over them.

Although the route has some Dales High Way waymarkers, these are intermittent, so don't rely solely on these for navigation!

A Dales High Way Pub Crawl

From: Vinny Whalley  
Date: 20 Sept 2015

Finished my pub crawl on the 18 September.  

I called it a pub crawl because I usually stay in a pub or go to a pub for an evening meal. 

I was looking for a medium range walk to do, as I had already walked the Pennine Way in April this year.

A Dales High Way looked very interesting. I had six day to do it in, so getting to the start early was important to me and I had to start on a Sunday. The first train from were I live, wasn't till 9 AM arrived in Saltaire about noon and to cover the 18 miles to Skipton wasn't going to happen starting that late.

I tried to find some where to park my car and found Just Park.  For £37 for 6 days parking in someones drive. Grosvenor Road just half a mile from Saltaire station. Excellent, I could now come back down on the train and see were I had walk from the train before picking my car up.

A Dales High Way is and excellent walk, I would recommend it to anyone. For me its good medium range walk, just like doing half of the Coast to Coast or part of the Pennine Way.

Remember you don't have to stick to the route, as the website says you can put the Yorkshire Three Peaks in too, like I did.

I alway buy a guide book but never take it with me as they are too big and heavy and I use Harvey map but there isn't one for this walk, I got myself the maps I needed and used the guide book. What an excellent guide book it is, I never needed to refer to my maps at all (but still glad I had them with me just in case) I would say its the best guide book I have had. All the other information you need is on the website, Like accommodation etc.

Thank you Tony and Chris for such a good guide book and most of all for an amazing walk. 

A Wonderful Walk

From: Maria Marcon 
Date: 13 Sept 2015

 My friends and I completed the walk last week in glorious weather. Spectacular isolation was to be found in the Howgills. The limestone pavement in Malhamdale made a great picnic table. Unfortunately we too had a few issues with cows especially those with calves as our dogs use us for shelter which is not helpful. Sadly we did not realise there was a vistors' book in Appleby. A great time was had by all and the guide had an alternative use as in the picture. 

Many thanks, Maria.

Dales Highway

From: Ken & Lynn Coulson 
Date: 22 Aug 2015

We completed the Dales Highway last week. What a stunning walk it is. Day after day the country opened up new vistas. We travelled through this beautiful Dales landscape loving the transformation from Gritstone to Limestone and finally the beautiful deep red soil of the Eden. What a sublime walk this is; walking doesn't get much better than this. Thank you, we loved every mile of it.

Done!

From: Ian Antill
Date: 15 Aug 2015

Two years later than planned, after two knee operations, Margaret and I finally completed the Dales Highway on July 29th. Glorious walk !

Mostly good weather over the 8 days we took.

Only met people on the same mission as us on the last day, and guess what - they hailed from a village only 2 miles away from us.

Recommended.

Bull Hotel, Sedbergh

From: Barbara Taylor
Date: 21 Jun 2015

Just finishing the Dales Highway which has been very enjoyable but rather wet, windy and misty.

At Sedbergh we stayed at the Bull Hotel, the first room had no TV, the second room no mirror so on complaining to the manager we found out that North Country Inns had not renewed their lease on the Bull Hotel and that the company who owned the hotel had been unable to find another company to take it on.

A manager from another North Country Inn had been put in temporarily for four weeks (we stayed on June 20th) in order to give the owners extra time to lease it out.

The food was good, the hotel sad.

I worry about bookings made from the end of July onwards.

Recent Success!

From: Julian Flewitt
Date: 1 Jun 2015

I just wanted to let you know that we had a great time undertaking the DHW last week. 5 chaps and 2 dogs had good weather (bar the last few hours) and great views all the way.

The guides and signposting were good and little time was lost on the wrong routes. We were all surprised how few people were out generally and specifically on the DHW. There is still much to do in terms of 'spreading the word'. 

We filled in the visitors book in Appleby and had a warm reception from the Tourist Information ladies. We were surprised that so few people had filled in the visitors book since 2013 and that there was no DHW merchandise. Someone is missing a trick!

Please feel free to post this message generally on your website. I have undertaken quite a few long distance walks, I have to say the DHW was rewarding, varied and great in terms of length and challenge. I would not hesitate to recommend it to any doubters! 

Well done to all the organisers and keep up the good work! With thanks - Julian Flewitt.

Setting off next Saturday

From: Kate Gilbert
Date: 17 Apr 2015

With my walking buddy Diane Welch I am setting off on the Dales High Way six-day challenge next Saturday, 25 April. We are both well into our 60s, and though we are pretty fit, we know it's going to be tough at times as well as exciting and spectacular.

I was ill for several years with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR), a serious inflammatory disease, and could hardly walk to the end of the road. I'm taking this opportunity to show people with PMR that there is hope, that they can recover and get back to health and fitness. And at the same time I'm raising money for the charity to support sufferers, PMRGCAuk. http://virginmoneygiving.com/team/katedoesthedales. 

We'll let you know how we get on! Thanks for all the work you have done to promote the route and encourage people like us to take it on,

Regards Kate Gilbert

Start and finish

From: Alby Williams
Date: 25 Feb 2015

Hi, I will be doing the Dales Highway in May, is there an official start and finish to the walk. I've found 2 different starts, the canal but where on the canal, and the 4 lions at the victoria hotel.  As regards the finish is it Appleby castle.

Thanks Alby

Chris replies: The official start is by the lions outside Victoria Hall in Saltaire, and the official finish is at the bottom of Boroughgate, Appleby, by the Moot Hall. Don't forget to nip inside and pick up your certificate! Enjoy the walk.

Superb DHW route and extension 

From: Anne and Ian Brown
Date: 12 Aug 2014

Thanks to Tony and Chris for an excellent pair of guides. It is a really good idea to separate the route finding information (which is very clear on the maps) from the background information (which really adds to the enjoyment).

We enjoyed the Dales High Way immensely and were surprised that so few people seemed to be walking it. Routes like the Cumbria Way are heavily marketted abroad and attract many foreign visitors, but in our opinion the Dales High Way is more attractive, and more easy to follow.

We extended the route by taking an extra day in Settle to climb Pen-y-ghent and visit Hull Pot. At the end, we continued past Appleby to Dufton - a very attractive village beneath the Pennines.

We thoroughly recommend both the Route Guide and the Companion book.  

Cows on the Dales Higway

From: Liz Madge
Date: 25 June 2014

Hello,

We finished part of the Dales Highway from Chapel le Dale to Appleby last week.  We had excellent weather and we enjoyed it.  However, there were lots of cows in the final section.  There were bulls in one field and also mother and calves.  The poor condition of the ground makes it difficult to get away from them if need be.  I would recommend taking the road route between Great Asby and Appleby.

Thanks, Liz

We're loving our Dales High Way walk

From: Chris
Date: 16 June 2014

I'm really enjoying walking A Dales High Way with the AS Coaches Walking Group from Nidderdale. Led by Amanda Burton and using her coach for transport, we are walking a section on alternate Saturdays. Here we are arriving at Stainforth after a wonderful walk over from Malham.

Re: Walking the route on Saturday 17th May

From: Lee Senior
Date: 24 May 2014

Here as promised is a brief rundown on how I went on the walk.

Started 17th May and walked from Saltaire to Skipton
18th May - Skipton to Settle
19th May - Settle to Ribblehead
20th May - Ribblehead to Sedbergh
21st May - Sedbergh to Appleby

Managed to do the 90 miles in five walking days and all the route in glorious sunshine, with not a spot of rain all the way.

I got back home to West Yorkshire via the last train from Appleby on the Wednesday eve (18.56) having walked the 23 miles from Sedbergh - This is probably two days walking in one day!  I left Joss Lane, Sedbergh at 08.31 and arrived in Appleby at 18.05 and my feet were on fire when I arrived at the end!!

I must say since I've got home - it has rained every day! I've been very lucky.

The route is fantastic and a credit to you both. It is well put together and it can't have been a quick process to research it all? The scenery is glorious though and although I knew bits of it from day walks there were many new areas too.

I think the Turner Lane, Addingham diversion is better than the original (I've done that before and knew it was wet on the Millennium Way).

Incidentally, I've kept my timings for this route.  If you would like them - you can certainly have them. I realise 18 miles per day average is going it some and I don't normally flog my feet to death in this fashion! That's one thing about being on your own - it allows you to set your own pace.

I definitely enjoyed the route (my 9th LDP) and I will recommend it.

Many thanks again

Dales Highway - May 2014

From: Aaron Barnes
Date: 18 May 2014

Finished the Dales Highway on Friday in glorious weather.  

Started in Saltaire on the 8th May and have thoroughly enjoyed this wonderful route, even if I haven't enjoyed some of the not so wonderful May weather, especially when I was (mostly) staying in a tent! 

Surprisingly, not too many grot spots and a nice varied walk - the route has been so well thought out.

Look out for the blog which I will hopefully get up over the next few weeks.

A bit of good news as well, the pub "New Inn" at Hoff has reopened (Wed 14th May). Although it's close to Appleby it was a very pleasant (and much needed) surprise to find it open.

A special mention to a few places, Conder Farm Campsite in Dent, and Low Greenside Campsite in Ravenstonedale for their wonderful locations, and the Howgills Bunk Barn.  Quite simply one of the finest bunk houses I have ever stayed in.

Thanks again for a wonderful walk.

Aaron

Walking the route on Saturday 17th May

From: Lee Senior
Date: 4 May 2014

I'm walking the whole 90 miles Dales Highway route starting from Saltaire on Sat 17th May, going as far as Skipton on Day one.

Sunday will be the first train to Skipton then walking to Settle.

Monday - Settle to Ribblehead

Tuesday - Ribblehead to Sedbergh

Wednesday - Sedbergh to either Ravenstonedale or Appleby (depending on the weather)

(Thursday can be used to finish if Weds finishes at Ravenstonedale)

I've been let down by someone who was going to accompany me. So I will be on my own apart from on the Saturday.

If anyone fancies joining me for the whole route, or part of the route, you are more than welcome. There is of course the option of a pint or two at the end of each day!!

I live in West Yorks and will be using the train for the first four days and to return back from Appleby at the end.

My email address is: yorksmale2003@yahoo.co.uk

Many thanks for reading

Lee

Muddy fields above Skipton

From: Tony
Date: 5 March 2014

Just walked the section above Skipton today, enjoying the start of Spring. The fields are still quite muddy though, particularly just beyond the golf course, where the farmer has been busy removing an old wall and fence to replace it with a new fence, in the process making a bit of a mess of the footpath, which runs alongside the fence (see picture below).

I would advise anyone setting out on this section in the near future to make use of the alternative route through Skipton Woods and then alongside the Grassington road to the Craven Heifer pub. The latter is not as interesting, but the going underfoot is good. The first bit through Skipton Woods is lovely, especially at this time of year (see photo below).