Date: 11th – 14th January 2001
Participants: Graham Beevor, Malcolm Duff, Howard Hillier-Daines, Drew Rush,
Malcolm Rush, John Schmitt, Brian Shaw and Geoff Wright.
The additional days hiking in 2000 had proved so successful that it was decided to try and do this on all future Winter Hikes. As a result the longer journeys become more acceptable with at least two full days walking being achieved.
So, on the Thursday evening the same 8 hikers set off - the destination this year being the Yorkshire Dales National Park. For the first year ever only half of us left from the usual place in North Finchley, with the rest of us leaving from Graham’s house. We did however; all meet up at a Little Chef on the A1 after Newark.
We stopped for a drink as it got close to 11.00 pm and rang the B&B to tell them we would be late - accommodation had been booked at Whitefriars Country Guesthouse, a 17th century family house with monastic origins, in Settle.
The two main hikes we had planned were Pen-y-Ghent on the Friday and Ingleborough on the Saturday. The weekend would be completed on the Sunday with a short hike around Malham and in particular Malham Cove.
Friday
After breakfast we drove out to Helwith Bridge and parked the cars in a lay-by, from where we could actually see our target for the day – Pen-y-ghent.
We set off north-east along the track (Long Lane) to Milk Churn Hole, where we met the Pennine Way as it came in from the east. From here it was due north to the top of the hill – we had managed the whole climb in about 90 minutes.
Despite being a nice day there was still some old snow at the top.
We had originally planned to have our lunch here but being well ahead of schedule we had a short break before pressing on. This involved following the Pennine Way as it first headed north, then west and finally south-west all the way into Horton in Ribblesdale.
It was now time for lunch so we decided to stop off for something to eat and drink at the Crown Hotel; situated at the northern end of the village between two humped-backed bridges, for liquid refreshments. Still ahead of time there was no rush to leave so we settled down to a few games of cards.
The afternoon section of the hike was quite straightforward – we crossed the River Ribble and followed the path south. As we got closer to Helwith Bridge a breakaway group, led by Malcolm R crossed the river and made their way back to the cars via Studfold Quarry. The rest continued on the west bank until the footpath arrived in the village, where they crossed the river and railway and then returned to the cars. 16km (10miles) had been covered.
After returning to the B&B and getting washed and changed we wandered around town looking for somewhere to eat. We eventually chose the Royal Oak, a hotel just round the corner from the B&B where they served a cheap roast dinner. It was fairly grotty but at least it was better than we had experienced in Abergavenny.
Saturday
We drove out to Clapham and started by following Laithbutts Lane to Newby and then the road to Newby Cote.
It was a very clear day and we were looking forward to the day ahead.
There were some final adjustments to our packs before we set off on the steady climb.
We followed the footpath in a northerly direction and were exposed to the wind that was beginning to pick up and bite. It was with some relief therefore that we found some shelter when we reached Little Ingleborough. Here we took the opportunity to have lunch, before completing the remainder of the climb.
Upon reaching the summit we were amazed by the number of people there, particularly as the wind was now blowing like a gale. The clear sky though rewarded us with some really stunning views - we could see the peaks of the Lake District more than 40 miles away, the Howgill Fells, and Cross Fell to the north.
We then retraced our route back to Little Ingleborough, were we took the footpath south-east to Gaping Gill, a yawning abyss that engulfs Fell Beck.
The stream crashes down 365 ft into a cathedral sized chamber in what is probably Britain’s highest unbroken waterfall.
A network of tunnels lead off from the main chamber, and the stream eventually reappears as Clapham Beck at Black Head Cave a short distance from the main (dry) entrance of Ingleborough Cave in Clapham. Although this was proven by fluorescent dye tests many years ago it was only in the 1980s that the connection was finally discovered by cave divers. Indeed as we stood around looking we could hear the noise from people who had entered the caves further down the hill.
It was not much longer before we had walked down the hill and at the entrance to Ingleborough Cave and although we thought about going inside we decided that we didn’t really have enough time. As a result of this decision we did then have time for a cup of tea at a little café in Clapham, before our return to the B&B. We had covered a similar distance to Friday.
We chose a much better place to eat that evening – the Golden Lion. There was a separate restaurant area with an excellent menu and Silver Service. When it came to dessert 7 of us chose a proper pudding and Geoff selected the cheese board. This in itself was incredible - apart from there being enough cheese to have satisfied all 8 of us, it included a very strange strawberry flavoured Wensleydale.
After a few drinks in the bar area we returned to the B&B for a good night’s sleep.
Sunday
After breakfast we packed the cars and drove out through the mist to Gordale Bridge.
We followed the footpath up the steep sided valley to Gordale Scar where we had to do a bit of rock climbing beside a waterfall.
At the top where it starts to level off we turned west and went cross-country to Malham Cove.
Because of the cliffs (80m high and 300m across), and the Limestone Pavement this amazing area is amongst the top ten geological wonders of Britain. Indeed Malcolm R recalls the geology lessons as we walked across the Clints (the blocks of limestone) and Grykes (the gaps).
Note: With limestone being very susceptible to weathering the pavement was formed after the last Ice Age by meltwater, largely from Malham Tarn. Furthermore, the microclimate of the Grykes is more humid and slightly warmer than on the pavement itself resulting in a variety of wild flowers and ferns such as Wood Sorrel, Herb Robert, Green Spleenwort and Wall Rue.
We spent some time enjoying the views before following the footpath down to Malham.
Here we enjoyed lunch in the pub before strolling back to the cars for the journey home.