Stottie Walks

Rain had swollen the River Ribble and filled the hollows in the long green lane that leads from The Crown to Hawes. On paper, this is an easy day, and we’d hoped to stroll in glorious spring weather, but the threat of showers and the certainty of gales in exposed places prompted us to head straight to our destination.

Daniel and Robert passed us for the last time: they were bound for Hawes YH, and we weren’t to see them again. On Birkwith Moor we negotiated the swollen beck and took a rest and a snack before briefly facing the westerly blast as far as Old Ing, where we resumed our northbound route.

Way back then…There’s been a big change in the footpaths between Yorkshire’s Three Peaks. Wear and tear has prompted repair work, so now there are signposts and hard surfaces for walkers crossing from Penyghent to Whernside. This will make it easier for strong Pennine Wayfarers to go from Malham to Hawes in one day, bypassing the accommodation bottleneck of Horton in Ribblesdale. We had to do something similar in 1963, racing from Malham to Dentdale YH (now closed) to arrive in time for the evening meal.

Climbing from Ling Gill to Cam End, we had the benefit of the wind behind us, and we fairly sped along the Cam High Road. In coats, hats, gloves and overtrousers we were well clad, but the wind chill affected Helen’s left hand. We devised a solution to that problem, only to find ourselves severely buffeted by turbulence between Kidhow Gate and Ten End where the wind accelerated out of the valley of Snaizeholme Beck and over Dodd Fell. After staggering along the partly snowbound track, we were glad to splash our way downhill into Wensleydale. It was definitely time for restorative tea and cakes in Hawes before we headed for a warm welcome from Janie and Stuart at Ebor House. Dinner at The Crown (not the same one as last night) was, as ever, a great pleasure.

Last night’s rain thunders into Sell Gill Holes

Cam High Road will be a haul road for timber harvesting, and someone’s not happy!

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