Pennine Way: Day 7 - Horton-in-Ribblesdale to Hawes

Sunday 7th September

Distance: 22km; Ascent:440m; with Lynsey

See approximate route in new window

We didn't make quite as early start as planned today, possibly due to yesterday's late-ish finish; however we still probably managed to set off walking from the campsite at around 9:30am.  After a couple of kilometres walking we came across Sell Gill, where it tumbles impressively into the ground at the appropriately named Sell Gill Holes.

Sell Gill

Sell Gill Holes

We continued northwards with good views across to Ribblehead Viaduct and Whernside beyond.  An hour and half or so after leaving Sell Gill Holes we passed another beck dropping into a hole in the ground at Calf Hole.

Ribblehead Viaduct and Whernside

Beck above Calf Hole

Continuing on past Ling Gill we ascended up onto Cam Fell, where we met the Dales Way and the Cam High Road, an old Roman Road.  There were good views across the moorland as we followed the Cam High Road north-westwards, reminding me of our previous visit to this part of the Dales in 2006 to climb the nearby hills of Dodd Fell Hill and Drumaldrace.

Heading for Hawes on the West Cam Road

At Kidhow Gate we left the Cam High Road, which was now a tarmacked road, to fork left onto the West Cam Road, a track that lead to Hawes.  After around 4km, the Pennine Way left this track to take a route across the moorland and down through fields towards Hawes.

Looking down into Wensleydale

Our plan had been to descend to Hawes and order a taxi to Garsdale station whilst we had tea and cake somewhere.  However it was now apparent that if we did this we were going to struggle to catch our train, which would be somewhat of a pain owing to the infrequent nature of the service on this line.  Therefore instead as soon as we reached the surfaced track of Gaudy Lane, we arranged for a taxi to meet us outside the Market House in the town centre.  We walked there as quickly as we could as it was starting to rain!

We made it to the Market Hall at about the same time as our taxi, which dropped us off at Garsdale station around 10 minutes before our train.  Unfortunately there was no where to shelter at the station and so we were soaked by the time our train arrived, which meant that the train staff took pity on us and sorted us out a cup of tea each shortly after boarding!  Soon we were back in Settle after another good weekend of walking.

Written up in November 2012 from photos and memories

Pennine Way: Day 6 - Malham to Horton-in-Ribblesdale

Saturday 6th September

Distance: 23.5km; Ascent:790m; with Lynsey

See approximate route in new window

Our journey northwards on the Pennine Way reached Malham Cove several months ago on a cold snowy Easter Monday.  Now we were back again with the intention of walking from Malham to Hawes over the course of the weekend.  Careful studying of the various train and bus timetables had suggested that the most logical way of doing this was to get to Settle by train or car, from where we could take a bus to Malham.  Then from Hawes it would be possible to get a taxi a few miles west to Garsdale Station, where we could then catch a train back to Settle.

Therefore we were up early today to drive up to Settle, where we intended to leave the car for the weekend.  We arrived in plenty of time for the first bus of the day to Malham at 10:30am to allow us time to find somewhere suitable to park.   However this proved to be easier than expected as the man at the station ticket office allowed us to park at the station providing we bought our tickets now for tomorrow.

And so just after 11:00am we set off walking from the National Park visitor centre in Malham and wandered up through the village to pick up the busy track up to Malham Cove.  As we had a long way to go, we didn't linger here; however I took plenty of photos here on our walk from Malham to Settle via Malham Cove back at Easter.

Looking down Watlowes

After climbing up to the top of the cove and clambering over the impressive limestone pavement, we were soon in the lovely dry limestone valley of Watlowes.  There were good views back down towards the cove and on into the upper valley surrounded by limestone crags.

In Watlowes

Soon we reached Malham Tarn, whose pleasant shore we followed before crossing a road and beginning the main ascent of the day up onto Fountains Fell, whose summit area shows some evidence of coal mining in the past.  We dropped down to the road to the west, with good views of our next objective: Pen-y-Ghent.

Pen-y-Ghent

At around 6pm we reached the summit of Pen-y-Ghent (Marilyn, Nuttall).  After a bit of a break on the summit, we descended along the Pennine Way to reach the village of Horton-in-Ribblesdale, where we intended to stay for the night.  We set our tent up on the campsite and headed to the nearby pub for dinner after a long day's walking.

Written up in November 2012 from photos and memories