Skipton Moor: Ilkley to Skipton 10/08/13

Back to the North Country then, and it's now time to start thinking about walking somewhere that isn't Wharfedale, because of 24 up-country walks so far this year, 11 of them have featured in this most lovable of dales. I admit that I've fallen for it pretty hard and made a previously unexplored region one of my absolute favourites, but with more than half the year gone, I'd have thought that I'd be well into the Aire & Calder moors by now. So return to Ilkley, which has seen me so many times this year that I might start considering it a second home, and set course for the last remaining unexplored moor that borders Lower Wharfedale and to make a symbolic break away from my new favourite walking country.

Skipton Moor: Ilkley to Skipton  10.3 miles
 



Heathcote

Depart Ilkley station after 9.30am and start out of town on yet another new route so as not to be needlessly retracing previously walked paths, heading out along The Grove, Ilkley's main shopping drag for smart boutiques, and it's immensely frustrating that a continental street market has been set up as that is the sort of thing that you really need at the end of the day's walking when you could really justify to yourself a Polish sausage and a pint of Czech lager. Soon enough, Grove Road leads out into suburban and uber-expensive Ilkley, where high hedges hide most of the houses away from the eyes of the passer-by ands only rare vistas remind you that you are actually at the bottom of a river valley tucked between two elevated moors. Still, it's worth noting the best house along here, namely Heathcote, of 1906 by Edwin Lutyens, a prime example of his early idiosyncratic take on classical styles, with notable use of local materials, I especially love the fact that the rear elevation is straightforwardly visible through the garden gate when more recent and uglier buildings are hidden away. Moving on, to Heber's Ghyll Road and the suburbs continue, indicating that Ilkley is a lot bigger than I think it is, and it continues to feel expensive right up until the arrival at Heber's Ghyll itself where woodland takes over and the road ceases to effectively go anywhere. Deviate onto the woodland path to enjoy the company of trees rather than tramping along the road, and it's notable that Bracken Wood does live up to its name, and provides a lot more undulations than I was expecting, and at the end we meet the track out to Briery wood farm, and that familiar vista towards Upper Wharfedale opens out and that's a view that is a gem from any angle. Interesting looks back can be had as Ilkley is left behind, especially over towards Myddelton Lodge on the far side of the valley before pressing on past the farm and up a long grassy ditch to emerge out onto Addingham Moorside.

Addingham Moorside

This land can't quite be counted as a High Moor, as the actual moor is 100+ metres above us to the south, whilst here we can be satisfied with some fields of extremely rough pasture and regular checking of the map to make sure I am aiming for the correct field corners which are repeatedly hidden from view, so much for this being the easy route to get over to Addingham. I'm very pleased with myself to spot the bench-mark at one stile, and am puzzled at another to find that a farm gate has been placed across another to make access difficult, and a bit of really moorland long grass is traversed before popping out at Hardwick House Farm, which shows no signs of life but looks in good condition and rarely visited judging by the length of the grass growing in the driveway, add it to the dream properties list etc etc. Follow the rough track down towards Cragg House farm, and take the cross-country short cut that leads a bit too close to the slurry pit for my liking, before aiming for the gate with the yellow feed pot on it and starting down hill through the uncut grass for a field walk down towards Over Gate Croft, and in the last field we meet a flock of Evil looking sheep that flock together and take really loud objection to my presence, and I start to wonder why I am upsetting so many animals this year. The field walk continues beyond the farm, and then takes much longer than the map suggests it should have as I completely fail to find out where the path is meant to rejoin the farm track, but eventually paths meet at the track to Gate Croft and it's then a clear route down to Cocking Lane. I think that I should be getting a view towards the ridge that form Skipton Moor off to the west, but the landscape profile seems to be keeping it hidden, and I feel that we might not actually get a look at it until we are ascending it, at least the view down Wharfedale is good, the first proper look that I've had from its base where the valley channel shape is obvious and impressive. The road walk is longer than I expected and I get into a rather unfortunate game of chicken with a power walker, which I lose when I realise that I am the one walking on the wrong side of the road, but thankfully there isn't much traffic to play with before the turn off at Lumb Beck is met and footpaths are rejoined.

Addingham

There are a few more fields to be traversed, and more stiles to frustrate, but meeting a horse that is using a low-hanging tree branch to scratch itself provides me with much more amusement than it should, before the sound of the road takes over and the A65 has to be crossed, and having anticipated a long wait as cars pelt along the open road, it proves to be one of the easiest road crossings made so far. Beyond the bypass, a long tunnel holly leads down to the top of Stockinger Lane, which leads down into Addingham, but along the way the parapet of a buried bridge indicates that we are crossing the old Ilkey - Skipton line, and there are definite signs of a major shindig going on at the Scouts hall and sports club. Down towards the main road, we meet some impressively lofty four-storeyed houses, and i hadn't thought of Addingham as a place to find a sizable town house, but this is a town that will keep on surprising me, and pop out onto Main Street for a momentarily familiar scene opposite the Fleece Inn. Carry on along the road westwards, starting to note the quantity of pubs and the amount of former industrial buildings, as if you don't expect country towns to have ever been anything other than expensive dormitories, and the variety of ages is a surprise too, with the recent builds mostly fitting in pretty well style-wise. It's a pleasant town to wander through, and I adore the name of Druggist Lane, definitely one for the scrapbook, and if I ever want to do a small town pub crawl, I'll be doing it here as the main street has five pubs, all still in business miraculously. Beyond the Craven Heifer, the route takes the turn onto Skipton Road, but we won't be going too far along the low road to the heart of Craven, instead turning on to Moor Road, and that gives immediate indication of where we are headed, and this looks like it might be the cheap end of town, but I'd still guess that the scratchiest ex-council house in these parts would still cost you 160K. The road then turns to track, as the A65 has severed it, and moving to cross the bypass again, I know that this is a place that you only have to check for traffic in one direction as no vehicle I know is capable of climbing north along here at any sort of speed.

Addingham Low & Draughton Moors

Onwards along Crossbank Lane and back into a rural setting, ascending in a pretty straight line and offering excellent views back down Wharfedale and it's probably one of the best places to view Beamsley Beacon as it actually looks a dynamic shape from this angle. It's a pretty rapid ascent, passing an underground reservoir that looks a bit too much like a nuclear fallout shelter, and once the track starts to level out, a view towards the coming moor is apparent and I encounter my first walker coming the other way, who wonders if I'm following the Dales High Way (No, but I have bought the route guide). We're on Addingham Low Moor, as this town seems to put claim on all the rough grounds on this side of the Wharfe, but only the land to the south is moor-like, it's farms and riding schools to the north, as well as views aplenty. The dead straight route progressing ahead looks ancient and purposeful to the casual eye, and history since the 19th century suggests that it is Roman, part of a conjectural route that stretched from Olicana (Ilkley) to Galava (Ambleside) for which little definitive archaeology has been uncovered, but it's convincing enough for me, and a long distance route has been created to follow it, so next time I fancy a walk to Windermere, it will probably be that way. Tarmac ends as the track passes onto Draughton Moor, turning to a dirt and turf track, momentarily offering views to the south into Airedale before being obscured by High Edge, which I will not be venturing onto as 100m of ascent since the A65 is enough for now. Stay on course as the track levels again, and a nice view over Chelker Reservoir is finally obtained, and its landmark wind farm seems to have given up the ghost, with only one turbine retaining its sails, and I think I've got the high road to myself, until I meet three generations of ladies coming the other way, and then I'm surprised to see cars crossing the track some distance ahead, as I had not accounted for Height Lane being more than a farm track.

Skipton Moor & Back Plantation

Views west and south are briefly gained as the road is crossed, and a last good view is taken into Wharfedale, before we start onto Skipton Moor proper, and a moment is taken to enjoy the milestone, which seem to be illustrated in Hieroglyphs until your brain processes the florid lettering. Press on along the bridleway, having been on a restricted byway before and really struggled to recognise the difference, and views forward are dominated by the heights of Skipton Moor, looking like waves on the sea, frozen if rock and turf, and from a distance looking much less substantial than they are, for they summit some 70m higher than the track. Views towards our destination are lost as the trees of Back Plantation obscure them, and it's amongst the conifers that I pause to have lunch, pleased that a day of glum and slatey skies has not taken a turn for the moist, before pressing on to take in the rare views towards Barden Moor and Flasby Fell as they appear through the trees. It's a nice track to amble along and let your mind wander, and as its slow descent starts, the heights make their size much more apparent and I lament the fact that they lack a good right of way for the amateur explorer to utilise, whilst care is suddenly needed as the path gets damp and rutted above Potters Gill. Regaining views beyond the plantation, a look downward shows the meeting of the A65 and A59, but not the Embsay & Bolton Railway, annoyingly hidden by terrain, whilst above stands the slab of Gritstone of Barden Moor, looking exceptionally desolate from this angle, and ahead we can see all the ways over to Malhamdale and Bowland. The descent continues, and challenges my belief that heather doesn't grow below 300m, and it's good to see that it's still flowering, but below that height the plantations of trees grow larger and more purposeful, and once bracken takes over by the track, all feeling of high moor passes. Moving into a plantation that covers the path, the need for care with footing takes over with roots and loose stone littering the track, and I con myself that the masonry remnants are Roman when they are almost certainly 18th century, and it's now that i meet the energetic dogwalkers of Skipton, venturing out on their afternoon strolls.



Skipton

When the track emerges, the sneaky views of the town had through the trees resolve into one of the best settlement-from-above views obtained so far in my wandering, and the path gets challenging as it passes through clumps of Gorse, that most awful of walking companions, before finally showing Pendle Hill, distant companion of so many walks, as well as marking the formal arrival in Airedale. The straight track ends above Jenny Gill, and Whinny Gill reservoir, and shifts to rapid descent as it moves into the trees and sets off over bare earth that is best suited to being a dirt bike track, as it's decently firm underfoot but would be pretty horrifying when wet. 50m are lost before a better surface is met, but that's little more than a stone-lined ditch which is shockingly uneven in places and could easily turn into a torrent after heavy rain, so it's puzzling that this should lead out onto Shortbank Road, on the edge of suburban Skipton. Down towards the town with an eye on the train times, taking in my surroundings of the estate which has me wondering why so many council houses in this land have been pebbledashed and whitewashed when it really doesn't make them look pretty, and other things to note are a house with iron Corinthian columns in its garden, which really has me wondering where they came from, and an 18th century toll house with a prominent gable, which indicates that this route was once turn-piked, and that ascent must have been pretty alarming for horse and cart traffic. All the way down, I've failed to get a good look back to the moor, being largely obscured by settlement, and it's only past the bridge on the old Grassington line that a profile is seen, and even then I'm more interested in the array of buildings around the Cross Keys, looking like an accumulation of Inn, stables and chapel. On to Newmarket Street and it suddenly gets very crowded, as Saturday is market day and the town centre always feels like it is far too small for all the people that come to use it, but this isn't a market for foreign beer and sausage, so tracks are made beyond High Street to pass the canal and temptations of food or booze and to move on to the railway station for a conclusion at 2pm. It's from the platform here that the view of Skipton Moor as a proper upland is finally obtained, looking like much more challenging hill than the route I had taken suggested it was, methinks this one is probably going to earn a revisit.

Next on the Slate: Airedale's Unknown High Lands.


1,000 Miles Cumulative Total: 769.6 miles
(2013 total: 304.3 miles)