The Dales Way
Waterside Viaduct
The Dales Way is a 78 mile, mainly low level, trail beginning in Ilkley, West Yorkshire and ending on the shores of Windermere lake at Bowness-on-Windermere. Normally walked in about a week the route follows the River Wharfe through Grassington and Buckden before crossing the Pennine Way near the famous Ribblehead Viaduct. It then drops down along Dentdale on its way to Sedbergh, a popular overnight stopping place. Finally the Dales Way follows the Lune valley northward passing Waterside Viaduct (see left) then swings west to skirt Kendal, before arriving at Bowness.
A Dales High Way
Ingleborough
A Dales High Way is a 90 mile walk taking in much of the best high country between Saltaire in West Yorkshire and Appleby in Cumbria. En route the trail passes through Skipton, Settle and Sedbergh and visits the summits of Ingleborough and the Howgills, with numerous possible variations. A return is possible via the Settle-Carlisle railway.
Howgills and Limestone Trail
howgillsandlimestonetrail.org.uk
Sedbergh and Middleton Fell
This is a 76 mile walk from Kirkby Stephen to Settle. En route it climbs beside Cautley Spout waterfall then follows the Howgill Fells down to Sedbergh. Next the trail goes south over Middleton Fell to Barbon and on to Ingleton via Barbon Fell. Finally the route takes in the summits of Ingleborough and Pen-y-Ghent before arriving in Settle.
A Pennine Journey
Ingleton Falls
The Pennine Journey is a 247-mile long-distance walking route, which crosses some of the most stunning scenery in northern England taking around 18 days to complete. Starting in Settle, the first two days pass through limestone country, arriving at Buckden in Wharfedale. Then into Swaledale and on to Tan Hill (the highest pub in England) onto Bowes, Middleton-in-Teesdale, following the River Tees before making for Blanchland and Weardale, then onto Hexham and Hadrian’s Wall Country, following the line of the Wall for 20 miles, making for Alston and Cross Fell the highest point in the Pennines descending to the Eden Valley, following the River Rawthey to Sedbergh then striking back to Settle via Whernside and Ingleborough. This demanding circuit takes at least 18 days to complete.
Lady Anne’s Way
Mallerstang High Road
Lady Anne’s Way is a stunning 100-mile long distance route from Skipton to Penrith, which passes through the limestone country of the Yorkshire Dales and rolling Upper Eden Valley as it follows the route Lady Anne Clifford took to visit her vast estates and numerous castles (including Pendragon Castle in Mallerstang) in the seventeenth century. Lady Anne was something of a legend in her own lifetime. She was Countess Dowager of Dorset, Pembroke, and Montgomery. She should have inherited vast estates in 1605 on her father’s death, but instead she had to fight a 40-year legal battle with her uncle and his son to claim what was rightfully hers. By 1641 they were both dead and she finally inherited her father’s ancient barony and became 14th Baroness de Clifford. Lady Anne was also a patron of literature and something of a literary figure in her own right.
The Friends Way
The Friends Way is a new long distance path from Barley in Lancaster to Sedbergh. The 62 mile route follows in the footsteps of George Fox, one of the founders of the Society of Friends, commonly known as the Quakers. It is planned that the route will be extended to Swarthmoor Hall, near Ulverston, in 2023. Sedbergh is home to one of the finest Quaker meeting houses at Brigflatts. A little further away is Fox’s Pulpit – a hill where Fox preached to 1000 people in 1652.
Click here for details of the launch of the Friends Way on 21st May 2022.
