Map reproduced from OpenStreetMap.org
Click here to download a pdf of this walk
Distance: 6.8km (4.2 miles) Time: 2-3 hours
Easy walking, mainly flat. Not suitable for prams, buggies or wheelchairs. Boots or trail shoes needed. Can be muddy after rainfall.
Start at Sedbergh Information Centre at 72 Main Street (1), turn right along Main Street and at the end turn left down Finkle Street past the church. Just past the churchyard (2) take a narrow lane on the right along the back of the cricket pitch. You are now in the grounds of Sedbergh School. Turn left beside the sports pavilion, signposted to Birks. Follow this path straight on, across another path, through a gate and down the grassy hill to Busk Lane. Cross the road to the wide track opposite (3).
Walk past the sports hall, turn right at the large barn then across a field. Go through a gate, up the slope to pass left of Birks House and out to Birks Lane (4). Turn left, careful of traffic, down to the mill (5).
Don’t cross the footbridge but keep ahead with the river still on the left. The Dales Way follows the river. Leaving the wood, the River Dee flows in from Dentdale. Go up and over the old Ingleton to Tebay railway line, finally closed in 1967 (6). It is worth taking a short diversion left along the railway line to see the fine metal viaduct.
Now follow the riverbank (good picnic spots). 200 metres after the railway, look out for a gate by a tree on the left to continue along the riverbank. The hamlet of Brigflatts is to your right but unfortunately there is no direct access from the river. Continue alongside the river to reach the A683 road (7).
Turn right on the road for 400 metres. The is no pavement so walk on the right and be careful of traffic. Turn right down the minor road to Brigflatts (8). As you enter the hamlet the burial ground is on the right and the Friends’ Meeting House and garden are a little further on the left.
The meeting house, which is a lovely grade 1 listed building, was built in 1674 and remains very much the same today. When the meeting house is open there is lots of information inside (see also brigflatts.org). There are toilets, when open.
Retrace your steps for 30 metres up the lane and take the footpath on the right just after the last house. Follow the right edge of the first field. Cross the next field to the smaller (righthand) of two gates. In the third field head diagonally leftwards towards a group of tall trees and a stony path leading up to reach the railway again (9).
Go through the tunnel then straight ahead to cross a farm track. Continue in the same direction along the right edge of three more fields to reach Birks Lane a couple of hundred metres north of the mill (10).
After the hamlet, as the road bends right, go through the cemetery to Busk Lane then straight on to reach the main road. Turn right and in 250 metres go through Sedbergh School gates on the right (11).
Follow the drive then footway to St. Andrew’s Church. Turn left up the alley with the church on your right to the road opposite The Dalesman Inn (12). Cross with care and turn right along the Main Street back to the town centre.
