The Dales Way - Ilkley to Bowness-on-Windermere with Mark Richards

[Music] the dales way stretches for almost 80 miles from the outskirts of the West Europe town of Ilkley to the bustling shores of Lake Windermere it's one of the finest middle-distance walks in Britain constantly beautiful and full of interest that it passes through some of the most stunning scenery and the landscape steeped in history is simply a bonus of the most satisfying kind I'm mark Richards and I'm gonna be taking you through a succession of unforgettable landscapes from the Yorkshire Dales right through to the Lake District from the outset you're left in no doubt about the appeal of the journey starting in Wharfedale frame by green hills and visiting the villages of Bern Sol grassing ttyn Kettlewell Buckton and Hoeber home before changing direction into Langstroth tale to climb over the moorland watershed into the embrace of den tale in Cumbria with the villages of tent and several wait beyond the river loon lie the Lakeland fringes where limestone walls pattern the fields leading you on through wooded Dells to the shores of England's largest lake windermere where you arrive perhaps not a little incongruously amid the heady bustle of tourists Lakeland at Bowness and it all begins here at the delightful little spa town of Ilkley and what a gorgeous day to start a walk this is a place that has attracted people for literally thousands of years and it has developed as a wonderful spa resort but for me its greatest attraction is it marks the gateway to the glories of the Dales [Music] Ilkley is a homely place characterized by wide streets and Victorian architecture and today the town's heritage and surrounding countryside mean that tourism is a major contributor to the local economy Ilkley is dominated by Ilkley more the highest part of rumbles more between Ilkley and Keithley in West Yorkshire crown by peat bogs the mall rises to 400 metres and is famous for the Yorkshire County anthem or milk l'amour bark chat well this delightful triple of structure is indeed le bridge built in the 1670s to service the humble needs of a pack horse and it is today still a very popular pedestrian focus but most important of all it is the official starting point to the Dales way and whether like me or just snugly into your boots or arriving here from Shipley or Leeds or one of the connecting country ways this delightful spot is ripe with anticipation especially so is for the first 30 miles to out ashore you're drawn into the scenic excitements of Wharfedale [Music] for most walkers the dales ways that undertaking of some six to eight days but with so much crammed into that time it's vital to build in time to explore to potter about to paddle in streams and rivers to visit churches and the odd pub to get a sense of the way of life that permeates the course of the way and the history that has shaped the land and its people as to your pace well I take your cue from the rivers you follow the wharf here the D and the Loon nowhere do they charge around bar a few odd moments of madness preferring to meander gently switching this way and that exploring the many nooks and crannies you should do the same take your time [Music] [Music] no Mill Village at a bend in the river is a place of refurbished Victorian workers cottages built to serve a mill that somehow survived the attention of the Luddites during the troubled times of the 19th century [Music] adding ham is a neat agreeable village one that grew largely during the industrial revolution its greatest claim to fame is that it sheltered the ninth century Archbishop of York who fled here when the Vikings began their campaign of terror against the Christian Saxons adding ham Church is one of a few in the area to possess a Blueface clock this is a fashion started by the long-established clockmaking firm of William Watson sons of Leeds when they painted the dial of the clock on Bradford Cathedral beyond adhigam the dales way ambles above the wharf keen to make progress there are no major settlements now just a succession of ancient villages and isolated farmsteads from this stretch of the river there are splendid views to the wooded hillside of beams Li beacon which commands the surrounding countryside as a beacons should have been been used in medieval times to signal events across the north of England as part of a chain of bonfires Wow isn't that gorgeous the lady here at fairy cottage has provided fresh spring water and cupcake especially for Dales way walkers with a lovely gesture it says a lot about the relationship of Dale's walkers with people and as they travel through the countryside and just look Bowness seventy eight and three-quarter miles not far to go yet then Bolton bridge takes the way into the Bolton Abbey estate centered on bolton priory with just under 12,000 hectares of beautiful countryside over 80 miles of footpaths and no less than five areas of special scientific interest bolton abbey estate appeals to everyone as you progress alongside the river the ruins are Bolton Priory rise starkly ahead against the valley of the Wharf [Music] in reality the Priory was the monastic house whereas of course bolton abbey is the civil parish these are often confused the original Priory was built in the mid 12th century by a group of Augustinian canons on land endowed by Lady Alastair Amelie of skipton castle and over the course of years became quite a focus in Wharfedale and for settlements much further afield [Music] the Augustinians were popular residents ordained priests living together as monks but very much involved with the local people The Priory managed Mills and Grange is far and wide and at harvest time employed over a thousand harvesters at a wage of two old pence a day life around the Priory was typically a busy boisterous affair consumed by the business of everyday life although there were only 15 or so canons they were supplemented by lay brothers and gentleman retainers as well as a motley crew of serfs and three servants raising the resident population to almost 200 [Music] on a day like today aren't these ruins magnificent but in 1537 King Henry the eighth's dissolution of the monasteries threaten the entire Priory buildings but remarkably and wonderfully the far end survived is the local parish church and survives to this day as some Mary and Saint Cuthbert isn't it beautiful [Music] [Music] app river from bolton priory the dales way and his woodland flanking the river and leads on into the site of scientific interest that is strayed would a sanctuary renowned for its wealth of flora and fauna [Music] wow what a wonderful place witness the harmony of a wild river and ancient woodland many of these trees are 300 years old and shelter in excess of 60 species of breeding birds which with the liver walk mosses and fungi well you don't have to be a naturalist to realize they'd biodiversity of this gorgeous Wildwood [Music] well there's noisy spot is the star attraction of straight would the street itself where the waters of a dozen Moreland's are forced through this narrow channel created by this hard resilient sandstone you're seeing it now at low water in effect in midsummer but even now it will be foolhardy to even contemplate jumping across it is claimed many a life down the years but it's a wonderful spot just to stand and admire raw energy [Music] after pressing on through woodland you arrived at Barden bridge an ancient monument in his own right with neat pedestrian alcoves typical of the time but ill-suited to modern traffic nearby Barden Tara was formerly a hunting lodge but grew in stature and was refurbished by one of the Lords at Skipton to provide a comfortable bed for the night now in ruins the tower was a formidable construction built with an eye to the marauding attention of Scots even so there's no evidence that their defenses were ever put to any test after the gentle pastures by which the Dales way came to Barton bridge it continues along the true left bank of the river looking ahead to wide open views of Barden more [Music] [Music] [Music] with the wooded slopes of elseit behind us now the Dales way crosses open farm fields to arrive in Bern saw first reaching its five arts bridge [Music] there's been a bridge across the wharf at this point since the 13th century about today's bridge dates from the 19th century [Music] [Music] many visitors consider that burn soul with its village green in an Church is all that a Dale's village should be the setting is attractive from every angle with the village relaxing amid hill slopes covered with pine Beach purple Heather and Bracken the way continues around the bend in the river towards the church sent Wilfred's amazing old church there's been a church here for thirteen hundred years just think of all those good burn soul folk generation upon generation when the church child was extended in 1858 this litigate was installed and this really unusual gate was set in here curious mechanisms swiftly on a central spindle there's only four in the whole country quite like it and the antiquity of this fascinating old church is further emphasised by this Viking Hogback grave which takes us back more than a thousand years into the history of the community and look on the wall an artist impression of what the community probably looked like beside the River Wharf fascinating inside [Music] just north of bezel the river becomes more agitated as it passes below the cliffs of loops car here the wharfs seems to be showing off as it flows through the limestone fault that created the scar mm this is a scene of great beauty isn't it but it did have its darker moment in 1766 tomley a fiery violent man from grassing ttan tried to dispose of the body of a local doctor whom he'd murdered on no greater pretext than being told to mend his drunken ways clearly a red rag to Tom amazingly it took three trials to find him guilty whereupon he was hung after leaving Lupe's car the way crosses the river on a suspension footbridge built in the 19th century to replace the line of stepping stones just downstream wonderful sensation of bobbing up and down Bolton Abbey they had narrow stepping stones and a wide bridge here wide stepping stones and deftly single-file and a lovely bobbing bridge it's great to come across here now once more on the true left bank of the wharf a line of ancient trees lead on leaving the river briefly to approach the village of Linton on the opposite bank although not on the Dale's way Linton is well worth a visit it's Church occupying a bend in the river and dating from the 12th century another set of stepping stones crosses the wharf here and we used by a parishioners in the days before Linton bridge was constructed Linton Falls are quite spectacular bullying away through the rocks of the North Craven fault and best viewed from the safety of the so called tin bridge built in 1814 for workers at Linton mill the present bridge is the fourth to span the river at this point the original being covered with sheets of metal from old oil drums hence the name the mill was built in 1790 but there is evidence of a mill on this site since the 13th century nearby stands a neat Packers bridge grooved by the passage of counters mill workers churchgoers and animals this is now known as little Emily's bridge in his thought to date from the 14th century and to be named after a member of the Norton family who took refuge nearby at the time of the Civil War [Music] [Music] [Music] before long the large village of grassing Tain's into view and it's here that the dales way turns inland from the wharf heading straight up the Main Street you just can't but love graphing ttan here in summer vibrant with life and people and abundant with bunting it's a gorgeous little place but come here in the weekends preceding Christmas it becomes a period extravaganza where shopkeepers visitors and villages alike dress up in Dickensian costume it's such a creative little place full of energy although technically a village grossing tenacity love a small town its history largely founded of lead mining and textile production and for many years this provided an important source of income once the lead mines closed grassing tan experienced a period of slow decline but the fall in affluence was regained with the arrival in 1901 of the Yorkshire Dales Railway which round between Skipton and grassing t'en today although the railway has gone tourism is the mainstay of the villages economy and its prosperity and popularity is plain for all to see it's one of the best-loved of the Dales towns and villages and is a useful and important staging post for Dale's Wayfarers beyond grassing ttan the dales way can make little progress alongside the river and so it takes to the hill slopes above the village [Music] this high-level route is one of enormous appeal not least for the views it provides at distant hills and opened windswept Moors [Music] once above grassing t'en the way enters the site of an ancient british settlement known as alley green which dates certainly from the Iron Age and possibly much earlier Wow I'm strolling across Lee green my eyes lit up when I saw this wacky great mound of loose limestone and immediately I knew what it was it was a Bronze Age humilis it's been here three four thousand years and the society that lived in this part of Wharfedale all that long time ago will have buried the high members of their clan in urns here it's wonderful to see such a marvel seed and all around is a magnificent view and you can see grass would directly behind [Music] what follows as the way pushes on above Wharfedale is the most pleasant walking an elevated stroll through limestone country on old Pacal's trails there is a keen exhilaration here and the easiest of walking across fragmented limestone pavements and past derelict lime kilns [Music] this is very encouraging there's one quite large compound that is protected a quite an area of Clint's quite quite a depth of it with an old dry stone wall on the top and it's a loud nature to recover an area that elsewhere sheep have grazed off so come here 20 years time it'll be all the better even now in the summer there's a lot of small wildflowers growing and is even liver what growing on top of this fence stake it's most encouraging to see [Music] the view here is especially pleasing from the conspicuous up thrust of Coniston pie a small Knoll blessed with enough nooks and crannies to evade all but the most determined of winds wow look at this for a view this is the first really grand view of the Upper Valley as it draws in above Kettlewell right up towards y'all can't wait you've got great one side and booked in pike and half left Lytton dale a fabulous mountain limestone view [Music] further up Dale the way comes to Kettlewell a delightful village on the old London to Richmond coaching highway which struggled often literally of the one-in-four gradient of par crash to the east of the village bound across the Moors for Coverdale Kettlewell is sheltered to the north east and west by high fells and even in the depths of winter it's noticeably warmer than neighboring villages it's surrounded by a remarkable patchwork of medieval cultivation terracing strolling down the street from the church I have an abiding feeling of a very homogeneous village of vernacular cottages none of them are more than 250 years old and yet the village of kettleball is much older than this as of course the name implies being a Scandinavian eyes form of the Old English cat cappella the stream in the narrow valley in the 13th century much's with grassing ttan a market was established here reflecting the growth in the rural population later textiles and lead mining sustained the community which is a very important and most attractive component of the Dales way little seems to have changed for a long time and yet in spite of a haphazard arrangement of houses pubs and cottages there is a welcoming feel about the place and what we surprised today's visitors is that Kettlewell was used as the location for the village of knapely in the 2003 film calendar girls you can buy colored or girls trails brochures in the shops and pubs in Kettlewell the Dale's Way changes back to the true right bank of the wharf for the stretch up to Bogdan [Music] between the two villages the river meanders through a wide glaciated Valley carving extravagant loops into the farmland and falling less than 80 feet throughout its length [Music] [Music] just a short way north of Kettlewell the hamlet at star botton gathers on the opposite bank at the foot of kam gil beck here is a collection of 17th and 18th century houses many a legacy of the lead mining era but it's a wonder the settlement exists at all on more than one occasion the Becker's swollen to prodigious size and engulfed the hamlet with notable success in 1686 when in the space of a few minutes a terrible storm turned the back into a torrent pouring down the hillside cottages and newly built houses took the full force of the deluge and were almost swept away button the valley of the bugs has been the home of deer as far as recorded history takes us this is a village with Norman origins and the last fully fledged village in Wharfedale for Dale's Wayfarers it is the last opportunity to buy supplies for some time in former times Buckton was a bustling place boasting three inns now but one remains the buckins where long ago farmers would meet to sell their wool it's a button that the wharf significantly changed his direction heading into the embrace of Langstroth dale the long marty valley [Music] Herber home a short distance from Buckton has a quiet charm about it appearing in the Doomsday Book although there's evidence of a much earlier presence here probably dating from Bronze Age times this is the Georgian venue of an annual LAN letting ceremony which occurs on the first Monday of each new year curiously it takes the form of an auction by candlelight when bids are cast for the use of the church's own pasture for the coming year the last bid before the flame flickers out well that's the rent payable [Music] the church have sent Michael and all angels is a squat Norman structure with a simplicity of design and delightful ruggedness when it was first built it served as a small forest chapel [Music] but the church is particularly renowned for its oaken Rood loft one of only two remaining in Yorkshire it was placed in the church in 1558 and remarkably survived the command of Elizabeth the first that all such trappings should be removed [Music] you [Music] look at these delightful little carved mice there are many of the pews in this church and they're the signature of Robert Thompson of Kilburn the carpenter who built these sturdy pews there's also a commemorative plaque - JB Priestley the church is perched perilously close to the river Wharf and that tons of flood this has caused quite some problems there's one recorded instance of fishes in the neighborhood you believe hubber home is very much a tranquil place today remote and yet a key part of a wider community it holds more than a passing interest and is likely to detain even those with plans to make haste up the valley as the way passes up Laing Strasse Dale there is a growing sense of remoteness gone are the comely villages and hamlets to be replaced by isolated farms this is the easy walking the route never far from the river as it presses on through your complate and so too deep Dale between the two lie a Bronze Age arrangement of stones in a perfect ring known as the Giants grave your weight and neighboring Deepdale have much in common but further upriver lies that slightly larger community of beggarman x' the hamlet lies in the sheltered hollow on the edge of greenfield forest presiding over the compliments of out ashore and Greenfield Becks but the river wolf can be set to begin even though its waters drain from higher ground to come Altus Shore is the last settlement of any size in Wharfedale and is surprisingly sheltered in spite of being more than a thousand feet above sea level in the 15th century they used to be six tenements at out ashore all leaking a living from the unremitting moorland just how harsh an existence that may have been will become evident to anyone passing this way in poor weather conditions [Music] here now everything seems suddenly harsh and demanding the Dales way is about to leave Wharfedale and venture across a stretch of wild moorland before descending into the relative tranquility of dent Dale in Cumbria I'm spurred to look at the map at the moment because outer Shore BEC comes along here and drops over a watershed there into can beg now that's the watershed actually of Britain to be precise but the Dale's way which whens along here up to kam houses in the woodlands beyond clearly rises it's a bit of an optical illusion it's one of the nature's little tricks kamme houses the most remote of the outside farms of Wharfedale today provides holiday accommodation for Dales visitors seeking seclusion [Music] here it is said a man once sold his wife for five gold sovereigns horse Hollis and a cartload of peat by all accounts it was filling the car with beat to finally clinch the deal [Music] I'm coming up on the high horizon above cam houses and behind me I've got a marvelous view of the upper realms of Wharfedale and at this point I join what was a Roman road linking their forts at Bainbridge with rib Chester it later became a wool traders route and in the 1750s a Turnpike route this was abandoned for the gentler gradients the whittle down into [Music] well I'm clearly leaving the embrace of Wharfedale and although the underlying geology is the same there's a sense of change in excitement in the air emphasized all the more by the presence of York she's famous three peaks which include penny Ghent the hill of the wind ingleborough and one side their beguiling presence in the landscape have been an inspiration to walkers for generations [Music] there I've just completed the cam highroad and for a time I was sharing strides with a pen I'm Way that wonderful green trail that runs the length of the Pennine chain behind me is Gail Beck which have just crossed and this is a major early tributary of the river River which runs down to the sea below Preston here I'm about 35 miles into the route which is almost halfway my attentions moving from Ribblesdale into dent Dale now it is time to leave yorkshire and press on into Cumbria though not until we pass beyond Seba will we finally leave the Yorkshire Dales National Park [Music] after a brief Molland skirmish the way begins the long descent into dent Dale [Music] this is a valley of rare beauty green fertile a welcome place of seclusion surrounded by steep sided fells [Music] [Music] [Music] the first community of any size is the village of dent although the Dale's way doesn't actually pass through the village but no self-respecting Wayfarer would pass dent by apart from its welcome array of accommodation shops cafes and inns it is quite simply a most endearing village once described as terrestial paradise [Music] to the first-time visitor dent town as it's long been known makes a great impression its cobbled streets it's lovely little cottages and nooks and crannies all wrapped up to make a delightful little community right at the heart of dent Dale and it was here in 1785 that the Reverend Adam Sedgwick was born he rose through scholarship to become for 55 years professor of geology at Cambridge University then a very new science along with Murchison defined Cambrian rocks Devonian rocks and the sequence of Carboniferous rocks to underlie this landscape here but his scriptural upbringing shackled him when confronted by Charles Darwin's Origin of Species the whole notion of evolution through natural selection ran completely counter to his biblical understanding and he became an outspoken critic of Darwin but he loved dent and longed to come back here in his old age here you still find cobbled streets and closely packed houses fighting for space around the 12th century church of st. Andrew [Music] many of the taller how's it indent once had first floor galleries where local net is sustained a thriving cottage industry knitting garments from which dental ultimately derived its share of fame [Music] throughout den Dale the valley is formed around the river D which later joins the river Rafi for the final stage to say BAM but here the Dale's way takes a little shortcut heading first for the hamlet of Mill throb [Music] said BRR which lies just off the dales way might be forgiven for admitting to a slight identity crisis although within the county of Cumbria it's actually the largest town in the Yorkshire Dales National Park and was once in the former West Riding of Yorkshire said birth or to some locals see birth it's the English book town and is widely known for his independent school among whom former pupils was Wil calling the English rugby captain historically rather like dent it relied heavily on knitting for its income and it is said that George Bernard Shaw acquired his socks here so impressed was he by their quality beyond Sieber the root finally leaves the dales behind and heads for the limestone glory of South Lakeland between the two the intervening tract is noticeably different neither dales nor Lakeland a place with its own unique appeal [Music] this is how Gill country named after this fine group of fells that rise to the loss of Seba for Dales way Walker's this is a peaceful interlude a time for ambling with the rivers rather than pressing on a time for replenishing the batteries before the final scamper over to Bowness [Music] here the Dale's Way changes direction and heads north to enjoy a woefully brief interlude with a sparkling river loon which can be crossed by Lincoln's Inn bridge nearby Lincoln's Inn now a farm once served travelers and Rovers waiting to Ford the river in the days before the bridge was built [Music] the path leads beneath the Loon viaduct a classic piece of Victorian railway architecture recently beautifully restored by English Heritage they're no longer a functioning bridge [Music] this section of the way of his splendid views of the haggles [Music] well have wolf from the Loon viaduct to the crook of loon bridge where I stand now following the river loon upstream by a succession of enchanting Meadows by a string of farmsteads in the lap of the how gills and I've loved every stride the Dale's way heads west across the m6 motorway where traffic speeds northwards through the Loon gorge between the huggles and the virtually unknown eastern dales of the Lake District the West Coast Main Line railway also passes this way but if George Stevenson had been allowed to have his way the gorge may still be free of traffic noise in 1837 Stevenson proposed at the West Coast line to resort to embankments sweeping across Morecombe Bay and along the West Cumberland plain but it was not to be and in December 1846 the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway over shap fell was finally opened [Music] onward now the Dales way enters the South Lakeland fringe a delightful canvas of hillocks and hammocks farmland and woodland [Music] here the way T's is a course that is both a complete contrast to what has gone before and an experience of immense pleasure you sense the end is near but there's no desire to race on it's as if the way is deliberately trying to slow you down to tug you back to pay more keen attention on this delectable limestone countryside throughout this passage there's a strong sense of isolation despite the numerous farms encountered though the Walker who loves solitude they will find it here [Music] when civilization does return it comes in the form of the village of Bern aside although the root finds away round rather than through the village straddling the river Kent Bernie side is sheltered on the north by pot of fell while Bern aside hall a semi fortified has with a 14th century peal tower lies on a raised tongue of land near the confluence of the rivers Kent and sprint Bern aside boasts a happy state of independence the same was not always true of Staveley the next village to appear along the way until a new bypass brought much-needed relief stave Lee's greatest claim to fame was his reputation as a bottleneck for Lakeland traffic Staveley sits neatly across the entrance to the Vale of Kent Mayer at the compliments of the rivers Kenton Gowen this super abundance of water was an important factor in the location of many industries during the 19th century the production of wooden bobbins for the Lancashire mill industry and the manufacture of gunpowder dependent not only on the ready availability of coppiced wood but on the proximity of fast flowing streams - as a result there was a mark concentration of bobbin manufacturer along the Kent particularly at Staveley where one company alone employed over 200 men and apprentices the scenery in this tranquil region is typical of outer Lakeland and all part of its unique and magical appeal [Music] in the lost hinterland around croakin nether Stavely lie broad green pastures punctuated by rocky outcrops and dotted with trees yet you could be so easily in another world this is a perfect relaxing prelude to the grand finale a last timeless corner in which to appreciate everything you have experienced along the way [Music] from time to time glimpses appear of distant blue hills the fells of Lakeland at last yet the great lake of Windermere remains elusive these farm buildings around Ultron nuke were once dilapidated but today have been releve 'td a new life brought to this remote spot [Music] again farm the only dedicated dales weighty room is the perfect spot to stop for an ice cream before the final stage - bonus [Music] you [Music] the final days of any long walk are often greeted with a sense of relief and elation but with no relent to the scenic qualities these emotions are accentuated on the Dale's way having strolled through a pastoral landscape it arise with immense delight and thrill upon a majestic panorama of Lakeland Fells what a scene [Music] suddenly the end is drawing you on down and down through woodland to the very edge of bustling Bowness one of the oldest settlements in the Lake District and today a huge contrast with its early days [Music] bonus or to give it its proper name bonus on Wyndemere well is about halfway up their 12-mile length of lake windermere the name alludes to the low curved headland that projects into the way towards Bell Island and whilst the community is of some antiquity it only developed as a resort town with the arrival of the branch railway from oxen home by Kendall to Windermere in 1847 as you descend the final lane the trappings of modern tourism appear gift shops pubs cafes restaurants hotels and places to buy a well-deserved ice cream bonus on Wyndemere is arguably Cumbria's most popular destination with the town busy for much of the year people come to enjoy the lake for sailing and watersports or just to relax and enjoy the atmosphere of the area and the town's delightful setting the Victorian influence can be seen everywhere in the late 19th century wealthy businessmen from Lancashire built large houses overlooking the lake and many of these now see duty as luxury hotels what a strange sensation after all the piece of the trail to land here among the day-trippers of Bowness and yet it's one of the great attractions of the Dales way that you're never far from places of cultural interest or exquisite natural beauty after more than 80 miles of happy wandering you may feel tired but if you're anything like me your head will be filled with memories rich vivid memories that will tug at your heart and demand you return [Music] [Music] [Music] you

Channel: PrimeLight Films Ltd

Views: 104,432

Keywords: the dales way, dales way, ilkley, bowness-on-windermere, mark richards, walking, outdoors

Id: weyhIQ-zI9E

Length: 63min 16sec (3796 seconds)

Published: Wed May 06 2020