Ingleborough - Station to Station

[weedavie]

You have to be careful about complaining about what England looks like. It's actually OK. I've been walking in the Yorkshire National Park, and Ben Lomond and Ben Vorlich, the Loch Earn one, are each more stowed than anywhere I walked. Also the area rivals the Pentlands for good looks and is in fact higher.

Anyway I was based with some horses in the Howgills, where it's easy to find deserted routes, but I'd done all the high tops. Never mind, there was something called Ingleborough about a dozen miles south that I could do between train stations. So I cycled down to Kirkby Stephen staion and took a train to Ribblehead.

Nice train ride, but just before I got off we crossed a viaduct, and Jaysus, the fuss. Now the weekend before, I'd come across from Dunfermline, and nobody got hot and bothered about the Forth Bridge. OK, that's a top drawer one, but the train then crosses the West Lothian viaduct and it's fabulous but it's just there to enjoy. Onywise, everybody was getting their rocks off on the Ribblehead one and why not?

Better than Harry Potter!

Time was back in the 70s you could see the Pennine Way as a scar across the countryside, from an aeroplane at twenty thousand feet. It was caused by people spread across bog land and could be 100 metres wide. Pathing has improved that immensely, but the paths are hard under foot and very visible, in a different way from before, thin white bands of exteme contrast.

As I left the station, I could see hordes going along the local hard path, you can see it, just beyond the bridge, in the photie. I wandered down a B road then cut up on to the moor. Fine, mostly deserted and not much used, judging by the lack of damage on the few boggy bits. I met nobody till I approached Ingleborough. I soon remembered to stop saying "How y'doin'?" to people. I'd moved from deserted hillside to what they regarded as a public park, where auld fellas talking to you is worth being wary of.

Ingleborough, faint path, faint hill.

I liked Ingleborough and I wandered round the walls of the Celtic hill fort. My return train was not till five so I then extended the walk south to Trow Gill. It was busy and the paths were hard but this did give me an unexpected hobbit canyon.

Rivendell

After exiting it, I climbed to join the Pennine Bridleway, pleasantest walking of the day. I've encountered the bridleway before, it kind of parallels the Pennine Way but is accessible by horses (no kissing gates or stiles). It was turf under foot and again very quiet, threading between limestone pavements.

Limestone pavement

I reached the Ingleborough Horton path, which was hard and very busy. I was glad I hadn't followed it from the hill. Still, it was just 3k down to the pub, which had a sullen bartender. He didn't stop me enjoying a couple of pints of Black Sheep in the car park. Horton Station had a ban on train spotters parking, which seemed odd. Train back to Kirkby Stephen, then a steep but wind-assisted bike ride back to the horses.

ribbleheadstationtohorton(1).gpx Open full screen  NB: Walkhighlands is not responsible for the accuracy of gpx files in users posts

[Sgurr]

Remember going through that hobbit canyon in the snow and then going very warily up Ingleborough in case the snow had somehow managed to obscure sinkholes down which we might fall. On the summit was a group of young army lads looking grumpily as if this wasn't at all what they had signed up for.

[Sgurr]

Remember going through that hobbit canyon in the snow and then going very warily up Ingleborough in case the snow had somehow managed to obscure sinkholes down which we might fall. On the summit was a group of young army lads looking grumpily as if this wasn't at all what they had signed up for. Yours looks a pleasant outing. Brilliant use of trains.