Harrogate & District Walks
Knaresborough & The Nidd
Date: 7th May 2012
Distance: 4.3 miles
Ascent: 488 feet
Time: 3 hours 20 minutes
With: Lisa and Rhiannon
Start Grid Ref: SE344572
Walk Summary:
A pleasant family ramble along the River Nidd before returning via a hermits cave and the remains of Knaresborough Castle.
Route Summary: High Bridge - Low Bridge - Grimbald Bridge - St. Robert's Cave - Crag Top - Knaresborough Castle - High Bridge
Pictures:
1. Knaresborough waterfront looking to the viaduct
2. A blossom tree across the Nidd
3. The River Nidd
4. Wild garlic
5. Lisa and Rhiannon in Birkham Wood
6. Bluebells
7. St. Robert's Cave
8. Lisa and Rhiannon climbing the path to Crag Top
9. Knaresborough Castle
10. The viaduct from the castle
11. One of the castle ravens
Walk Detail: I've lost count of the number of times I've walked along the Nidd from Bilton to Knaresborough, however I'd never, until this point, walked along the south bank of the river as it makes a large loop between Low Bridge and Grimbald Bridge in Knaresborough itself.
This proved to be a lovely little riverside walk with the adjacent woods full of spring flowers including bluebells and wild garlic. We made numerous little pit stops so that Rhiannon could refuel. In fact she did really well on what was her longest walk to date.
Having crossed Grimbald Bridge we were back in Knaresborough itself. Rather than follow the road along the riverside back to High Bridge we visited St. Robert's Cave, the former home of a famous medieval hermit, before taking the path up on to Crag Top then through the town to the castle. Here I bought us all some ice creams to eat whilst we savoured the view of the river and viaduct below - one of my favourite views in Yorkshire.
Knaresborough is a fascinating little town and this walk was a fine combination of historic and natural features. The fact that we beat the heavy rain that had been forecast made the walk all the more satisfying.
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