South Pennine Walks
Carleton Glen & Ramshaw
Date: 26th December 2011
Distance: 5.0 miles
Ascent: 861 feet
Time: 2 hours 20 minutes
With: On my own
Start Grid Ref: SD972499
Walk Summary:
A short walk on to the modest moorland crest of Ramshaw with big views of Airedale and the southern Yorkshire Dales.
Route Summary: Carleton-in-Craven - Ogden Clough - Carleton Glen - Gawthorpe House - Tow Top Slack - Ramshaw - Carleton Biggin - Carleton-in-Craven
Pictures:
1. An early view of Skipton Moor
2. Looking down into Catlow Gill
3. Flasby Fell from above Carleton Glen
4. Looking beyond Gawthorpe House to the Aire Gap
5. Carleton Moor leading up to Pinhaw Beacon
6. Looking south to Earl Crag
7. Looking down Airedale towards Steeton
8. Addingham High Moor from Ramshaw
9. Simon's Seat from Ramshaw
10. Skipton Moor from Ramshaw
11. On Ramshaw
12. Flasby Fell from just outside Carleton-in-Craven
Walk Detail: This was a short leg stretcher to help work off some of the huge amount I'd eaten on Christmas Day. The walk didn't get off to the best of starts when I discovered, upon arrival in Carleton, that I'd left my OS map at home (something I'd not managed in over 350 previous walks).
My planned route was one that I'd spliced together from two shorter walks from Paul Hannon's 'Aire Valley' guide in his 'Short Scenic Walks' series. I'd also left that behind as well so one of the first things I did was to ring home so that my wife could give me instructions over the phone.
Now if you'd put me down on a large hill somewhere in good visibility I probably wouldn't need a map or guidebook to find my way but even with these to hand it is not always easy finding the right path out of a village or through enclosed pastures, especially when there is a lack of signage. Fortunately the directions Lisa was able to give me over the phone directed me to the top of Carleton Glen and on to Gawthorpe House at which point I finally had the idea to try and access the OS mapping on Streetmap via my phone. Once I'd done this navigation for the rest of the walk was a doddle.
As for the walk itself it was pleasant enough if rather muddy underfoot. In Carleton Glen there were some nice views down into Catlow Gill and across the Aire valley to both Flasby Fell and Skipton Moor. The highlight of the walk though was the short walk across the moorland crest of Ramshaw, a well defined ridge which is part of the group of moors that is topped by Pinhaw Beacon.
Even though it was fairly cloudy the view encompassed a wide sweep of the southern fells of the Dales including Rye Loaf Hill, Fountains Fell, Flasby Fell, Great Whernside, Cracoe Fell and Simon's Seat. There were also some excellent views of the section of Airedale below Skipton as well as south to Earl Crag, Ovenden Moor and Ickornshaw Moor. From Ramshaw it was then a pleasant descent with Skipton directly below before crossing a few more muddy farm fields to arrive back at Carleton-in-Craven.
Whilst this was not one of the most exciting walks it was a decent little ramble and the views certainly made it worthwhile and given better lighting conditions Ramshaw would make an excellent vantage point to get some nice photos of the surrounding area.
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