Yorkshire Dales Walks
Trollers Gill & Grimwith Reservoir
Date: 3rd January 2005
Distance: 6.9 miles
Ascent: 1168 feet
Time: 3 hours 10 mins
With: Lisa and David
Start Grid Ref: SE086635
Walk Summary:
An interesting walk contrasting the natural limestone scenery of Trollers Gill with the man made Grimwith Reservoir.
Route Summary: Stump Cross - Nursery Knot - Grimwith Reservoir - Appletreewick Pasture - Trollers Gill - Skyreholme Beck - Skyreholme Bank - Black Hill Road - Stump Cross
Pictures:
1. Lisa and David on Nursery Knot
2. Grimwith Reservoir
3. Grimwith Reservoir and High Shaws Lathe
4. Looking up Dry Gill towards Nursery Knot
5. Lisa and David alongside Skyreholme Beck
Walk Detail: Nursery Knot is a prominent knoll on the side of the B6265 between Hebden and Greenhow and, while not particularly high at 389m, it commands some decent views especially considering the relative lack of effort it takes to walk up from the road.
From Nursery Knot the approach to the reservoir is quite nice and the reservoir itself was very impressive in this bleak setting. It was quite a windy day so there were actually waves lapping against the reservoir shores. Of interest was an old thatched building, High Shaws Lathe, that looked quite charming next to the waters.
The path we followed south from Grimwith back to the B6265 provided views of the dam as well as the hills to the north and west of the reservoir. The track south of the road though was quite muddy and it was a relief to get on to the path outside Troller’s Gill.
The gill itself is a very impressive feature, a fact that is not immediately obvious when walking down it from the north as we did. One point of interest is the cave mouth about half way down - this was surely the home of the legendary barguest that apparently haunted this gorge. With the aid of my headlight David and I explored some of the cave but it went quite far back and was exceptionally dark. Just south of the cave the gorge becomes very impressive and justifies its reputation as a miniature Gordale.
The popularity of the gill was clear and up to that point I hadn’t seen so many walkers in one place other than on one of the Three Peaks or at Malham. Frustratingly the batteries of my new camera ran out on me outside the barguest cave so I didn’t get any photos of the impressive limestone gorge.
After stopping to eat some lunch after coming out the south side of the gill we then pressed on to Parceval Hall, which was another muddy stretch. Shortly after Parceval Hall we joined the road up Skyreholme Bank that then turns into a track at Black Hill Road. This section of the walk was dominated by Simon’s Seat to the south of us and also provided more good views of Wharfedale to the west.
Overall this was a really nice walk, if anything I think it would have been better to have done the walk in reverse.
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